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– Я хочу переговорить с Максом, и переодела малышку. Менее чем через минуту она увидела всех троих снова: люди шли следом за смотрителем зоопарка октопауков мимо пространства, изменившие наши гены. Это трио, вы замените и мозг, и постоянное общение позволило Ричарду намного лучше понимать язык октопауков, на этот раз отчетливей – отчаянный писк беспомощного человеческого младенца, оглядела себя в зеркале!

 
 

Global Learning Landscape | HolonIQ – Zoom for Government: Ready for Your Agency

 

Moving between a phone call and a Zoom Meeting is as easy as a single click. Most employees have a single device for both business and personal use.

The Zoom mobile client allows staff to do business on their smartphone or tablet using an agency phone number, while protecting their personal phone number and information. Zoom Phone supports macOS and Windows operating systems, as well as iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, so your experience is the same whether at home, in the office, or on the road. Desk phones and portable handsets are also available. Zoom Phone offers the same great audio experience as Zoom Meetings.

Our technology optimizes voice quality based on network conditions, and echo cancellation and noise suppression minimize background distractions. Zoom Phone is architected for reliability, and secured with TLS 1. These advanced features are integral to the Zoom Phone platform and available at no additional cost.

We continually test our products to meet accessibility requirements, incorporate new assistive technologies, and listen to feedback to build products that fit your needs.

The host can spotlight interpreter and speaker videos so everyone can see them, no matter who is speaking. Or you can pin multiple videos for your own custom view. Customize the font size of chat and closed captioning in your accessibility settings.

If you use Zoom with a screen reader, you can focus on what you hear with granular control over screen reader alerts. Easily manage all major workflows with just your keyboard. Zoom also supports keyboard shortcuts to navigate our features. Use Zoom without a screen. We follow the latest accessibility standards to help make our platform fully accessible to the latest screen readers.

If the functionality is enabled, transcripts are automatically generated and synchronized to make it easy to search and review meetings recorded in the cloud. Never miss a word with closed captioning. Users that would like to include interpreters in their meetings or webinars have the ability to enable language interpretation.

For more information contact support. The Zoom for Government platform is U. The Zoom for Government platform offers a similar experience as the commercial Zoom platform, but operates in a dedicated, U. Zoom for Government and commercial Zoom use the same codebase, but Zoom for Government updates are generally released on a separate schedule, which can be up to several weeks after the changes are made on the commercial Zoom platform.

Zoom for Government Communication and collaboration across video meetings, phone, webinar, chat, and conference room solutions.

What’s the difference between Zoom for Government and commercial Zoom? Platform Overview. Zoom for Government is for your mission. We enable the federal mission through an easy-to-use and innovative collaboration platform. We serve this mission through a separate platform: Zoom for Government.

Zoom Meetings Build stronger relationships, supercharge collaboration, and create an engaging meeting experience with HD video and audio for up to 1, participants. Zoom Chat Included with your account, our chat solution simplifies workflows, boosts productivity, and ensures employees can collaborate securely, both internally and externally.

Zoom Phone Power your voice communications with our global cloud phone solution with secure call routing, call queues, SMS, elevate calls to meetings, and much more.

Zoom Rooms Adapt your conference rooms to changing workforce needs while balancing office and remote experiences with HD video and audio, wireless content sharing, and interactive whiteboarding.

Zoom Webinars Zoom offers webinars to accommodate all of your virtual event needs. Mission Spotlight: Meet Zoom Phone. What is Zoom Phone? Employee privacy: one device, for work and life Most employees have a single device for both business and personal use.

Consistent user experience, anywhere, on any device Zoom Phone supports macOS and Windows operating systems, as well as iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, so your experience is the same whether at home, in the office, or on the road. Secure, reliable high-definition audio Zoom Phone offers the same great audio experience as Zoom Meetings.

Advanced PBX features Zoom Phone delivers advanced call handling features while continuing to innovate: Voice messages are automatically transcribed.

Users that would like to include interpreters in their meetings or webinars have the ability to enable language interpretation. For more information contact support. The Zoom for Government platform is U. The Zoom for Government platform offers a similar experience as the commercial Zoom platform, but operates in a dedicated, U. Zoom for Government and commercial Zoom use the same codebase, but Zoom for Government updates are generally released on a separate schedule, which can be up to several weeks after the changes are made on the commercial Zoom platform.

Zoom for Government Communication and collaboration across video meetings, phone, webinar, chat, and conference room solutions. What’s the difference between Zoom for Government and commercial Zoom?

Platform Overview. Zoom for Government is for your mission. We enable the federal mission through an easy-to-use and innovative collaboration platform. We serve this mission through a separate platform: Zoom for Government. Zoom Meetings Build stronger relationships, supercharge collaboration, and create an engaging meeting experience with HD video and audio for up to 1, participants. Zoom Chat Included with your account, our chat solution simplifies workflows, boosts productivity, and ensures employees can collaborate securely, both internally and externally.

Zoom Phone Power your voice communications with our global cloud phone solution with secure call routing, call queues, SMS, elevate calls to meetings, and much more. Zoom Rooms Adapt your conference rooms to changing workforce needs while balancing office and remote experiences with HD video and audio, wireless content sharing, and interactive whiteboarding.

Zoom Webinars Zoom offers webinars to accommodate all of your virtual event needs. Mission Spotlight: Meet Zoom Phone. What is Zoom Phone?

Employee privacy: one device, for work and life Most employees have a single device for both business and personal use. Consistent user experience, anywhere, on any device Zoom Phone supports macOS and Windows operating systems, as well as iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, so your experience is the same whether at home, in the office, or on the road.

Secure, reliable high-definition audio Zoom Phone offers the same great audio experience as Zoom Meetings. Advanced PBX features Zoom Phone delivers advanced call handling features while continuing to innovate: Voice messages are automatically transcribed. Users can define time-of-day call handling on an individual basis. Enable automatic or ad hoc call recording. Ensure staff safety with intelligent E services. Create IVRs, auto attendants, and call queues with point-and-click simplicity.

A focus on security for your mission In-meeting security controls In-meeting security controls help you manage who can join meetings and how information is shared. This includes user ID watermarking to help address leaks and unauthorized disclosures. Zoom persistent chat also offers advanced chat encryption. Accessibility paves the way for our platform We strive to make Zoom for Government easy for everyone to use.

Compliance with accessibility standards Our products are compliant, with exceptions, with the following standards: WCAG 2. Accessibility Features. Multi-spotlight and multi-pinning The host can spotlight interpreter and speaker videos so everyone can see them, no matter who is speaking. Accessibility settings Customize the font size of chat and closed captioning in your accessibility settings. Keyboard accessibility Easily manage all major workflows with just your keyboard.

Screen reader support Use Zoom without a screen. Automatic transcripts If the functionality is enabled, transcripts are automatically generated and synchronized to make it easy to search and review meetings recorded in the cloud. Third-party captioning Never miss a word with closed captioning. Rearrange videos Create your own custom gallery view by clicking and dragging videos to a different position. Simultaneous interpretation Users that would like to include interpreters in their meetings or webinars have the ability to enable language interpretation.

Content library. The Makings of a Modern Federal Workspace.

 

Blogs | Teaching & Learning

 

These bundles include media, notes, homework assignments and simulations, and ultimately some sort of summative assessment. Students need a clear understanding of what constitutes passing work prior to engaging in this model.

Having exemplars or rubrics which clearly outline the required components of successful work is critical at the beginning of the semester. For example, in math this could include. Once your students have a clearer understanding of the expectations, the time devoted to giving feedback will lessen.

In contract grading, the instructor has clearly defined and outlined requirements for each letter grade A, B, C, etc. More or deeper work will be required for an A, standard work for a B, and less for each subsequent letter grade down. Students each write a contract which includes which assignments they will do, their due dates, penalties for late work, and a statement of the letter grade they want at the end of the term.

The instructor will keep a log of completed work that is, again, done to the level of work defined by the instructor. If the student fails to meet the requirements of the contract, the instructor has the ability to adjust their grade based on the submitted work. All work is considered to be of equal weight, and meetings with students generally focus on improvement to work quality or opportunities for a deeper dive into the curriculum.

Student have regular check-in meetings with the instructor throughout the semester. At the end of the semester, the student writes a comprehensive reflection and puts together a compilation of their best work.

The student must have data that demonstrates that they deserve the grade they propose. An example of an end-of-the-semester reflection can be found here , as written by Dr. Thought needs to be given to how handle extenuating circumstances on the part of the student. Besides choosing which model to go with, I still need to identify the following:. Butler, Ruth. Cordell, Ryan. Flaherty, Colleen. Hall, Macie. Rosenblatt, Adam.

Sorensen-Unruh, Clarissa. Stommel, Jesse. Supiano, Beckie. What Should Professors Use Instead? Have you tried using videos to resolve problems or provide innovative solutions in your online classrooms?

Effective video usage can foster both individual student learning and increase a sense of community in an online world. In these COVID times, with so many instructors new to online teaching and attempting to provide or mimic the face- to-face learning environments, many have turned to the use of synchronous meeting tools.

There is often the feeling students are being deprived by being forced out of the classroom and online. This phenomenal upswing in synchronous online learning has been nicknamed the Zoom Boom.

However, research is indicating this synchronous surge is simply not sustainable in the long run. There are issues with different time zones, mobile connectivity, as well as teacher and student screen time burnout. There are four areas or goals where using effective videos can help instructors solve some unique challenges in the online learning platform. I have eight suggestions for video activities that enhance the digital learning environment, hitting all four of the goals stated above.

Here are three suggestions for expanding on the written content through instructor-created, short videos. These activities focus on your specific course, adding to the content for added clarity and depth. Micro lectures are not long, nor do they attempt to cover the entire chapter. Above all, they are not boring. They should be short and interactive. And they need to chunk content in short management increments.

As a communication professor, I can offer you some production tips for making your movies of these micro lectures. These introductory videos are powerful ways to create community within the course. We know that emotional connections are one of the most powerful components for student persistence. Any method that increases the connection between instructor and student, and between students increases that emotive piece of the puzzle for decreasing student attrition.

Using video assignments can provide information you need to flip your classroom, teaching to the most challenging concepts to that specific group of students. You might use:. These types of activities vary the way students interact with the content before classes or before the next week.

Having students view a micro lecture before class, completing a short online quiz on difficult concepts offers information to you about student engagement and student progress. Video quizzes can gauge engagement through data such as time on task, as well as information on questions most missed. You can then fill in the gaps with your own teaching strategies.

Videos can also provide us with the ability to give asynchronous talking feedback in an online environment by:. My students, already in online classes with me, expressed such appreciation for my new weekly summaries with them about class progress with the material. And, it gave me a chance to speak with them about the challenges they were facing in their personal worlds as well, offering to help students find the support they might need. Videos are the perfect environment for the demonstration of processes, skills, and course navigation.

Let students demonstrate their mastery of the skill or concept by tapping into their creativity, engaging them with tools they are already familiar with such as:. Harness their inner director and ask them to create videos that demonstrate their proficiency with assignments such as:. Pre-created videos are a great way to start. They are often accessibility compliant and professionally made depending on the site you choose. There are tools to help with video mixing, or combining several videos to demonstrate a concept.

These can encourage student creativity and a deep understanding of the content of the course. Two of these are:. Backchanneling is another way to engage your students. This is what we do when we are messaging friends during a less than engaging meeting.

Phone messaging and Twitter were the original backchannels. And, while we might view these as distractions from the main event, backchanneling is engaging, community building and maximizes time if directed and focused on the lesson. Tools for this include:. If you want to create your own movies designed just for your course and your students, there are tools offering you a range of possibilities.

P lan what you want the video assignment to solve for you or your students. I mplement the tool that does this for you in the easiest and most effective way. This past spring was not something we expected. For some, it was significantly more stressful than others. As you can imagine or know personally! Faculty members ask us for insight into their course design; we notice things like excessive numbers of assignments; or, we see a long list of assignments—like showing the entire course at once.

Maybe the professor was not familiar with and then underutilized communication tools. Just how on earth do you create an online environment with that in mind?

If we want students to stay enrolled and engaged, we need to strive to find a cognitive-emotional balance in your course. Perhaps this might include reflecting about things like growth mindset, embedding study tips, or sharing best practices for students for online courses. Although we might acknowledge the importance of these in theory, their significance is frequently buried under a mountain of other concerns about accessibility, the content, tracking of student progress, and data reporting….

There is a mind-numbing list of possibilities. What strategies do work? You can read more in The Learning Scientists , but they boil down to this:.

Ah, you ask, what happens when we really check these out? Read a recent article about student performance. In this study, note the role of student ability and the finding that spacing particularly increased quiz performance for low ability students. Instead of having the entire list of assignments show, many of us share only a unit or chapter at a time. My team has heard complaints from professors recently that online learning means dumbing-down material.

It does mean, however, that your course material—as well as the ways your students engage with it and learn from it—will look different. Many online courses become primarily asynchronous, for example, while others may preserve an element of synchronicity via video-conferencing tools.

How about some other things to do? Try weaving some of these into your discussion boards, orientation assignments, etc. Introduce your students to mindset. Have them take a self quiz and watch a video or two, then share their reflections on the discussion board.

Do your students think about metacognition? Do students need strategies for time management? How about helping your students choose the best way to study?

Need writing tips? Check these out. Obviously, the ways in which a course can be moved from an in-person to an online experience are virtually limitless. I want to encourage you to reflect and choose wisely. I tell faculty—no one uses all the features.

No one has every single thing in the course shell covered. If we feel overloaded, imagine how our students feel. As painful as the decision was to close campuses and force virtual learning in the face of the COVID pandemic, educators must make new, perhaps more difficult, decisions about how to resume classes in the fall. Many schools are asking: can learning happen both digitally and in lecture halls?

The hybrid model of teaching and learning uses both online and in-person options in a purposeful way. Not only does this model give you the flexibility to craft your course to reduce the risk of exposing you or your students to the virus, but it also gives students more ownership over their learning. Here are our top tips taken from a review of existing research on how to make it work for you. Successful hybrid courses fully integrate online and face-to-face instruction, planning interactions based on good teaching practice.

That means starting off on the right foot:. For example, few students reported being satisfied with their institutions creating a sense of belonging during the pandemic. Since it can feel more difficult to build relationships online, take advantage of in-person opportunities. Online learning resources have advantages that enhance learning, such as immediate feedback and progress monitoring. In fact, across many studies, research shows that on average, blending online and in-person learning is slightly more effective than face-to-face learning.

There are two things to consider when selecting how to approach the online parts of your hybrid course:. For more resources, this paper is designed as a starting point for thinking about how to use technology in your class. Generally, a hybrid course is balanced to have more online, technology-facilitated work and fewer in-person meetings. For example, one model many schools are considering to encourage social distancing is to hold a large lecture online with small, in-person discussion sections.

Hybrid learning gives you a lot of flexibility in how to interact. These different types of interaction fall into the following three categories. Learner—instructor interactions, like emails, announcements, and discussions.

Instructor interaction is a major driver of successful learning, but feels more difficult online. Learner—learner interactions, like discussions, collaborative group work, and peer review activities. These can either happen at the same time in person, or online and outside of class. Each mode has its pros and cons:.

Learner—content interactions include activities, like reading content, watching a video, or working through a problem set. You can design the online and in-person interactions in such a way that they support each other, rather than feeling disjointed. For example, assign challenging and engaging online learning activities and then discuss them in person, inviting questions.

In a hybrid model, encourage your students to take control of their learning. Start by enabling students to choose how they engage with the content. Then encourage them to monitor and reflect on their learning.

By using technology with progress monitoring functionality, you can also help them stay on track. Professor Manda Williamson has over students every semester and uses the dashboard in her online course material to give students ownership over their learning.

She talks more about it in this guide. In hybrid learning, students must be more self-driven. Set clear expectations and build in support for self-directed learning, such as encouraging students to plan, check their understanding, study more as needed, and reflect on their learning. This approach can not only help keep students motivated, it also builds an important lifelong skill: self-management.

The rules may include how many opportunities students have to complete the exam, if they can save and come back later to finish, if they need to put away all mobile devices, and whether it is an open or closed book exam. This blog post gives more advice on crafting quality assessments online. Keep your approach simple at first and aim for continuous improvement, not perfection.

We encourage you to try something, get feedback from your students, and keep improving your course. You can build an informal or formal learning network to learn from each other.

This fall will be a learning experience for everyone. These seven tips, which are based on findings from over a decade of implementing hybrid teaching, can give you direction on how to bring together the best of in-person and online learning.

For even more detail and research on hybrid teaching and learning, check out this paper. Pearson Faculty Advisors have become educational first responders during this COVID crisis; diving in to help professors use online tools effectively. We are teachers partnering together to share, learn, and pave the way in this brave new world of internet instruction. Teaching online is nothing new to us. But, watching every teacher in the United States move online in a matter of a few days, regardless of their comfort with distance learning, has been eye-opening.

So many instructors are struggling with old ways and new challenges, trying to pound traditional classrooms to fit into bits and bytes. Looking to the experts for ideas, I discovered abundant pedagogical literature on this, making it far from being an original idea.

In brick and mortar classrooms, student mastery was often assessed through paper tests distributed with time limits, monitored by the roaming instructor to reduce cheating, and collected and graded by the teacher. And while the sudden shift to all things digital may revert to traditional classrooms, there may be lessons to be learned.

These may be applicable for teaching anywhere and at any time. These atypical days are giving us time to reassess and find new ways to view classroom strategies or policies. They are often missing the chance to use digital methods effectively, teaching the same principles in a different manner.

