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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).

Accessible PDFs

June 14, 2024
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.

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, Goff & Dej, 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.

Navigating Late Policies Online

November 03, 2022
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, then, it is a good idea to share a late policy that clearly communicates your expectations for student submissions (Santelli et al., 2020, p. 38).

No Sweat Alt Text

September 24, 2021
What is “alt text”? Alt text is descriptive text linked to an image, graph, or other visual content that allows users to understand the visual without viewing it. Any image online should contain alt text, but guidelines differ depending on whether the image is simply decorative or related to other content on the page.

Formative Assessments

October 14, 2022
Formative assessments encompass a broad range of low-stakes activities aimed at improving student learning outcomes. In contrast to summative assessments, which are intended to measure products of student learning, formative assessments are oriented towards the learning process itself (Black & Wiliam, 1998). They can provide students with opportunities to evaluate their developing understanding of key concepts, practice new skills, and prepare for summative assessments (McLaughlin & Yan, 2017; Orange, Agak, Okelo, & Kiprotich, 2018). They can also provide instructors with valuable data on student progress (Bell & Cowie, 2001; McLaughlin & Yan, 2017). The results of formative assessments can indicate where individual students are struggling or excelling, allowing instructors to provide targeted feedback and tailor their instructional delivery accordingly.

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.

Accessible Use of Color

November 16, 2022
Some students (older learners, learners with partial sight, learners with colorblindness, and learners using monochrome or text-only displays) have difficulty perceiving color. To ensure that course content is perceivable to all learners, you should follow guidelines for color use that have been established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the organization responsible for international standards of web accessibility, including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Three essential WCAG requirements, known as success criteria, are summarized below.

Accessible Use of Text

November 16, 2022
Students with diverse cognitive, linguistic, and academic abilities benefit from accessible text. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) establish numerous requirements (known as success criteria) to ensure that text is perceivable, operable, and understandable to all users. This guide synthesizes the essential criteria related to text accessibility. Following these guidelines when creating course content, such as documents, slides, and pages in the LMS, will help you eliminate potential barriers for your learners.