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No Sweat Alt Text
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.
Five Instructor Feedback Essentials
Providing student feedback is a key component of an instructor’s role and an important part of effective instruction. Research shows that ongoing feedback keeps students engaged and improves their morale, motivation, and learning (Best, et al, 2014). Yet, providing high quality feedback can be a time-consuming commitment, especially in courses with large class sizes or numerous written assessments. Instructors should keep in mind the tools, structure, and best practices that can help them provide feedback.
Incorporating Multimedia in Your Course
Multimedia, which helps create an engaging and interactive online learning environment, has been shown to contribute to improved student performance (Cheng et al., 2009, p. 1). Though many online courses incorporate videos, they neglect to feature other forms of multimedia. And, while videos are a staple of multimedia use, there are other exciting options to consider: podcast episodes, graphics, and animations can all enhance course content, enriching the student experience. To maximize the benefits multimedia can provide, consider including these underutilized forms of multimedia in your course.
Ten Ways to Open the Gate to Accessibility
According to the United States Census Bureau, over 57 million Americans, nearly one in five people in the U.S. population, report living with a disability. To make certain all your students can have a successful learning experience, it is important to take steps to make the online learning environment accessible. Find below ten strategies for making your online course space accessible to all users.
Don't Leave Your Learners Behind: Start Tackling Web Accessibility Now!
If you’re an educator, you're probably familiar with the concept of accessibility, which often manifests in the classroom in the form of accommodations requests to meet specific students' needs. If you're an online educator, you've hopefully heard about web accessibility, which requires adhering to specific guidelines when designing and providing materials via the web, reducing the need for student accommodations by anticipating and removing potential barriers to learning.
Case Study Best Practices Guide
Case studies are an effective and powerful pedagogical tool. They present realistic narratives to students and require them to analyze possible outcomes or solve a dilemma or challenge associated with the narrative, and they are often followed by a series of questions or prompts that ask students to demonstrate their learning. Case studies can be based on real-world situations or fictional scenarios modeled on authentic occurrences. Regardless of the source and format, case studies provide students an opportunity to practice solving problems that they might encounter in the future.
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.
Selecting Images: Personal Experience Insights
In our Personal Experience Insights series, members of the Everspring Learning Design department share first-hand accounts of creating online learning content and meaningful takeaways from their professional experiences.
Representation in Course Images
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).
Enhancing Quantitative Courses With Varied Learning Approaches
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.