The World Health Organization notes that approximately 1.5 billion people globally live with hearing loss, approximately 500 million of them experience disabling deafness and hearing loss. Hearing health is important for overall well-being and allows a person to fully participate in their community. Assistive technology is one way to help with hearing health. 

Apple has introduced new AirPods equipped with built-in hearing aids aimed at individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss. Users can take hearing tests on iPhones or iPads running iOS 18, allowing the AirPods to make real-time adjustments to enhance sound based on personalized needs. This feature helps users engage better in conversations and stay connected to their surroundings. The tests take about five minutes, and results are securely stored in the Health app. 

Apple aims to raise awareness about hearing health and provide customizable tools for users, reinforcing its commitment to accessibility across diverse hearing needs. 

Read the full article. 

Visit our ALS Information for Faculty website to learn more about extension accommodations. 

Please email us at accessible-learning@humber.ca with suggestions for key accessibility-related topics that you would like us to address through the Communiqué.

Help us promote it!

At Humber, student success and retention are institutional priorities; understanding our students is essential to provide focus for student success initiatives. Every year, three in four incoming students successfully complete their first year. However, one in four leave the college within the first year. It is imperative that Humber is able to identify students at risk of attrition and initiate timely interventions.

The Humber Student Success Survey (HSSS) is one means of identifying students at risk. The survey is administered each year to students in all semesters. The four purposes of the survey are:

• To understand our diverse student population in terms of sociodemographic and other factors (e.g., culture and ethnicity, sexual identity, disabilities) so that we can assess the extent to which we are meeting their needs;
• To understand students’ academic and career goals and the extent to which we are meeting them;
• To identify students who may be at risk of attrition; and
• To gain a broad understanding of students’ support needs to allow for service planning and resource allocation.

All students will receive their personal survey through email on Thursday, October 24. Students will also receive a personalized invitation to complete the survey on their Blackboard ‘Activity Stream’ titled ‘Important: Humber Student Success Survey’. The survey will remain open until Friday, November 8.

Please help us to ensure a strong response to this survey by encouraging students in all years and full-time programs to complete the survey so that we can continue to make a positive impact in their success.

Thank you in advance for your support.

The Centre for Innovation in Health and Wellness (CIHW) is accepting registrations from faculty and staff for free Wellness Coaching sessions, starting in January 2025.

Led by the students in Humber's Wellness Coaching Graduate Program, Wellness Coaching uses a strengths-based and non-judgmental approach to support individuals in achieving their goals.

Wellness Coaching can help you set and achieve goals related to:

• Stress management
• Self-care
• Creating life balance
• Developing and maintaining a positive and healthy mindset
• Taking advantage of personal strengths and talents
• Positive lifestyle changes related to nutrition, physical activity, and/or sleep

"I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with my Wellness Coach, and learned so much about myself and my wellness journey along the way.  I was given a lot of great strategies, and clarity on what wellness looks like to me." - Winter 2024 Wellness Coaching client.

Sign-up to today secure your place for January 2025: cihw.online/WellnessCoaching2025

Email CIHW@Humber.ca for more information.

Please share this message widely!

All Summer 2023 courses, including DEVU and SBXU courses, will be removed from Humber systems on Friday, October 25 at 4 p.m.

Why are courses being removed?

Humber removes courses one year after final grades are submitted or courses are created (for DEVU and SBXU courses). For the current Fall 2024 semester, courses from the Summer 2023 semester will be removed. Courses from this Fall 2024 semester will be removed in Winter 2026. PMR and ADR courses are deleted after three years. This is standard practice to ensure we maintain enough space and capacity on the Learning Management System, so these clean-ups are scheduled following good practices for data and storage management.

How do I back up and save my course for future use?

We recommend faculty back up and archive Blackboard courses at the end of each semester. Most course sites take no more than 10 minutes to archive, and OneDrive is readily available to all faculty for file storage.

What if I need help backing up my course?

Support for OneDrive is available from ITS, and support for learning how to back up and archive courses is available from the Innovative Learning Support Centre.