Author: Kristina Wilson

What Should I Do With My Slides Now That I’m Teaching Online?

by , Jul 02, 2018

Introduction If you’ve taught face-to-face before, there’s a good chance you’ve developed slides to help give lectures in your classroom. You may even have structured your course around them: ten slide decks for ten weeks of class. There’s no shame there–keynote speakers and conference presenters use slides as an important part of their practice, and when properly designed they can make for engaging in-person presentations. Now you’re designing an online or hybrid class, and you’ve got your slides in hand. These worked great in my face-to-face class, you’re thinking. I’ll just put them online for students to read. But wait!

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How (and Why!) to Write a Pre-Course Survey or Questionnaire

by Apr 09, 2018

Introduction Have you ever wished that you knew a little more about your students, beyond what is shared in an introduction discussion? Have you ever hoped that students might take a moment to reflect on success strategies before your course begins? Would you like to be certain that students have reviewed the materials needed to get started in your class? If so, a pre-course survey or questionnaire may be just the way to get started in your online or hybrid class. Check out three different types of pre-course surveys and questionnaires, including rationale, approaches, and question types, Learning About Your

Reflecting on the Loyola Digital Accessibility Conference

by , Mar 19, 2018

Introduction The Loyola Digital Accessibility Conference was organized by graduate students in the digital humanities program at Loyola University. The event drew presenters and attendees from all over the country, including a team who called in from University of California-Davis! Content Specialist Christine Scherer and Learning Designer Krissy Wilson represented the School of Professional Studies Distance Learning department on the Tackling Large Scale Accessibility panel. The presentations covered a wide range of issues, from accessibility of digital library resources to podcast transcripts to retrofitting inaccessible web pages. But there were common themes raised throughout the conversations. One theme was that

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Five Ways to Incorporate Universal Design for Learning into Your Online Course

by Feb 27, 2018

Introduction What if someone told you that there were research-proven techniques you could use to improve your online class for all students, increasing retention, persistence, and satisfaction by more than 4% over the baseline? I’m sure you’d be skeptical. Students differ so significantly from each other and from quarter to quarter; how can any instructor anticipate the individual needs of every student? Universal Design for Learning is a great place to start. What is Universal Design for Learning? At its core, Universal Design for Learning is a flexible, research-based pedagogical framework that aims to develop curriculum that meets the needs

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Involving Teaching Assistants in the Online Classroom

by Jan 22, 2018

Introduction Have you been thinking about involving a teaching assistant (TA) in your online course? TAs are a great way to provide supplemental instruction opportunities for students, as well as help instructors manage a demanding online class. Take it from me–I’ve been a TA in an online course! With a little creativity and trust, we can be involved in most components of online courses to your benefit and ours. Start with the Pragmatics Once you’ve identified a TA for your online course, talk through the pragmatics, the way you might with a TA in a face-to-face course. Meet before the