Music practice offers insight to improve teaching
Teaching is a practice. We can look to the world of music for advice on how we as teachers can improve our performance in a focused, concentrated and effective way.
Gathering student feedback
Ideas for collecting feedback from your students and how to get them to participate.
Our journey with Quality Matters
UAF’s Master of Education in Special Education program became the first online special education program in the nation to earn the Quality Matters’ Online Program Design Certification. Here’s how they did it and how you can earn Quality Matters certifications for your course or program.
Animate your course banner
The GIF format is ideal for creating animated images and they are commonly used to propagate memes, grab attention, succinctly explain a step-by-step process and otherwise communicate visual information quickly. We see them in news articles, our social media feeds and even in instruction. Is a GIF an element you would consider incorporating into the banner image of your online course?
How to advertise your course
Teaching a new class next semester and want to attract students or need to boost enrollment? This is the perfect time to start marketing your course! This practical Teaching Tip will give you some pointers on how to get the word out about your upcoming course.
Three courses embracing distance students
Nov. 5-9, 2018, is celebrated as National Distance Learning Week. UAF instructors employ a variety of ways to not only include non-local students but to actually use their differing locations to enhance a course. These three classes, in particular, are strengthened by students outside of Fairbanks:
Use streaming video with Kanopy
The UAF Rasmuson Library has made 20,000 films available through Kanopy, a deep well of curated, high-quality content. It has a friendly interface with a watchlist and recommendations to help instructors find films that align with course content.
Integrate interactive video in STEM courses
Interactive video provides an opportunity to merge both instructional and exploratory elements of learning. By employing both visual and auditory elements, interactive video enhances both retention and reinforcement.
Free interactive simulations can enhance STEM courses
Concept comprehension is problematic in intro STEM courses. Digital interactive simulations are an innovative way to enhance student learning.
How to improve course accessibility with Blackboard Ally
Blackboard Ally is now available to UAF instructors. Here are the first steps you should take to make your online course more accessible.
Should You Use WordPress?
WordPress is a publishing platform that provides flexibility for course materials, facilitates open teaching practice, and serves as a public platform for student work. The flexibility of WordPress is one of its strengths, but it also means that the learning curve may feel steep for those using it for the first time. Is it right for your course?
Introducing Blackboard Ally, a new accessibility tool
Blackboard Ally is a new accessibility tool coming to UAF Blackboard on October 6, 2018. It is integrated software that automatically scans your uploaded course files and materials, looking for common accessibility issues. It provides insight into the course’s level of accessibility and feedback on how the content can be improved for better quality and usability for everyone. It will also generate alternative formats on demand using machine learning algorithms. Read on in this Teaching Tip to familiarize yourself with Blackboard Ally.
Make your Google Docs accessible
If you use Google Docs in your online course or share them electronically with your face-to-face students make sure they are readable. Some students use a screen reader to assist them. Here are three tips with the needed steps to make your Google Docs more usable.
Apply Universal Design to your course
Universal Design is a collection of principles for making an experience inclusive for a range of users with consideration to age, ability, size and any other condition that causes them to be more or less successful interacting with the world. It is an approach to design that intentionally means to benefit many individuals and it can be applied to course design.
Three tips to untangle Blackboard notifications
Customizing notifications in Blackboard allows both instructors and students to better manage their online educational experiences.
Clean up and refresh your course today
Welcome to the fall semester. Here are quick tips to clean up your course today. There is one amazing “Wow” item for Blackboard and a few very clear steps on cleaning up your WordPress shell. Feel free to stop into UAF eCampus during Open Lab to learn more.
Housekeeping efforts that return time dividends
The first day of fall semester is next week! This is the second in a series of four Teaching Tips that provide ideas on readying your course for opening day and highlights efforts which will save your class time and perhaps provide more opportunity for deeper learning.
Previous teaching can power current course modifications
The first day of fall semester is right around the corner. This is the first in a series of four Teaching Tips that provide ideas on readying your course for opening day and covers items that require a longer time for planning and communicating to your incoming roster of students.
Improve your course with help from a review rubric
As a new semester approaches you should be thinking about making some improvements to your course. There are many review rubric resources available that will help prompt you into making revisions that will better support your students. This week’s tip will share information about some of these helpful resources.
Ideas for customizing the lab experience
We tend to think that lab courses must march students through a well-rehearsed set of steps that include presentation of theoretical background and foundational concepts, safety considerations for the lab at hand, methods and procedures to be followed, measurement and...Journaling for reflection and critical thinking
Reflective writing can help us carry ourselves through processes of change. Learning is a process of change and research shows that journal writing can support students across disciplines in connecting with and making meaning of their learning.
Simplify video with Kaltura MediaSpace Go
Student-created video is a great way to increase engagement and presentation skills. However, recording and upload options could be simpler. The mobile app Kaltura MediaSpace Go solves this by letting students and instructors upload, view and download video using their mobile devices.
Create mobile-friendly content
Instructors find that more students are using mobile devices to access course content. Following a few considerations for creating mobile-friendly content will not only benefit those who use their phone or tablet for reading, discussing and doing, but is good for universal design for all users.
Pick up Slack
There is no shortage of discussion platforms to choose from if you’re interested in implementing one in your class. Among the available platforms is Slack, a third party communication app that blends elements of chat, discussion board, and social media.
Integrating science, math into arts, humanities courses
Adding transdisciplinary activities in your course may help engage and motivate students to be more successful. Making content relevant to a variety of discipline areas encourages students to be well-rounded and open to new ideas, skills they can take to any classroom and to the workplace. This week’s tip continues the discussion in considering a STEAM curriculum.
Integrating arts, humanities into the science classroom
In order to better prepare graduates for the challenges of work, life and citizenship, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently issued a report urging institutions of higher education to integrate the arts and humanities with science,...Integrating disciplines to help students succeed
Two recent studies from the National Association of Colleges and Employers and the National Academy of Sciences highlight the need to address a more integrative curricular approach to improve competencies desired by employers. In this Teaching Tip, we take a brief look at these two reports and invite faculty to join the discussion on how integration of scientific, technical and liberal arts fields can work to enhance post-graduation success.
Three ways to manage WordPress contributions
If you’ve ever used WordPress in your class as a space for student contribution, you’ve likely wondered if there is an optimal way to see what is being published and who is making contributions. This information is vital in an online course where post and comment activity often happens asynchronously. In this Teaching Tip, we’ll discuss strategies that allow you to track student engagement and interaction.
Three ways to set up your course more efficiently
Teaching online since 2011, Janene McMahan has learned some things along the way. In this tip she shares three ideas for making the best use of your time: set expectations, set up your workspace for good flow, and prep a layout once then replicate it.
Creating a communication plan for engaging students
The summer semester is short. Keeping students engaged and thinking about your course can be helped by creating a regular plan for communication at the beginning of the semester. In this Teaching Tip, we’ll discuss how to create a plan and provide considerations for using Blackboard Announcements to push your notifications out to students.