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Accessible PDFs
Developing and delivering accessible instructional content—meaning content that students with and without disabilities can readily engage with and use—is essential to the success of an online course. While many accessibility standards and guidelines are broadly applicable, there are also specific considerations unique to different content formats and delivery modes. In this piece, we present recommendations for enhancing the accessibility of PDFs for students.
Accessibility Resources
We've curated a list of our favorite tools and websites that can help you make your course materials accessible to all learners. For an overview of our top tips that support accessibility, see the Envision piece Ten Ways to Open the Gate to Accessibility.
Quantitative Course Best Practices
"What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; what I do, I understand." –Chinese proverb
Developing Instructional Materials
Once you have defined the learning objectives for your course, you can begin to develop assessments to ensure students achieve those objectives. Once you have created assessments, you can begin to develop materials to ensure students succeed on those assessments. This backward design process—which moves from objectives to assessments and finally to materials—is known as learning-centered instruction, and it directs every course task toward the mastery of certain skills and competencies. This blog focuses on the third stage of this process, the development of high-quality instructional materials, beginning with the idea that robust and engaging online courses contain a mix of created and curated content. Below you will find guidelines for creating and curating instructional materials to help you achieve the optimal balance for your course.
Hyperlink Dos and Don'ts
When designing a course, you want to ensure that all students can access the websites and documents that you link. Accessible hyperlinks are particularly important for students with screen readers, which read the links out loud. This piece contains best practices for writing and formatting accessible hyperlinks so that all learners can access the content that you have curated for your course.
Increase Engagement Now
Whether you’re halfway through the term or just getting started, this post presents actionable, simple strategies you can implement immediately to increase engagement in your course.
Managing Files in Canvas
Students and instructors alike benefit from consistent file management in online courses. Ensuring that students can readily locate and access the files they need serves to promote engagement and completion of course requirements. Similarly, consistent file management helps instructors to navigate through and update materials efficiently and to avoid introducing file-related errors. This post outlines recommendations and key considerations for optimizing file management within your online course. While recommendations and considerations related to Canvas-specific functionality are threaded throughout, you will also find broadly applicable tips pertinent to multiple learning management systems.
Developing AI Literacy Across the Curriculum: A Guide for Programs and Faculty
The rapid integration of AI into professional practice across disciplines makes AI literacy increasingly crucial, not just for technology-focused fields but for all areas of study. Even faculty who are skeptical of AI's value need to consider how it's transforming their disciplines. For example, scientific fields are seeing AI adoption in literature reviews, experimental design, and data analysis. In the humanities, AI tools are already being used for textual analysis, translation, and content creation. Creative disciplines must grapple with AI's impact on artistic production and copyright. Professional programs face increasing pressure from employers who expect graduates to understand AI applications in their field.
Navigating Late Policies Online
Late submissions can raise thorny questions for online instructors. While studies show that students who submit assessments before the due date receive higher than average grades, as many as 70% of college students identify as procrastinators (You, 2015, p. 64). Despite instructor attempts to create a manageable workload and motivate students to submit assignments on time, it is inevitable that procrastination, combined with the competing obligations of online students, will result in occasional late submissions. When preparing for an upcoming term, it is a good idea to share a late policy that clearly communicates your expectations for student submissions (Santelli et al., 2020, p. 38).
Updating Your Syllabus
Over time, you may want to make changes to the syllabus of a course. The syllabus documents are saved in the “Files” area (1) of the course. To preserve the integrity of the document, the Word document is located in the “Instructor Only” folder (3), and the PDF is found in the “Documents” folder (2) so it is visible to students.