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Published on 1 Comment on Make Course Content Accessible

by Janice Florent

One of the reasons hybrid and online courses appeal to students is when a course is well designed the student has the opportunity to playback or review a concept until they have mastered it.

In order for course materials to be accessible for all learners the course material should be provided in multiple formats. Having the material in multiple modes allows the student to choose the mode that works best for them.

If your course material is visual provide an audio version as well. If your course material is auditory, make it visual too. Incorporating transcripts, subtitles, closed captioning to audio and visual content in a course is invaluable for students with disabilities, diverse and/or preferred learning styles, and English as a second language (ESL) students.

Designing your courses with accessibility in mind will save you some time in the event you do have a student with a disability. Remember accessible content is not only for the impaired. Students without disabilities will find having accessible resources within your course a bonus.

Here are a few simple steps, from my previous blog posts, that you can take when creating content and setting up your course that will make it more accessible:

As we start a new year and a new semester it is a good time to start to make your courses accessible. Here is a link to a 10-Step Guide to Making Your Course Accessible for All Students.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #148: Beginning of Semester Tasks
checklist

As you prepare for the start of the semester, it is a good time to get started setting up your Blackboard courses. Blackboard courses are automatically created using the course information in Banner a few weeks before the start of the semester. You can post your syllabus, course documents, and announcements to your Blackboard courses. You can also customize your course menu and/or add a course banner.

If you teach a course that is cross listed you will have a Blackboard course for each cross listing. You can combine the cross listed courses into one Blackboard course so that you can post course materials and grades to one combined Blackboard course. Combining courses may also work for you if you are teaching different sections of the same course and would like to have the different sections combined into one Blackboard course so that you can post course documents and grades in the one combined course. The beginning of the semester is the best time to combine your Blackboard courses before you add course material or grades to the courses.

Follow these steps to do it.

Listed below are links with instructions for

Want more information?

Attend a drop-in session to get one-on-one help.
Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center.
Try these Blackboard How-To documents.
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Published on Leave a comment on (audio)BOOM in the New Year!

by Karen Nichols

Last year at this time, I wrote about using sound files in your courses and shared with you an audio recording of Louis Armstrong reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. This year, I wish to share with you an app called audioBoom. This app offers numerous possibilities and resources for including audio components in your teaching. This is one of the apps featured in the 12 Apps of Christmas that I recently wrote about and I'm thoroughly enjoying all of the information, instructions and tips being provided.

audioBoom is free and offers one the possibility of posting one's own audio files, podcasts, etc., as well as numerous resources. You may just hear the sound file or click on a player which features a photo or some type of graphic.There is an American version of offerings, but you may curate whatever you like from the BBC news to personal channels to lifestyle magazines.

LifeMinute.tv is one such lifestyle magazine that I found while browsing and thought it was a good example of the variety of topics and formats you can see and use.

audioBoom interfaces with Facebook, Twitter and Google+. In addition to explaining how to get started with audioBoom, the entry from the 12 Apps of Christmas also gives excellent suggestions for its educational uses, so I recommend that you check it out.

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year!

Published on Leave a comment on Online Charts

Made with OnlineChartTool.Com

If you need to make a chart or a graph in a hurry, point your web browser to OnlineChartTool.com. It's a web-based tool which allows you to create charts in nigh on a dozen different styles: bar, line, bar-line, area, pie, radar, scatter, bubble, meter, pyramid. It's relatively easy to get started and suitable for student assignments. (As always, play around with it yourself first.) You don't even need to create an account — though if you do, you'll be able to come back and edit your charts later.

Published on Leave a comment on The 12 Apps of Christmas

by Karen Nichols
The University of London and the Dublin Institute of Technology both launched on 1 December their respective 12 Apps of Christmas. It's not too late to sign up. These are free online courses, aimed at students and instructors of all ages who are interested in learning more about integrating mobile learning technologies into their studies or classes. I have to admit that I was disappointed on December 1st when the University of London revealed the first app--Google Translate. I thought I knew all about this app, but I was surely wrong! Their presentation was easy to follow and well-illustrated. I truly had no idea that sound files would work on Google translate. Each app includes educational applications and actual activities for you to try of which there are several for Google translate. So check out the site and see if you may be interested in participating in reviewing the apps and these mini-courses and providing feedback. 15-20 minutes a day are kindly requested for you to give feedback to them. Here's the link:
http://www.openeducationeuropa.eu/en/news/new-edition-successful-12-apps-christmas-online-courses-students-and-teachers

And here's a demonstration of Google translate and the song LaBamba!

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #147: End of Semester Tasks

image showing classroom with empty chairs

As we approach the end of the semester there are a few things you can do in Blackboard to wrap up for the semester.

Download your gradebook

Student access to courses is removed two weeks after the end of a semester. During this process all grade book records are deleted. You should download your gradebook to your local computer after you submit your final grades.