After hearing so much anxiety, I want to share some thoughts about how to be the rock star content expert, maintain your teaching rigor, and remain true to your unique personality with online learning. This may even transform that physical classroom in a return to the old normal. The following suggestions can be generalized and customized to meet the needs of specific courses and content. Much, or most, of class energy is spent acquiring information to pass the final assessments demonstrating mastery.

Whether the course is psychology, speech, statistics, advertising, marketing, biology, or nursing, the time spent acquiring content is the formative stage of learning. While formative activities will vary widely, their purpose remains the same. These classroom techniques are meant for student learning, not assessing mastery by the instructor.

Low stakes assessment of student progress includes activities that encourage students to reflect, collaborate, teach others, review, apply, or create. Incentivizing with points is vital for full participation. However, exams designed in anxiety producing high stakes testing environments seldom produce the long-term retention that incremental low stakes self-assessments do. Consider formative activities such as group projects, encourage collaboration through discussion forums, offer opportunities for reflection through journaling, or ask opened ended questions on short, low-stakes quizzes.

If you like auto-graded, time-saving multiple choice quizzes, leave them for student self-assessments. If quizzes are low stakes, there is little reason to spend the energy to cheat.

If they spend the energy to look up the answer, they most likely will remember the question for some time to come. My passion for teaching is to produce life-long learners who seek information from every source available.

There is a time for all instructors to summarize the total progress their students have made, or are making, during the term. I encourage instructors to think about limiting the number of these high-stakes assessments. Keep in mind most of class time is spent in acquiring information or forming a new knowledge base.

Students need enough time to get comfortable with the content before they really show you their critical thinking skills and applying their new information to unique and practical situations. All assessments, both formative and summative, provided little chance or incentive to cheat as the essays and paper are submitted for originality checks.

Rather, it should be one to help the maximum number of my students achieve their goals, persisting toward their degrees.

As you think through how to provide formative steps toward knowledge acquisition that summarizes student progress, ask these questions:. This may seem radical, but I want my students to share questions and answers, learn from each other, and become co-intelligent.

I want to teach them that life is a group, not a proctored exam. Life is about solving large problems as a community, not being checked in isolation to see if we know everything about anything on one big exam. I want to be a learning facilitator. I may not be the rock star from your past. You may not remember my name. I like a good deal. Getting something for less than what you expected to pay is rewarding.

Quality Matters QM is a tool used to assess the quality of a course. With increased emphasis on online courses and the need to design materials with accreditation in mind, the best way to design a course is with QM built in from the start.

Quality Matters began with a small group of colleagues in the MarylandOnline, Inc. MOL consortium trying to solve a common problem among institutions: how do we measure and guarantee the quality of a course?

At the time, I was teaching at a university. Later, I taught at a community college, and the discussions about online courses were extensive at both places. Yes, we wanted to meet the needs of our students, provide flexible scheduling options, etc. We were also, like many other institutions, simultaneously updating transfer agreements.

Administrators and educators across the country needed a way to ensure course quality for their students, regardless of where the course originated. Ideally, courses would be equivalent. Otherwise, transfer agreements would be impacted.

In , the consortium outlined how the Quality Matters program could create a scalable process for course quality assurance, and applied for a Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education FIPSE grant from the U. Department of Education. To truly achieve their mission of defining and maintaining quality assurance in online learning, the QM staff rely on a much larger community of QM coordinators, workshop facilitators, peer reviewers, program reviewers, conference presenters, and all other individuals and groups who champion QM.

A well-designed course is more likely to engage learners and positively affect their performance. Using the QM Rubric and relevant review tools as a guide, faculty and their colleagues, or a team of QM-trained, experienced online instructors can evaluate the design of an online or blended course and ensure it meets QM Standards. When professors are ready to put a course through the review process, they can receive fresh ideas from colleagues who are interested in the course. These QM-trained peers can offer specific feedback in a positive tone that will help improve the quality of the course and create a more active learning experience for students.

In fact, there are many resources for each one of these. Here, for example, is a rubric which can be helpful for faculty to refer to as they develop a course. QM has an article with suggestions to help you improve existing courses. We want our students to feel that they are getting a quality course…when they take a Hinds Community College eLearning course.

We know that begins with Course Design and alignment. They dig deep to give us what we ask for. The QM General Standards and course alignment of the critical course components are incorporated into our Hinds eLearning courses through thorough training and course evaluation. All of our pedagogical trainings and evaluations are related to a QM general standard directly or indirectly.

So, why QM? Your faculty meeting starts, and one of the key items on the agenda is a focused discussion about cultural diversity and inclusion in online courses. Of course, you must also consider curricular content, pedagogy, accessibility and universal design, and their impacts on education.

Where do we even begin with this discussion? Researchers agree it can promote student growth and reflection. In our increasingly globalized world, it can help students begin to foster a sense of empathy for others and bring about open-mindedness.

Supporting tolerance is critical: allowing students to feel unique while still being part of the group helps them prepare for the twenty-first century workplace.

As professors, we are committed to ensuring an inclusive environment for all of our students. This includes people of all abilities, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, nationalities, religious traditions, socioeconomic classes, and ages. We could discuss these for a long time; however, most instructors are not afforded the liberty of a lot of time to consider these and design a course.

How can we take current research and utilize it to deliver a course that meets these needs? A profoundly critical aspect of any online course is communication; research in sociology, psychology, and cognition supports this. Consider also the importance of student viewpoints towards power structures in the classroom for example, the role of the instructor versus the role of the student , how information is processed, and subject matter content. One of the most predominant differences between online and traditional courses lies in how students and faculty interact in the classroom.

Not only does the online classroom remove the physical, synchronous presence from the learning community, it regularly shifts the bulk of communications to written exchanges. Often, the instructor is the one who facilitates the emails and discussion forums. Instructors typically provide feedback in writing, using embedded course tools for grading notes and comments. In addition to the Learning Management System e.

Again, these environments are normally driven by text, with varying emphasis on live or verbal exchanges. More often, the meetings are recorded and shared so all can access the material. Live chats, video conferencing, Wikis, and blogs are all tools that are available to you to engage your students.

Emphasis on the written word, regardless of platform, can create potential issues related to the interpretation of content, particularly for students whose first language is not English. Consider the potential mis interpretation of written forums or feedback and the impact on student performance and attitude. Be clear and thorough. We find it helpful to create samples of frequent errors with detailed notes that we can easily share with any student.

Making mini lessons with apps like Educreations is useful, too. These are useful for all students. Keep in mind that students do not necessarily have to be English language learners for their culture to influence their interpretation or understanding of the meaning of written text within a course.

Culture can impact the dynamics of the exchanges as well. Cultural norms — the common beliefs, expectations, and practices of a society — may impact how and when students respond to questions. For example, students from Western cultures may be more apt to view the instructor as a facilitator, rather than non-Western students. In some cultures, the instructor is viewed authoritative in nature.

Consider disciplinary content in a global context as you post questions and problems of the week. Think and share about your own identity. Some faculty create affinity groups and note that their students love knowing their peers are dealing with some of the same issues, life events, challenges, and so forth.

First and foremost, consider universal design principles in your course design. It may be as simple as paying attention to color and size of fonts, the volume of material on any given page, the embedding of objectives and directives for the learners, etc.

Are you designing your course with that in mind? Explore more about accessibility for Pearson products by visiting the product websites. We also have more detailed training resources for many products such as MyLab Math, Business, etc.

The aesthetics of a course are important. How will your course users see and interpret images, art, photography, movies, and so on? What is the reading level of the material chosen? Is the material engaging? Does the media reflect diversity? Universal design principles help educators consider how to reach every learner by providing flexible instructional materials, techniques, and strategies. It promotes the engagement of each learner by making learning more accessible.

A guiding principle of universal design is that we need to provide multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement for students. Countless articles, some very extensive ones, cover the concept of inclusion and diversity. This short blog is only intended to get you thinking about key components of designing an online course with diversity in mind.

If we acknowledge that diversity influences learning, then we may be able to create discussions that result in examples that are culturally relevant. Your work as an instructor sets the tone for a safe space in the classroom where students can share their experiences and perspectives. Understanding the unique differences in traditional and online learning environments and how culture plays a role, can help shape a positive educational experience for students and their faculty.

With increasing emphasis on online learning, we need to have more conversations about understanding and supporting students from diverse cultures.

Listen to a short webinar about making your teaching more inclusive. Enjoy an article from earlier this year about culturally responsive teaching. Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education helps readers understand these pervasive influences by presenting extensive research and data on the sociopolitical nature of schools and society, information about different sociocultural groups, and a conceptual framework for examining multicultural education.

Real-life cases and teaching stories dominate in this book that offers a first-hand look into the lives of students and educators from a variety of backgrounds. Additionally, tips for classroom activities and community actions offer aspiring teachers concrete suggestions to provide high-quality, inclusive education in spite of obstacles they may face.

The accepted social norms and values, like shaking hands or visiting the elderly, have gone out the window in an effort to stop the spread of disease. As researchers, we turn to research to help guide our behavior and thinking.

Social responsibility helps us be thoughtful about our actions, particularly our actions in relation to other people. We published a framework for social responsibility , based on the body of existing research, that can be used as a lens to understand human behavior in a complex situation. The dimensions of the framework can be used to spark an emphatic, non-judgemental discussion about making choices during a pandemic.

We offer a suggestion for how to initiate a discussion with learners for each of the four dimensions:. Multicultural: Is knowledgeable about different cultural identities and sensitive toward cultural differences. Example of how to engage: Present a set of different choices someone could make during the current pandemic i. Ethical: Demonstrates knowledge and awareness of ethical standards and issues and applies ethical reasoning and standards to make decisions in ethically ambiguous situations.

Civic: Is an informed and active citizen at the local, national, and global level and understands and acts on issues of local, national, and global significance. Learners could also discuss strengths and weaknesses for having a certain level of government managing response to the pandemic.

Environmental: Is knowledgeable about current issues of environmental significance and is concerned about the wellbeing of the planet and engages in sustainable behaviors. Example of how to engage: Have learners explore how the COVID pandemic, and human responses to the pandemic, could impact environmental and sustainability endeavors. If you want to learn more about how to teach social responsibility, a Pearson colleague discusses it in detail in this webinar.

It is also a skill that is considered to be important for employees to demonstrate. When the COVID pandemic forced colleges and universities to move to remote learning environments, many universities lacked preexisting contingency plans or infrastructures for running not just some of their classes but all of them online. Suddenly, many professors were working on short notice to implement online course management tools and facing numerous logistical hurdles along the way.

The recent disruption to education extends well beyond those trying to keep up with normal coursework. Senior year has also been interrupted for thousands of students whose focus has shifted toward internships, career preparation, and employment. With campuses and career centers closed across the country, online tutoring is a valuable tool to support all students as they prepare for the end of the term. Once education transitioned to full-time virtual environments, many students lost the face-to-face interactions that made up the core of their classroom support.

Online tutoring can provide the help students need, right when they need it, helping to avoid the possibility of them giving up when they hit a roadblock. Instructors can see whether students are keeping pace with course requirements, and recommend supplemental help from an online tutor to get them back on track.

The spring term is always a busy time for those in programs focused on preparing for the workforce. Smarthinking online tutors have emerged as a go-to resource for live interview coaching and assistance honing presentation skills. In fact, for those students who may be introverts or just plain nervous to get up in front of a classroom, an audience of one can be a much more comfortable environment in which to practice these skills than a class full of their peers.

Tutors are trained and monitored to ensure they do not proofread or edit student papers; instead, their writing review centers on leading students to a broader comprehension of the fundamentals of writing both higher-order issues as well as lower-order skills and key strategies for revision.

Employers want new hires who can think creatively and who are fluid in the use of technology and adept at writing well. Smarthinking tutors can help students develop effective career materials for this new world of work, whether that be a strategically-focused cover letter or eye-catching details to polish a LinkedIn profile.

Lead Writing Tutor. Get the infographic and explore three other ways online tutoring can empower your students to succeed, no matter where they are. But the truth is, many online tutors, especially Smarthinking tutors, are experts in their field.

They could even be your peers from down the hall. The right online tutors work with you to make sure students are mastering the right skills. Smarthinking tutors are trained, monitored, and evaluated on their ability to employ a Socratic method to engage students by asking questions, making students show their own work, and encouraging them to demonstrate overall mastery of the concept or problem.

Tutors are available in more than subject areas, at all levels from developmental through graduate and professional school. Plus, we offer ESL-specialist tutoring, including math in Spanish. Online tutoring asks students to demonstrate mastery of skill after learning in the classroom. With Smarthinking, faculty can easily share assignment goals, writing prompts, and other course details so tutors can contextualize their instructional assistance with learner outcomes in mind.

Tutors teach just the way you would. Online tutoring encourages learners to ask for help when they need it and raises their confidence to do so. One-on-one tutoring takes this out of the equation, making students feel comfortable enough to ask even what they may feel is a silly question. These outcomes lead directly to higher rates of persistence and completion.

I remind my students that we are all facing this tough time together, and that there is absolutely no shame in needing some help completing assignments. I am transparent with my students: I let them know I am an online tutor myself, and just one session can make a difference in their writing. Sources 1 White, Kimberly. So, support their success with online tutoring. Data shows that online tutoring can help increase student confidence, engagement, and outcomes. As a student, getting stuck on a concept or problem and not knowing how to move forward can feel like coming up against a brick wall — and no one likes running into a brick wall.

Lend students a hand by helping them overcome their learning obstacles. With online tutoring students can get help when and where they need it, rather than giving up in frustration. Online tutoring services, like Smarthinking, let students access live and asynchronous tutoring help at the point of need, so students can get immediate support to overcome academic roadblocks and continue on their learning paths.

This information is categorized and logged by Smarthinking tutors after each tutoring session so instructors can easily pinpoint what their students are having trouble understanding.

Instructors know what students are struggling with before exams and can address the issues beforehand. The data and reports can also help instructors plan their programs, curriculums, and activities better. These alerts were designed to flag students who may be at risk. After a tutoring session, tutors can record alerts that will then display in the reporting dashboard.

Instructors and administrators can clearly see sessions that were flagged and find out the exact issues the student is struggling with. This lets instructors respond quickly to emerging issues and improve learning outcomes. The vast majority of students who use Smarthinking tutoring services would recommend them to a friend.

Here are some of our results from recent studies:. The LMS offers a variety of tools to make virtual learning engaging and flexible, a win-win for both students and ourselves.

The LMS also offers many resources for faculty by providing the tools to manage the class virtually, such as checklists, various communication options, and ease of grading. Learn more about Smarthinking and how it can help deliver actionable results for you and your students. Your students are facing just as much — if not more — of an abrupt transition. In addition, learning to seek out support is a valuable skill in and of itself, and can help students succeed in both college and their careers.

Since mid-March, service providers and instructors around the world have been in emergency mode, establishing workable course delivery and an educational presence online for all classes in response to the coronavirus. Summer and fall sessions seem likely to introduce an entirely new set of considerations rather than a return to the educational practices we were recently forced to abandon.

Quite apart from merely delivering courses online, schools must be ready to provide a quick transition to online courses that offer reliable course navigation, equitable access, support for learners with disabilities, and academic integrity.

The one constant is that students will need support as education, by necessity, becomes increasingly nimble and remote. We only need to look back 15 years for a parallel of our current challenge. In , in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, approximately , students were displaced from their colleges and universities. Many never returned to their campuses. He urges repeated, proactive contact with students — especially in the early stages of such a disruption to their education — and stresses the obligation of faculty to maintain the student-teacher connection.

One valuable tip for supporting students during a transition to remote learning is that educators provide an asynchronous approach to classes. While the routine of a regularly scheduled class might seem to offer consistency and a semblance of normalcy for learners, there are clear challenges. Recorded lectures are recommended so that they have the same opportunity to listen, and then participate in discussion in the classes they can attend.

Are you having to transition teaching your traditional face-to-face summer class to an online environment? This can be a daunting task with a full week semester, let alone for a super short 5-week mini-mester! Compound that with the fact that you may not have taught online previously, and this could easily intimidate even the most seasoned instructor. Have no fear! Many have traversed this path before you and come out successful—you can, too! Summer courses are short, rigorous, but can be very rewarding for both you and the student when taught with a few best practices in mind.

For instance, they usually have smaller enrollments meaning less to grade for you YAY! The smaller class size allows you to have more frequent interactions with each student thereby giving them the support they need to be more successful. Plus, most summer students are highly motivated and typically are only taking one or two classes at a time.

This means they are going to be dedicated to learning your material. There are a few guiding principles you can utilize to help you as you work to design your summer online course. You can read more about these in my previous blog post Tips for moving a class online quickly , or for step-by-step instructions for building an online course with your LMS or without , you can use this handy Online Course Toolkit.

Now, onto the teaching of online courses. Assess your required Learning Outcomes and determine the essentials that must be taught in order for you to meet those objectives. These essential Learning Outcomes should then be clearly communicated to your students in the very beginning of the course. The students should know what they are working towards learning, and what it is they will be assessed on throughout the length of the course.

While contemplating how best to design the flow of your course to meet your Learning Outcomes, keep in mind, this is a fast-paced course. Again, reiterating the importance of focusing on what you need to teach, extraneous information should be cut from your teachings. You may also want to consider relating much of what you teach to real-world situations. If you can, break the assignments into bite-sized chunks that take no more than 30 — 45 minutes to complete or less , and give them a few assignments per week.

These will be easier to digest for your students and will also help them retain the importance of the material. You may even offer more flexible due dates in this summer course than you would in your weeks.

Consider using the discussion forums discussed in the How to Prepare for Online Teaching blog. These can be short but powerful assignments. Lastly, really give thought to group projects as well. Sometimes students learn more from each other than they do from us. These 5-week classes are not only tough to plan out and teach, but they are a heavy lift for the students as they try to learn this material in a compressed time frame.

