Services
What We Do
The Center for Instructional Innovation (CII) team offers consultations, advice, solutions, and professional development with:
- Canvas — learning management system
- Panopto — video management tool
- Socrative — class polling tool
- Accessibility in learning materials
- Technology research and trends (AI, third-party tools, etc.)
- Instructional design and technology strategies
- Open educational resources (OER) integration into course materials
Crossing the boundaries of discipline and college, the CII works with the entire campus community to ensure that the best instructional practices are promoted and supported. Working closely with Wilson Library, the colleges, departments, Outreach and Continuing Education, and the Office of the Provost, the CII provides leadership, resources, and assistance to Western’s most critical mission—teaching and learning.
As Western’s teaching and learning center, the CII supports professional development documentation, media, presentations, and workshops for faculty and creates and promotes faculty teaching excellence with advise from its Faculty Advisory Board.
Instructional Consultation
The CII and ATUS staff in the Teaching, Learning, and Technology office work to consult with instructors both via workshops and one-on-one settings. We can provide ideas or feedback on tools, methods, and course design. Consultations can focus entirely on setting up materials in Canvas, or can be a more involved process for working through instructional strategies, assignments, and assessments.
Professional Development Opportunities
The CII and Teaching, Learning, & Technology areas of ATUS offer between 6-10 professional development offerings each quarter, exploring issues related to instructional technologies and strategies. Current and archived events may be viewed on ATUS Events with links to several Canvas sites where materials from these events are archived. Offerings generally include:
- Monday Morning Mentor video subscription
- Workshops and presentations
- Videos and online documentation
Stipend-based Workshops
The CII works with ATUS, Western Libraries, and Outreach and Continuing Education—with generous support from the Provost and matching funds from departments and colleges and the occasional donor—to offer stipend-based professional development opportunities for faculty. See details: Blended/Online Learning Workshops
Online Instructional Resources
The CII has worked, since its inception in 1999, to develop enduring collections of best practices to inspire and support teaching. Three such collections are described here.
Innovative Teaching Showcase
The Innovative Teaching Showcase is an online publication created by the CII to highlight exceptional teaching practices by WWU faculty. Each year, several instructors are nominated and selected to participate, and then work with the CII to create this in-depth resource. Each year's issue represents a specific teaching theme. The Showcase is published on the CII's website at the end of each academic year.
Teaching and Learning Cooperative (TLC)
The Teaching and Learning Cooperative is coordinated by the CII and WesternOnline (Outreach and Continuing Education) and partners with Disability Access Center, Student Technology Center, Digital Media Center, and Western Libraries. It has bee designed for and by the WWU Community, including strategies, tools, and practices for innovative teaching and learning.
Teaching Handbook
The Teaching Handbook, is an extensive guide to teaching resources, ideas and, direction to support your teaching endeavors.