Otter Skills
As Otters we are a community of learners. This is the space that connects our learning opportunities to our core values.
Microsoft Education: Higher Education Reimagined | Shift to student-centered learning
The rapid move to remote learning was seen by many to be heroic. We also uncovered harsh truths regarding digital equity and access that point to the need for a more holistic approach to flexible learning. The Economist Intelligence Unit recently found that 60 percent of faculty witnessed a drop in engagement as students struggled to stay focused, and 70 percent of faculty are concerned about their ability to deliver engaging, high-value learning experiences. In this session, educators from leading universities will share how they provide inclusive, engaging hybrid learning experiences today and what is needed for more engaging learning experiences moving forward.
Higher Education Reimagined Series
Reimagining higher education is essential to not only prepare a diverse set of learners for success in the future, but also to deliver the experiences that today’s digital natives and lifelong learners expect. If we’ve learned anything from the past year, it’s that now is the time to reimagine the experience for students and educators around the world. Explore how to prepare today’s students for the workforce of the future, how to harness data to reimagine the student experience, and the shift to student-centered learning.
Course
Becoming a Continuous Learner
Continuous learning is a response to the modern workplace: technology, staff, and company direction change constantly. Continuous learners are able to adapt and obtain the necessary skills and knowledge in a constantly changing workplace. Continuously learning provides you with a competitive edge in your job and in your career. In this course, you'll learn the behaviors that define continuous learning and their benefits. You'll also learn habits to practice to aid in becoming a continuous learner, along with reading and learning agility strategies for encouraging life-long learning.
- Duration: 16 minutes
- Training Credit(s): CPE (NASBA): 0.50
Developing a Growth Mindset
In the workplace, there are two specific types of mindsets, or attitudes, that can either promote personal growth and resilience or hamper an employee's performance. People with a growth mindset achieve ever-higher levels of productivity and can help their organizations thrive; by contrast, people with a fixed mindset tend not to develop professionally, and may hinder an organization's goals. In this course, you'll learn about the characteristics of a growth mindset, such as perseverance, and how to distinguish it from a fixed mindset. You'll also explore methods of developing mindsets for success, and how professional growth can benefit you and your organization.
- Duration: 16 minutes
- Training Credit Hours: CPE (NASBA): 0.50 | PDU (PMI): 0.25
The Get Better Mindset
Featuring at keynote from Dr. Heidi Grant, a social psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about the science of motivation. She is the Global Director of Research & Development for the Neuroleadership Institute, Associate Director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University, and author of the best-selling books: No One Understands You and What To Do About It, Succeed: How We Can All Reach Our Goals, Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing The World for Success and Influence, and The 8 Motivational Challenges.
- Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes
- Training Credit(s): n/a
Personal Resilience: Managing Your Energy
In this LifeMatters webinar recording, you will learn the importance of taking care of yourself and how energy management can be the key to your resilience and overall performance both personally and professionally.
- Duration: 54 minutes
- Training Credit(s): n/a
- Activity Form: Positive Energy Ritual Form
Book
Be Incredibly Creative: 52 Brilliant Little Ideas for Honing Your Mind
Who doesn’t want to improve their creative side? There’s a never-ending avalanche of books, magazines, websites and TV programmes to allegedly ‘help’. But who’s got the time to wade through this lot to sift the stuff that works from the rubbish?
Be Incredibly Creative, the newest book in the 52 Brilliant Little Ideas series, cuts straight to the heart of the matter. With insider shortcuts and secrets garnered from careers at the forefront of creative design and innovation, Rob Bevan and Tim Wright will show you how you to unlock your inner creative streak and reveal your innovative side. In Be Incredibly Creative you'll discover:
How to unlock your thinking for limitless ideas:
- How to take an existing idea and update it in exciting new ways
- The power of daydreaming
- The secrets of truly innovative thinking
Packed with tips and techniques to try and be inspired by, Be Incredibly Creative will help you look at the world in a whole new light - who knows where your next flash of inspiration will come from?!
- Estimated Read Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
Bundle
Creative Thinking & Brainstorming
Brainstorming is one of the most effective creative thinking techniques. See how to generate innovative thinking to spur new ideas. Here, you’ll learn ways to get, and keep, the creative juices flowing.
Course
Building Innovation Cultures and Leaders
Innovating is the only way to adapt and keep speed with the pace of change in today's business world. Building and supporting an innovative culture is the responsibility of leaders and employees across organizational hierarchies and is aided by an effective change management process.
In this course, you'll learn about business innovation cultures and types of innovation leadership. You'll also learn about the importance of experimenting, managing change, and executing a project. Finally, you'll learn how to attract and nurture innovation in your organization.
- Duration: 22 minutes
- Training Credit(s): CPE (NASBA): 0.50 | PDU (PMI): 0.50
Verifying and Building on Creative Ideas
You might not describe yourself as a creative person, but everyday activities – like problem solving or spotting opportunities – rely on your creative thinking and innovation. Originality is key, but your ideas also have to work within real-world constraints.