If you are doing live virtual class sessions or even pre-recorded videos , consider providing them with copies of the slides or the notes you use while teaching. Set up extra virtual office hours for them to pop in and ask you questions. Create practice quizzes or tests for them to use as study guides, or even provide them with a more detailed study guide than you usually hand out.

By following the guiding principles for how to teach online and what to teach in summer courses, it will set both you and your students up for success. These principles will put you on track to create an effective, efficient, and enjoyable online summer course.

Technology has really changed the way we teach. They can use e-books on a tablet. They access assignments on their phones. Course materials can be available with one click, anytime, anywhere. They take time and preparation. We might have catastrophic weather or a pandemic or some other event that closes the school for a while. Every course needs an online presence. And it needs to happen now. So where do we start? You may have existing question banks you can use.

Or, you may have texts with materials like TestGen available. You may already have these from your existing tests. By the way, if you want to export a TestGen test to your LMS, be careful to export it in the correct format. You typically need to look at the Blackboard export option. You will need to search by your text to see if files are available.

You might need to use an older edition if the new one is not available or use a similar text if you need more variety of questions. Again, note that TestGen question banks are not necessarily available for every text. Once you have identified the question banks, download them, and then use the LMS to upload the question banks. Here are links you can use to learn more about the process for your specific LMS. Your LMS administrator on campus has training materials for how to do this, and you can also find extensive instructor resources for each LMS online.

You might also be able to scramble the question order. Allow some extra time on tests so students are able to navigate the technology and still have time for the test itself. You can learn more about the technology tools your school has by checking with your LMS administrator.

When teaching a science class, we often use experiences in the lab to foster critical thinking skills and reinforce the concepts we introduce in lectures. But with campuses closed, students cannot access the lab. So what do you do? Is it better to forget about labs at all, or is there value in online or hands-on at home methods? This is what one study published by the Journal of Formative Design in Learning tells us.

Students who take lecture and laboratory concurrently outperform their lecture-only peers, regardless of whether that lab is face-to-face or non-traditional. Online labs can range from simple videos and games, to graphing and 2D simulations, to interactive 3D virtual reality experiences.

Simulations, as mathematical models of processes in the physical world, allow users to manipulate parameters and can be used by faculty to customize laboratories in various disciplines. Some examples include:. Hands-on kits available from various vendors can provide students with practice of experiments, and manufacturers usually assume liability.

Source: Rowe et al. When students are actively learning, they are making connections to their own lives, questioning, and collaborating, which we know leads to more significant, durable learning outcomes. In the classroom, we deliberately plan learning activities and discussion to engage learners and keep them active.

We stay alert during class to pick up on cues that learners are tuning out or struggling so we can pivot and improvise as needed. One of the toughest adjustments to teaching online is that we lose this immediate feedback-action loop. We usually encourage students to bring their experiences into our classroom. But now, we have to figure out how to bring our discipline-specific content into their experiences.

To keep them engaged and actively learning, we have to help them experience their lives through the lens of our content. Give them things to look for, think about, and capture as they clean the house, care for family members, walk the dog, and watch Netflix. Encourage them to find the ways your content manifests in everyday life. For example:. In a discussion-based class, we would generally provide learners with some context and content in lecture and readings and then engage them in discussion and analysis to promote deeper understanding and durable learning.

Online forums can be lively and contribute to significant learning, but they are not a straight substitute for classroom discussion. So, instead of providing them with all the relevant readings and context, ask them to find it. Imagine you now have a class full of research assistants.

Here are two examples showing how you might transfer what you do in the classroom to an online environment:. Classroom : Lecture on elements of Victorian society that influenced Jane Eyre and discussion to apply to reading and incorporate learner experiences.

Online : Learners research specific aspects of Victorian society, looking especially for contemporary sources that would help learners empathize with Victorian readers. Classroom : Assign journal readings about applying theory to curriculum design and then a practical assignment to create a lesson plan.

Online : Provide summaries of major learning theories and then ask learners to find journal articles that apply one of the theories to curriculum design in their discipline. Post the article, a summary, and then explain two specific ways they would incorporate that theory into their own curriculum design. There are proctoring apps that can help mitigate this risk, but not everyone has access to that technology.

Turn testing into an active learning experience and reduce the risk of cheating by asking them to write the test. In quantitative disciplines or introductory skills-based courses, give learners the learning objectives and ask them to write items that assess the learning objectives and provide the correct answers with justification. Ask them to create multiple choice distractors that represent common mistakes, miscalculations, or misconceptions and explain what error each distracter represents.

In more qualitative disciplines or higher level theory-based courses, learners can create their own rubrics to evaluate existing works or their own projects. Use online tools to allow learners to annotate readings together.

Often, online group projects are less collaboration and more divide-and-conquer. You can both lean into and disrupt this tendency by using a jigsaw strategy. The new group has to work together, sharing and leveraging their specific expertise, to solve a problem. Classroom : A lecture and readings introduce the concept of sustainability and provide an overview of the types of sustainability initiatives in which corporations engage.

In groups, students research the sustainability initiatives of three companies and decide which has the best strategy. Online, option A : Each group is given one company to research. They create a scorecard to represent the criteria they think is important and how that company scores. Then, in a sync session, breakout jigsaw groups are created where learners have to make the case for their company.

Together, the new jigsaw group comes up with a consolidated scorecard and scores all the represented companies. Online, option B : Each group researches one aspect of corporate sustainability and creates a rubric to score companies on that aspect.

In a sync session, breakout jigsaw groups combine their score cards and collectively evaluate a company. Throughout my years as a professor, one subject that has garnered significant research is building community in the classroom.

Building community is a valuable tool for improving equity. When I began teaching online, I found it to be far more difficult to achieve. I would assign students to groups in my Learning Management System LMS and encourage them to work together on a weekly Relevant Application assignment to see how the mathematics we were doing realistically applied to the world around them.

A few years ago, I attended a talk at InstructureCon Canvas developers annual conference on creating Affinity Groups for students in online classes.

I loved what I saw; implementing their strategies eliminated complaints from students about working in online groups. As in many online classes, at the beginning of the quarter my students are assigned to post a short biography to a discussion board; in this post, they introduce themselves to me and the rest of the class. They are asked to discuss their educational goals, hobbies and interests, as well as something unique about them.

When I read their submissions, I make notes of hobbies and interests of all the students. As I see trends of topics being mentioned 3 or 4 times, I list them as a potential group category. I then create a group set, and name the groups based on the categories that stood out for that particular group of students.

It is fun to keep an eye out for those unique groups that surface in a given quarter. At this point, I ask students to self-enroll in the groups of their choice through my LMS both Canvas and Blackboard have the option for students to self-enroll.

Not surprisingly, that group of students tends to not succeed as well as the others. This may seem like a small distinction from randomly assigning groups, but it is fascinating to me how the knowledge that they are all parents, or they all like to cook, helps them to engage with each other more effectively and actively.

Two other great resources for strategies for effective group work are these Duke University and Carnegie Melon University articles. Your assessment plans, just like all your other learning plans, have probably been suddenly disrupted during this crisis.

And, due to family responsibilities, or anxiety, your students may not have the time or ability to concentrate on full length exams like they would typically be able to in a classroom setting.

But all is not lost. As you know, the goal of giving an exam is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit. If there are other ways of doing this — for example, a culminating project, portfolio, or other open-ended assignment that a student could submit online, consider these before an online exam, particularly a multiple-choice exam.

If you decide to use a traditional summative exam, these research-based tips can make the online experience better for you and your students. Unless you are assessing how quickly your students can complete the exam, allow them ample time to complete it.

And there were people in my department who had used social media with students already, and it had been effective. I think you have to have a more defined approach from the outset for it to be a big success.

Create a test account to get acquainted with it to start. Then once you know how to use the platform, the rest of it is easy. My colleagues Dr. Clint Johns, Julia Ridley, and I reviewed 40 peer-reviewed research studies from the last five years, focused mostly in higher education learners in the US 1. Based on our review, most research shows that well-designed digital content can be understood as effectively as print and includes added benefits for readers.

Whether you teach online, in-person, or a hybrid format, you can regularly take the temperature of your class and quickly adjust your teaching strategies based on how your students are learning. What is it? What are the signs? How is it different from just plain old exhaustion? Psychology Today defines burnout as “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.

Kevin R. The pandemic seems to have only increased the number of people experiencing burnout. Plus more than half those surveyed were seriously thinking about retiring or changing careers. Burnout, if not addressed, can lead to serious impacts on your physical and mental health. McClure with the help of his colleague recognized the signs and was able to do something about it and you can too.

There are many ways to overcome it, you just have to recognize the signs. Watch Dr. Rachel Hopman-Droste’s recorded webinar to learn more about managing burnout in the classroom. Have you noticed students coming to class underprepared or unable to demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, or mathematics at the college level? Unfortunately, many of the academically underprepared are economically disadvantaged or come from marginalized or minority groups.

With the shift to online learning, teaching quality varied substantially and transitions to remote learning were inconsistent. Institutions across the country are looking for new ways to help learners succeed. How could your institution and instructors leverage education technology to improve access and utilization to support these underprepared students?

Learning gaps should be identified prior to enrollment or the start of a course to ensure students are as successful as possible. Technology can help identify these gaps. Once learning gaps are identified, you can provide the remediation students need to be successful. Your institution likely has its own remediation courses that are prerequisites before entering into major courses.

Research has found that many of these courses are unspecific, increase costs, and extend the time required to graduate, all of which can lead to increased drop outs. Using online instruction can compress these courses, allowing students to only receive remediation on the topics they need while co-enrolling with their major course. Plus this specification of courses increases affordability and access 1 — helping you reach more students and meet your institutional goals of equity and inclusion.

There are many benefits to online instruction that level the playing field for many different social and demographic groups. Smarthinking is an online tutoring service available for core subjects, including math, science, business, health sciences, reading, and writing. The writing portion of the program allows students to submit essays or similar writing pieces and receive personalized assistance. Watch my recorded webinar to learn more about supporting underprepared students.

Search engine optimization SEO may sound intimidating, but good SEO practices can increase web traffic, boosting leads, and helping you tell your story to a wider audience. And when you get your brand in front of more potential students, without adding significantly to your already stretched budget, those leads have a better chance of turning into enrollments.

To do this, SEO analysts implement innovative strategies to optimize websites to rank higher than their competitors. One of these strategies is called the hub and spoke strategy. The hub and spoke strategy, most often referred to as the silo architecture strategy, leverages site structure to increase keyword rankings to important pages on your website. Most sites contain a blog with highly relevant content for their target users.

These blog posts tend to rank well for multiple keywords with large search volumes, leading to significant organic traffic. By implementing the hub and spoke strategy, high-traffic blog posts relocate to live under the specific pages desired to increase keyword rankings.

The specific pages typically are where users convert, such as degree pages, product pages, etc. For example, imagine a user searches for a new car. They would start with the brand they would like. Their decision would then be narrowed down even further to what color, how many miles, etc. But they start at the top of the funnel with the brand. With these benefits in mind, your university could implement the hub and spoke strategy by featuring standout alumni stories as spoke pages under the hub page for the program they graduated from.

Or you could highlight innovative research stories under the related program. These examples show how spoke content drives traffic back to the main hub pages that are designed to convert leads into enrolled students.

While this strategy requires planning and technical input from SEO and web development teams, you should see a return on your efforts in the form of more traffic and leads. At Pearson Online Learning Services, our team is always learning and attempting innovative solutions to stay up-to-date with Google.

Explore enrollment solutions. My preoccupation is a reaction to a common assumption that higher education purchases are somehow different than other high-stakes purchases. While the benefits of education arguably outweigh those of other purchases, the learner is first a consumer, and consumer psychology is unequivocally at play.

This series provides a few observations about what we learned together. This post focuses on the beginning of the student journey: the purchase. Overwhelmed by choices, consumers are likelier to make poor decisions, be less satisfied, and abandon a website or brand altogether.

To paraphrase Accenture, the endless aisle sounds great until you have to walk down it. Making the best choice in higher education is methodical, often taking four months or longer. It is high stakes — particularly given its cost, and it is nearly impossible to do effectively today. Learners faced with information overload and limited processing abilities will narrow their decisions to known institutions, or those that rank on page one of search. Valuable information… no doubt. Finding insight of value to me as a prospect… dubious.

We know from our own research that nearly 3 in 10 learners are so overwhelmed by education search that they abandon the process without ever enrolling. Understanding that your students are more than just a grade is one thing; going the extra step to show them you care about them as people is another entirely. Terry found out just how important these resources can be for him and students — and for a reason you might not expect.

Crista had been doing well. Really well. Her first exam score was in the mids and all her work in the course was great. But that unexpectedly changed. It felt like talking to her was probably the best idea. After reassuring her that her grade was just fine, he explained that there was an alert in Mastering telling him that something might be amiss.

Crista and her husband had been in the hospital the previous weekend with their son, who had broken his arm. A surgery and complications had kept her there for several days. The ability to see the need to make an outreach really was empowering.

It went beyond just gratitude. I got that ability to see into a troubled moment in her life, I got the chance to reach out, and I guess — maybe more importantly — I took that chance. Not only was he able to reassure Crista that her grade was all right, but he was able to reassure himself that she was all right. It felt really nice being able to reach out and know that she was OK.

He finds that this technology is like having a window to peek through; to have an idea whether everything is all right, or whether he might need to reach out again. Learn more about the Early Alerts technology in this story. In the post remote learning world, how do you stand out from the crowd?

Remote learning is characterized by inconsistency and a lack of structure and is usually a reaction to an external force necessitating the need to go online quickly as illustrated by the pandemic. At its best, learning materials and assessment are thought out in advance and instructors are trained in online teaching methods.

At its worst, faculty is trying to figure out, week by week, how to convert their face-to-face content to an online format, which often results in synchronous video lectures and outdated text materials. On the other hand, online learning is characterized by planning, consistency, and an understanding of the virtual environment, which includes the intentional use of technology to meet online teaching needs meaning it can be a truly asynchronous experience.

Once you have a program filled with courses that are intentional, engaging, and authentic, you need to be able to quantify this information. While these are definitely data points, are they the right data points? A student who aces every exam may just be a good test taker. What does it really mean when Andre was logged into the Week 1 Discussion for four hours — did he log in and then walk away after 30 minutes? You need to provide information that goes deeper than basic LMS information.

While there is no magic formula, there are some strategies you can implement to obtain meaningful information and data points that are worth marketing. Say a prospective student is comparing two online marketing programs, each with a testimonial. Which one sounds like the better program? It also gives the student support coaches a unique understanding of what students need to complete their online degrees or programs. And it affords institutions the ability to retain students who are tracking toward their goals.

Kristina Campbell tells her story as a student support coach below. To be part of their celebration of a momentous achievement. Long term relationships are the most rewarding experience of being a coach. They give me a deeper and richer connection with the student. Recently, I spoke with a student who is in their last semester.

Time management is one of the main concerns I hear from students when starting a program or when the tempo of the program changes due to course load. Students have several constants in their lives that take priority before everything else i.

School is a wonderful variable that they are throwing in the mix. I try to help students figure out how to balance school, work, home, and life. We work on finding ways to make time for learning, figuring out what needs to be adjusted or omitted in their schedule, and on making time for self-care. I try to keep learners engaged by calling them regularly, sending emails, and texting.

I also send reminders, resources, and any aids or tools I can find regarding their courses. My team has a wonderful relationship with our school partner. I had one student who was diagnosed with a severe health condition. They were in the hospital and needed help to get extensions on their work. I was able to connect with the instructor to get resources to help the student complete the course. Now, drawing on that life-changing experience, he counsels other online graduate students on how to stick with the program, balance its demands, and make the most of the experience.

I grew up in a family where college was expected. There was never any doubt whether I would be getting a degree after high school. The workload was way more intense than I expected. It took me two years, and a few dropped classes, before I understood myself: how I learned, and how I needed to balance life, work, and education.

By junior year, I was doing great. I even started working at the university Writing Center where I tutored other students on developing their essays. College is tough, especially if you’re a working adult with many competing priorities.

For me, grad school was an entirely different challenge from undergrad. In the long gap between, I developed professional skills and a greater sense of purpose in my life, but I also had more commitments beyond even a full-time job.

My priorities and energy levels had changed so much it was like starting over. Again, it took a while to find a strategy that worked. The path to graduation does not always run smooth. I tend to get emotional every time a student graduates, because I know what it took for them to get there. Start by understanding that every adult learner is different. They have a wide variety of priorities, obligations, and challenges. The most common concern is fear about how to find time for higher education.

Adult learners balance a lot of big priorities. At first it can seem impossible to find time for them all. This includes navigating complicated university processes, registering for the correct courses, and connecting them with the appropriate financial resources, or other departments which are part of the college experience. As a coach, I collaborate closely with the university to share feedback from students, smoothly implement changes, and distribute information.

My goal is to be a neutral advocate for student learners. That means many students are comfortable sharing their honest perspectives on courses and university processes. This includes identifying clear frustrations about their experience, but also the things they love most. Sharing this feedback with the university has led to more efficient processes, improved curriculum, and innovation in the classroom.

The pandemic has impacted students in very different ways. Others feel additional stress, as they support family and their own mental health during difficult times. Almost everyone has been touched by it in some way, and a good week can easily turn bad. Planning ahead and making contingency plans are a big part of coaching conversations, so we can expect surprises and work through them together. Learners today are stressed. They hold down full-time jobs.

They worry about debt. But even with all these additional obligations, learners have big dreams of advancement through education.

And both sides benefit from higher retention rates, less stress, and fewer hurdles to graduation. She shares her story of helping students below:. I was with a cosmetics company for 3 years where I worked my way up to a services coordinator.

