This Week in the LEC

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 […]

Collecting course materials for set learning objectives is rather straightforward: Chapter readings, Lectures, PowerPoint highlights or notes, Reference Videos and Reference Links. Passive content is necessary, but how are you engaging students? Have you developed points for students to apply what they’ve learned and grow before being assessed, or does your course consist of passive content followed by quizzes and exams? Student engagement and active learning are important for several reasons; not just to keep students involved, but also to help assess where a student’s knowledge lies at a given point in your course, and whether they have met the objectives set for the content. Engagement and active learning are even more important in online environments where there is little to no direct classroom interaction with students. Active learning facilitates: Engaging students, creating excitement around learning content Teacher to Student feedback, Student to Teacher communication and Student to Student interaction Targeting a variety of learning styles Improved assessment of student progress throughout the course Consider using some of the following methods to build Student Engagement and promote Active Learning, particularly after introducing some passive content in your course: Discussion Boards encourage student to student interactions, debate and critical thinking. Instructor involvement […]

In the digital world we are besieged with news reports almost as soon as they occur. Consuming information online is simple, and we have become accustomed to whipping out our smartphones to swipe, scroll, or click our way through to any desired topic of interest. However, some online searches may not provide credible sources of information. Since the coined term “fake news” has made its way into our common vernacular, it has become critical that learners not only understand the influencing powers of video, but to also use critical thinking skills to recognize the difference between what may be true or misleading in the media. Digital literacy is the ability to use technology to create or analyze information. Digital literacies and informational fluency are skills that students of all ages must learn to be successful in college and at work. Instructors can help learners to think critically about the videos they consume through video assignments.  Please click on the button below to reveal a couple of ways to incorporate video as an assignment through SharkMedia and Canvas. Even though many students today may already be comfortable with producing videos, they could still benefit from honing their productions skills by learning […]

Whether you are developing a new course or using a trustworthy template, you can always look for ways to improve course design and course content. The Course Readiness Checklist is a great guide if you are just getting started to ensure your course includes everything it needs. In addition to the Course Readiness Checklist, this Tech Talk will cover some best practices for Course Design and Course Content. Course Design Ease of Navigation Keep access to content or coursework as simple as possible. Ideally a user should be able to get to any content in 3 clicks or less. Keep your content broken down into small, manageable units or modules. Content should be well organized and easy to navigate. Categorizing your content can help avoid clutter. Content folders could include: Reading Assignments Lecture Materials Supporting websites or activities Links to discussion board threads Assessments Clear Instructions Provide students with clear instructions on how to navigate throughout the course. A first time user should be able to enter your course and immediately see an introduction on navigating course content. The instructions, or a link to these instructions, should be available from the start page. Ideally, a link is also included as a menu […]