Description Adult online learners are often non-traditional learners. They excel at multi-tasking, and finding small windows of divided attention learning times as they balance life demands. Attention spans are waning, and the days of fascination with talking head videos have passed. A recent research review suggests that online education videos should be no more than …
Continue reading “Leveraging Lecture Passwords to Humanize your Online Course”
Related Tags:
Engagement,
Humanized Strategies,
Interaction,
Peer-Reviewed Entry
Description As an online instructor, do you feel frustrated when students do not read your course announcements, discussions, e-mails, or other written communication? What if we could capture attention by borrowing online marketing copywriting secrets designed to cut through life’s distractions? Online marketers are copywriting masters. Copy is text-based content that persuades readers to act …
Continue reading “Capture Student Attention with a Digital Writing Makeover”
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Communication,
Engagement,
Interaction,
Peer-Reviewed Entry,
Writing
Description In the COVID new normal, many courses have changed modality or had to displace the face-to-face classroom in an e-campus. The problematic for Humanities courses that heavily rely on research and collaboration is how to redefine the connection between instructor and students, and how to create fruitful research collaboration among students in a delocalized …
Continue reading “Boosting Engagement in Research in a Synchronous Online Foreign Language Class: Using an E-Conference Format, Peer-Reviewing and Pressbooks”
Related Tags:
Assessment,
Cooperative Learning,
Foreign Language,
Formative,
Peer-Reviewed Entry,
Synchronous
Description Discussions in asynchronous online courses provide an opportunity for students to share their thoughts and learn from classmates in a fashion emulating in-class discussions. This allows students to contribute their thoughts and take time to respond to classmates’ comments. In a large enrollment online course, dividing the class into groups provides the opportunity for …
Continue reading “Use Self-Evaluation and Instructor Feedback in Group Discussions to Enhance Participation in Large-Enrollment Courses”
Related Tags:
Discussions,
Facilitation,
Interaction,
Large Classes,
Peer-Reviewed Entry,
Rubric
Description Asynchronous online teaching is fundamentally a communications challenge. What is gained in online learning by extending access through a Web-based LMS is offset by the loss of the immediacy and semantic richness of in-person instructional communication (Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H., 1986; Moore, M., 1993). In online discussion forums, students, in isolation, …
Continue reading “Create Structured Discussion Prompt to Reduce Ambiguity, Reinforce Purpose, and Promote Discourse”
Related Tags:
Discussions,
Interaction
Description Online debates have been found to elicit higher levels of cognitive presence in online discussions versus the more traditional question-and-answer format (Zydney, deNoyelles, & Chen, 2014). This can be explained in several ways. In a debate, students must argue for or against a position, with the intention of persuading others to assume the same …
Continue reading “Incorporate Online Debates to Stimulate Critical Thinking and Engagement”
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Assessment,
Critical Thinking,
Debate,
Discussions,
Engagement
Description When an assignment offers students an opportunity to demonstrate learning through creativity, peer and small group collaboration, integration of technology of choice, and learning by sharing, aligning with student learning outcomes becomes simple. Digital storytelling as a strategy can provide evidence of the integration of complex to simple concepts learned within the discipline, while …
Continue reading “Foster Creativity, Collaboration, and Student Choice using Digital Storytelling”
Related Tags:
Adult Learning,
Assessment,
Collaborative Learning,
Cooperative Learning,
Digital Storytelling,
High Impact Practice
Description Changing the culture of the online university classroom from one of passivity to active engagement requires purposeful planning by the university professor (Kuh, 2005). Related to the so-called “minute paper,” exit slips offer easy, quick, and informative assessments that help encourage student connections to content, self-reflection, and a purpose for future learning (Marzano, 2012; …
Continue reading “Require Online Exit Tickets for Active Engagement”
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Assessment,
Feedback,
Formative,
Image,
Muddiest Point,
Reflection,
Visual
Description Weekly lab reports are an integral part of the foundational engineering curriculum. In many conventional science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula, students are required to write a report after each weekly experiment, documenting the lab process. Recent research by Vargas and Hanstedt (2014), however, indicates limitations of weekly lab reports, including reduced effectiveness …
Continue reading “Strengthening STEM Laboratory Assessment Using Learner Portfolio and Electronic Assessment”
Related Tags:
Assessment,
Critical Thinking,
Engineering,
ePortfolio,
Laboratory,
STEM,
Student Centered,
Writing
Leveraging Lecture Passwords to Humanize your Online Course