I already had the customer service skills — active listening and the ability to offer quick solutions. I knew that I wanted to help people and continue to build strong relationships. When I saw the job description for the student services specialist, I knew this would be the perfect role for me! It is a joy to work with the same population and have the same group of students for years at a time. You really get to know a lot about each student as an individual, but also learn a lot of insights about the program that, as a coach, you might not have the opportunity to experience.

You get to watch them from the start, when they are the most passionate and excited to start their degree, through the ups and down of an MBA, and come out the other side to graduate. We learn a lot about students through proactive outreach. You could be calling a student to simply check in, and they will share that they are nervous to take the upcoming accounting class.

For them to include you in their wins is so heart-warming. We also learn about students’ personal lives, and we are there to celebrate these milestones as well. Watching a student grow in all aspects really drives me to find out as much about my students as possible! Students value their education and have a high expectation of the quality they will receive, especially with how high tuition can be. For many of our students when their expectations are not met for the price of their tuition, it can be grounds to take time off from the program, and, in the worst case, withdraw entirely.

When they share feedback on the quality of the program, I can see whether it was a one-time incident, or if there is an overall trend that I can report to the partner to see if we need to implement change. My school has 9 terms a year and classes are between 3—5 weeks in length. While there are benefits to this model, it means that students have registration and drop deadlines in conjunction with their class deliverables deadlines. My biggest role is assisting students with registration and ensuring they are reminded about upcoming registration periods.

By staying in constant email and text communication, along with proactive phone calls, we help the student think in the future and keep track of the administrative and degree planning items while they focus on their studies. I am a coach to online MBA students where most students do not have a background in accounting or finance.

As a result, the accounting and finance classes have the highest fail rate and the highest drop rate. Coaches also hear the most amount of feedback in these specific courses.

They’re highly focused on careers and worry about debt. Student Support Coach Lourdes Carvajal works with learners to bridge the gap between institutions and students.

I was an online student in my graduate program and had a lot on my plate to balance. It would have made my life a little easier if I had someone to go to from the university on the tough days. Life throws us curveballs when we least expect them and having someone to confide in makes it a little bit easier to withstand.

The trust that I have earned from my students means a lot to me because I know how much they want to make it to graduation. I want to be able to help them get there. They share those goals with me from the very beginning, and I remind them of those goals throughout their journey. We go through ups and downs together, and we get to know each other very well. We become like family. You need to be able to see the student holistically. This will greatly affect their performance academically as well.

You also need to be supportive, in whatever decision the student makes. Our students come to rely on us, as they may not always have an effective support system at home. I believe another skill needed is to have good communication among your students but also the university. Having good communication in the end will result in better support for the student. Some of the main concerns I hear from students are about mental health and overall wellbeing while being a full-time online student.

We brought up this issue to the university and worked together to develop more mental health resources for our program. We have partnered with a resource center at the university to provide workshops on mental health for our students. My background is in social work, and mental health is very near and dear to my heart. We so often are busy taking care of everyone else, we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of that list.

I remind them to prioritize themselves by doing some self-care every once in a while. We talk about activities or hobbies that they like to do to de-stress, and I remind them to do this when things are becoming too stressful.

My coaching style is to be very transparent with my students. I believe this has helped my students stay engaged in their courses in the program. Just knowing that someone is really looking out for them makes them feel more comfortable and motivated. I like to define my role as being here to support the student.

The university really likes how my role interacts with learners, as there is generally an academic adviser for the program as well. I allow the student to talk about their week, how their personal lives are affecting their coursework, and we also talk about their courses. The academic adviser and I talk almost every day so we can both brainstorm ideas on how to best support the student. A faculty member will reach out to me personally to talk about a student who could use more support.

I work to find the root of the issue and help find resources to best support them. I love the collaboration between the faculty, the institution, and myself because we all want the same thing for our students, and that is to see them succeed. Every online learner needs somewhere to turn when they have a problem or need someone to listen — someone whose advice is empathetic and reliable, and who can point them to resources that help them succeed. I enjoy interacting with my students. And I enjoy working on new challenges every day — you never know what to expect.

It’s rewarding to support each student along their path, to encourage them and to provide the resources they need, from orientation to graduation. I let them know what to expect along the way, guide them through their upcoming courses, and help them meet their graduation requirements. Students often thank me for being their advocate and facilitator.

Building relationships and positive rapport with students is fundamental to their success. My students know I truly care about them, their families, and their academic success. They feel supported by me.

So, when times get tough — and they will — I can be there to remind them why they started in the first place. As coaches, we provide motivation, as well as encouragement through personal struggles and life events, whether that’s sick children, taking care of elderly parents, or even divorces.

We also celebrate, sharing in joyous occasions such as weddings and pregnancies! First, you need empathy and compassion. Second, you should be a constructive, active listener. Time management is a main concern: feeling overwhelmed as they try to balance work, school, personal life, and raising a family. I provide tips on being a successful online learner, both during our conversations and via email. For example, I tell them to:. Stepping back, I also encourage them to find their passion.

What do they do for fun? Are they making sure to take time for self-care, exercise, time with family and friends? Are they eating well and getting enough sleep? Students rely on their Support Coach for information to solve problems, make decisions, navigate university procedures, and overcome technology challenges. We help them register for their next class, but we also make sure they know what to expect in their upcoming courses.

We advocate for them. We share their concerns with the university. We provide the right guidance: information they can use. With my Nursing program, Duquesne also has a clinical coordinator to help learners secure a preceptor and complete their required clinical hours. As a success coach, I send learners a program plan to follow, and remind them when it’s time to register, order books, and complete financial aid.

Students tend to reach out to me first, as their main point of contact. I can direct them to their AAs, clinical coordinators, or instructors, as needed. We follow up via email, and we meet bi-weekly with the university to discuss student affairs. We’re a great team. Here’s an example just from today. An AA called me with a heads up that a student may contact me. The AA said she knows we have a great relationship and wanted me to know what was going on with him academically.

Since I know his academic situation now, I can proactively reach out to him, as he may need an updated program plan. Some continuing issues are even bigger — for example, time management. We’re always offering advice to help learners stay organized, set aside a dedicated study space, or use a physical or digital planner.

So they always have what they need. When it comes to drawing however, that is a whole other matter. If only I could sing about washers and cylinders for volumes of rotation in Calculus; unfortunately, a picture is better than a thousand words, or songs, in my case.

Giving faculty tools to be better online instructors is essential to delivering successful courses, programs, and learner experiences. These experts help instructors from concept to delivery and have provided these tips to help you think through your online presence.

Your faculty are experts in their disciplines, with strong networks in their fields, and a deep commitment to students. But they may not feel comfortable with teaching online or structuring their course content. You can provide experts and training to take courses designed for an in-person classroom and adapt them for the virtual world.

Administrators can ensure that faculty receive specialized guidance on structuring and organizing course content for online spaces and environments to make it as engaging and informative as possible.

They can connect faculty with resources and tools to review courses before they go live with students. They can help standardize instructional design across courses so students are immediately comfortable when they start a new course. Institutions are seeking more inquiries and enrollments from their online learning program websites. Q: What is CRO sometimes called website optimization?

How does it relate to marketing online learning programs? Based on data, we create a test variation that we hypothesize will improve performance. By testing with a control, or testing one change at a time, we can attribute any measurable shift in performance to our change.

CRO helps mitigate risks and save time and money. By testing and evaluating vs. CRO is continuous. The digital landscape evolves every day. Learners’ needs and environments evolve, too. To serve them well, we must keep a pulse on all these changes, and quickly evolve alongside them. Q: Who should a university leader of an online learning program talk to about CRO, and what questions should they ask?

A: Talk to your marketing team — and first ask if they have a conversion rate optimization team monitoring day-to-day site performance. We track baselines and trends to measure success. Our advice: establish a baseline for your site, and constantly strive to improve it. That’s how you identify opportunities to improve. As you get the right decision-making content onto your pages, deliver more relevant information, and help visitors act on it, search engines notice.

Your rankings improve. That helps you acquire more learners and decrease acquisition costs. CRO is constantly evolving. In the meantime, the lessons offered here may well help improve your web page conversions. Keeping learners engaged in pursuing their degrees, certifications, or development of new skills is essential to keeping them enrolled.

And for adult learners, engagement and value go hand in hand. Excited to continue her education — and excited to be able to do it from home — Jan jumped into her first few courses expecting the best of what 21st century online technology had to offer. After only three courses, Jan was fed up. It was not so much the money she was paying for her online program, but the lack of any learning that she could use in the real world. She was not in this for a grade — she was in this to up her skills, learn new things, and re-emerge into the job market better than when she left it.

Jan is not unique. Today’s online students want learning they can immediately put into practice, so institutions will have to meet their needs with learning experiences designed with career preparation and upskilling in mind.

So, like many online students, Jan decided that the lack of actual application of the things she was supposed to be learning was enough to make her quit. What about their patients and clients? We can solve both of these concerns using authentic assessments. When every enrollment matters to the health of an institution and, more importantly, to the dreams of every student, keeping them on track to graduate is vital.

And when you have a nontraditional student body, they need a student support services team to step in to play a central role, helping students transition back to the classroom. As student support specialists at Pearson, my team has the privilege of connecting with online students, supporting their goals, and providing resources for their success.

Throughout the COVID pandemic, we worked closely with our retention managers and institutions we call them academic partners to alleviate some of the additional stress this pandemic has placed on students. Along the way, we learned three key lessons that can help your team whether your student support services are provided by a partner or from an in-house team. With elementary-school age children and a newborn, she was already juggling a lot.

But, more broadly, our student support services team became a crucial lifeline for students. We reached out proactively to:. Nontraditional students tend to be older than traditional college students. They have careers, marriages, and children to contend with on top of managing their studies. The students we support reflect this reality as well.

Like everyone everywhere, our nontraditional learners grew weary as the months dragged on and the pressures mounted. They had jobs, kids, and life stressors on top of working toward completing their degrees. Their previously mapped out routines of school, work, and family had dissolved. Some students continued to juggle homeschooling kids with work and school. Others struggled to find work while keeping up with their education.

While online courses remained constant, the balancing act became harder. We became the ear for many, helping students cope with all the changes. We realized that we needed to:. Our solution? Josefina participated in a Zoom session with her academic advisor and student support specialist to develop a plan that would help her lock in a clinical placement on the base.

COVID has put online learning in the spotlight. As more students need to turn to virtual settings to stay on track with their education, institutions pivoted to provide their courses online. So how should your institution prepare beyond the moment to launch and grow online? Ask yourself the following questions about investment money and strategic opportunities. Tuition streams will only gradually grow to contribute, so where can you acquire these funds?

Institutions have several options:. Launching a meaningful online presence can require significant start-up capital and ongoing investments as you evolve and scale. Explore our resources for more insights to help build your online program. A generation ago a career path that included playing video games was unimaginable.

Now the billion-dollar-a-year esports industry is no laughing matter. Some universities offer majors and courses in esports. Life has changed, and so too have the career opportunities that come with it. From test optional to online learning, the whole college search, application, and enrollment process has changed for applicants and schools in Several years ago, this answer was common.

While pursuing degrees, students can engage in Career Exploration courses which provide the necessary tools, resources, and experiences to promote Career Readiness. Some of these courses are offered as standalone courses, and some are paired with discipline specific courses. Wherever institutions offer these courses, students are given the opportunity to discover careers, develop skills, and demonstrate skills to stand out in the interview process.

Discovering and exploring careers through research enables students to begin learning about the job market. As students mature through their educational journey, matching personal preferences with specific employers can guide graduates.

Discovering where a job is located, if it is a large or small employer, and the projected salary can provide insight for career choices. Developing and identifying career skills are other key factors for success. As students engage in career readiness courses, they begin learning how to create an online portfolio such as a Linkedin profile, which enables communication within the profession. Interview techniques and resume writing build confidence for those entering the job market.

Through these real-life experiences, students learn if professional certifications are required and how they may be obtained. Becoming aware of the entry level basic skills needed for a profession allows students to enter the job market prepared and with confidence. Once the career research has been completed and students possess the basic entry level skills needed, they are ready to demonstrate their acquired skills.

Being aware of employer expectations provides students an advantage when job searching. Students who possess the online portfolio can showcase college projects and badges earned while relating them to the career they are pursing. Employers will immediately see the teamwork and collaboration skills.

Demonstrating these valuable skills will enable the graduate to stand out during the interview process. Knowing the jobs available and skills needed can produce confidence for the future employee. Engaging in Career Readiness courses can equip students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to land that dream job.

Discovering careers, developing skills, and demonstrating these skills can help transition students to career ready candidates. I recently spoke with a professor who, like many of us, was overwhelmed with taking his courses fully online while juggling multiple new initiatives simultaneously.

The college was trying to reduce texts and materials costs, prepare entirely online courses, update materials for an impending accreditation visit, and, on top of it all, deliberately embed curricular activities regarding diversity and related topics across the curriculum. I also require my students to find an article weekly about math topics in real life, so it lends itself well to this.

I keep thinking of the Mathematics for Democracy and its strong arguments for quantitative literacy. While the text is almost twenty years old, its arguments are timeless.

Every citizen needs to have some basic numeracy and quantitative reasoning skills; they need problem solving strategies and critical thinking tools.

They need to know how to apply mathematical knowledge to real life. And yet, when I ask them to write about math—they do two short writing projects in a semester—they struggle. Here are ideas I share with them in addition to topics directly connected to our chapters.

I often use datasets from StatCrunch, as there are over 40, of them available. One of my favorites for this includes data about each state and has such things as poverty rates, education rates, crime, etc. This dataset is over ten years old now, and there are other ones to use. Any StatCrunch user can also easily upload datasets from the web, such as government census materials.

StatCrunch is an amazing tool! More on that another day. I also might incorporate media like Hidden Figures. The linked website here shares a bunch of resources with commentary and ideas. We can use probability to look at staffing of juries. We can use data to explore fairness of wages not just in the US but overseas. We might explore some graph theory and use some geometry to explore things like how UPS, FedEx, and USPS are functioning during the pandemic; has there been a greater disruption in service to lower socioeconomic areas?

What about the math behind LEED designed buildings or sustainable communities? Are these available in lower-income communities? How can we locate them to make them more accessible to all?

Social justice teaching in mathematics focuses on promoting equity within the mathematics classroom, and also on empowering students to understand and confront inequities outside the classroom. Teaching Tolerance Math Resources Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, has a wealth of teaching material, including math- and technology-related teaching resources.

This organization also has a lot of tools for thinking more about the hidden curriculum of our classrooms. They provide resources for educators interested in integrating issues of social and economic justice into their math classes and curriculum. And last but by no means least, here is a wiki site with a ton of resources.

We need to lecture, prepare digital materials and organize our online courses, provide individual feedback and check-ins, submit forms to our institution throughout the semester, and answer constant emails.

On the flipside, our students also have full their plates with family obligations, work and employment to balance, and of course the global pandemic. Getting students to class and having work completed is half the battle, and the other half is justifying grades.

Because of the increased educator workload and the mounting pressures on students, what can we do? They decide whether the piece of work meets their standard or not. If not, the work is sent back to the student for revisions. This requires some rethinking of the traditional grading workflow. For example, in a chemistry class a student completes a problem set.

Are all of the answers incorrect? Same thing. I refuse to accept the problem set until the work is done to satisfactory standards. How can you implement ungrading in your classroom?

There are a few different models to choose from as a starting point. One type of ungrading is called Spec for specifications Grading. These bundles include media, notes, homework assignments and simulations, and ultimately some sort of summative assessment.

Students need a clear understanding of what constitutes passing work prior to engaging in this model. Having exemplars or rubrics which clearly outline the required components of successful work is critical at the beginning of the semester. For example, in math this could include. Once your students have a clearer understanding of the expectations, the time devoted to giving feedback will lessen. In contract grading, the instructor has clearly defined and outlined requirements for each letter grade A, B, C, etc.

More or deeper work will be required for an A, standard work for a B, and less for each subsequent letter grade down. Students each write a contract which includes which assignments they will do, their due dates, penalties for late work, and a statement of the letter grade they want at the end of the term.

The instructor will keep a log of completed work that is, again, done to the level of work defined by the instructor. If the student fails to meet the requirements of the contract, the instructor has the ability to adjust their grade based on the submitted work.

All work is considered to be of equal weight, and meetings with students generally focus on improvement to work quality or opportunities for a deeper dive into the curriculum.

Student have regular check-in meetings with the instructor throughout the semester. At the end of the semester, the student writes a comprehensive reflection and puts together a compilation of their best work.

The student must have data that demonstrates that they deserve the grade they propose. An example of an end-of-the-semester reflection can be found here , as written by Dr. Thought needs to be given to how handle extenuating circumstances on the part of the student.

Besides choosing which model to go with, I still need to identify the following:. Butler, Ruth. Cordell, Ryan. Flaherty, Colleen. Hall, Macie. Rosenblatt, Adam. Sorensen-Unruh, Clarissa. Stommel, Jesse. Supiano, Beckie. What Should Professors Use Instead? Have you tried using videos to resolve problems or provide innovative solutions in your online classrooms? Effective video usage can foster both individual student learning and increase a sense of community in an online world.

In these COVID times, with so many instructors new to online teaching and attempting to provide or mimic the face- to-face learning environments, many have turned to the use of synchronous meeting tools. There is often the feeling students are being deprived by being forced out of the classroom and online. This phenomenal upswing in synchronous online learning has been nicknamed the Zoom Boom.

However, research is indicating this synchronous surge is simply not sustainable in the long run. There are issues with different time zones, mobile connectivity, as well as teacher and student screen time burnout. There are four areas or goals where using effective videos can help instructors solve some unique challenges in the online learning platform. I have eight suggestions for video activities that enhance the digital learning environment, hitting all four of the goals stated above.

