“There is evidence of effort to recognize the importance of ADA  (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements.

Some easy things we can do to increase the accessibility of our online courses:

• Avoid using colorful text, especially oranges, yellows, and pinks.  If using darker colors, such as maroon, navy, etc, bold them. Consider emphasizing important points using italics and bold, rather than with color.
• If using audio or video, try to always have a written alternative or a script that could be made available upon request.
• Use sans serif fonts, such as Arial, Tahoma, and Verdana as they tend to be easier to read on a computer screen.
• Provide alt tags on all images (D2L prompts us to do this everytime we insert an image directly into the class).
• Avoid overusing animated images.  Some images in a class can add a great deal, but too much action can be distracting.

For more information visit:

http://www.doit.wisc.edu/accessibility/online-course/index.htm

http://www.accesselearning.net/

WHEN:  Wednesday, April 29  10:00-11:00

WHERE:  E2024

I hope to see you there!

Specifically, we’re looking for great examples of course activities that engage students in the learning process, unique ways of using the various D2L features (checklist, links, FAQs, survey, etc), and the effective use of technology in your online classroom. 

All examples used in the course shell will clearly state the name of the faculty contributor.

When all is said and done, this course shell will be available for all LSC online faculty to access at any time, right in the LSC online faculty lounge.  It will serve as a great resource for us all.

Questions?  Please contact Jody or Susan.

Interested in an online course peer review or in becoming a peer reviewer?  Let me know!

~Susan

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 the Box.  Learn how to incorporate student projects, group work, and more into your online classes.

Both sessions will include plenty of time for questions and answers.  I hope you can join us!

• Welcome students to your class in the homepage news area.  Specifically tell them what they should do first upon entering your class.  Include in your message how they can contact you.
• Remind students to read the syllabus and other important course information carefully.
• Consider putting a photo of the required textbook (or other materials) in the news area.
• Encourage (or require) students to introduce themselves to one another in the discussion area.  Introduce yourself, too!
• Remember to include the course outcomes, word-for-word, from the official course outline on your syllabus.  Peggy Gustofson has all official course outlines available online and will email them to faculty, upon request.

Have a great semester!

Tuesday, December 9 from 2:00-2:45 in room S2986:  Thinking about having an online course peer reviewed?  Susan Brashaw will walk participants through the steps in the process and answer questions about online course quality.

Why should we take the extra few minutes to create a forum for our students to provide feedback to us?  As educators and, dare I say, especially as online educators, we are establishing an environment for learning that must be easily navigable and understood.  We want to prevent student frustration with the online platform and encourage interest and curiousity in the discipline we’re teaching.  If students are provided a forum for expressing their concerns about course navigability, etc., we can take quick steps to improve the set up of our courses.  Waiting to hear about frustrations at the very end of a semester isn’t going to help out our current students much!

I’ve learned so much in my role as the online course peer review coordinator.  One of the most important – and I learned it first by having one of my own courses reviewed – is that we as instructors think our courses are easy to understand and navigate (heck, we created them, so of course they make sense!).  Our students, however, generally have very good ideas for improvements.

So consider challenging yourself to step out of that comfort zone for a bit, and ask for student feedback along the way.  Along those same lines and just as important, volunteer to get involved in the online course peer review process.  Having a course reviewed will likely result in a higher quality course.  That’s what we’re all aiming for as instructors, right?!

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 to share their thoughts and experiences.

Author: Rita-Marie Conrad, Ph.D., Florida State University, rconrad@attglobal.net

Method:  Asyncrhonous

Instructions:  During your time in this course you may experience what is termed an “Aha” moment – a moment when somethin you have been reading or contemplating makes sense with an unexpected clarity.  You are asked to keep a journal of these moments while a member of the class.  Periodically during the course, you will be asked to share your “Ahas” with the other class participants.  A compilation of all such moments will be due at the end of the course.

Activity Author’s Note:  Making meaning of your course content is sometimes a series of mini-epiphanies.  Asking students to document these moments and share them with the class can encourage discussion and enrich the learning community that has been established.