In this course, you'll learn about the different stages of innovating and techniques for verifying the workability of your ideas. You'll also discover guidelines and techniques for building on and testing an idea, such as brainstorming. The course outlines when to use research and simulations to check the workability of an idea, and it discusses ways to build on ideas effectively.
- Duration: 19 minutes
- Training Credit(s): CPE (NASBA): 0.50 | PDU (PMI): 0.50
Video
How Diversity Makes Teams More Innovative
Are diverse companies really more innovative? Rocío Lorenzo and her team surveyed 171 companies to find out -- and the answer was a clear yes. In a talk that will help you build a better, more robust company, Lorenzo dives into the data and explains how your company can start producing fresher, more creative ideas by treating diversity as a competitive advantage.
- Duration: 11 minutes
- Training Credit(s): n/a
Bundle
Accountability
Employees must assume personal accountability for the outcomes of their choices and actions. Develop a culture of accountability with your team. A culture of accountability is one in which you are able to trust your employees to bring their best work to the table. Discover why promoting accountability and ownership in the workplace is essential.
Course
The Building Blocks of Building Trust
Who can I trust around here? This is a more common workplace question than most of us might like to admit. Building relationships and trust within professional networks is done like a mason building a wall – one stone at a time. Trust is a core ingredient in positive relationships. Without it, the mason's wall takes on a whole new analogy – a barrier, with no gate for entry.
This course explores trust, what makes you and others trustworthy, and how to demonstrate trustworthiness through your own professional accountability.
- Duration: 23 minutes
- Training Credit Hours: PDU (PMI): 0.50
Webcast
Crucial Accountability
"Crucial Accountability", presented by Justin Hale, VitalSmarts Master Trainer
Justin has presented to audiences across a variety of industries and organizations, helping them learn and apply practical skills. He addresses audiences on bridging generational gaps using Crucial Conversation skills. Above all, he believes learning should be fun and practical. One of the key subject matter experts on the VitalSmarts development team and VitalSmarts virtual training guru, Justin has led the effort in virtual development and instruction, and seventy percent of attendees rate his virtual courses as equally engaging as or more engaging than face-to-face training they’ve attended.
- Duration: 60 minutes (1 hour)
- Training Credit Hours: n/a
Bundle
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Courses and CSU webcasts that focus on promoting equity and diversity in the workplace, challenging our unconscious biases, and appreciating cultural differences.
Moving Beyond Bias
Moving Beyond Bias is a 5-module online series on Implicit Bias designed specifically for California State University & University of California employees.
Modules:
- Overview and the Science of Bias
- Socialization and Prevalence of Bias
- How Bias Affects Behavior, Opportunity, & Outcomes
- Individual Level Strategies
- Institutional Strategies
- Duration: 145 minutes (~2.5 hours)
- Training Credit(s): n/a
Course
Workplace Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Action
A diverse and inclusive workforce is a business and human imperative. Regardless of your role or the size of your organization, everyone can play an active role in fostering diversity, equity, and inclusivity. Future business growth and success depend upon embracing inclusion and eliminating bias and discrimination in the workplace. However, for many organizations, building cultural and business practices that embrace workplace diversity can still feel elusive. Besides hiring diverse talent, what more can we do? This course is your guide to defining diversity, equity, and inclusion and advancing meaningful and impactful diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in your workplace. In this course, you'll learn to recognize key characteristics of DEI and practices for building and sustaining a healthy DEI culture. You'll also learn to identify behaviors that signal a breakdown in achieving an inclusive culture, key elements that enable diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging to take root, and the steps for demonstrating agility and resilience in your DEI journey.
- Duration: 31 minutes
- Training Credit(s): CPE (NASBA): 0.50
Your Role in Workplace Diversity
To understand and appreciate diversity in the workplace, you must develop a deep understanding of yourself, as well as any unconscious bias you may have. Your ability to use a variety of strategies to effectively deal with diverse situations is very important. Equally important is the ability to share these effective strategies openly and leverage the diversity that exists within an inclusive organization. In this course, you'll explore how to become aware of your attitudes toward diversity, understand the source of any cultural bias you may have, and increase your acceptance of diverse cultures, people, and ideas. You'll also discover how to become an advocate for diversity and inclusion within the workplace.
- Duration: 22 minutes
- Training Credit Hours: CPE (NASBA): 0.50 | PDU (PMI): 0.50
Video
Don't call people out -- call them in
We live in a call-out culture, says activist and scholar Loretta J. Ross. You're probably familiar with it: the public shaming and blaming, on social media and in real life, of people who may have done wrong and are being held accountable. In this bold, actionable talk, Ross gives us a toolkit for starting productive conversations instead of fights -- what she calls a "call-in culture" -- and shares strategies that help challenge wrongdoing while still creating space for growth, forgiveness and maybe even an unexpected friend. "Fighting hate should be fun," Ross says. "It's being a hater that sucks."