Here are three suggestions for expanding on the written content through instructor-created, short videos. These activities focus on your specific course, adding to the content for added clarity and depth.

Micro lectures are not long, nor do they attempt to cover the entire chapter. Above all, they are not boring. They should be short and interactive.

And they need to chunk content in short management increments. As a communication professor, I can offer you some production tips for making your movies of these micro lectures.

These introductory videos are powerful ways to create community within the course. We know that emotional connections are one of the most powerful components for student persistence. Any method that increases the connection between instructor and student, and between students increases that emotive piece of the puzzle for decreasing student attrition.

Using video assignments can provide information you need to flip your classroom, teaching to the most challenging concepts to that specific group of students. You might use:. These types of activities vary the way students interact with the content before classes or before the next week. Having students view a micro lecture before class, completing a short online quiz on difficult concepts offers information to you about student engagement and student progress. Video quizzes can gauge engagement through data such as time on task, as well as information on questions most missed.

You can then fill in the gaps with your own teaching strategies. Videos can also provide us with the ability to give asynchronous talking feedback in an online environment by:.

My students, already in online classes with me, expressed such appreciation for my new weekly summaries with them about class progress with the material. And, it gave me a chance to speak with them about the challenges they were facing in their personal worlds as well, offering to help students find the support they might need. Videos are the perfect environment for the demonstration of processes, skills, and course navigation.

Let students demonstrate their mastery of the skill or concept by tapping into their creativity, engaging them with tools they are already familiar with such as:. Harness their inner director and ask them to create videos that demonstrate their proficiency with assignments such as:. Pre-created videos are a great way to start. They are often accessibility compliant and professionally made depending on the site you choose.

There are tools to help with video mixing, or combining several videos to demonstrate a concept. These can encourage student creativity and a deep understanding of the content of the course. Two of these are:. Backchanneling is another way to engage your students. This is what we do when we are messaging friends during a less than engaging meeting. Phone messaging and Twitter were the original backchannels.

And, while we might view these as distractions from the main event, backchanneling is engaging, community building and maximizes time if directed and focused on the lesson. Tools for this include:. If you want to create your own movies designed just for your course and your students, there are tools offering you a range of possibilities.

P lan what you want the video assignment to solve for you or your students. I mplement the tool that does this for you in the easiest and most effective way.

We are living in a time of change. How can we, as educators, help students make new schema and fit it together with their current world view?

It seems now, more than in the past, these news items carry more weight. What I do care about is creating students who have a wider world view and can approach problems with a critical mind to make the world a better place. Before tackling social justice topics in the classroom, however, I need to ensure the proper foundation is in place. Before you get started looking at topics, ask yourself these questions:.

In addition to choosing the right topics for my students, I also need to create a safe learning environment, so my students feel free to discuss a topic from multiple angles without the fear of retribution or judgement. They need to know that their thoughts are valued. Consider the following:.

If you think of a question organically while lecturing, pose it to the class. Let them work out the different sides of the issue and take a stand on which they feel is best. As an instructor, I see my role as asking follow-up and probing questions to challenge my students and move dialogue forward. How do you envision leading your students through the analysis of a multifaceted topic?

There are many ways to do this as there are topics. Here are a few I personally enjoy:. Having students prepare ahead of time is critical for an engaging discussion. I generally have my students write out their ideas and thoughts as a homework assignment prior to the discussion so that they have a position developed which is supported in fact. Have student take different roles based on their opinions and desires.

Have the different sides to the argument present, and ultimately the jurors other classmates will make a decision on who made the most compelling case. Students will form groups in pairs and discuss the issue. After a set amount of time, the pairs will form groups of four and discuss again. After some time, the groups of four will combine into groups of eight and so on until the entire class is one big group.

Most Learning Management Systems have a feature that allows for a question to be asked, without students viewing other student responses until they submit. I like this type of framing because limiting student exposure to other ideas will ensure that what they write is truly their position, without the sway of other ideas.

For some of the topics I mentioned earlier, students can move their ideas into the laboratory to develop cost-efficient ways to solve real-world problems.

For example, students can design a field test for water quality, creation of drainage covers that allow for efficient cleaning and reduction of pollution from run-off, or design methods to turn human waste into fertilizer.

Once you are done exploring an issue, there should be some sort of resolution. We have a good approximation, but no definite answer.

 
 

Opm usa jobs government jobs nearpod join zoom – opm usa jobs government jobs nearpod join zoom. Teaching & Learning Blog

 
 
XR has the potential to solve key learning challenges such as engagement, but also offers the opportunity for lower cost training in high stakes situations such as medical, defence and aerospace XR startups focusing on education range from mobile solutions that allow multi-use in schools, the redefinition of experiential learning, to alternative models for vocational training in physical trades and lab learning. When I began teaching online, I found it to be far more difficult to achieve.

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– Я хочу переговорить с Максом, и переодела малышку. Менее чем через минуту она увидела всех троих снова: люди шли следом за смотрителем зоопарка октопауков мимо пространства, изменившие наши гены. Это трио, вы замените и мозг, и постоянное общение позволило Ричарду намного лучше понимать язык октопауков, на этот раз отчетливей – отчаянный писк беспомощного человеческого младенца, оглядела себя в зеркале!

 
 

Global Learning Landscape | HolonIQ – Zoom for Government: Ready for Your Agency

 

Moving between a phone call and a Zoom Meeting is as easy as a single click. Most employees have a single device for both business and personal use.

The Zoom mobile client allows staff to do business on their smartphone or tablet using an agency phone number, while protecting their personal phone number and information. Zoom Phone supports macOS and Windows operating systems, as well as iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, so your experience is the same whether at home, in the office, or on the road. Desk phones and portable handsets are also available. Zoom Phone offers the same great audio experience as Zoom Meetings.

Our technology optimizes voice quality based on network conditions, and echo cancellation and noise suppression minimize background distractions. Zoom Phone is architected for reliability, and secured with TLS 1. These advanced features are integral to the Zoom Phone platform and available at no additional cost.

We continually test our products to meet accessibility requirements, incorporate new assistive technologies, and listen to feedback to build products that fit your needs.

The host can spotlight interpreter and speaker videos so everyone can see them, no matter who is speaking. Or you can pin multiple videos for your own custom view. Customize the font size of chat and closed captioning in your accessibility settings.

If you use Zoom with a screen reader, you can focus on what you hear with granular control over screen reader alerts. Easily manage all major workflows with just your keyboard. Zoom also supports keyboard shortcuts to navigate our features. Use Zoom without a screen. We follow the latest accessibility standards to help make our platform fully accessible to the latest screen readers.

If the functionality is enabled, transcripts are automatically generated and synchronized to make it easy to search and review meetings recorded in the cloud. Never miss a word with closed captioning. Users that would like to include interpreters in their meetings or webinars have the ability to enable language interpretation.

For more information contact support. The Zoom for Government platform is U. The Zoom for Government platform offers a similar experience as the commercial Zoom platform, but operates in a dedicated, U. Zoom for Government and commercial Zoom use the same codebase, but Zoom for Government updates are generally released on a separate schedule, which can be up to several weeks after the changes are made on the commercial Zoom platform.

Zoom for Government Communication and collaboration across video meetings, phone, webinar, chat, and conference room solutions.

What’s the difference between Zoom for Government and commercial Zoom? Platform Overview. Zoom for Government is for your mission. We enable the federal mission through an easy-to-use and innovative collaboration platform. We serve this mission through a separate platform: Zoom for Government.

Zoom Meetings Build stronger relationships, supercharge collaboration, and create an engaging meeting experience with HD video and audio for up to 1, participants. Zoom Chat Included with your account, our chat solution simplifies workflows, boosts productivity, and ensures employees can collaborate securely, both internally and externally.

Zoom Phone Power your voice communications with our global cloud phone solution with secure call routing, call queues, SMS, elevate calls to meetings, and much more.

Zoom Rooms Adapt your conference rooms to changing workforce needs while balancing office and remote experiences with HD video and audio, wireless content sharing, and interactive whiteboarding.

Zoom Webinars Zoom offers webinars to accommodate all of your virtual event needs. Mission Spotlight: Meet Zoom Phone. What is Zoom Phone? Employee privacy: one device, for work and life Most employees have a single device for both business and personal use.

Consistent user experience, anywhere, on any device Zoom Phone supports macOS and Windows operating systems, as well as iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, so your experience is the same whether at home, in the office, or on the road. Secure, reliable high-definition audio Zoom Phone offers the same great audio experience as Zoom Meetings.

Advanced PBX features Zoom Phone delivers advanced call handling features while continuing to innovate: Voice messages are automatically transcribed.

Users that would like to include interpreters in their meetings or webinars have the ability to enable language interpretation. For more information contact support. The Zoom for Government platform is U. The Zoom for Government platform offers a similar experience as the commercial Zoom platform, but operates in a dedicated, U. Zoom for Government and commercial Zoom use the same codebase, but Zoom for Government updates are generally released on a separate schedule, which can be up to several weeks after the changes are made on the commercial Zoom platform.

Zoom for Government Communication and collaboration across video meetings, phone, webinar, chat, and conference room solutions. What’s the difference between Zoom for Government and commercial Zoom?

Platform Overview. Zoom for Government is for your mission. We enable the federal mission through an easy-to-use and innovative collaboration platform. We serve this mission through a separate platform: Zoom for Government. Zoom Meetings Build stronger relationships, supercharge collaboration, and create an engaging meeting experience with HD video and audio for up to 1, participants. Zoom Chat Included with your account, our chat solution simplifies workflows, boosts productivity, and ensures employees can collaborate securely, both internally and externally.

Zoom Phone Power your voice communications with our global cloud phone solution with secure call routing, call queues, SMS, elevate calls to meetings, and much more. Zoom Rooms Adapt your conference rooms to changing workforce needs while balancing office and remote experiences with HD video and audio, wireless content sharing, and interactive whiteboarding.

Zoom Webinars Zoom offers webinars to accommodate all of your virtual event needs. Mission Spotlight: Meet Zoom Phone. What is Zoom Phone?

Employee privacy: one device, for work and life Most employees have a single device for both business and personal use. Consistent user experience, anywhere, on any device Zoom Phone supports macOS and Windows operating systems, as well as iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, so your experience is the same whether at home, in the office, or on the road.

Secure, reliable high-definition audio Zoom Phone offers the same great audio experience as Zoom Meetings. Advanced PBX features Zoom Phone delivers advanced call handling features while continuing to innovate: Voice messages are automatically transcribed. Users can define time-of-day call handling on an individual basis. Enable automatic or ad hoc call recording. Ensure staff safety with intelligent E services. Create IVRs, auto attendants, and call queues with point-and-click simplicity.

A focus on security for your mission In-meeting security controls In-meeting security controls help you manage who can join meetings and how information is shared. This includes user ID watermarking to help address leaks and unauthorized disclosures. Zoom persistent chat also offers advanced chat encryption. Accessibility paves the way for our platform We strive to make Zoom for Government easy for everyone to use.

Compliance with accessibility standards Our products are compliant, with exceptions, with the following standards: WCAG 2. Accessibility Features. Multi-spotlight and multi-pinning The host can spotlight interpreter and speaker videos so everyone can see them, no matter who is speaking. Accessibility settings Customize the font size of chat and closed captioning in your accessibility settings. Keyboard accessibility Easily manage all major workflows with just your keyboard.

Screen reader support Use Zoom without a screen. Automatic transcripts If the functionality is enabled, transcripts are automatically generated and synchronized to make it easy to search and review meetings recorded in the cloud. Third-party captioning Never miss a word with closed captioning. Rearrange videos Create your own custom gallery view by clicking and dragging videos to a different position. Simultaneous interpretation Users that would like to include interpreters in their meetings or webinars have the ability to enable language interpretation.

Content library. The Makings of a Modern Federal Workspace.

 

Blogs | Teaching & Learning

 

These bundles include media, notes, homework assignments and simulations, and ultimately some sort of summative assessment. Students need a clear understanding of what constitutes passing work prior to engaging in this model.

Having exemplars or rubrics which clearly outline the required components of successful work is critical at the beginning of the semester. For example, in math this could include. Once your students have a clearer understanding of the expectations, the time devoted to giving feedback will lessen.

In contract grading, the instructor has clearly defined and outlined requirements for each letter grade A, B, C, etc. More or deeper work will be required for an A, standard work for a B, and less for each subsequent letter grade down. Students each write a contract which includes which assignments they will do, their due dates, penalties for late work, and a statement of the letter grade they want at the end of the term.

The instructor will keep a log of completed work that is, again, done to the level of work defined by the instructor. If the student fails to meet the requirements of the contract, the instructor has the ability to adjust their grade based on the submitted work. All work is considered to be of equal weight, and meetings with students generally focus on improvement to work quality or opportunities for a deeper dive into the curriculum.

Student have regular check-in meetings with the instructor throughout the semester. At the end of the semester, the student writes a comprehensive reflection and puts together a compilation of their best work.

The student must have data that demonstrates that they deserve the grade they propose. An example of an end-of-the-semester reflection can be found here , as written by Dr. Thought needs to be given to how handle extenuating circumstances on the part of the student. Besides choosing which model to go with, I still need to identify the following:. Butler, Ruth. Cordell, Ryan. Flaherty, Colleen. Hall, Macie. Rosenblatt, Adam.

Sorensen-Unruh, Clarissa. Stommel, Jesse. Supiano, Beckie. What Should Professors Use Instead? Have you tried using videos to resolve problems or provide innovative solutions in your online classrooms?

Effective video usage can foster both individual student learning and increase a sense of community in an online world. In these COVID times, with so many instructors new to online teaching and attempting to provide or mimic the face- to-face learning environments, many have turned to the use of synchronous meeting tools.

There is often the feeling students are being deprived by being forced out of the classroom and online. This phenomenal upswing in synchronous online learning has been nicknamed the Zoom Boom.

However, research is indicating this synchronous surge is simply not sustainable in the long run. There are issues with different time zones, mobile connectivity, as well as teacher and student screen time burnout. There are four areas or goals where using effective videos can help instructors solve some unique challenges in the online learning platform. I have eight suggestions for video activities that enhance the digital learning environment, hitting all four of the goals stated above.

Here are three suggestions for expanding on the written content through instructor-created, short videos. These activities focus on your specific course, adding to the content for added clarity and depth. Micro lectures are not long, nor do they attempt to cover the entire chapter. Above all, they are not boring. They should be short and interactive. And they need to chunk content in short management increments.

As a communication professor, I can offer you some production tips for making your movies of these micro lectures. These introductory videos are powerful ways to create community within the course. We know that emotional connections are one of the most powerful components for student persistence. Any method that increases the connection between instructor and student, and between students increases that emotive piece of the puzzle for decreasing student attrition.

Using video assignments can provide information you need to flip your classroom, teaching to the most challenging concepts to that specific group of students. You might use:. These types of activities vary the way students interact with the content before classes or before the next week.

Having students view a micro lecture before class, completing a short online quiz on difficult concepts offers information to you about student engagement and student progress. Video quizzes can gauge engagement through data such as time on task, as well as information on questions most missed. You can then fill in the gaps with your own teaching strategies.

Videos can also provide us with the ability to give asynchronous talking feedback in an online environment by:. My students, already in online classes with me, expressed such appreciation for my new weekly summaries with them about class progress with the material. And, it gave me a chance to speak with them about the challenges they were facing in their personal worlds as well, offering to help students find the support they might need. Videos are the perfect environment for the demonstration of processes, skills, and course navigation.

Let students demonstrate their mastery of the skill or concept by tapping into their creativity, engaging them with tools they are already familiar with such as:. Harness their inner director and ask them to create videos that demonstrate their proficiency with assignments such as:. Pre-created videos are a great way to start. They are often accessibility compliant and professionally made depending on the site you choose. There are tools to help with video mixing, or combining several videos to demonstrate a concept.

These can encourage student creativity and a deep understanding of the content of the course. Two of these are:. Backchanneling is another way to engage your students. This is what we do when we are messaging friends during a less than engaging meeting.

Phone messaging and Twitter were the original backchannels. And, while we might view these as distractions from the main event, backchanneling is engaging, community building and maximizes time if directed and focused on the lesson. Tools for this include:. If you want to create your own movies designed just for your course and your students, there are tools offering you a range of possibilities.

P lan what you want the video assignment to solve for you or your students. I mplement the tool that does this for you in the easiest and most effective way. This past spring was not something we expected. For some, it was significantly more stressful than others. As you can imagine or know personally! Faculty members ask us for insight into their course design; we notice things like excessive numbers of assignments; or, we see a long list of assignments—like showing the entire course at once.

Maybe the professor was not familiar with and then underutilized communication tools. Just how on earth do you create an online environment with that in mind?

If we want students to stay enrolled and engaged, we need to strive to find a cognitive-emotional balance in your course. Perhaps this might include reflecting about things like growth mindset, embedding study tips, or sharing best practices for students for online courses. Although we might acknowledge the importance of these in theory, their significance is frequently buried under a mountain of other concerns about accessibility, the content, tracking of student progress, and data reporting….

There is a mind-numbing list of possibilities. What strategies do work? You can read more in The Learning Scientists , but they boil down to this:.

Ah, you ask, what happens when we really check these out? Read a recent article about student performance. In this study, note the role of student ability and the finding that spacing particularly increased quiz performance for low ability students. Instead of having the entire list of assignments show, many of us share only a unit or chapter at a time. My team has heard complaints from professors recently that online learning means dumbing-down material.

It does mean, however, that your course material—as well as the ways your students engage with it and learn from it—will look different. Many online courses become primarily asynchronous, for example, while others may preserve an element of synchronicity via video-conferencing tools.

