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Finish Well

As the semester ends, it can be bittersweet , and we can feel overwhelmed with the tasks at hand. We must prioritize what we do with our 86,400 seconds each day. I want to encourage you to carve out time to collect feedback from your students and to provide a sense of closure. I suggest providing students an opportunity to say goodbye, to reflect on the semester, and to celebrate their accomplishments. Here are four suggestions on how you can finish well.   1.     Farewell Discussion – Create an optional discussion forum as a place where students can share what they learned from the course with each other, say goodbye, or exchange information with other students within the course. This suggestion is a formal way to create a sense of closure. If you build a community of learners, it is only proper to create a sense of closure at the end of the semester. 2.     Exit Survey – Ask students for feedback on their experiences within your course. Ask questions that address the navigation, org
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How to Design Accessible Content

When we design our instruction to build community, we need to proactively reduce barriers to learning so that all students can be engaged. Last week I gave you some resources for making your video content accessible. This week let’s look at some best practices to use when creating materials. Whenever possible, I would recommend that you post the doc or ppt format of your content within your course for students to access.  If your content is an article scan, see if you can find an .html version of the article to use, then reach out to see what resources we have within the library that could be of help. Pdf files are generally less accessible than word documents, and making a pdf accessible takes more time.   Word and PowerPoint both have accessibility checker tools within them that will assess your document, advise you, and correct issues as you go. Here are the main design elements that you need to be aware of for your content to be used by a screen reader.  ●       Name y
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Top Three Barriers our Students Have

“Accessibility sounds like a lot of work. I would love to design my content following the Universal Design for Learning Framework, but where should I start?” I am glad you asked. I would recommend you start with the plus one approach. Take time to review your current course and collect feedback from your students on what you could do to make your content more accessible. Next, set up a timeline for yourself and try to add one new design aspect to your course material monthly. Do you know the top three barriers access services receive from our students here at ICC?  Audio/video with no captions or transcripts. Using special fonts, highlighting, or color coding to represent emphasis or meaning. PDF’s that are not screen-reader friendly. So, let’s begin by providing you with resources to tackle our top three barriers here at ICC. Captioning is essential for someone who is deaf, but do you realize it benefits many others? Did you know that 85% of student populations are usi
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Why Should I Make Content Accessible?

I think a better question is, “Why do you teach?” I teach because I love to share the passion, knowledge, and life experiences I’ve had with others. Why do you teach? We have student learning objectives for each course we teach, from which we design our course material. Making something clear for our students to understand the first time makes it easier on all of us and is part of the universal design process. Making something accessible is part of our job as teachers. Providing clear communication and clear access to the content we provide both online and in a face-to-face classroom helps our students succeed in our classrooms. Accessibility or Accommodation Accessibility is different from providing accommodations. We make an accommodation for an individual student upon their request which is a reactive response. Accessibility is a proactive response; it’s how we design our material to benefit students and allow them to gain access to the material we provide. Both a
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What is Universal Design for Learning?

Engaging Students in the Learning Process Every course we teach is unique and has a diverse population of students within it. Have you ever thought about how to make the material richer for your students? Students differ in learning styles and abilities. By attempting to offer learning opportunities, engagement, and assessment in multiple formats we can help increase the learning and mastery of all our students.  Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a design framework that guides instructors to plan and provide genuine learning opportunities and support for all students. I would assume that you are already doing this within your classrooms, both face to face and online. You have a project for students to complete, and they are given a choice in how they can show what they have learned. Maybe they write a paper, prepare a PowerPoint, create a wiki, vlog, or blog. UDL is an instructional design framework offering flexibility and adaptability to meet the needs of our divers
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Designing and Facilitating Engaging Discussion Online

Online discussions can lead to deeper learning. How? The key is being intentional within the design and facilitation. As we build community within our online classrooms, we want to create a safe space where students can explore ideas and learn from each other. Online discussion boards are a tool that can be used as a meeting place for social interactions among peers, a place for collaboration and exchange of ideas, a medium to pose questions about homework, a place to discuss and review assignments and course content, a way to demonstrate understanding or application, or a discussion record for group work. First, you must decide the purpose for which you will design your discussion. The purpose should align with your student learning objectives for the course. Discussion boards have forums and threads. A forum is the topic of discussion at hand; it is the big picture. Threads are designed to post within a forum. You can design the forum so each student can post the
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4 Tips to Create a Pattern of Communication

One thing you need to determine is how you plan to communicate regularly with your students. I’m sure you have thought a bit about this, but let’s dive a bit deeper. Students often leave their online courses because they feel isolated or become frustrated.  Communication online is different than in a face to face classroom. As an instructor, we need to be deliberate, consistent, and relentless in building student-faculty and student-student relationships. The structure you put in place will help to create a pattern of communication for your students. Here are four tips for communicating well with your students: 1.     Communicate early and frequently ·       This can ease student anxiety and  is the easiest way to show you are present within the course. Send out an announcement in blackboard to the student email on a weekly basis. o    How to send announcements and navigate blackboard:  Video  or  Handout ·       Let students know how and when they can cont
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