Online Course Peer Review

As we design and teach our online courses we need to keep in mind some basic accessibility issues over and above just listing the contact information for LSC’s Disability Coordinator.  The online course peer review rubric addresses this in one of its standards.  It reads:
“There is evidence of effort to recognize the importance of ADA  (Americans with [...]

The Learn from Each Other session that’s back by popular demand!  Learn how to easily jazz up your D2L homepage (not to mention the discussion and content areas) with widgets, quicklinks, graphics, and video.
WHEN:  Wednesday, April 29  10:00-11:00
WHERE:  E2024
I hope to see you there!

Jody Ondich and I are currently working on a pretty exciting Faculty Award for Excellence project — creating a D2L course shell filled with examples of best practices in online learning.  All of the content of this “course” will come from you — LSC online faculty!
Specifically, we’re looking for great examples of course activities that engage students in [...]

If you’re not on the MnSCU technology list, you may have missed this.  It’s an article about excellence in web-based teaching that is worth the read.  An absolutely riveting online course: Nine principles for excellence in web-based teaching:  http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/179/177

The one-page online course checklist (found to the left of this post) is a brief look at some of the standards found on the LSC online course peer review rubric.  Use this document as a guide while developing new online courses or in refining existing ones. 
Interested in an online course peer review or in becoming a peer reviewer?  [...]

The first two “Learn from Each Other” sessions of the semester have been scheduled!
Wednesday, January 21 from 10:00-10:50 in room E1162:  An encore presentation of Creativity with Online Discussions.  Learn how to incorporate YouTube, surveys, virtual field trips and more into your online discussions.
Tuesday, January 27 from 12:00-12:50 in room S2986:  Student assignments:  Thinking Outside of [...]

It’s that time in the academic year again — time when online instructors are crazy-busy getting their courses ready for opening week.  Just a few things to remember as you put the finishing touches on your courses:

Welcome students to your class in the homepage news area.  Specifically tell them what they should do first upon [...]

Thursday, December 4 from 12:00-1:00 in room S2986:   Week one strategies — how to effectively and creatively introduce students to your online course.   Theresa Hornstein, Jody Ondich, and Susan Brashaw will show participants how they introduce students to their online courses each semester.  Get ready for some creative ideas!
Tuesday, December 9 from 2:00-2:45 in room [...]

Five or six years ago, LSC faculty participated in a duty day at the DECC which featured an outstanding keynote speaker (unfortunately, I fail to remember his name).  The gist of his presentation was that we need to step out of our comfort zones and be brave enough to ask students for their honest feedback about [...]

Here’s a class activity I really like as it enables me to see those online student “aha” moments. 
Source:  Engaging the Online Learner: Activities and Resources for Creative Instruction by Rita-Marie Conrad and J Ana Donaldson, 2004
Task:  Reflective exercise to be done on an ongoing basis during a course or unit
Objective:  To provide an innovative way for students [...]