- Duration: 14 minutes
- Training Credit(s): n/a
Webcast
An Everyone Culture, Creating A Radically Inclusive Growth Culture
What happens when an organization does everything in its power to create a culture in which everyone—not just select “high potentials”—could overcome their own internal barriers to change and use errors and vulnerabilities as prime opportunities for personal and organizational growth?Discover the underlying science at the heart of DDOs (Deliberately Developmental Organizations) —from their disciplined approach to giving feedback, to how they use meetings, to the distinctive way that managers and leaders define their roles. See how the culture you create is your strategy—and that the key to success is developing everyone.
- Duration: 54 Minutes
- Training Credit Hours: n/a
Article
Helping others, helping ourselves
Psychologists are studying why people volunteer, and how organizations can hold on to volunteers in the long term.
Selfless volunteering might lengthen your life, research suggests
People who volunteer may live longer than those who don't, as long as their reasons for volunteering are to help others rather than themselves, suggests new research published online in the APA journal Health Psychology.
Volunteering 101
How do you find an area to lend your expertise-one you'll enjoy and you know will make a difference? Veteran volunteers offer some advice.
Why Civic Engagement Matters - National Civic League
Video
The ABCs of Inclusive and Equitable Engagement
During this webinar we discussed the myriad of considerations–convener, time, location, language, etc.–that need to be addressed to ensure engagement efforts are inclusive and equitable. Registrants will also learn about strategies and best practices for equitable and inclusive engagement, with a few examples from communities successfully doing this work.
- Duration: 1 hour
- Training Credit(s): n/a
Article
Sustainable Living Tips
At Conservation International, we're working hard to protect nature — but we can’t do it alone. While we need drastic and immediate action by governments and industries on a global scale, individual action is essential — and it adds up to major improvements for the planet.
Bundle
Sustainability
Sustaining the ability of natural systems to continue to provide the natural resources is becoming more important than ever. Sustainability is a term that has grown in popularity and has become a catchphrase for green business practices that has been incorporated into many corporate strategies. See how companies achieve sustainability in their operations.
Video
Promising Practices Webinar: Embedding Engagement in Climate Policy
This webinar featured a new report making the case for ambitious climate policy that builds upon the best models of engagement and collaboration.
- Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes
- Training Credit(s): n/a
Course
Building Shared Understanding across Cultural Divides
Building good working relationships with any colleague takes time and effort, but when colleagues are from different cultures, creating productive relationships may be more challenging. Cultural differences can impact communication and even steer it away from the intended purpose. When you compound cultural differences with the need to communicate virtually, achieving effective communication becomes even more formidable. In this course, you will learn communication strategies that will help you to effectively build and maintain relationships with culturally diverse colleagues around the globe. From building initial rapport to sharing information, brainstorming, and preventing conflicts, you'll be able to recognize behaviors that will enable you to communicate effectively and achieve your business goals.
- Duration: 26 minutes
- Training Credit(s): CPE (NASBA): 0.50
Listed below are just a few resources to support your health and wellness. Please click the button for a more comprehensive list of resources.
Article
7 Ways to Practice Emotional First Aid
Psychologist Guy Winch lays out seven useful ways to reboot your emotional health
The 10 Best Exercises To Do At Your Desk
Forbes article on 10 ways to fit in exercise at your desk.
Bundle
Mindful Meeting Exercises
Dr. Crystal Miller presents Mindful Meeting Exercises, designed to provide a deeper sense of well-being and connection. These exercises are 5-10 minutes in length and can be done either individually throughout your workday or in a meeting with your team or group.
Positive Psychology
This bundle contains courses, webcasts and videos to explain how optimism and positivity can drive satisfaction and engagement in our personal and professional lives.
Course
Coping with Stress and Uncertainty During COVID-19
This course covers steps to improve emotional well-being., and ways to identify emotional triggers while offering coping techniques to help manage our reactions during these stressful times.
Video
The Brain Changing Benefits of Exercise
What's the most transformative thing that you can do for your brain today? Exercise! says neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki. Get inspired to go to the gym as Suzuki discusses the science of how working out boosts your mood and memory -- and protects your brain against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.
Webcast
Fostering Wellness Starting With The Brain
Fostering Wellness: Starting with the Brain, presented by Dr. Donna Volpitta
It's no secret that people are struggling. We need to understand how to build resilience and foster mental wellness in our families and communities. During this session, you will gain a brain-based understanding of the "why" behind behaviors, confidently reinforce healthy, mindful decision-making, develop a common language and strategies for discussing difficult situations, aiding in conflict resolution and prevention. Learn about The Resilient Mindset Model, Mental Health Literacy and Brain-based Leadership.
- Duration: 60 minutes (1 hour)
- Training Credit(s): n/a