Our own Abi Johnson has written about the value of ’empathy games’ in teaching and learning: The use of both virtual and physical games in the classroom is well-documented; there are books, essays, and entire conferences on the topic. The theory seems sound: games are made up of rules, a goal, a feedback system, and voluntary participation.1 A classroom, arguably,… Read more →
A branching structure in the teaching and learning process is helpful because it gives students more control over the learning process and the freedom to choose the sequence of their learning. Adult learners like to learn skills that they can see will directly help them on the job. Branching engages students because it allows them to learn the skills they… Read more →
Professional Learning Community Evolving: For the past two summers, Online Learning Services hosted a series of gatherings to explore and discuss issues and opportunities around online teaching and learning. One takeaway, among many, was that faculty who seek to improve their online or hybrid pedagogy, and to better understand the motivations of students who seek online classes, want more frequent… Read more →
Hello and welcome to a new semester, everyone! We’re glad to see you back. 1. Things to Remember You can still merge your courses in Canvas like you did in Blackboard – for more information on that, check out our guide! You have access to 24/7/365 technical Canvas support through the Help menu in Canvas. For instructional design support, reach… Read more →
We here in Online Learning Services get asked, from time to time, for some Canvas “tips and tricks,” or, in simpler terms, how to use Canvas more effectively. Here’s a roundup of some of these ideas! Don’t forget to check out Volume I for our first round of advice. MasteryPaths During your Canvas trainings with us, we suggested you steer… Read more →
I taught online for the first time this summer semester, and it was a whirlwind. I intend to write more of a narrative about my entire process soon, but for now, here are some things I learned the hard way that I hope I can spare you from. Our students use Google Docs. Google Docs does not show them page… Read more →
Last summer, the Online Learning Services team introduced a professional learning community for faculty teaching online to come together over issues of effective and high-quality online development, delivery, and support. We, as an office, didn’t have specific goals – other than getting people together to talk about their practice, to “cross-pollinate” ideas between departments, to hear about how our faculty… Read more →
This March, Abi and Tom of OLS had the opportunity to attend the Northeast Regional Computing Conference (NERCOMP) in Providence, RI. We presented a “sort-of” literature review on using video to reach all types of students. Here’s an abridged version of our talk. Encountering specific challenges with teaching online? Apply UDL to your video content! We know that there are… Read more →
Have you ever gotten a last minute paper, or a a resubmitted assignment and find yourself in need of the Turnitin plagiarism assessment tool for just that one paper? In Blackboard, faculty had a “Direct Submit” option with the SafeAssign tool, but now with Turnitin (which needs to be accessed through Canvas), you can use your sandbox course to create… Read more →
Your friends in OLS conducted a faculty survey to see what you’d like clarity or more information on, and notifications/communicating in Canvas were two of the most-cited topics. Since these topics go hand-in-hand, we created this short video to help you understand the way Canvas notifications and communication work. If you like reading better than watching, keep scrolling for more… Read more →
