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presentation
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Presentation Best Practices Guide
December 28, 2022
Many online courses focus on written communication skills, featuring discussion posts, papers, and case study reports among other assignments. However, oral communication and presentation skills are just as integral to students’ success, and, indeed, many employers list presenting as one of the most desirable skills for job candidates (Suhadi et al., 2021).
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Written Assignment Best Practices Guide
March 03, 2023
Formal writing requires a sustained focus on content and close attention to detail. For these reasons, written assignments can be an effective assessment tool in graduate courses when they are thoughtfully and purposefully designed. This guide provides recommendations for faculty who are looking to harness the pedagogical benefits of written assignments.
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peer review
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Peer Review Best Practices Guide
October 21, 2022
Peer review is an active learning technique in which students evaluate peer assignment submissions and provide each other feedback. There are several benefits to using peer review in a course, including increased attention to detail and quality and engagement in constructive critique (Chong et al., 2012). Peer review may also help students develop effective problem-solving strategies (Wagner & Rutherford, 2019). Peer reviews can impart cognitive benefits for both students who conduct reviews and students who receive peer feedback (Knight & Steinbach, 2011). When implemented effectively, the peer review process equips students with valuable feedback and promotes classroom community.
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Students collaborating around a table
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Student-Generated Content
September 28, 2023
Student-generated content—materials and tasks created by learners for other learners—can strengthen engagement by providing students an opportunity to express creativity, practice critical thinking, and increase ownership of learning. Developing student-generated content requires learners to produce an instructional artifact, demonstrating new knowledge alongside existing understanding. Student-generated content can include a variety of formats:
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Two people interacting with a calendar, a stopwatch, and a list of goals
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Introduction to Competency-Based Education
February 18, 2025
As higher education evolves to meet the needs of today’s diverse learners, competency-based education (CBE) is gaining traction for its student-centered approach and promises of affordability and workplace preparation. According to a 2020 survey, 128 unique institutions were operating a total of 1,057 CBE programs between 2018 and 2020, and 82% of responding institutions expected CBE programs to grow further between 2020 and 2025 (American Institutes for Research [AIR], 2021). While interest in CBE may be growing, most institutions remain in the early planning stages.
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online discussion
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Discussion Best Practices Guide
November 16, 2022
Discussions are an impactful way to build engagement and discourse in asynchronous online courses. When properly designed, discussions can encompass the three pillars of engagement: student-content, student-student, and student-instructor. Asynchronous discussions allow students time to reflect prior to participating, which can lead to deeper insights and richer discourse. Moreover, when participating in discussions, students have the opportunity to collaborate with others, participate in an online learning community, and gain insights from others’ unique experiences and perspectives (Ransdell et al., 2018). Facilitating multiple types of engagement in an online course can improve student motivation, satisfaction, and achievement (Dailey-Hebert, 2018).
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Young adults participating in hybrid learning
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Multimodal Models
December 29, 2022
Designing a successful multimodal course means, at each step of the process, considering what each format does well—structuring the course such that each piece of content, each activity, and each interaction uses the most effective delivery method available. But what does that look like in practice? This piece describes three approaches to structuring a multimodal course. In each model, asynchronous and synchronous time complement one another and support module- and course-level objectives. Where the models differ is in the relative importance of asynchronous activities in enabling students to complete synchronous activities and vice versa.
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A large desktop computer and a person sitting at a desk with a laptop
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Administrator Needs: Standardizing Elements of a Digital Learning Program
August 27, 2025
As an administrator or department chair, you are in a unique position to shape an online program and establish programmatic requirements or recommendations. This is because you have been tasked with taking a broader view of the program, focusing not only on individual course development (as a faculty member might) but also on how an array of courses must be cohesively united to achieve certain goals, values, and accreditation standards. To that end, this piece focuses on why consistency across a program is integral to program quality and student success, and therefore why it falls within your purview to consider standardizing certain elements, requirements, and design choices across all courses in a program.
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An instructor engaging with various facets of artificial intelligence
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Artificial Intelligence and Online Learning
September 10, 2024
Higher education institutions are racing to keep pace with the disruption caused by artificial intelligence (AI) tools. A 2023 QuickPoll survey by Educause found that 83% of higher education stakeholders believe generative AI will "profoundly change" the sector over the next three to five years. Additionally, 65% agreed that "the use of generative AI in higher ed has more benefits than drawbacks" (McCormack, 2023, Table 1). While institutions are exploring AI's potential in areas such as admissions, enrollment, administrative duties, scheduling, and institutional data research, this piece focuses on the overarching risks and rewards AI presents in teaching and learning.
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A group of people surrounding a structure made of gears
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Competency-Based Education as a Workforce Development Strategy
June 17, 2025
This piece is part of a series exploring competency-based education (CBE). This piece explores the relationship between CBE and workforce development, including key considerations and challenges.
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