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The Importance of a Syllabus
If you have designed or redesigned a course, then you have likely taken part in a conversation about the course syllabus. From these conversations, you know that the course has to have a syllabus prepared in advance, and that the syllabus will be one of the first items in the course that the students review.…
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Canvas Analytics: March 2016 Online Learning Webinar
The March Online Learning Webinar focused on Canvas Analytics. Jackie Wickham, instructional technologist, provided an overview of three different types of built-in Canvas Analytics for instructors: Course Analytics, Course Statistics, and the Student Interactions Report. Analytics for Zaption and YellowDig were also discussed.…
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Announcing the SPS DL Video Recording Studio
A new recording studio will soon open in Abbott Hall. The SPS DL Video Recording Studio provides a space for recording high quality video and audio for use in SPS programs. Request to visit the space using the SPS DL Video Recording Studio Request Form or go to the DL Studio Page to learn more.…
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Increasing Creativity Through Course Design
Part of the mission of the School of Professional Studies at Northwestern is to “support the needs of working professionals to enhance their skills and take on new challenges.” Online courses can achieve this mission by including course activities designed to enhance students’ creativity.…
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The Importance of Style
What is style? For most people, “writing style” refers to the way a particular author writes–short sentences, flowery adjectives, or a conversational tone. Readers could never mistake Shakespeare for Hemingway or J.K. Rowling for C.S. Lewis. For editors, however, writing style means “the rules or guidelines a publisher observes to ensure clear, consistent presentation.” (APA…
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Nebula: February 2016 Online Learning Webinar
The February Online Learning Webinar focused on Nebula, a new tool developed by Northwestern’s department of Industrial Engineering and Management Science in collaboration with Northwestern Information Technology. Nebula integrates with the discussion board in any Canvas course to build a visual network graph of the course discussions.…
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Designing to Promote Instructor Presence and Instructor-Student Interaction
Whatever our role might be in the course design process, we are charged with creating an exemplary learning experience for our adult learners. One way to ensure we create the highest quality and most engaging courses is by designing learning experiences that incorporate instructor presence and encourage student-instructor interactions. …
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Meeting the Accessibility Needs of Adult Students
Adult students have a higher incidence of disability and are less likely to seek accommodations than the general student population. What should we do to support them? Anticipate their needs. Why? The Adult Educator Handbook of Rights and Responsibilities, issued by the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning in 2005, succinctly describes the…
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Word Cloud Activities: Engaging Learners in the Online Classroom
In the online classroom, word clouds can be a fun, simple, low-stakes way to collect and convey information among learners. Of course, there are those who push back on the use of word clouds, like software architect Jacob Harris who says, “word clouds support only the crudest sorts of textual analysis, much like figuring out…
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Nebula: A Graphic Interface for Discussion Forums
Northwestern’s department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences and Northwestern Information Technology have created Nebula, a tool that presents discussion forum activity as a visual network graph. Nebula was developed to increase interaction and collaboration in the discussion board environment. Using Nebula, students and faculty can see the entire discussion board history on one interface.…