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Do you have an idea for video content for your classroom? A lecture you want to deliver in a different way? A lesson plan with interactive elements?
What if you already have video content online, but you’re not sure it’s what you need? Maybe the sound quality isn’t what you think it should be, or it’s missing some graphic elements that could enhance the viewing and learning experience.
As faculty, you are incredible instructors and subject matter experts, and your online courses embody the rigor and relevance paramount to our institution. We want your unique voice to be at the center of the courses you teach.
DesignPLUS Toolbar for Canvas
Design PLUS is a toolbar from Cidi Labs that allows instructors to create highly customizable and accessible pages that can be used for assignments, content, and course homepages.
Communicating with Learners
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.
Assessing Learners
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.
Engaging Learners
What student engagement looks like:
In a study for Online Learning, 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:
Advanced Accessible Course Design
Elevate your course design expertise with our “Advanced Accessible Course Design” lunch & learn. Explore ways to make Word and PDF documents accessible for all learners, and work with us to implement WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines in your course content.
Introduction to Accessible Course Design
Join our “Intro to Accessible Course Design” lunch & learn to gain insights into how to make your online course content accessible. Learn about newly proposed Title II regulations, discuss the POUR principles, and experiment with accessibility features in Kaltura and PPT.