Peer-Reviewed Entry Archives - Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository

Use Digital Badges to Scaffold and Guide Student Learning

Description Traditionally, student learning has been recognized and stored through the official transcript. However, transcripts are limited to credit hour instruction and formal learning. Digital badges are a form of digital credentialing that recognizes learning in a range of learning environments and often smaller increments of learning. They have become increasingly popular as a way …

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Using Class Announcements to Make Content Connections Across Weeks or Units

Description This strategy consists of sharing content-related announcements (either via email or through the Learning Management System) to help students see how topics being addressed at various points throughout the term are connected. This strategy is useful because online students value the clarity of information presented in the course (Sheridan, 2010), and courses that poorly …

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Related Tags: Announcements, Content, Online, Peer-Reviewed Entry

Use Discussion Boards, Google Docs, and Pages Tool for Online, Case-based, Collaborative learning

Description Case-based learning is often used in social science classes, as well as in other disciplines. This can be challenging to implement online. By dividing a class into smaller groups, and assigning a separate discussion board to each group, the groups can do their planning asynchronously and completely online, while the instructor has a complete …

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Disrupt the One-Way Street of Feedback to Encourage Reflective Practice

Description Traditionally, feedback on student work is a one-way communication from instructor to student. Due to the inherent complexity of unilateral feedback, students may feel emotional and psychological impacts, a lack of power or autonomy, or demotivation. Re-engineering this process to include student-instructor dialogue in order to break down one-way flow provides space for interactive …

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Related Tags: Assessment, Feedback, Metacognition, Peer-Reviewed Entry, Reflection

Use Criteria Starters to Develop Rubrics Based on Knowledge Levels to Provide Accurate Feedback to Students

Description Educators are encouraged to provide informative feedback to students as a way of pointing out errors in hopes that students will take action to adapt their mental models and identify gaps in learning or misunderstanding. When students are receptive of this feedback, it becomes one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement …

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Create Intentional Communities through Meaningful Student Introductions

Description Student introductions are a high-impact practice: they build community within the course, set the stage for more substantive forms of student-student and student-instructor engagement, and can reveal unknown issues or strengths on the part of students (Dolan, Kain, Reilly, & Bansal, 2017). Building community in online classes (Nelson & Goodson, 2018) through introductions helps …

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Implement Student Video Introductions to Foster Social Presence

Description Online learning can cause students to miss the peer-to-peer connectiveness of the face-to-face classroom and feel isolated in their studies, which can lead to lower motivation, achievement, and retention in online classes (Angelino, Williams, & Natvig, 2007; Kanuka & Jugdev, 2006). To remedy students’ feelings of isolation, discussion forums are commonly utilized by instructors …

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Deliver Content Using Short, Focused, Instructional Videos

Description Learning management systems provide different ways to deliver content. Linking presentations, uploading documents, and embedding articles make course materials easily accessible to all students. Embedding or linking videos in an LMS can also be effective content delivery methods, however, whether or not the videos are engaging or even watched is often an issue. According …

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