SPS Distance Learning Blog

Contributing to the Canvas Community

Posted October 5, 2015 by Aaron Bannasch

Northwestern University Canvas users can use the Canvas Community site to:

• post ideas
• ask questions 
• participate with other members in groups
• and find and comment on guides

Contributions can range in complexity and significance, but each active member helps increase … Read More

Fall Quarter 2015 and IDS Launch!

Posted September 28, 2015 by Christine Scherer

Fall Quarter 2015 started last week, with over a hundred sections of online courses running. Among those courses are the first offerings in our newest graduate program, the Masters of Science in Information Design & Strategy. Students are enrolled … Read More

It’s not just a reading list: Adding context to resources in your course

Posted September 21, 2015 by Jackie Wickham Smith

In the School of Professional Studies, online courses are designed to facilitate three types of interaction: student/faculty, student/content, and student/student. One easy way to increase interaction between students and faculty, as well as students and content, is to add context … Read More

Using Technology To Develop Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

Posted September 14, 2015 by Jessica Mansbach

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is a higher-order cognitive skill that is indispensable to students, readying them to respond to a variety of complex problems that are sure to arise in their personal and professional lives. The  cognitive skills … Read More

Looking Forward to Canvas Commons

Posted September 8, 2015 by Aaron Bannasch

If you’re like me and didn’t have a chance to attend the presentations about Canvas Commons at InstructureCon 2015, you will be happy to know there is an upcoming webinar on October 19, 2015. Canvas Commons: Tips That Can Save … Read More

Yellowdig: September 2015 Online Learning Webinar

Posted September 3, 2015 by Christine Scherer

September’s Online Learning Webinar session featured Yellowdig, a Facebook-like tool for the Canvas classroom. Shaunak Roy, founder and CEO of Yellowdig, joined the Distance Learning team on Wednesday to describe and discuss the merits of the tool. If you missed … Read More

Featured Tech: ThingLink

Posted August 24, 2015 by Jackie Wickham Smith

Is your course visually boring? Are you tired of using only readings and videos to present content? Are you looking for more ways to keep students engaged and add interaction between students and course material?

If you answered yes to … Read More

Seven Resources for Designing with Accessibility

Posted August 17, 2015 by Christine Scherer

The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) presented a number of resources for accessible course design at a recent accessibility workshop. The best of those resources are highlighted here, with information about how each can support designers and faculty in improving course … Read More

Flipgrid: August 2015 Online Learning Webinar

Posted August 11, 2015 by Christine Scherer

The first topic in our Online Learning Webinar series was Flipgrid, a video collaboration tool created and pioneered at the University of Minnesota. Flipgrid allows instructors to interact with students through short and informative self-created video clips. The goal … Read More

NUIT Post Exchange: Designing Your Course with Mobile in Mind

Posted August 10, 2015 by Christine Scherer

This article was originally posted on the NUIT LMS blog on July 27, 2015.

Students use Canvas on their phones. Some instructors do, but many do not. Instructors can make it easier for students to interact with the course via … Read More