December 5

Online Presence and Engagement in Courses – CoI Interactive Map

Teacher and social presence and engagement with other classmates and the course materials continue to be the greatest indicators of success in online classes.

Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework is a framework developed by Randy Garrison, Terry Anderson et al. (University of Calgary) to help the educational experience of e-learning. It is based on the three “presences” in the classroom: social, teacher, and cognitive. There are many ways for teachers to show their presence in an online course. starting with clearly communicated course objectives and due dates, providing feedback in a timely fashion, encouraging discussion within the course, etc.

Click here to access the interactive map (you can click on each term) of CoI framework and learn more.

garrison_anderson_community_of_inquiry

Category: Course Design, Online and Distance Education, Online Teaching Pedagogy | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 29

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Verbs Poster

Global Digital Citizen Team shared a resource that can help many instructors in revising their learning objectives and adding some digital skills to their classroom.

“When using Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy (a revised take on Bloom’s devised by educator Andrew Churches), it helps to have a list of verbs to know what actions define each stage of the taxonomy. This is useful for lesson planning, rubric making, and any other teacher-oriented task requiring planning and assessment strategies.According to Churches on his wiki Edorigami, “Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy describes many traditional classroom practices, behaviours and actions, but does not account for the new processes and actions associated with Web 2.0 technologies …” This means the verbs listed below are applicable to facilitating technology use in the modern classrooms.”

Click here to learn more and download the poster.

blooms-taxonomy-verbs-rev

 

Category: Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 21

“All Aboard” Digital Skills In Higher Education Interactive Map

All Aboard is a project funded by Ireland’s National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning, which aims to identify the wide range of skills and knowledge that students, and all those who work in higher education, will need to feel confident and creative when learning, working and exploring the digital world.

Even though it is Ireland’s national project, as an open source this can be used widely and as a quick reference to the skills faculty and students need and resources they can use. They also wish to collaborate ans seek input and ideas from others who use technology in teaching and learning.

Their goal is to elaborate on:

Digital Skills: Drafting a ‘National Digital Skills Framework’  which is rich, dynamic and community-owned.

Resource Development: Developing and disseminating training materials for self-study; group work; integration into existing programs, graduate attribute profiles; or to support facilitators and trainers.

Digital Badges: Piloting and implementing the use of Digital Badges as a means of recognizing achievement and motivating learners and organizations.

Participation: Running a number of events at local and national levels, supporting those who want to feel empowered by appropriate and creative technology use in teaching, learning and related work.

Click here to get to the interactive map below.

 

 

Category: Online and Distance Education, Online Collaborative Learning, Online Teaching Pedagogy, Open Educational Resources, Spotlight on Ed Tech | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 14

STAR Symposium 2017 – Call for Proposals

STAR Symposium photo credit to: https://mnqm.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/logo2.png

There’s still time to submit a proposal to present at the STAR Symposium! This is a state-wide conference focused on teaching and learning best practices. The all day conference is completely virtual – attend and present from your home or campus office. 

Call for proposals is open until November 21.  All presenters will receive training related to effective web-based presentation.

Share your Ideas

Do you have an innovative approach for engaging your students, managing your classroom, integrating best practices or collaborating for improvement? This is your opportunity to share the innovative work you’re doing at your institution, for your department and in your classroom! The STAR Symposium Planning Committee is seeking proposals  related to best practices and innovation related to teaching, technology, course design, faculty support, etc. for face-to-face, blended, and online courses and/or programs. Check this list for ideas for topics:

– Faculty Development and Support
– Course Design and Delivery
– Grading, Assessment and Feedback
– Student Engagement
– Technology Integration
– Measuring the Impact of Best Practices
– Other Innovations…

The committee is seeking both 50 minute and 25 minute presentations which will be offered concurrently. Individuals looking for information about the types of sessions offered last year are encouraged to review the STAR Conference Guide. (http://bit.ly/STARGuide16)

To submit your proposal, please complete this form. The conference planning committee will review all proposals and will contact everyone regarding the status of their proposal in December.

Registration is open!

Registration for the STAR Symposium is managed by Northland Community & Technical College. To register individuals or a group, use the STAR Symposium Registration Link (opens in a new window). The cost to attend the all-day conference is $50 (presenters pay $25).

Category: Future Trends, Professional Development, Spotlight on Ed Tech | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 26

Setting The Tone In A Brightspace Course With QM Standard One

Photo credit: www.brightspace.com

Photo credit: www.brightspace.com

Yesterday at noon D2L hosted a webinar on using QM™ Standard One in your D2L Brightspace course to set the tone. Three instructional designers from University of Maryland College shared their experience and best practices.

The webinar team has provided a link for viewing the webcast at any time. Click here to access the recording!

Category: D2L Tip of the Month, Online Teaching Pedagogy, Professional Development | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 24

The Write Place Resources

The Write Place at St. Cloud State has updated their resources website. Now it is easily found and easy to navigate.

I would recommend including the link to the Resources page on your D2L course website. Having your own “Helpful Resources” module in a D2L Brigthspace course or including helpful links in your “Start Here/Welcome/Course Information” module provides everything in one place for your students, which gives them more course time and reduces the number of questions/emails you would get as an instructor.

write-place-scsu

And don’t forget our Library Widgets!

Category: Course Design, D2L Tip of the Month, Online Teaching Pedagogy, Quality Matters | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 20

CBE 101: Competency-based Education Lessons

EducationDive newsletter provided a summary about a study on CBE:

  • A new study from the American Institutes for Research outlines the profile of students in competency-based education programs and how they are engaged to participate in the curriculum. But researchers say it is too early to determine the efficacy of such programs on postgraduate success.
  • The study reveals that 68% of CBE programs are comprised of adult learners, with more than 70% of participants having previous college experience. Retention rates in the programs range from 63-80%, while completion rates range between 15-80%, depending on the type of program.
  • With challenges in schedule flexibility and technology to track student performance, CBE still presents as a valuable learning environment, but there is not enough data to suggest that graduates fare better in professional placement or earnings as a result.

However, if you are interested in learning more about CBE and its future, sign up for the five free lessons from the D2L Brighstspace team here.

img-cbe-badgeYou will learn:

  • What is Competency-based Education (CBE)?
  • Who is CBE for?
  • How does CBE work?
  • Where has CBE succeeded?
  • When will I be ready for CBE?
Category: Future Trends, How Does It Work?, Online and Distance Education | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 18

Recorded SIG Webinars

The Minnesota Online Quality Initiative team has updated their list of video resources from the past webinars hosted by the Special Interest Group.

You will find the recording link along with the presenter and webinar description. This is a great opportunity in case you have missed a live webinar but are still interested in the topic. Here are some of the archived recordings:

  • Self-Assessment of Discussions
  • Ten Steps Closer to an Accessible Course
  • Time-Saving Tips for Stressed Out Instructors
  • Just-in-Time Teaching

Just click on the link provided above and choose the title of your interest. Majority of the recordings are about 45 minutes long.

Don’t forget, there is also a Google drive folder with various resources (in Word, PDF, or PPT).

Finally, you can always register for the upcoming webinars here.

Image credit: minnesota.qualitymatters.org

SIG Learning Spaces and Instructional Technology

Category: Accessibility in Online Learning, Online and Distance Education, Open Educational Resources | LEAVE A COMMENT