Blog

Making the Most of Discussion Boards

With the move online, discussion boards have become a go-to for class participation and having students connect with each other. Here are some strategies to make them more effective (a lot of these strategies come from this article)

What does hybrid teaching mean and how do I get started?

There are a lot of different ways to teach hybrid courses, and the terminology can become confusing, so this article will go through the terms for the different models, give you some examples of different ways to teach a hybrid course, and finish with best practices and resources to start designing your hybrid course. 

Online Teaching Resources

Of course, there are way more resources on OWI than we could ever get through, and there is another page on this website showing you some of them. What I’m listing here are a few practical resources that have been helpful to me during the pandemic, going from just getting a few ideas for a course to the whole redesign of a class.

Introduction to Eli Review

Eli Review is a program that allows students to upload drafts and complete peer reviews online. It has a lot more tools than the Canvas peer review feature. It collects data and saves all the comments so that students can self-reflect as writers during their revision process and self-assess as peer reviewers in order to provide stronger feedback. 

Making Course Materials and Classes Accessible

The following guidelines cover important aspects for making our courses accessible. “Accessibility” means making our courses usable and welcoming welcoming to all our students. These guidelines are best practices that apply to online, hybrid, and onsite courses.

AATC Information

AATC has posted information and instructions about how students can access their services during Spring quarter. See here for the most recent update. 

Zoom and Cybersecurity

Perhaps you've heard the stories of local city council meetings being disrupted by "zoombombing," or having uninvited guests show up to Zoom meetings. The link below contains useful tips for keeping your Zoom meetings secure.

 

Use Zoom? Here Are 7 Essential Steps You Can Take To Secure It

Article from Forbes outlining various measures you can take to prevent "Zoom-bombing" and secure your meetings.

 

Tips for Better Video from Home

As we adjust to life on screens, it might help to look for tips from videographers and vloggers who have had lots of experience with figuring out how make videos at home. In these videos, Hank Green ( Vlogbrothers) and Chris Nichols (DPReview) explain some easy tips for better video and Zoom sessions.

 

Creating Canvas Videos

I made a screencast providing an overview of where and how you can create videos in Canvas. This won't be a replacement for other tools like Kaltura Capture and Zoom, but it might provide a nice way to increase a sense of teacher presence for your students. 

Creating Canvas Videos

A short screencast, posted in Aggie Video, with an overview of creating videos in Canvas.