Next week, the Distance Learning team will attend the Pan-American Continuing Education Association (PANACEA) 2021 Annual Conference. While we are excited for the keynote speakers, poster gallery, and network meetings, we were particularly thrilled to see these often-neglected distance learning topics on the list of concurrent sessions.  Starting off our list of must-sees is this gamification session. It sounds like the team at Meles College has really thought about immersive learning strategies as they share takeaways from their innovative approach to engagement. Digital BADGErs: Incentivizing Student Participation in Remote Learning through Gamification To incentivize student participation in remote learning, Meles

At Northwestern, our 10 week terms are already fast-paced. So what happens when the term is shortened by a week, and you have only nine weeks to accomplish your goals as an instructor? How do you decide which content to combine, alter, or even remove? This short guide will outline a few strategies you can consider to modify your course activities, assessment, and content to meet students’ needs within a constrained timeframe. Download a copy of the Nine Week Assessment Alternatives tip sheet. Pre-Work, Examples, and Best Practices What is pre-work? Pre-work is exactly what you think it is. It

We’ve stepped away from this blog for a while, we admit it! Prior to the pandemic, our department, the Office of Distance Learning, had seen an increased workload as School of Professional Studies expanded its course and program offerings. With Northwestern’s move to exclusively online learning last spring, we found ourselves busier than ever supporting faculty in our own school and throughout the university. Now that things have more or less settled to a “new normal” (or, hopefully, just a “steady state for now”), we are ready to turn our attention back to this blog and re-engage in an exchange