Effective communication is an essential part of building an inclusive and engaged learning community. Communication strategies can incorporate many tools in Canvas, including announcements, discussions, rubrics, and feedback (text, audio, video). Sometimes as faculty, we can focus so much on the design and creation of learning materials that we overlook the the enormous benefits of regular communication with our students.
Assessment is a word that is used a lot in education. A great deal of scholarship focuses on the importance of assessment in higher education. But what do we mean by assessment? Instructors sometimes conflate grading with assessment. It is more than grading. Assessment is the strategic measurement of the extent of student learning in a course. Assessments should link student performance to specific learning objectives and provide feedback to both the instructor and the student on the performance of the student and areas for improvement.
In a study for Online Learning (pdf), Marcia Dixson gives us a snapshot of student engagement in an online class:
Many of us who teach online have been there: all of a sudden, a student stops turning in assignments and then disappears from the course altogether. Or maybe another student posts to discussion boards enthusiastically at first, but their responses slowly trickle into sporadic, barely-there participation.
While we can’t control for disruptive events in students’ lives that might impact their engagement in our classes, we can look at how we intentionally incorporate best practices around engaging students in online learning environments.
Harmonize has added several new features to its enhanced online discussion platform for Fall 2023:
Educating yourself about online or blended learning may seem like a daunting task; keeping up with the technology may seem even more overwhelming. There are many choices when it comes to increasing your knowledge and practical skills in the area of online learning.
Below are some highlights of resources available to UIS faculty on the COLRS Website.
Please contact COLRS for more information or assistance!
We encourage instructors to be explicit about their generative AI (ChatGPT) policy in their syllabus, on assignments, and during class.
Join COLRS staff to learn about navigating the Canvas interface and the foundational tools for organizing and building a course at UIS. Topics covered include: navigating, communicating with students, creating modules and assignments, and gradebook.
When: Thu, Aug 24 2023, 12 - 12:50pm
LOCATION: Zoom https://go.uis.edu/colrszoom
Canvas has released several new features over the last year. We've highlighted the significant feature changes below. Please reach out to COLRS staff with any questions or concerns.
As we design multimedia learning experiences for our students, we need to incorporate what the research tells us about how our students learn best. The fields of education and cognitive psychology have many lessons for us. This video from LinkedIn Learning (UIS subscribes to this resources for all staff and students) does a good job explaining two major lessons we can incorporate into our multimedia design. This includes lecture slides, web pages, or videos -- any format that includes more than one type of media (text, images, or audio).