Category: Articles

Student engagement is critical to the academic success of students in all modalities of teaching. The BlendFlex Model combines Face-to-Face classroom with Online Synchronous and Asynchronous environments all at the same time.  After you have conquered the technology involved with this model, how do you create engagement with all your students? This article will discuss three different activities that are easy to setup and use that foster student engagement in the BlendFlex Model.   Assessing Students Experience on a Topic Each student has a treasure trove of experiences that they can bring to the discussion. However, you may find that sometimes your students are reluctant to initially express their experiences to the whole class.  When introducing topics you can activate this prior knowledge to begin to stimulate a discussion. Zoom has the perfect tool to get this conversation started; it is called polls. In advance of the session starting you can setup your poll questions. This will allow you to then select the right time in your class to deploy the poll to both online and face–to–face students. To effectively engage your face-to-face students, you can ask them to use a device like a phone, tablet or laptop to login to Zoom and participate along with your online synchronous students.    You can share the results of the poll as a stimulus for discussion. Polls can also be very helpful to understand how familiar the […]

When you plan or design an online course, it’s crucial that your assessments, objectives, and instructional materials align with each other. However, creating a coherent structure isn’t just for your own benefit. It also helps your students and other instructors comprehend why each course component is presented in conjunction with one another. Sometimes you may inherit a previously designed course and are unsure of how much flexibility is granted in the design based on student performance, prior knowledge, and preferences. Supplemental materials can provide instructors a way to fill in perceived gaps within the prescribed instructional materials and can offer instructors additional approaches to motivate students. Complementary supplemental learning materials can also aid instructors with meeting the diverse needs of all learners. What do students desire to be aware of in addition to the given topic? Supplemental resources are the non-required educational materials in an online course. When used effectively, these assets can inspire and transform learning, enhance motivation, and even supply additional assistance for online students who need it. Selecting Supplemental Resources As with all the pieces of an online course, you must carefully select supplemental resources that are in alignment with your instruction. First, consider the context of […]

The transition to online has presented many challenges and opportunities, one of which is the need to include video content in your courses. When it comes to sharing video, the University through OIIT has provided us with several different tools, so how do you decide what is the best tool for the job? We created this handy graphic to help you decide which tool is the best for the job:  The chart above breaks down specific features and specifications for the variety of multimedia options available within the University. Your choice will likely depend on what you need to record for your scenario, and when or how you want to make it available to your students.  Multimedia Scenarios Having Students Attend a Live Session Zoom is the tool of choice to host online meetings or lectures: As a reader of our newsletter you are likely well aware Zoom provides the flexibility to allow participation through webcam/mics, chat room or breakout rooms for activities. For additional information about Zoom, check out the Instructional Continuity Page and the Online Teaching Toolbox from OIIT.  Pre-recording Lectures or Material Using Kaltura Capture, you can record your desktop or applications such as PowerPoint along with your webcam and microphone:   Once you finish a recording, Kaltura Capture can automatically upload your recordings to your SharkMedia account, and those recordings are available to you […]

There is a bright side to every situation. It is just a matter of finding it. For instance, who could predict that we would be making educational history when we embarked on our learning paths this semester? Even though the pandemic we are currently facing has brought along many challenges, it has also given many instructors an opportunity to use technology and truly see how we can stay connected with each other. Now that “we” as a culture are practicing social distancing, television networks are adapting by using videoconferencing applications like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, so their onscreen talents can work from home and for the most part, they look quite comfortable in their own milieu. Video communication can reduce the feeling of isolation and it’s a more intimate form of communication-even in an online course. Keep reading for tips on effective communication in an online course. What has happened currently has impacted us all one way or another.  So, it is necessary to be flexible and create a trusting, warm, and welcoming environment online to make students feel comfortable and willing to communicate with you and their peers. Student engagement is critical in online courses. It is highly important […]

The discussion board is a prevalent tool for online or blended learning. Online discussions offer an opportunity for students to interact with their instructor, other students and course materials. However, you may occasionally find discussion boards are not as effective or engaging as expected. Participation may be lower than anticipated or comments might be low quality. Students could grow tired of posting on discussion boards rendering it less effective as a learning tool. Instructors on the other hand, may become overwhelmed by the numerous comments and may find it challenging to review all of them. This article explores ways online instructors can improve the effectiveness of discussion boards. Introductory Discussion Board We recommend your first discussion board be “Introduce Yourself” or “Meet your Classmates”. This discussion will help everyone get acquainted with each other and get familiar with the use of discussion boards. Consider providing some basic instruction on how to use the discussion boards for those that may be new to the process. This is also a great way to get to know your students. You might use this opportunity to explain how and when you intend to use discussion boards in your course. Clear Directions and Expectations If […]

Ideally, a collaborative team is a “small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goal, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable” (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993 p. 45). However, many students and even instructors cringe when they see the words “group project.” Interestingly, this phenomenon is known as “grouphate.” Grouphate is the sheer dread and contempt that people feel regarding working on a team or group (Sorenson, 1981). Nonetheless, student collaboration can be a great way for learners to connect with experienced professionals and gain insight on other perspectives. Click the button below to read more on how to create palatable collaborations in your online course. Effective collaborative learning helps to improve cognitive skills. Teamwork is a necessary employability skill and extremely crucial in group project-based learning. Learners benefit more from group projects when they are carefully placed into a collaborative team. Although constructing effective groups may be a daunting task in online courses, especially when the instructor does not know the student. There are a couple of approaches that instructors can use to help select group members such as, ask background questions in the introductory discussion board, create a survey, […]

Blogging has been widely used by individuals and businesses for informal postings online. Now, the instructional potential of blogs has been increasingly acknowledged. Blogs can be used as group discussion, peer review and collaborated project. Blogging about a subject is more engaging than simply reading.  Benefits of Blogging for Students   Promote self-expression   Develop analytical thinking  Exercise students’ creativity   Improve students’ writing skills  Encourages the sharing of resources among students and teachers Blogging gives students the opportunities to speak their ‘unique voices’. Students can practice their communication and conversation skills when they comment on others’ postings or reply to others’ feedback on their blogs. Blogging can also help students be courteous and thoughtful.   Blogging develops students’ analytical thinking and increases learning to a higher level, not merely just “understanding” and “remembering” instructional materials. Before their thoughts can be written down, students need to analyze the subject and then clarify their thoughts about the subject. Then, they need to carefully formulate and stand by their own opinions. Blogging encourages students to contemplate how their opinions might be interpreted and reflected upon by others.   Blogging facilitates creative expression when they develop original content and layout of their blogs. Students can be creative in terms of customizing the themes, selecting relevant images or videos, and designing the layout. This is the visual platform in which students can express themselves. Blogging can turn learning into a fun process.   Blogging involves a lot of writing. However, an improvement in writing skills doesn’t come automatically. Instructors need to give explicit directions at the beginning of the project as far as; step-by-step directions on how […]

“Faculty and adjuncts play an invaluable role in connecting students to the institution through communication and interaction with students” (Linardopoulos & Betts, 2011 p.43). Hopefully, you’ve already incorporated some of the tips from the previous tech talks in the introduction and have posted it on Canvas. So, as a new semester is about to begin, and most instructors will have a new group of students in their online classes, it is important to get to know your students by name instead of their ID numbers, and to communicate effectively with them often throughout the semester.  Apart from engaging students through orientation, academic advising and student support services it is critical for online programs to develop and integrate effective communication strategies to connect students to peers, faculty, and the campus (Linardopoulos & Betts, 2011). Constant interaction between the instructor and the students and having interactive communication throughout the semester can alleviate the issue of not being face-to-face. Interactive communication is where the instructor and the students exchange information. It is having an active two-way dialogue that encourages community-building. So, throughout the semester remember to:   Set clear expectations early in the semester.  Create a schedule for interactive involvement.  Respond to students within 48 hours and include some “warmth” in your responses. For example, start by saying “thank you for your email, voice message, […]

Let’s be honest, starting a new semester can be an anxious time for all course participants- including instructors. So, it is necessary to create a trusting, warm, and welcoming environment online to make students feel comfortable and willing to communicate with you and their peers. Student engagement is critical in online courses. It is highly important that instructors be visible and communicate regularly with their students. Savery (2005) mentioned that instructors need to be VOCAL that is: visible, organized, compassionate, analytical and a leader by example. Storytelling- Creating an initial icebreaker discussion board activity is sometimes overlooked, but it really is a great way to “break the ice.” Introduce yourself and ask students to do likewise. This may enable students to feel more comfortable communicating with you and their peers. Tell your story but maintain boundaries that are comfortable for you. Let the students know that you are human and that you were once a student. Apart from your accomplishments, let students know that you are a real person. Record a video of yourself sharing your story of some challenges or struggles that you have experienced. Describe what projects you are working on, books you are currently reading or have read, your […]

We all know that our cars need an alignment service once in a while. But have you thought about the alignment of your course?  Ensuring online course alignment means that all critical course components work together to confirm that your students achieve the stated learning outcomes. You will want to be sure that you have aligned critical course components such as teaching materials, learning activities, assessments, other learning tools. Teaching materials contribute to the learning objectives; Learning activities promote the learning objectives; learning tools support the learning objectives.   Learning objectives form the basis of your course. When you begin the process of creating your online course, the first step is to define learning objectives for the course and then for the Modules, Units or Weeks, depending on how the course is set up. Keep the Learning Objectives Student-Centered  Learning objectives should focus on what students will be able to do, rather than on what the instructor will teach. The learning objectives need to be precisely and clearly stated using concrete and measurable verbs. Objectives that are written with words like “understand”, “know”, “learn”, “realize” are hard to measure. Rather than “understand” we can expect the student to be able to “Interpret”. Instead of asking a student to “know”, we can ask students to “Describe”. These verbs can be measured and require a higher order of thinking on […]