"The Basics" webinar

Wednesday, 12/16/2020 1:00pm  <-- Register here!

• Are the basics of 401k, 457b and 403b accounts confusing? 

• Would you like to broaden your knowledge of your supplemental plans and the purpose they serve in your long-term retirement planning? 

• Are you a new employee or a contractual? This webinar is for you!

Under Age 35: Tips for Financial Independence

Monday, 12/14/2020 3:00pm  <-- Register here!

• What are the money mistakes I need to avoid? 

• Student loans, why invest today? 

• How do I create a spending plan and what are the steps to achieve my goals? 

"Social Security: One Piece of the Puzzle"

Monday, 12/14/2020 9:00am

Wednesday, 12/16/2020 11:00am 

•  How do I decide when to file?  How much can I expect to receive?
• How can I maximize my Social Security benefits (including filing strategies for couples, ex-spouses and widows)? 

In any online learning experience, it's important for students to be able to engage socially and collaboratively. Interactions with peers and instructors can lead to greater student success. Collaborate introduces two new features to its chat functionality to support increased engagement: chat mentions and formatted messaging.

With the December update, attendees can tag someone in a Collaborate chat when they mention them. Anyone tagged is notified so they don't miss it. Moderators are identified with a MOD label so they are easy to find. Collaborate also features a new text editor in the chat panel. This text editor is simple and features only bold, italics, and underline. One way to use this new formatting option is to highlight a chat announcement in bold to make a message more noticeable in a busy conversation.

Currently, Collaborate can support regular sessions of 250 attendees or supersized sessions up to 500 attendees. In preparation for WT/SP2021, faculty and community leaders can leverage Collaborate to support large scale sessions up to 1,000 attendees. There are limitations to supersized sessions, however:

• Webinar sessions can't be longer than 24 hours in length
• Guests must be assigned the participant role
• Participant permissions are turned off
• Breakout groups are not available

Learn more about configuring Collaborate to support a supersized session.

• Online friendly. Almost all OER is digital and designed to be accessed via technology rather than on paper. Much OER comes in a format that is compatible with the most commonly used learning management systems.(1)
• Adaptable. In contrast to traditional textbooks, which are locked by copyright, OER can be customized by instructors as they adapt their courses to remote instruction.  
• Accessible forever. Given the economic impact and potentially long duration of COVID-19, students are more likely than ever to take extended periods to complete their degree paths. Being able to reference materials from prerequisite courses months or years later will help them persist. Unlike commercial access codes that expire at the end of a semester, students can retain OER permanently. 
• A good investment. Budgets are tight right now for both students and institutions. OER adoption is one of the few interventions that can both save students money and generate additional revenue for institutions. Faculty use of OER has saved college students nearly one billion dollars in textbook costs in the U.S. and Canada as of 2018.(2) New research shows that there is also a positive financial return on investment for institutions that adopt OER, as students who save money on texts often take additional credits in a given semester.(3)

• M.O.S.T. Commons - M.O.S.T. Commons is a collaborative, online space designed to support the sharing and creation of Open Educational Resources (OER). Through M.O.S.T. Commons, you will have the opportunity to access openly licensed content and collaborate with faculty within your institution and across Maryland. The site also provides authoring tools to create your own OER.
• M.O.S.T. Website - The M.O.S.T. website includes links to help you discover, adapt, and create OER. There is also a section that points to research on what we know about OER and its effectiveness. If you’re brand-new to OER, you can start with this page, “Why OER?”.
• In Spring 2021 we will also announce our next round of M.O.S.T. OER Grants to support institutions’ efforts to increase access, affordability, and achievement for students through the incorporation of OER into teaching practices. Join our mailing list (below) to be notified when that opportunity is posted.