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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.
Accessing Open Educational Resources
While Open Educational Resources (OERs) can take on many forms, including assignments, videos, and articles, open textbooks have provided students with more affordable options for accessing and purchasing required course materials.
Copyright
From time to time instructors may want to include in their courses copyrighted materials like images, print content, audio recordings, or videos. The University of Minnesota Libraries define copyright as “the area of law that deals with creation, ownership, sale, and use of creative and expressive works.”
Basic Editing in Canvas
To edit a page in Canvas, simply click on the “Edit” button. Each page contains a variety of editing tools, similar to those found on most word processing programs. The Rich Content Editor applies the principles of a WYSIWIG editor (What You See is What You Get) and uses icons to illustrate the functions. You may also hover over an icon to confirm its function.
Editing Links and Rubrics from Other Courses
Situations may present themselves in which links or rubrics from another course can be useful in a current course. Should this occur, rubrics from other courses can be uploaded into another course. To successfully insert a previously built rubric, please follow the following steps.
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.
Using Hotspots
A unique way to share information, images with hotspots offer online learners the opportunity to interact with course content. Learners can click or hover on particular parts of an image and receive pop-ups giving them more information. Hotspots represent information in a particular context; thus, they fulfill the multimedia principle—use words and graphics rather than words alone—and the contiguity principle—align words to corresponding graphics (Clark & Mayer, 2016).
Game-Based Learning Experiences
Game-based learning (GBL) is a learning experience, or set of learning experiences, delivered through gameplay or game-like activities with defined learning outcomes. GBL is often confused with gamification, which is the application of game elements to a non-gaming experience. GBL engages students cognitively, emotionally, behaviorally, and socioculturally (Plass et al., 2015). Many factors should be considered when designing GBL, including narrative, player positioning, and interactive design (Dickey, 2005).
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.
Data-Driven Insights for More Engaging Videos
Whether designing a fully asynchronous course or a hybrid/blended learning experience, you’re likely thinking about recording a video to explain an idea, tell a story, or demonstrate a skill. And, in many situations, you should (see the Envision piece Video Planning: To Record or Not to Record? if you are wondering whether video is appropriate for your unique situation). Most research shows that online students enjoy learning from video and that it can be an effective way to deliver content. Students often appreciate the opportunity to review material at their own pace and to pause, rewind, and rewatch content as needed (Boateng et. al. 2016; Brame 2016).