Join the Office of Digital Accessibility and Center for Online Learning, Research, and Service to learn about creating accessible web links in Microsoft Word and Canvas courses.

Zoom link

Supporting Mental Health on Campus

Join Dr. Bethany Bilyeu, Executive Director of Student Support Services, for an informative session on how to support mental health on campus. Mental health issues are on the rise and this training session will provide you with the basic skills to respond to a person in need. This session will also cover the process of addressing and supporting student mental health.

Zoom Meeting

Engaging Your Online Students: Practical Strategies for Success

Join us for an insightful workshop focused on effective strategies for engaging online students. Dr. Serkan Karadas, recipient of the 2024 Burks Oakley II Distinguished Online Teaching Award, will share practical approaches he uses to foster interaction, participation, and engagement in his finance and economics courses. From utilizing videos and surveys to incorporating experiential learning opportunities, Dr. Karadas will provide actionable techniques you can implement in your own online teaching.

What are Regular and Substantive Interactions in Online Courses?

Central and Southern Illinois Faculty Development Network

Explore ways to increase interactivity and engagement within your online courses, while also meeting federal regulations for distance education. Regular and substantive interaction (RSI) is a federal requirement for all online courses that distinguishes “distance education” from “correspondence education.” Come and learn what constitutes RSI and how you can build RSI into your courses to increase interactivity and engagement.

In October, the Office of Digital Accessibility (ODA) and COLRS will share an accessibility tip on writing and including alternative text for images in Microsoft Word and Canvas content.

Join us to learn about creating useful alt text for images.

Zoom link

Have you been thinking of adding or updating your Canvas home page? Implementing the Canvas Syllabus template? Join us to learn how to add and customize Design Plus Templates to add structure and visual elements to your Canvas course.

Join the COLRS Zoom Meeting

Building a Badging System for Student Success

Central and Southern Illinois Faculty Development Network

How exactly do skill badges help students reach career success? It turns out there's more than one right answer!

Helping Faculty Embrace New Digital Accessibility Guidelines

Central and Southern Illinois Faculty Development Network

Join us to learn more about the new Title II digital accessibility regulations that are designed to provide students with equal access to online content, including course materials. Discuss how to support faculty as they create inclusive and engaging learning environments for all their students following these guidelines.

Presenters: Dr. Carey Applegate, Director Office of Digital Accessibility, University of Illinois Springfield

Autism in Classes - Recognizing the Signs, Supporting the Person

Join Dr. Jonathan Pierce, Assistant Director of International Recruitment, for an informative session on how to support and accommodate autistic students in your classroom. Autistic and other neurodivergent students often face challenging obstacles in life, including in their academic pursuits.

In case you missed it, last week the Office of Digital Accessibility (ODA) and COLRS shared an accessibility tip on Color contrast in files and Canvas content.

Several aspects need to be considered when we talk about color contrast, including: ratios, text size, images of text, and non-text guidelines.

Join us to learn how to check for successful color contrast and fix issues in PowerPoint and Canvas.

Zoom link