The Center for Educational Innovation (CEI) is hosting two workshops next week designed to help faculty improve their teaching.

“Student-Created OER Textbooks,” part of CEI’s Pedagogy Showcase Series, will take place from 2-3 p.m. March 5 in the Faculty Collaboration Studio, 6 Norton Hall, North Campus. It will offer a solution for faculty who are teaching large classes that require several expansive textbooks: Create your own textbook.

Jessica Kruger, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, will talk about how she did just that by working with her students to create their own textbook in a single semester.

Kruger will discuss the process she and her students used, the benefits of creating a collaborative, open educational textbook, and what faculty need to know if they would like to implement this type of project in their class.

Register for the session online.

“Immersive Learning, Improving Collaboration and Optimizing Workflows Using Tools from Google,” part of the Educational Technology Showcase Series, will be held from 1-3 p.m. March 7 in 6 Norton Hall.

Google’s Chris Tursellino will cover Google’s G Suite, as well as augmented and virtual reality tools, with an emphasis on practical use cases in higher education.

Participants will learn best practices for using Google solutions for immersive learning, improving collaboration, streamlining communication and optimizing workflows. This showcase will cover a number of new initiatives, ranging from Google’s virtual and augmented reality platforms that provide students access to new experiences, to the latest productivity and collaboration tools that promote interactive learning and improve student engagement.

The session will be interactive, and attendees are encouraged to bring their own devices so they can participate.

Among the products to be covered are G Suite, including newer products like Course Kit, Jamboard, Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet, and Tour Creator, a tool that allows anyone to create an immersive virtual reality experience.

Register for this session online.

For more information about the sessions, contact Rebecca Rotundo at rotundo@buffalo.edu or 716-645-7748.