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Hyperlink Dos and Don'ts

December 12, 2022
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.

Course Facilitation Plan

April 10, 2023
Wondering how to stay on track in facilitating your online course? The Course Facilitation Plan can help! The document below has spaces for brainstorming what your approach will be to a range of actions, from welcoming students to the course to grading and consulting LMS analytics. For more help ensuring you're ready to facilitate your course, see the Course Facilitation Checklists.

Course Facilitation Checklists

April 10, 2023
Preparing to facilitate your upcoming online course? This checklist can help! With a short, specific list of actions to take just before and just after course launch, you won't have to worry that you're overlooking something important. For more help mapping out your facilitation goals, see the Course Facilitation Plan.

Representation in Course Images

September 27, 2021
How many times have you looked at an image and thought, “Have I seen this before?” Chances are, if you are browsing a stock photo site, it’s often. That feeling of déjà vu occurs because images reflect an amalgam of artistic, cultural, and ideological influences (Hall, 2015).

Leveraging CSV Downloads

April 29, 2024
The majority of an online instructor’s course facilitation will occur within the learning management system (LMS). However, there are some tasks that can be improved or streamlined by downloading comma-separated value (CSV) files from Canvas. Running an online course requires balancing a lot of names, assignments, and deadlines, so using Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or another spreadsheet software can assist with course management.

Enhancing Quantitative Courses With Varied Learning Approaches

August 20, 2024
Employing a variety of modes of instruction and assessment, as recommended by Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, can enhance the learning experience for students in quantitative courses. Diverse elements such as visual aids, interactive features, and real-world applications can complement, extend, or replace traditional lectures and exams. Since classes consist of students with varying learning preferences and strategies, using multiple modes of representation in a course promotes deeper understanding, engagement, and skill development. This piece details design elements that can be particularly impactful in quantitative courses.

Engagement Series: Introduction

April 26, 2024
There are many components to consider when developing an online course; a key framework to inform course development is student engagement. The Glossary of Education Reform defines student engagement as “the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught, which extends to the level of motivation they have to learn and progress in their education” (Great Schools Partnership, 2016, para. 1). Developing and evaluating course content through the lens of engagement can help instructors create an environment that is conducive to learning and mastery of course outcomes.

Engagement Series: Student-Content Engagement

September 25, 2024
This is the second in a series of pieces exploring different types of course engagement. This piece focuses on how course developers and instructors can foster student-content engagement in online courses.

Enhancing Student Learning Through Course Consistency and Accessibility

October 04, 2024
Course developers (those who build individual courses) play a crucial role in the success of an online degree program by providing expertise and bringing unique perspectives. Accordingly, it is valuable for faculty to customize their course spaces by infusing them with their own knowledge and personality. At the same time, it is also crucial to prioritize structural consistency within and across courses in an online program, as course consistency is a key aspect of accessibility and a key contributing factor to student success. In particular, students must be able to perceive, operate, and understand the course and course materials using program-standard devices and certain assistive technologies, and this should be true across all of the courses in a program. This is where program chairs and administrators can help support faculty in standardizing key elements of courses to facilitate a seamless student experience. In this piece, we discuss how maintaining structural consistency within and across courses can positively impact accessibility.

Using PowerPoint in a Video

September 22, 2022
The familiarity and ease of PowerPoint make it a natural choice for creating instructional videos. After all, your energy is better spent on planning and recording videos than on learning a new tool. However, creating quality slides still requires significant time and attention to detail.