Meet the learners in UAF’s edX courses
Over 16,000 learners have chosen to enroll in AlaskaX courses from UAF through the edX platform. Learn how these courses are reaching learners around the globe and sharing UAF’s expertise with the world.
What I love about PlayPosit
UAF Associate Professor of Art Mareca Guthrie teaches Beginning Drawing, which consistently has close to 100 enrollments. She has been experimenting with interactive video for several years and shares eight things she loves about PlayPosit.
Addressing discrimination in learning environments
We can never guarantee total safety or know what feels safe to all students. However, we can do our best to promote conditions of relative safety. Why is establishing relative safety in our learning environments so important? Let’s start with an assumption that...Canvas mobile apps for teachers and students
As an instructor, you’ll be able to stay on top of what is happening in your courses and to be able to communicate with your students from your mobile device.
Reinvigorate online discussions with Hypothesis
Hypothesis is a collaborative annotation tool now available in all UAF Canvas courses. Hypothesis merges the tasks of reading and discussion through the act of annotation, allowing students to hold contextualized discussions and share their reading experience.
Innovating through repair
Turning inward as a community, sharing used resources and repairing as needed is an Alaskan way of life. Just as transfer sites are a physical manifestation of this, we can create and find places online that allow us to share and reuse discarded resources for teaching and learning.
Support online class engagement through guided communication
Students are more likely to engage in online courses when they understand expectations for communication. To support course engagement, instructors can create both formal and social discussion spaces, share expectations, and affirm student contributions.
Strategies for better first-week student engagement
It’s the first week of class. Do you know where your students are? It can be a rocky time for students the first week, even for those who are experienced. Here are some tips for helping them get up to speed as quickly as possible.
Quick guide to Canvas
UAF begins our transition to Canvas in earnest this semester. This Teaching Tip is a quick reference guide to help you stay oriented as we make the move.
Communicating to students as UAF adopts Canvas
Both Blackboard and Canvas will be in use this semester. Learn what the university is doing to help students have a smooth semester start, and make your own communication plan.
Make interactive open content for your class with H5P
H5P is a tool you can use to easily create attractive interactive content for your class without writing code. It is integrated into Canvas for quick creation without leaving the LMS.
Transitioning from on campus to online
Your use of Canvas can help you translate your face-to-face course into an enjoyable online experience for you and your students. Here are a few steps to get you started, including how to build a template to use for each week or module and how to add your lectures right inside the editor.
Reimagining feedback to be feedforward
Feedback can be a powerful influence on achievement, particularly when students are able to participate in the conversation. Find out how Canvas allows for quick, easy, personalized ‘feedforward’ collaboration in the gradebook.
Building good instructions in Canvas
Clear, easy-to-follow instructions for quizzes, assignments and discussions within your course are key in guiding learners through the assessments you ask them to complete. Find tips for writing good instructions in this Teaching Tip.
Why should we care about OER?
Around 65% of your students may not purchase your textbook due to cost. This can have a significant impact on their success in your course. Using free and open education resources (OER) can ameliorate expenses for students and help make higher education more equitable for all students.
How to inspire success through student interaction
Get ready to inspire someone to do their personal best this semester. This Teaching Tip includes ideas for increasing interaction in your course. Start with one thing and be consistent. Your choices will impact student learning and achievement. Before the semester,...Skeuomorphism – How to use it or lose it
Skeuomorphism is where an object in software mimics its real-world counterpart. Learning Management Systems are riddled with skeuomorphism and this affects your course structure. Embracing the strength of online courses as learning environments requires the intentional use of skeuomorphism and modern web design.
Ideas for inclusive teaching practice
Inclusive teaching practice involves embracing diversity holistically throughout your course and activities. This Teaching Tip provides some ideas and resources for how to think about your course through an inclusive lens.
The art of the welcome announcement
Sending a welcoming message to students at the beginning of the semester is an important step in designing an effective online course. Intentional design and language choices in the announcement can create a lasting positive impression.
Introducing the online course evaluation rubric
The Online Course Evaluation Rubric serves as a framework for making notes on and progress toward preparing your course for next semester. Several instructional designers worked together gathering important course elements into categories with evaluative statements to jumpstart your review.
What is CircleIn and when will students have access?
UAF is expanding its pilot study of CircleIn, a supported online tool for peer study groups. Starting in fall 2021, CircleIn will be available to all students at UAF.
My course content is in Canvas. Now what?
Blackboard courses are currently being migrated to Canvas to help make the transition easier for faculty. Once there, courses will be ready to teach with some lightweight cleanup.
Understanding content organization in Canvas
Content organization functions differently in Canvas than it does in Blackboard. Students will easily learn to navigate your course when you thoughtfully design how your content is presented.
Creating a learner-centered syllabus
Research shows that a learner-centered syllabus increases positive student perception of the course and instructor, and generally leads to better learning outcomes. Here are specific ways you can update your syllabus to be more learner-centered.
Tips for students using the new WordPress block editor
On May 7, 2021, the Community@UAF WordPress server will be updated to the Gutenberg editor. Here is information to share with students on using the new editor.
Courses on AlaskaX reach across the globe
UAF instructors are reaching a global audience through course offerings on the edX platform. Learn more about developing and delivering AlaskaX courses in this Teaching Tip.
Why do I need to sign in at eCampus faculty development events?
Providing faculty development that is current and useful requires understanding the needs of instructors at UAF. When you reserve a seat, sign in to an event or book a designer consultation, you are relating your email address to that activity.
10 Things I Hate About Online Teaching
Your Teaching Practice is Personal Occasionally, it serves us well to be honest and reflect on our teaching practice in a way that allows for change. 10 Things by UAF eCampus Google Doc for strategies and ideas. Space to Reflect Add notes to each slide. You’ll...Community WordPress sites switching to block editor
eCampus is updating WordPress sites hosted on the community server to use the Gutenberg block editor on May 7, 2021. The Gutenberg block editor is a very different editing experience compared to the WordPress classic editor. Here’s how you can prepare.
End-of-semester checklist to promote student success
At the end of the semester, students may struggle to remember everything they need to accomplish before the break. Here are five things instructors should remind students to do as each semester comes to a close.