Somehow, online course discussions tend to spiral out of control quicker than in-person debates. Whether we can attribute this to the distance between discussants, misinterpreting intentions due to a lack of visual and audio cues, general courage from having digital space between people, or a combination, anyone who has grazed through an online forum understands. …
Diving into a learning management system (like Canvas at Colorado State University) may feel intimidating to many instructors. That’s why instructional designers are here to relieve tech anxieties and help you make the most of the many tools and features available in an online course. Instructional designers provide organized and reusable content, interactive activities, and …
What Instructional Designers Can Do for Your Online Courses Read More »
Just how engaged should instructors be in online classes? Everyone has a different opinion or approach, but research indicates that “instructor presence” is critically important to online students’ success. What exactly does instructor presence mean? And how can you ensure you’re present enough? In face-to-face courses, instructor presence means instructors show up to teach, interact …
4 Ways Instructors Can Better Engage Online Students Read More »
What is this assignment? When is that paper due? What is the late policy? Do you have office hours? Despite having advised students to review the syllabus in order to understand basic course expectations and requirements, I found that I was continually fielding questions like these. It’s not that I minded answering students’ questions, but …
Mobile devices have revolutionized the way we interact and communicate in our personal lives, but have you considered how they have changed academic environments? The use of smart phones, tablet computers, and other small, hand-held, portable devices has increased dramatically in recent years, and a recent survey found that an increasing number of students attribute …
Texting and Teaching: Embracing Mobile Devices as Learning Tools Read More »
Students need to have a voice in online education because they are on the receiving end of the education. Yet, all too often, they aren’t given an opportunity to share their thoughts about a course, content delivery, and overall quality, until the class is over. As an online doctoral student, an instructional technologist working in the …
Making Online Teaching More Effective: Advice from a Student Perspective Read More »
The array of new tools cropping up for use in online and distance courses is dizzying. New learning technologies are buzzing around like busy little bees, pollenating the online learning landscape with nuances and, as some might consider them, nuisances. Despite some of the initial frustrations some instructors encounter with learning them, these new technologies …
New Technology Takes the Distance Out of Distance Learning Read More »
I used to think that a large classroom full of live students was the only place I could be “in my element” as an instructor. I relished being the enthusiastic orator who conveyed knowledge in, what I strived to be, an engaging way. I made sure to probe with questions and stimulate discussion, but …
Redefining Teaching: The Five Roles of the Online Instructor Read More »
Students often bemoan group projects, and with good reason. It’s difficult to work with different personalities and to ensure that every member of the team contributes somewhat equally. But the fact of the matter is, it’s important to practice this in an academic setting, as working in a group is the norm in many jobs. …
One of the more painful experiences in life is listening to someone give a PowerPoint presentation that they read word for word. The process is even more painful if the bullet points don’t “build” one by one (as they should) and the entire screen of text appears at once. Audiences can typically read faster than …
The Power of Narrated PowerPoint Presentations in Online Teaching Read More »
