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Common Course Design Questions: See What Your Peers Think
On June 26, thirteen SPS faculty members who will be designing courses for Winter 2018 began the Course Design Workshop, a two-week workshop about creating online learning environments, using the Quality Matters Standards, and designing an accessible course. Throughout the workshop, nearly all of the workshop participants enthusiastically engaged in discussions of effective online course…
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Professional Development Opportunities for Online Instructors
Introduction You may be a seasoned online instructor or new to teaching online. Either way, you’re looking for a professional development opportunity: something to refresh your skills or spark new ideas, a way to connect with your peers, or a way to distinguish yourself in your practice.…
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Vetting Web Tools for Accessibility
Recently, Instructional Technologist William Guth has written about Web 2.0 Selection Criteria, which help online learning faculty and staff select the best web tools for their course. One of those criteria is making sure that the tool is accessible. But how can you find out?…
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USB Mic Comparison
Would you agree that bad audio can ruin a good video, presentation, or recording? Most certainly. A few months back, we identified tools for recording interview audio on the go. Today, we’ll listen to and compare five USB microphones, illustrate their uses in online instruction, and identify a few principles that will help us get…
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Best Practices for Synchronous Sessions
Introduction You’ve built engagement into every corner of your online course. You’ve got ways for students to interact with you, the instructor, through video and audio, assignment feedback, and discussion posts. Students interact with each other in large group discussions and small group projects.…
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Reimagining the 5 W’s: Online Course Quality and Alignment
Introduction At Northwestern, we ascribe to extremely high educational quality standards, and this of course extends to the online courses and programs we design, implement, and maintain for graduate and undergraduate adult learners. But, what does a quality online course look like?…
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Facilitating Online Group Work: June Online Learning Webinar
Instructional Technologist Aaron Bannasch led a discussion of best practices for facilitating online group work during the June Online Learning Webinar. Aaron covered evidence-based reasons for including group work in courses, tips for deciding on group size and composition, and learning technologies to assist students in collaboration.…
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TEACHx 2017 Reflections
Last month, many members of the Distance Learning team attended and presented at Northwestern’s annual TEACHx conference. The conference highlights innovative uses of technology in education, and with most presentations lasting from 15-30 minutes, there’s a lot to see and learn!…
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Best Practices for Communicating With Students in Online Classes
Introduction A recent SPS student satisfaction study asked students to identify ways their academic program could be enhanced. Numerous students suggested making improvements to instructor-student communication and engagement. I know what you’re thinking. Communication should be easy! With digital tools to connect students and instructors, shouldn’t this come naturally?…
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Scripts, Images, Action!: Creating Quality Videos for MUS 370
About the course revision process The MUSEUM 370 – Museum Origins and Issues course is one of three courses in the Museum Studies Online Certificate Program and the first to undergo a revision process. The revision of MUSEUM 370 included conversion of lecture content into combination of rich content pages, audio podcasts, and weekly overview…