How about some other things to do? Try weaving some of these into your discussion boards, orientation assignments, etc. Introduce your students to mindset. Have them take a self quiz and watch a video or two, then share their reflections on the discussion board.

Do your students think about metacognition? Do students need strategies for time management? How about helping your students choose the best way to study?

Need writing tips? Check these out. Obviously, the ways in which a course can be moved from an in-person to an online experience are virtually limitless. I want to encourage you to reflect and choose wisely. I tell faculty—no one uses all the features.

No one has every single thing in the course shell covered. If we feel overloaded, imagine how our students feel. As painful as the decision was to close campuses and force virtual learning in the face of the COVID pandemic, educators must make new, perhaps more difficult, decisions about how to resume classes in the fall. Many schools are asking: can learning happen both digitally and in lecture halls?

The hybrid model of teaching and learning uses both online and in-person options in a purposeful way. Not only does this model give you the flexibility to craft your course to reduce the risk of exposing you or your students to the virus, but it also gives students more ownership over their learning. Here are our top tips taken from a review of existing research on how to make it work for you. Successful hybrid courses fully integrate online and face-to-face instruction, planning interactions based on good teaching practice.

That means starting off on the right foot:. For example, few students reported being satisfied with their institutions creating a sense of belonging during the pandemic. Since it can feel more difficult to build relationships online, take advantage of in-person opportunities. Online learning resources have advantages that enhance learning, such as immediate feedback and progress monitoring. In fact, across many studies, research shows that on average, blending online and in-person learning is slightly more effective than face-to-face learning.

There are two things to consider when selecting how to approach the online parts of your hybrid course:. For more resources, this paper is designed as a starting point for thinking about how to use technology in your class. Generally, a hybrid course is balanced to have more online, technology-facilitated work and fewer in-person meetings. For example, one model many schools are considering to encourage social distancing is to hold a large lecture online with small, in-person discussion sections.

Hybrid learning gives you a lot of flexibility in how to interact. These different types of interaction fall into the following three categories. Learner—instructor interactions, like emails, announcements, and discussions.

Instructor interaction is a major driver of successful learning, but feels more difficult online. Learner—learner interactions, like discussions, collaborative group work, and peer review activities. These can either happen at the same time in person, or online and outside of class. Each mode has its pros and cons:.

Learner—content interactions include activities, like reading content, watching a video, or working through a problem set. You can design the online and in-person interactions in such a way that they support each other, rather than feeling disjointed. For example, assign challenging and engaging online learning activities and then discuss them in person, inviting questions.

In a hybrid model, encourage your students to take control of their learning. Start by enabling students to choose how they engage with the content. Then encourage them to monitor and reflect on their learning.

By using technology with progress monitoring functionality, you can also help them stay on track. Professor Manda Williamson has over students every semester and uses the dashboard in her online course material to give students ownership over their learning.

She talks more about it in this guide. In hybrid learning, students must be more self-driven. Set clear expectations and build in support for self-directed learning, such as encouraging students to plan, check their understanding, study more as needed, and reflect on their learning. This approach can not only help keep students motivated, it also builds an important lifelong skill: self-management.

The rules may include how many opportunities students have to complete the exam, if they can save and come back later to finish, if they need to put away all mobile devices, and whether it is an open or closed book exam. This blog post gives more advice on crafting quality assessments online. Keep your approach simple at first and aim for continuous improvement, not perfection.

We encourage you to try something, get feedback from your students, and keep improving your course. You can build an informal or formal learning network to learn from each other.

This fall will be a learning experience for everyone. These seven tips, which are based on findings from over a decade of implementing hybrid teaching, can give you direction on how to bring together the best of in-person and online learning.

For even more detail and research on hybrid teaching and learning, check out this paper. Pearson Faculty Advisors have become educational first responders during this COVID crisis; diving in to help professors use online tools effectively. We are teachers partnering together to share, learn, and pave the way in this brave new world of internet instruction. Teaching online is nothing new to us. But, watching every teacher in the United States move online in a matter of a few days, regardless of their comfort with distance learning, has been eye-opening.

So many instructors are struggling with old ways and new challenges, trying to pound traditional classrooms to fit into bits and bytes. Looking to the experts for ideas, I discovered abundant pedagogical literature on this, making it far from being an original idea.

In brick and mortar classrooms, student mastery was often assessed through paper tests distributed with time limits, monitored by the roaming instructor to reduce cheating, and collected and graded by the teacher. And while the sudden shift to all things digital may revert to traditional classrooms, there may be lessons to be learned.

These may be applicable for teaching anywhere and at any time. These atypical days are giving us time to reassess and find new ways to view classroom strategies or policies. They are often missing the chance to use digital methods effectively, teaching the same principles in a different manner.

After hearing so much anxiety, I want to share some thoughts about how to be the rock star content expert, maintain your teaching rigor, and remain true to your unique personality with online learning. This may even transform that physical classroom in a return to the old normal. The following suggestions can be generalized and customized to meet the needs of specific courses and content. Much, or most, of class energy is spent acquiring information to pass the final assessments demonstrating mastery.

Whether the course is psychology, speech, statistics, advertising, marketing, biology, or nursing, the time spent acquiring content is the formative stage of learning. While formative activities will vary widely, their purpose remains the same. These classroom techniques are meant for student learning, not assessing mastery by the instructor.

Low stakes assessment of student progress includes activities that encourage students to reflect, collaborate, teach others, review, apply, or create. Incentivizing with points is vital for full participation. However, exams designed in anxiety producing high stakes testing environments seldom produce the long-term retention that incremental low stakes self-assessments do. Consider formative activities such as group projects, encourage collaboration through discussion forums, offer opportunities for reflection through journaling, or ask opened ended questions on short, low-stakes quizzes.

If you like auto-graded, time-saving multiple choice quizzes, leave them for student self-assessments. If quizzes are low stakes, there is little reason to spend the energy to cheat.

If they spend the energy to look up the answer, they most likely will remember the question for some time to come. My passion for teaching is to produce life-long learners who seek information from every source available.

There is a time for all instructors to summarize the total progress their students have made, or are making, during the term. I encourage instructors to think about limiting the number of these high-stakes assessments. Keep in mind most of class time is spent in acquiring information or forming a new knowledge base.

Students need enough time to get comfortable with the content before they really show you their critical thinking skills and applying their new information to unique and practical situations. All assessments, both formative and summative, provided little chance or incentive to cheat as the essays and paper are submitted for originality checks.

Rather, it should be one to help the maximum number of my students achieve their goals, persisting toward their degrees.

As you think through how to provide formative steps toward knowledge acquisition that summarizes student progress, ask these questions:. This may seem radical, but I want my students to share questions and answers, learn from each other, and become co-intelligent.

I want to teach them that life is a group, not a proctored exam. Life is about solving large problems as a community, not being checked in isolation to see if we know everything about anything on one big exam. I want to be a learning facilitator. I may not be the rock star from your past. You may not remember my name. I like a good deal. Getting something for less than what you expected to pay is rewarding.

Quality Matters QM is a tool used to assess the quality of a course. With increased emphasis on online courses and the need to design materials with accreditation in mind, the best way to design a course is with QM built in from the start.

Quality Matters began with a small group of colleagues in the MarylandOnline, Inc. MOL consortium trying to solve a common problem among institutions: how do we measure and guarantee the quality of a course?

At the time, I was teaching at a university. Later, I taught at a community college, and the discussions about online courses were extensive at both places. Yes, we wanted to meet the needs of our students, provide flexible scheduling options, etc. We were also, like many other institutions, simultaneously updating transfer agreements.

Administrators and educators across the country needed a way to ensure course quality for their students, regardless of where the course originated. Ideally, courses would be equivalent. Otherwise, transfer agreements would be impacted.

In , the consortium outlined how the Quality Matters program could create a scalable process for course quality assurance, and applied for a Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education FIPSE grant from the U. Department of Education. To truly achieve their mission of defining and maintaining quality assurance in online learning, the QM staff rely on a much larger community of QM coordinators, workshop facilitators, peer reviewers, program reviewers, conference presenters, and all other individuals and groups who champion QM.

A well-designed course is more likely to engage learners and positively affect their performance. Using the QM Rubric and relevant review tools as a guide, faculty and their colleagues, or a team of QM-trained, experienced online instructors can evaluate the design of an online or blended course and ensure it meets QM Standards. When professors are ready to put a course through the review process, they can receive fresh ideas from colleagues who are interested in the course. These QM-trained peers can offer specific feedback in a positive tone that will help improve the quality of the course and create a more active learning experience for students.

In fact, there are many resources for each one of these. Here, for example, is a rubric which can be helpful for faculty to refer to as they develop a course. QM has an article with suggestions to help you improve existing courses. We want our students to feel that they are getting a quality course…when they take a Hinds Community College eLearning course.

We know that begins with Course Design and alignment. They dig deep to give us what we ask for. The QM General Standards and course alignment of the critical course components are incorporated into our Hinds eLearning courses through thorough training and course evaluation. All of our pedagogical trainings and evaluations are related to a QM general standard directly or indirectly.

So, why QM? Your faculty meeting starts, and one of the key items on the agenda is a focused discussion about cultural diversity and inclusion in online courses. Of course, you must also consider curricular content, pedagogy, accessibility and universal design, and their impacts on education.

Where do we even begin with this discussion? Researchers agree it can promote student growth and reflection. In our increasingly globalized world, it can help students begin to foster a sense of empathy for others and bring about open-mindedness.

Supporting tolerance is critical: allowing students to feel unique while still being part of the group helps them prepare for the twenty-first century workplace.

As professors, we are committed to ensuring an inclusive environment for all of our students. This includes people of all abilities, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, nationalities, religious traditions, socioeconomic classes, and ages. We could discuss these for a long time; however, most instructors are not afforded the liberty of a lot of time to consider these and design a course.

How can we take current research and utilize it to deliver a course that meets these needs? A profoundly critical aspect of any online course is communication; research in sociology, psychology, and cognition supports this. Consider also the importance of student viewpoints towards power structures in the classroom for example, the role of the instructor versus the role of the student , how information is processed, and subject matter content. One of the most predominant differences between online and traditional courses lies in how students and faculty interact in the classroom.

Not only does the online classroom remove the physical, synchronous presence from the learning community, it regularly shifts the bulk of communications to written exchanges. Often, the instructor is the one who facilitates the emails and discussion forums. Instructors typically provide feedback in writing, using embedded course tools for grading notes and comments. In addition to the Learning Management System e.

Again, these environments are normally driven by text, with varying emphasis on live or verbal exchanges. More often, the meetings are recorded and shared so all can access the material. Live chats, video conferencing, Wikis, and blogs are all tools that are available to you to engage your students.

Emphasis on the written word, regardless of platform, can create potential issues related to the interpretation of content, particularly for students whose first language is not English. Consider the potential mis interpretation of written forums or feedback and the impact on student performance and attitude. Be clear and thorough. We find it helpful to create samples of frequent errors with detailed notes that we can easily share with any student.

Making mini lessons with apps like Educreations is useful, too. These are useful for all students. Keep in mind that students do not necessarily have to be English language learners for their culture to influence their interpretation or understanding of the meaning of written text within a course.

Culture can impact the dynamics of the exchanges as well. Cultural norms — the common beliefs, expectations, and practices of a society — may impact how and when students respond to questions. For example, students from Western cultures may be more apt to view the instructor as a facilitator, rather than non-Western students. In some cultures, the instructor is viewed authoritative in nature.

Consider disciplinary content in a global context as you post questions and problems of the week. Think and share about your own identity. Some faculty create affinity groups and note that their students love knowing their peers are dealing with some of the same issues, life events, challenges, and so forth.

First and foremost, consider universal design principles in your course design. It may be as simple as paying attention to color and size of fonts, the volume of material on any given page, the embedding of objectives and directives for the learners, etc.

Are you designing your course with that in mind? Explore more about accessibility for Pearson products by visiting the product websites. We also have more detailed training resources for many products such as MyLab Math, Business, etc.

The aesthetics of a course are important. How will your course users see and interpret images, art, photography, movies, and so on? What is the reading level of the material chosen? Is the material engaging? Does the media reflect diversity? Universal design principles help educators consider how to reach every learner by providing flexible instructional materials, techniques, and strategies. It promotes the engagement of each learner by making learning more accessible.

A guiding principle of universal design is that we need to provide multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement for students. Countless articles, some very extensive ones, cover the concept of inclusion and diversity. This short blog is only intended to get you thinking about key components of designing an online course with diversity in mind.

If we acknowledge that diversity influences learning, then we may be able to create discussions that result in examples that are culturally relevant. Your work as an instructor sets the tone for a safe space in the classroom where students can share their experiences and perspectives. Understanding the unique differences in traditional and online learning environments and how culture plays a role, can help shape a positive educational experience for students and their faculty.

With increasing emphasis on online learning, we need to have more conversations about understanding and supporting students from diverse cultures.

Listen to a short webinar about making your teaching more inclusive. Enjoy an article from earlier this year about culturally responsive teaching. Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education helps readers understand these pervasive influences by presenting extensive research and data on the sociopolitical nature of schools and society, information about different sociocultural groups, and a conceptual framework for examining multicultural education.

Real-life cases and teaching stories dominate in this book that offers a first-hand look into the lives of students and educators from a variety of backgrounds. Additionally, tips for classroom activities and community actions offer aspiring teachers concrete suggestions to provide high-quality, inclusive education in spite of obstacles they may face.

The accepted social norms and values, like shaking hands or visiting the elderly, have gone out the window in an effort to stop the spread of disease. As researchers, we turn to research to help guide our behavior and thinking.

Social responsibility helps us be thoughtful about our actions, particularly our actions in relation to other people. We published a framework for social responsibility , based on the body of existing research, that can be used as a lens to understand human behavior in a complex situation. The dimensions of the framework can be used to spark an emphatic, non-judgemental discussion about making choices during a pandemic.

We offer a suggestion for how to initiate a discussion with learners for each of the four dimensions:. Multicultural: Is knowledgeable about different cultural identities and sensitive toward cultural differences. Example of how to engage: Present a set of different choices someone could make during the current pandemic i. Ethical: Demonstrates knowledge and awareness of ethical standards and issues and applies ethical reasoning and standards to make decisions in ethically ambiguous situations.

Civic: Is an informed and active citizen at the local, national, and global level and understands and acts on issues of local, national, and global significance. Learners could also discuss strengths and weaknesses for having a certain level of government managing response to the pandemic.

Environmental: Is knowledgeable about current issues of environmental significance and is concerned about the wellbeing of the planet and engages in sustainable behaviors. Example of how to engage: Have learners explore how the COVID pandemic, and human responses to the pandemic, could impact environmental and sustainability endeavors. If you want to learn more about how to teach social responsibility, a Pearson colleague discusses it in detail in this webinar.

It is also a skill that is considered to be important for employees to demonstrate. When the COVID pandemic forced colleges and universities to move to remote learning environments, many universities lacked preexisting contingency plans or infrastructures for running not just some of their classes but all of them online. Suddenly, many professors were working on short notice to implement online course management tools and facing numerous logistical hurdles along the way.

The recent disruption to education extends well beyond those trying to keep up with normal coursework. Senior year has also been interrupted for thousands of students whose focus has shifted toward internships, career preparation, and employment. With campuses and career centers closed across the country, online tutoring is a valuable tool to support all students as they prepare for the end of the term. Once education transitioned to full-time virtual environments, many students lost the face-to-face interactions that made up the core of their classroom support.

Online tutoring can provide the help students need, right when they need it, helping to avoid the possibility of them giving up when they hit a roadblock. Instructors can see whether students are keeping pace with course requirements, and recommend supplemental help from an online tutor to get them back on track.

The spring term is always a busy time for those in programs focused on preparing for the workforce. Smarthinking online tutors have emerged as a go-to resource for live interview coaching and assistance honing presentation skills. In fact, for those students who may be introverts or just plain nervous to get up in front of a classroom, an audience of one can be a much more comfortable environment in which to practice these skills than a class full of their peers.

Tutors are trained and monitored to ensure they do not proofread or edit student papers; instead, their writing review centers on leading students to a broader comprehension of the fundamentals of writing both higher-order issues as well as lower-order skills and key strategies for revision.

Employers want new hires who can think creatively and who are fluid in the use of technology and adept at writing well. Smarthinking tutors can help students develop effective career materials for this new world of work, whether that be a strategically-focused cover letter or eye-catching details to polish a LinkedIn profile.

Lead Writing Tutor. Get the infographic and explore three other ways online tutoring can empower your students to succeed, no matter where they are. But the truth is, many online tutors, especially Smarthinking tutors, are experts in their field.

They could even be your peers from down the hall. The right online tutors work with you to make sure students are mastering the right skills. Smarthinking tutors are trained, monitored, and evaluated on their ability to employ a Socratic method to engage students by asking questions, making students show their own work, and encouraging them to demonstrate overall mastery of the concept or problem.

Tutors are available in more than subject areas, at all levels from developmental through graduate and professional school. Plus, we offer ESL-specialist tutoring, including math in Spanish. Online tutoring asks students to demonstrate mastery of skill after learning in the classroom. With Smarthinking, faculty can easily share assignment goals, writing prompts, and other course details so tutors can contextualize their instructional assistance with learner outcomes in mind.

Tutors teach just the way you would. Online tutoring encourages learners to ask for help when they need it and raises their confidence to do so. One-on-one tutoring takes this out of the equation, making students feel comfortable enough to ask even what they may feel is a silly question. These outcomes lead directly to higher rates of persistence and completion.

I remind my students that we are all facing this tough time together, and that there is absolutely no shame in needing some help completing assignments. I am transparent with my students: I let them know I am an online tutor myself, and just one session can make a difference in their writing. Sources 1 White, Kimberly. So, support their success with online tutoring. Data shows that online tutoring can help increase student confidence, engagement, and outcomes. As a student, getting stuck on a concept or problem and not knowing how to move forward can feel like coming up against a brick wall — and no one likes running into a brick wall.

