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Hyperlink Dos and Don'ts
When designing a course, you will 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, who will hear links read 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.
Rubrics as a Tool to Support Equity and Inclusion
While student populations have become increasingly diverse, many groups, including first-generation, non-native English speakers, and individuals with disabilities, still face barriers and bias that can derail their success in college (Super et al., 2020). Traditional grading practices—including penalties for late work, writing in dialects other than standard English, and even plagiarism— are prone to bias and only perpetuate disparities, the research says (Feldman, 2019; Savini, 2021).
Inclusive Texts
Today’s students are diverse and include marginalized groups that have historically been excluded from mainstream education (Ladson-Billings, 2013). In 2021, students of color comprised upwards of 40% of the 15.4 million undergraduates enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities (Nam, 2023; National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). Gloria Ladson-Billings, whose work centers on culturally relevant pedagogy, argues that diverse students require inclusive learning to succeed. “[These students] do not fit neatly into the rigid categories of race, class, gender, or national origin” upon which hierarchies of the past have been built (Ladson-Billings, 2013, p. 5), so authentic representation of diversity in higher education is critical. Adrienne Keene, an assistant professor of American Studies at Brown University, writes that instructors can do their part to support underrepresented students by being honest about their own bias and blind spots, critiquing their course materials, and integrating meaningful representations of diversity into the curriculum (Fuchs et al., 2020; Keene, 2015).
Improving PowerPoints
Sharing information via PowerPoint presentations is a long-established strategy in higher education. Designing PowerPoint presentations for online courses can pose unique challenges; however, best practices can help overcome these hurdles. With time and attention, faculty and instructional designers can create engaging and purposeful presentations with lasting value.
Case Studies in a Multimodal Course
Case-based learning allows students to develop higher-order critical thinking, problem-solving, synthesis, analysis, and communication skills by engaging with a realistic scenario in service of practicing course skills and concepts. Case studies are valuable tools for any class that combines asynchronous and synchronous learning. Indeed, some research (e.g., Webb, Gill, & Poe, 2005) suggests that a multimodal delivery model may be ideal for case study-based work, with the combination of synchronous and asynchronous elements enabling students to participate more fully in cases. In the first half of this piece, we outline some key considerations for using case studies in a multimodal course. In the second half, we make targeted recommendations for effectively prepping, facilitating, and reflecting on your multimodal case studies.
Using YouTube in Your Course
The vast majority of instructors (97%) claim that video is “essential” to students’ academic experiences (Kaltura, 2022). However, it can be difficult for faculty to find the time and motivation to create high-quality instructional videos, leading them to source third-party videos from the internet. With countless videos being uploaded every day, YouTube is a logical choice for finding free, relevant, and engaging educational content. This post discusses some of the key factors to consider when utilizing YouTube to supplement the learning materials in your course.