The United States government states, "Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works." This law was updated most recently in December 2022.
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are freely accessible, openly licensed documents and media. OERs may be an individual module or learning object or entire courses or textbooks. Lower textbook costs have been attributed to increased access and better learning outcomes for students.
At the start of term, we spend a lot of energy planning the first interactions of a course and setting our students up for successful learning – introductions, building community, and understanding outcomes and expectations. Our choices at the end of the term are just as important. Summarizing, reflection, and making connections to the bigger picture are critical for long-term transfer of learning, or applying learning from one situation to a completely different context.
We’ve likely all been there – setting up our discussions for the semester and stuck in an instructional rut: “Respond to this article and reply to two peers.” After several weeks, it can feel a bit boring, even to us as instructors. While a consistent course organization and predictable due dates do promote student success in online courses, we should feel confident in mixing up the format of assignments to add some variety.
Online group work provides several advantages to students. Two major advantages include:
A lightboard is a specialized teaching and presentation tool used primarily in educational and instructional settings. It is designed to help educators and presenters create engaging and visually appealing content while facing their audience and writing on a board.
Reading is a skill that we assume most of our students have, but the truth of the matter is that they often need support to ensure they’re reading critically and not passively.
In order to offer supports for students when it comes to their reading task, we first need to identify the purpose for reading. In order to do so, we can ask ourselves several questions before we assign a reading task:
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.