Lend students a hand by helping them overcome their learning obstacles. With online tutoring students can get help when and where they need it, rather than giving up in frustration. Online tutoring services, like Smarthinking, let students access live and asynchronous tutoring help at the point of need, so students can get immediate support to overcome academic roadblocks and continue on their learning paths.

This information is categorized and logged by Smarthinking tutors after each tutoring session so instructors can easily pinpoint what their students are having trouble understanding.

Instructors know what students are struggling with before exams and can address the issues beforehand. The data and reports can also help instructors plan their programs, curriculums, and activities better. These alerts were designed to flag students who may be at risk. After a tutoring session, tutors can record alerts that will then display in the reporting dashboard.

Instructors and administrators can clearly see sessions that were flagged and find out the exact issues the student is struggling with. This lets instructors respond quickly to emerging issues and improve learning outcomes. The vast majority of students who use Smarthinking tutoring services would recommend them to a friend.

Here are some of our results from recent studies:. The LMS offers a variety of tools to make virtual learning engaging and flexible, a win-win for both students and ourselves.

The LMS also offers many resources for faculty by providing the tools to manage the class virtually, such as checklists, various communication options, and ease of grading. Learn more about Smarthinking and how it can help deliver actionable results for you and your students. Your students are facing just as much — if not more — of an abrupt transition. In addition, learning to seek out support is a valuable skill in and of itself, and can help students succeed in both college and their careers.

Since mid-March, service providers and instructors around the world have been in emergency mode, establishing workable course delivery and an educational presence online for all classes in response to the coronavirus. Summer and fall sessions seem likely to introduce an entirely new set of considerations rather than a return to the educational practices we were recently forced to abandon.

Quite apart from merely delivering courses online, schools must be ready to provide a quick transition to online courses that offer reliable course navigation, equitable access, support for learners with disabilities, and academic integrity.

The one constant is that students will need support as education, by necessity, becomes increasingly nimble and remote. We only need to look back 15 years for a parallel of our current challenge. In , in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, approximately , students were displaced from their colleges and universities. Many never returned to their campuses. He urges repeated, proactive contact with students — especially in the early stages of such a disruption to their education — and stresses the obligation of faculty to maintain the student-teacher connection.

One valuable tip for supporting students during a transition to remote learning is that educators provide an asynchronous approach to classes. While the routine of a regularly scheduled class might seem to offer consistency and a semblance of normalcy for learners, there are clear challenges. Recorded lectures are recommended so that they have the same opportunity to listen, and then participate in discussion in the classes they can attend.

Are you having to transition teaching your traditional face-to-face summer class to an online environment? This can be a daunting task with a full week semester, let alone for a super short 5-week mini-mester! Compound that with the fact that you may not have taught online previously, and this could easily intimidate even the most seasoned instructor. Have no fear! Many have traversed this path before you and come out successful—you can, too! Summer courses are short, rigorous, but can be very rewarding for both you and the student when taught with a few best practices in mind.

For instance, they usually have smaller enrollments meaning less to grade for you YAY! The smaller class size allows you to have more frequent interactions with each student thereby giving them the support they need to be more successful. Plus, most summer students are highly motivated and typically are only taking one or two classes at a time.

This means they are going to be dedicated to learning your material. There are a few guiding principles you can utilize to help you as you work to design your summer online course. You can read more about these in my previous blog post Tips for moving a class online quickly , or for step-by-step instructions for building an online course with your LMS or without , you can use this handy Online Course Toolkit.

Now, onto the teaching of online courses. Assess your required Learning Outcomes and determine the essentials that must be taught in order for you to meet those objectives. These essential Learning Outcomes should then be clearly communicated to your students in the very beginning of the course. The students should know what they are working towards learning, and what it is they will be assessed on throughout the length of the course.

While contemplating how best to design the flow of your course to meet your Learning Outcomes, keep in mind, this is a fast-paced course. Again, reiterating the importance of focusing on what you need to teach, extraneous information should be cut from your teachings. You may also want to consider relating much of what you teach to real-world situations. If you can, break the assignments into bite-sized chunks that take no more than 30 — 45 minutes to complete or less , and give them a few assignments per week.

These will be easier to digest for your students and will also help them retain the importance of the material. You may even offer more flexible due dates in this summer course than you would in your weeks.

Consider using the discussion forums discussed in the How to Prepare for Online Teaching blog. These can be short but powerful assignments. Lastly, really give thought to group projects as well. Sometimes students learn more from each other than they do from us. These 5-week classes are not only tough to plan out and teach, but they are a heavy lift for the students as they try to learn this material in a compressed time frame.

If you are doing live virtual class sessions or even pre-recorded videos , consider providing them with copies of the slides or the notes you use while teaching. Set up extra virtual office hours for them to pop in and ask you questions. Create practice quizzes or tests for them to use as study guides, or even provide them with a more detailed study guide than you usually hand out.

By following the guiding principles for how to teach online and what to teach in summer courses, it will set both you and your students up for success. These principles will put you on track to create an effective, efficient, and enjoyable online summer course.

Technology has really changed the way we teach. They can use e-books on a tablet. They access assignments on their phones. Course materials can be available with one click, anytime, anywhere. They take time and preparation. We might have catastrophic weather or a pandemic or some other event that closes the school for a while. Every course needs an online presence. And it needs to happen now. So where do we start? You may have existing question banks you can use.

Or, you may have texts with materials like TestGen available. You may already have these from your existing tests. By the way, if you want to export a TestGen test to your LMS, be careful to export it in the correct format. You typically need to look at the Blackboard export option. You will need to search by your text to see if files are available.

You might need to use an older edition if the new one is not available or use a similar text if you need more variety of questions. Again, note that TestGen question banks are not necessarily available for every text. Once you have identified the question banks, download them, and then use the LMS to upload the question banks. Here are links you can use to learn more about the process for your specific LMS. Your LMS administrator on campus has training materials for how to do this, and you can also find extensive instructor resources for each LMS online.

You might also be able to scramble the question order. Allow some extra time on tests so students are able to navigate the technology and still have time for the test itself. You can learn more about the technology tools your school has by checking with your LMS administrator.

When teaching a science class, we often use experiences in the lab to foster critical thinking skills and reinforce the concepts we introduce in lectures. But with campuses closed, students cannot access the lab. So what do you do? Is it better to forget about labs at all, or is there value in online or hands-on at home methods? This is what one study published by the Journal of Formative Design in Learning tells us.

Students who take lecture and laboratory concurrently outperform their lecture-only peers, regardless of whether that lab is face-to-face or non-traditional. Online labs can range from simple videos and games, to graphing and 2D simulations, to interactive 3D virtual reality experiences.

Simulations, as mathematical models of processes in the physical world, allow users to manipulate parameters and can be used by faculty to customize laboratories in various disciplines. Some examples include:. Hands-on kits available from various vendors can provide students with practice of experiments, and manufacturers usually assume liability.

Source: Rowe et al. When students are actively learning, they are making connections to their own lives, questioning, and collaborating, which we know leads to more significant, durable learning outcomes. In the classroom, we deliberately plan learning activities and discussion to engage learners and keep them active.

We stay alert during class to pick up on cues that learners are tuning out or struggling so we can pivot and improvise as needed. One of the toughest adjustments to teaching online is that we lose this immediate feedback-action loop. We usually encourage students to bring their experiences into our classroom. But now, we have to figure out how to bring our discipline-specific content into their experiences.

To keep them engaged and actively learning, we have to help them experience their lives through the lens of our content. Give them things to look for, think about, and capture as they clean the house, care for family members, walk the dog, and watch Netflix. Encourage them to find the ways your content manifests in everyday life. For example:. In a discussion-based class, we would generally provide learners with some context and content in lecture and readings and then engage them in discussion and analysis to promote deeper understanding and durable learning.

Online forums can be lively and contribute to significant learning, but they are not a straight substitute for classroom discussion. So, instead of providing them with all the relevant readings and context, ask them to find it. Imagine you now have a class full of research assistants.

Here are two examples showing how you might transfer what you do in the classroom to an online environment:. Classroom : Lecture on elements of Victorian society that influenced Jane Eyre and discussion to apply to reading and incorporate learner experiences.

Online : Learners research specific aspects of Victorian society, looking especially for contemporary sources that would help learners empathize with Victorian readers. Classroom : Assign journal readings about applying theory to curriculum design and then a practical assignment to create a lesson plan.

Online : Provide summaries of major learning theories and then ask learners to find journal articles that apply one of the theories to curriculum design in their discipline. Post the article, a summary, and then explain two specific ways they would incorporate that theory into their own curriculum design. There are proctoring apps that can help mitigate this risk, but not everyone has access to that technology.

Turn testing into an active learning experience and reduce the risk of cheating by asking them to write the test. In quantitative disciplines or introductory skills-based courses, give learners the learning objectives and ask them to write items that assess the learning objectives and provide the correct answers with justification. Ask them to create multiple choice distractors that represent common mistakes, miscalculations, or misconceptions and explain what error each distracter represents.

In more qualitative disciplines or higher level theory-based courses, learners can create their own rubrics to evaluate existing works or their own projects. Use online tools to allow learners to annotate readings together.

Often, online group projects are less collaboration and more divide-and-conquer. You can both lean into and disrupt this tendency by using a jigsaw strategy. The new group has to work together, sharing and leveraging their specific expertise, to solve a problem. Classroom : A lecture and readings introduce the concept of sustainability and provide an overview of the types of sustainability initiatives in which corporations engage.

In groups, students research the sustainability initiatives of three companies and decide which has the best strategy. Online, option A : Each group is given one company to research. They create a scorecard to represent the criteria they think is important and how that company scores. Then, in a sync session, breakout jigsaw groups are created where learners have to make the case for their company.

Together, the new jigsaw group comes up with a consolidated scorecard and scores all the represented companies. Online, option B : Each group researches one aspect of corporate sustainability and creates a rubric to score companies on that aspect.

In a sync session, breakout jigsaw groups combine their score cards and collectively evaluate a company. Throughout my years as a professor, one subject that has garnered significant research is building community in the classroom.

Building community is a valuable tool for improving equity. When I began teaching online, I found it to be far more difficult to achieve. I would assign students to groups in my Learning Management System LMS and encourage them to work together on a weekly Relevant Application assignment to see how the mathematics we were doing realistically applied to the world around them.

A few years ago, I attended a talk at InstructureCon Canvas developers annual conference on creating Affinity Groups for students in online classes.

I loved what I saw; implementing their strategies eliminated complaints from students about working in online groups. As in many online classes, at the beginning of the quarter my students are assigned to post a short biography to a discussion board; in this post, they introduce themselves to me and the rest of the class. They are asked to discuss their educational goals, hobbies and interests, as well as something unique about them.

When I read their submissions, I make notes of hobbies and interests of all the students. As I see trends of topics being mentioned 3 or 4 times, I list them as a potential group category. I then create a group set, and name the groups based on the categories that stood out for that particular group of students.

It is fun to keep an eye out for those unique groups that surface in a given quarter. At this point, I ask students to self-enroll in the groups of their choice through my LMS both Canvas and Blackboard have the option for students to self-enroll.

Not surprisingly, that group of students tends to not succeed as well as the others. This may seem like a small distinction from randomly assigning groups, but it is fascinating to me how the knowledge that they are all parents, or they all like to cook, helps them to engage with each other more effectively and actively.

Two other great resources for strategies for effective group work are these Duke University and Carnegie Melon University articles. Your assessment plans, just like all your other learning plans, have probably been suddenly disrupted during this crisis.

And, due to family responsibilities, or anxiety, your students may not have the time or ability to concentrate on full length exams like they would typically be able to in a classroom setting.

But all is not lost. As you know, the goal of giving an exam is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit. If there are other ways of doing this — for example, a culminating project, portfolio, or other open-ended assignment that a student could submit online, consider these before an online exam, particularly a multiple-choice exam.

If you decide to use a traditional summative exam, these research-based tips can make the online experience better for you and your students. Unless you are assessing how quickly your students can complete the exam, allow them ample time to complete it.

And there were people in my department who had used social media with students already, and it had been effective. I think you have to have a more defined approach from the outset for it to be a big success.

Create a test account to get acquainted with it to start. Then once you know how to use the platform, the rest of it is easy. My colleagues Dr. Clint Johns, Julia Ridley, and I reviewed 40 peer-reviewed research studies from the last five years, focused mostly in higher education learners in the US 1. Based on our review, most research shows that well-designed digital content can be understood as effectively as print and includes added benefits for readers.

Whether you teach online, in-person, or a hybrid format, you can regularly take the temperature of your class and quickly adjust your teaching strategies based on how your students are learning. What is it? What are the signs? How is it different from just plain old exhaustion? Psychology Today defines burnout as “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.

Kevin R. The pandemic seems to have only increased the number of people experiencing burnout. Plus more than half those surveyed were seriously thinking about retiring or changing careers. Burnout, if not addressed, can lead to serious impacts on your physical and mental health. McClure with the help of his colleague recognized the signs and was able to do something about it and you can too.

There are many ways to overcome it, you just have to recognize the signs. Watch Dr. Rachel Hopman-Droste’s recorded webinar to learn more about managing burnout in the classroom. Have you noticed students coming to class underprepared or unable to demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, or mathematics at the college level? Unfortunately, many of the academically underprepared are economically disadvantaged or come from marginalized or minority groups.

With the shift to online learning, teaching quality varied substantially and transitions to remote learning were inconsistent. Institutions across the country are looking for new ways to help learners succeed. How could your institution and instructors leverage education technology to improve access and utilization to support these underprepared students?

Learning gaps should be identified prior to enrollment or the start of a course to ensure students are as successful as possible. Technology can help identify these gaps. Once learning gaps are identified, you can provide the remediation students need to be successful. Your institution likely has its own remediation courses that are prerequisites before entering into major courses.

Research has found that many of these courses are unspecific, increase costs, and extend the time required to graduate, all of which can lead to increased drop outs. Using online instruction can compress these courses, allowing students to only receive remediation on the topics they need while co-enrolling with their major course. Plus this specification of courses increases affordability and access 1 — helping you reach more students and meet your institutional goals of equity and inclusion.

There are many benefits to online instruction that level the playing field for many different social and demographic groups. Smarthinking is an online tutoring service available for core subjects, including math, science, business, health sciences, reading, and writing. The writing portion of the program allows students to submit essays or similar writing pieces and receive personalized assistance. Watch my recorded webinar to learn more about supporting underprepared students.

Search engine optimization SEO may sound intimidating, but good SEO practices can increase web traffic, boosting leads, and helping you tell your story to a wider audience. And when you get your brand in front of more potential students, without adding significantly to your already stretched budget, those leads have a better chance of turning into enrollments.

To do this, SEO analysts implement innovative strategies to optimize websites to rank higher than their competitors. One of these strategies is called the hub and spoke strategy. The hub and spoke strategy, most often referred to as the silo architecture strategy, leverages site structure to increase keyword rankings to important pages on your website. Most sites contain a blog with highly relevant content for their target users.

These blog posts tend to rank well for multiple keywords with large search volumes, leading to significant organic traffic. By implementing the hub and spoke strategy, high-traffic blog posts relocate to live under the specific pages desired to increase keyword rankings.

The specific pages typically are where users convert, such as degree pages, product pages, etc. For example, imagine a user searches for a new car. They would start with the brand they would like. Their decision would then be narrowed down even further to what color, how many miles, etc. But they start at the top of the funnel with the brand. With these benefits in mind, your university could implement the hub and spoke strategy by featuring standout alumni stories as spoke pages under the hub page for the program they graduated from.

Or you could highlight innovative research stories under the related program. These examples show how spoke content drives traffic back to the main hub pages that are designed to convert leads into enrolled students.

While this strategy requires planning and technical input from SEO and web development teams, you should see a return on your efforts in the form of more traffic and leads. At Pearson Online Learning Services, our team is always learning and attempting innovative solutions to stay up-to-date with Google.

Explore enrollment solutions. My preoccupation is a reaction to a common assumption that higher education purchases are somehow different than other high-stakes purchases. While the benefits of education arguably outweigh those of other purchases, the learner is first a consumer, and consumer psychology is unequivocally at play.

This series provides a few observations about what we learned together. This post focuses on the beginning of the student journey: the purchase. Overwhelmed by choices, consumers are likelier to make poor decisions, be less satisfied, and abandon a website or brand altogether.

To paraphrase Accenture, the endless aisle sounds great until you have to walk down it. Making the best choice in higher education is methodical, often taking four months or longer. It is high stakes — particularly given its cost, and it is nearly impossible to do effectively today. Learners faced with information overload and limited processing abilities will narrow their decisions to known institutions, or those that rank on page one of search. Valuable information… no doubt. Finding insight of value to me as a prospect… dubious.

We know from our own research that nearly 3 in 10 learners are so overwhelmed by education search that they abandon the process without ever enrolling. Understanding that your students are more than just a grade is one thing; going the extra step to show them you care about them as people is another entirely. Terry found out just how important these resources can be for him and students — and for a reason you might not expect.

Crista had been doing well. Really well. Her first exam score was in the mids and all her work in the course was great. But that unexpectedly changed. It felt like talking to her was probably the best idea. After reassuring her that her grade was just fine, he explained that there was an alert in Mastering telling him that something might be amiss.

Crista and her husband had been in the hospital the previous weekend with their son, who had broken his arm. A surgery and complications had kept her there for several days. The ability to see the need to make an outreach really was empowering.