Create a master copy of your course

Courses remain on the Blackboard system for three semesters before they are removed. You can request a Master Course Shell that you can use to develop and maintain your course materials. Master Course Shells will not be removed from the Blackboard system.

Hide old courses from view

When you login to Blackboard you will see your courses for previous semesters listed along with the courses you are currently teaching on the Xavier University and Courses tabs. If you do not want to see older courses in the list, you can hide them from view.

Follow these steps to do it.

Instructions are available in previous Bb tips for downloading your grade book, requesting master course shells, and hiding old courses from view.

Want more information?

Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center.
Check out help for instructors at help.blackboard.com.
Try these Blackboard How-To documents.
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Published on Leave a comment on Bb Tip #146: Master Copies of Courses

keep calm and create a master copy poster

Courses remain on the Blackboard system for three semesters before they are removed. You can request a Blackboard Master Course Shell that you can use to develop and maintain your course materials. Master Course Shells will not be removed from the Blackboard system. If you would like your course content/materials to be available in Blackboard beyond the current retention period of three semesters, you should request a Master Course Shell for the course.

Follow these steps to do it.

If you want your course/materials to be available in Blackboard, you should:

  1. Fill out the Master Course Shell Request form.
  2. Use Course Copy to copy the course content you want to keep into the Master Course Shell. Alternatively, you can start from scratch building content in your Master Course Shell.
  3. Copy the Master Course Shell contents into your “empty” Blackboard course once the course becomes available.

Note: You can share your Master Course Shell with other faculty members by filling out the Request to Grant User Access form.

Want more information?

Step-by-step instructions are available [Master Copies of Courses (PDF)].
Explore Blackboard’s On Demand Learning Center.
Try these Blackboard How-To documents.
Visit the Blackboard FAQs for additional blackboard information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Published on Leave a comment on New Twist on End-of-Semester Evaluations

by Janice Florent

female staring at sheet of paper she is holding in one hand while holding pencil in the other hand

In a recent Faculty Focus article, Dr. Linda Shadiow and Dr. Maryellen Weimer suggested using end-of-semester evaluations to get information from your students that can help you develop your teaching persona (the slice of your identity that constitutes the “public teaching self.”)

Your teaching persona should be created from a series of choices made with the aim of enhancing student learning. In the article Drs. Shadiow and Weimer write,

By the end of a semester, we have a sense of how a course went and what activities and actions supported student learning. But through some painful experiences we’ve learned that sometimes what we thought happened was contradicted by what students experienced.

Getting a “learner-sighted” view of the course-experience can add to your understanding of the learning environment, including aspects of your teaching persona that have framed it.

The authors suggest you begin by telling students that you’re asking questions only they can answer. Explain that this is feedback that can help you become a teacher who helps students learn more effectively. Here is their sample note that introduces students to the concept of evaluating the course experience and some examples of sentence stems that can yield useful information:

Your insights into your learning in this course can help me see our course from your side of the desk. Please respond to any three of the statements below (more if you’d like). Submit these anonymously; I will use them as I plan for my courses next semester.

In this course …

it most helped my learning of the content when…because…
it would have helped my learning of the content if…because…
the assignment that contributed the most to my learning was… because…
the reading that contributed the most to my learning was… because…
the kinds of homework problems that contributed most to my learning were…because…
the approach I took to my own learning that contributed the most for me was…because…
the biggest obstacle for me in my learning the material was… because…
a resource I know about that you might consider using is…because…
I was most willing to take risks with learning new material when… because…
during the first day, I remember thinking…because…
what I think I will remember five years from now is…because…

What are good ways to gain insights from student feedback? Put some distance between the course and the feedback. It’s particularly beneficial to review the feedback when selecting course materials, developing assignments, and constructing the syllabus for the next semester. Another option is to have a colleague compile the results and return them to you prior to planning for the next semester.

For more information read the Faculty Focus article, A New Twist on End-of-Semester Evaluations.

Additionally, Blackboard has a survey tool that allows you to get anonymous feedback from your students. You can get more information about using Blackboard surveys in my Get Feedback from your Students tip.

Published on Leave a comment on 3 Facts about Mindset in Learning

by Janice Florent

mindset in learning infographic

Mindset is a crucial factor in learning. In a Learnnovators.com blog post, Arun Pradhan lists three well established aspects of mindset in learning. They are:

  1. You can prime your brain
  2. Interest drives learning
  3. A growth mindset matters

Each fact is supported with a tip for learning design to make the most of that fact. For more information refer to his 3 Facts About Mindset In Learning infographic.

Published on Leave a comment on Conversation #37: Service Learning

Download Conversation #37

Ryan McBride

A conversation with Dr. Ryan McBride of Tulane University on teaching, learning, and service learning.

The service project complicates the readings, and the readings help complicate the service project.

Links for this episode: