Last week, I attended the Northeast E-Learning Consortium’s annual conference. One of the sessions that stood out in particular discussed the use of game elements in course design to increase student engagement and motivation, also known as gamification. [Note that this session was not about game-based learning, which involves playing games in a course. Read about the differences between… continue reading
Engaging with students can pose a challenge in an online course, but it is perhaps the most important factor in ensuring student success. Our students report high levels of satisfaction in courses in which they feel “heard” by the professor and a part of a community with their fellow students. For undergraduates especially, feelings of isolation can lead… continue reading
Best practices Turn OFF auto-locking/sleeping Choose “Settings,” then “General” from the left Scroll down to “Auto-Lock” on the right Change setting to “Never” Make sure Bluetooth is turned ON Swipe up from the bottom of your iPad Make sure the Bluetooth icon is highlighted (should look like the icon displayed to the right) If you… continue reading
Preparing students When designing your course, you should consider the technology requirements for students. These requirements must be listed in the online schedule of classes, by your department, in the “Section Notes” field. For example, Section 90 Notes: NEED ACCESS TO COMPUTER W/SPEAKERS, MIC, & WEBCAM. MINIMUM.REQS: WINDOWS XP, MAC OSX10.6 W/FIREFOX V29, CHROME V35 OR IE11… continue reading
How do I add VoiceThread to my Canvas course? Link to an assignment (Graded activities) You can link a VoiceThread directly to a Canvas assignment. When linking a VoiceThread to an assignment, you have several options. The correct choice will depend on how you wish your students to interact with VoiceThread. Add as an external… continue reading
Overview VoiceThread is a multimedia, collaborative tool that allows instructors to upload different types of media–images, documents, videos, slides– into a presentation (called a VoiceThread itself). The instructor and students can then comment on each individual “slide” using text, audio, or video comments. Students can also annotate on the “slide” as they leave their comments,… continue reading