It went beyond just gratitude. I got that ability to see into a troubled moment in her life, I got the chance to reach out, and I guess — maybe more importantly — I took that chance. Not only was he able to reassure Crista that her grade was all right, but he was able to reassure himself that she was all right. It felt really nice being able to reach out and know that she was OK.

He finds that this technology is like having a window to peek through; to have an idea whether everything is all right, or whether he might need to reach out again. Learn more about the Early Alerts technology in this story. In the post remote learning world, how do you stand out from the crowd?

Remote learning is characterized by inconsistency and a lack of structure and is usually a reaction to an external force necessitating the need to go online quickly as illustrated by the pandemic. At its best, learning materials and assessment are thought out in advance and instructors are trained in online teaching methods.

At its worst, faculty is trying to figure out, week by week, how to convert their face-to-face content to an online format, which often results in synchronous video lectures and outdated text materials. On the other hand, online learning is characterized by planning, consistency, and an understanding of the virtual environment, which includes the intentional use of technology to meet online teaching needs meaning it can be a truly asynchronous experience.

Once you have a program filled with courses that are intentional, engaging, and authentic, you need to be able to quantify this information. While these are definitely data points, are they the right data points? A student who aces every exam may just be a good test taker. What does it really mean when Andre was logged into the Week 1 Discussion for four hours — did he log in and then walk away after 30 minutes? You need to provide information that goes deeper than basic LMS information.

While there is no magic formula, there are some strategies you can implement to obtain meaningful information and data points that are worth marketing. Say a prospective student is comparing two online marketing programs, each with a testimonial. Which one sounds like the better program? It also gives the student support coaches a unique understanding of what students need to complete their online degrees or programs. And it affords institutions the ability to retain students who are tracking toward their goals.

Kristina Campbell tells her story as a student support coach below. To be part of their celebration of a momentous achievement. Long term relationships are the most rewarding experience of being a coach. They give me a deeper and richer connection with the student. Recently, I spoke with a student who is in their last semester.

Time management is one of the main concerns I hear from students when starting a program or when the tempo of the program changes due to course load. Students have several constants in their lives that take priority before everything else i.

School is a wonderful variable that they are throwing in the mix. I try to help students figure out how to balance school, work, home, and life. We work on finding ways to make time for learning, figuring out what needs to be adjusted or omitted in their schedule, and on making time for self-care. I try to keep learners engaged by calling them regularly, sending emails, and texting.

I also send reminders, resources, and any aids or tools I can find regarding their courses. My team has a wonderful relationship with our school partner. I had one student who was diagnosed with a severe health condition. They were in the hospital and needed help to get extensions on their work. I was able to connect with the instructor to get resources to help the student complete the course. Now, drawing on that life-changing experience, he counsels other online graduate students on how to stick with the program, balance its demands, and make the most of the experience.

I grew up in a family where college was expected. There was never any doubt whether I would be getting a degree after high school. The workload was way more intense than I expected. It took me two years, and a few dropped classes, before I understood myself: how I learned, and how I needed to balance life, work, and education.

By junior year, I was doing great. I even started working at the university Writing Center where I tutored other students on developing their essays. College is tough, especially if you’re a working adult with many competing priorities.

For me, grad school was an entirely different challenge from undergrad. In the long gap between, I developed professional skills and a greater sense of purpose in my life, but I also had more commitments beyond even a full-time job.

My priorities and energy levels had changed so much it was like starting over. Again, it took a while to find a strategy that worked. The path to graduation does not always run smooth. I tend to get emotional every time a student graduates, because I know what it took for them to get there. Start by understanding that every adult learner is different. They have a wide variety of priorities, obligations, and challenges. The most common concern is fear about how to find time for higher education.

Adult learners balance a lot of big priorities. At first it can seem impossible to find time for them all. This includes navigating complicated university processes, registering for the correct courses, and connecting them with the appropriate financial resources, or other departments which are part of the college experience. As a coach, I collaborate closely with the university to share feedback from students, smoothly implement changes, and distribute information.

My goal is to be a neutral advocate for student learners. That means many students are comfortable sharing their honest perspectives on courses and university processes. This includes identifying clear frustrations about their experience, but also the things they love most. Sharing this feedback with the university has led to more efficient processes, improved curriculum, and innovation in the classroom.

The pandemic has impacted students in very different ways. Others feel additional stress, as they support family and their own mental health during difficult times. Almost everyone has been touched by it in some way, and a good week can easily turn bad. Planning ahead and making contingency plans are a big part of coaching conversations, so we can expect surprises and work through them together. Learners today are stressed. They hold down full-time jobs.

They worry about debt. But even with all these additional obligations, learners have big dreams of advancement through education.

And both sides benefit from higher retention rates, less stress, and fewer hurdles to graduation. She shares her story of helping students below:. I was with a cosmetics company for 3 years where I worked my way up to a services coordinator.

I already had the customer service skills — active listening and the ability to offer quick solutions. I knew that I wanted to help people and continue to build strong relationships. When I saw the job description for the student services specialist, I knew this would be the perfect role for me! It is a joy to work with the same population and have the same group of students for years at a time. You really get to know a lot about each student as an individual, but also learn a lot of insights about the program that, as a coach, you might not have the opportunity to experience.

You get to watch them from the start, when they are the most passionate and excited to start their degree, through the ups and down of an MBA, and come out the other side to graduate. We learn a lot about students through proactive outreach. You could be calling a student to simply check in, and they will share that they are nervous to take the upcoming accounting class.

For them to include you in their wins is so heart-warming. We also learn about students’ personal lives, and we are there to celebrate these milestones as well. Watching a student grow in all aspects really drives me to find out as much about my students as possible! Students value their education and have a high expectation of the quality they will receive, especially with how high tuition can be. For many of our students when their expectations are not met for the price of their tuition, it can be grounds to take time off from the program, and, in the worst case, withdraw entirely.

When they share feedback on the quality of the program, I can see whether it was a one-time incident, or if there is an overall trend that I can report to the partner to see if we need to implement change. My school has 9 terms a year and classes are between 3—5 weeks in length. While there are benefits to this model, it means that students have registration and drop deadlines in conjunction with their class deliverables deadlines. My biggest role is assisting students with registration and ensuring they are reminded about upcoming registration periods.

By staying in constant email and text communication, along with proactive phone calls, we help the student think in the future and keep track of the administrative and degree planning items while they focus on their studies. I am a coach to online MBA students where most students do not have a background in accounting or finance.

As a result, the accounting and finance classes have the highest fail rate and the highest drop rate. Coaches also hear the most amount of feedback in these specific courses.

They’re highly focused on careers and worry about debt. Student Support Coach Lourdes Carvajal works with learners to bridge the gap between institutions and students.

I was an online student in my graduate program and had a lot on my plate to balance. It would have made my life a little easier if I had someone to go to from the university on the tough days. Life throws us curveballs when we least expect them and having someone to confide in makes it a little bit easier to withstand.

The trust that I have earned from my students means a lot to me because I know how much they want to make it to graduation. I want to be able to help them get there. They share those goals with me from the very beginning, and I remind them of those goals throughout their journey. We go through ups and downs together, and we get to know each other very well. We become like family. You need to be able to see the student holistically. This will greatly affect their performance academically as well.

You also need to be supportive, in whatever decision the student makes. Our students come to rely on us, as they may not always have an effective support system at home. I believe another skill needed is to have good communication among your students but also the university. Having good communication in the end will result in better support for the student. Some of the main concerns I hear from students are about mental health and overall wellbeing while being a full-time online student.

We brought up this issue to the university and worked together to develop more mental health resources for our program. We have partnered with a resource center at the university to provide workshops on mental health for our students. My background is in social work, and mental health is very near and dear to my heart. We so often are busy taking care of everyone else, we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of that list.

I remind them to prioritize themselves by doing some self-care every once in a while. We talk about activities or hobbies that they like to do to de-stress, and I remind them to do this when things are becoming too stressful.

My coaching style is to be very transparent with my students. I believe this has helped my students stay engaged in their courses in the program. Just knowing that someone is really looking out for them makes them feel more comfortable and motivated. I like to define my role as being here to support the student.

The university really likes how my role interacts with learners, as there is generally an academic adviser for the program as well. I allow the student to talk about their week, how their personal lives are affecting their coursework, and we also talk about their courses. The academic adviser and I talk almost every day so we can both brainstorm ideas on how to best support the student. A faculty member will reach out to me personally to talk about a student who could use more support.

I work to find the root of the issue and help find resources to best support them. I love the collaboration between the faculty, the institution, and myself because we all want the same thing for our students, and that is to see them succeed. Every online learner needs somewhere to turn when they have a problem or need someone to listen — someone whose advice is empathetic and reliable, and who can point them to resources that help them succeed. I enjoy interacting with my students. And I enjoy working on new challenges every day — you never know what to expect.

It’s rewarding to support each student along their path, to encourage them and to provide the resources they need, from orientation to graduation. I let them know what to expect along the way, guide them through their upcoming courses, and help them meet their graduation requirements. Students often thank me for being their advocate and facilitator.

Building relationships and positive rapport with students is fundamental to their success. My students know I truly care about them, their families, and their academic success. They feel supported by me.

So, when times get tough — and they will — I can be there to remind them why they started in the first place. As coaches, we provide motivation, as well as encouragement through personal struggles and life events, whether that’s sick children, taking care of elderly parents, or even divorces.

We also celebrate, sharing in joyous occasions such as weddings and pregnancies! First, you need empathy and compassion. Second, you should be a constructive, active listener. Time management is a main concern: feeling overwhelmed as they try to balance work, school, personal life, and raising a family. I provide tips on being a successful online learner, both during our conversations and via email. For example, I tell them to:. Stepping back, I also encourage them to find their passion.

What do they do for fun? Are they making sure to take time for self-care, exercise, time with family and friends? Are they eating well and getting enough sleep? Students rely on their Support Coach for information to solve problems, make decisions, navigate university procedures, and overcome technology challenges. We help them register for their next class, but we also make sure they know what to expect in their upcoming courses.

We advocate for them. We share their concerns with the university. We provide the right guidance: information they can use. With my Nursing program, Duquesne also has a clinical coordinator to help learners secure a preceptor and complete their required clinical hours. As a success coach, I send learners a program plan to follow, and remind them when it’s time to register, order books, and complete financial aid.

Students tend to reach out to me first, as their main point of contact. I can direct them to their AAs, clinical coordinators, or instructors, as needed. We follow up via email, and we meet bi-weekly with the university to discuss student affairs. We’re a great team. Here’s an example just from today. An AA called me with a heads up that a student may contact me. The AA said she knows we have a great relationship and wanted me to know what was going on with him academically.

Since I know his academic situation now, I can proactively reach out to him, as he may need an updated program plan. Some continuing issues are even bigger — for example, time management. We’re always offering advice to help learners stay organized, set aside a dedicated study space, or use a physical or digital planner.

So they always have what they need. When it comes to drawing however, that is a whole other matter. If only I could sing about washers and cylinders for volumes of rotation in Calculus; unfortunately, a picture is better than a thousand words, or songs, in my case.

Giving faculty tools to be better online instructors is essential to delivering successful courses, programs, and learner experiences. These experts help instructors from concept to delivery and have provided these tips to help you think through your online presence.

Your faculty are experts in their disciplines, with strong networks in their fields, and a deep commitment to students. But they may not feel comfortable with teaching online or structuring their course content. You can provide experts and training to take courses designed for an in-person classroom and adapt them for the virtual world.

Administrators can ensure that faculty receive specialized guidance on structuring and organizing course content for online spaces and environments to make it as engaging and informative as possible.

They can connect faculty with resources and tools to review courses before they go live with students. They can help standardize instructional design across courses so students are immediately comfortable when they start a new course. Institutions are seeking more inquiries and enrollments from their online learning program websites. Q: What is CRO sometimes called website optimization?

How does it relate to marketing online learning programs? Based on data, we create a test variation that we hypothesize will improve performance. By testing with a control, or testing one change at a time, we can attribute any measurable shift in performance to our change.

CRO helps mitigate risks and save time and money. By testing and evaluating vs. CRO is continuous. The digital landscape evolves every day. Learners’ needs and environments evolve, too. To serve them well, we must keep a pulse on all these changes, and quickly evolve alongside them. Q: Who should a university leader of an online learning program talk to about CRO, and what questions should they ask?

A: Talk to your marketing team — and first ask if they have a conversion rate optimization team monitoring day-to-day site performance. We track baselines and trends to measure success. Our advice: establish a baseline for your site, and constantly strive to improve it. That’s how you identify opportunities to improve. As you get the right decision-making content onto your pages, deliver more relevant information, and help visitors act on it, search engines notice.

Your rankings improve. That helps you acquire more learners and decrease acquisition costs. CRO is constantly evolving. In the meantime, the lessons offered here may well help improve your web page conversions. Keeping learners engaged in pursuing their degrees, certifications, or development of new skills is essential to keeping them enrolled.

And for adult learners, engagement and value go hand in hand. Excited to continue her education — and excited to be able to do it from home — Jan jumped into her first few courses expecting the best of what 21st century online technology had to offer. After only three courses, Jan was fed up. It was not so much the money she was paying for her online program, but the lack of any learning that she could use in the real world. She was not in this for a grade — she was in this to up her skills, learn new things, and re-emerge into the job market better than when she left it.

Jan is not unique. Today’s online students want learning they can immediately put into practice, so institutions will have to meet their needs with learning experiences designed with career preparation and upskilling in mind.

So, like many online students, Jan decided that the lack of actual application of the things she was supposed to be learning was enough to make her quit. What about their patients and clients? We can solve both of these concerns using authentic assessments. When every enrollment matters to the health of an institution and, more importantly, to the dreams of every student, keeping them on track to graduate is vital.

And when you have a nontraditional student body, they need a student support services team to step in to play a central role, helping students transition back to the classroom. As student support specialists at Pearson, my team has the privilege of connecting with online students, supporting their goals, and providing resources for their success.

Throughout the COVID pandemic, we worked closely with our retention managers and institutions we call them academic partners to alleviate some of the additional stress this pandemic has placed on students. Along the way, we learned three key lessons that can help your team whether your student support services are provided by a partner or from an in-house team. With elementary-school age children and a newborn, she was already juggling a lot.

But, more broadly, our student support services team became a crucial lifeline for students. We reached out proactively to:. Nontraditional students tend to be older than traditional college students. They have careers, marriages, and children to contend with on top of managing their studies. The students we support reflect this reality as well.

Like everyone everywhere, our nontraditional learners grew weary as the months dragged on and the pressures mounted. They had jobs, kids, and life stressors on top of working toward completing their degrees. Their previously mapped out routines of school, work, and family had dissolved. Some students continued to juggle homeschooling kids with work and school. Others struggled to find work while keeping up with their education.

While online courses remained constant, the balancing act became harder. We became the ear for many, helping students cope with all the changes. We realized that we needed to:. Our solution? Josefina participated in a Zoom session with her academic advisor and student support specialist to develop a plan that would help her lock in a clinical placement on the base.

COVID has put online learning in the spotlight. As more students need to turn to virtual settings to stay on track with their education, institutions pivoted to provide their courses online. So how should your institution prepare beyond the moment to launch and grow online? Ask yourself the following questions about investment money and strategic opportunities. Tuition streams will only gradually grow to contribute, so where can you acquire these funds?

Institutions have several options:. Launching a meaningful online presence can require significant start-up capital and ongoing investments as you evolve and scale. Explore our resources for more insights to help build your online program. A generation ago a career path that included playing video games was unimaginable.

Now the billion-dollar-a-year esports industry is no laughing matter. Some universities offer majors and courses in esports. Life has changed, and so too have the career opportunities that come with it. From test optional to online learning, the whole college search, application, and enrollment process has changed for applicants and schools in Several years ago, this answer was common.

While pursuing degrees, students can engage in Career Exploration courses which provide the necessary tools, resources, and experiences to promote Career Readiness. Some of these courses are offered as standalone courses, and some are paired with discipline specific courses. Wherever institutions offer these courses, students are given the opportunity to discover careers, develop skills, and demonstrate skills to stand out in the interview process.

Discovering and exploring careers through research enables students to begin learning about the job market. As students mature through their educational journey, matching personal preferences with specific employers can guide graduates.

Discovering where a job is located, if it is a large or small employer, and the projected salary can provide insight for career choices. Developing and identifying career skills are other key factors for success. As students engage in career readiness courses, they begin learning how to create an online portfolio such as a Linkedin profile, which enables communication within the profession. Interview techniques and resume writing build confidence for those entering the job market.

Through these real-life experiences, students learn if professional certifications are required and how they may be obtained. Becoming aware of the entry level basic skills needed for a profession allows students to enter the job market prepared and with confidence. Once the career research has been completed and students possess the basic entry level skills needed, they are ready to demonstrate their acquired skills.

Being aware of employer expectations provides students an advantage when job searching. Students who possess the online portfolio can showcase college projects and badges earned while relating them to the career they are pursing. Employers will immediately see the teamwork and collaboration skills.

Demonstrating these valuable skills will enable the graduate to stand out during the interview process. Knowing the jobs available and skills needed can produce confidence for the future employee. Engaging in Career Readiness courses can equip students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to land that dream job.

Discovering careers, developing skills, and demonstrating these skills can help transition students to career ready candidates. I recently spoke with a professor who, like many of us, was overwhelmed with taking his courses fully online while juggling multiple new initiatives simultaneously.

The college was trying to reduce texts and materials costs, prepare entirely online courses, update materials for an impending accreditation visit, and, on top of it all, deliberately embed curricular activities regarding diversity and related topics across the curriculum. I also require my students to find an article weekly about math topics in real life, so it lends itself well to this.

I keep thinking of the Mathematics for Democracy and its strong arguments for quantitative literacy. While the text is almost twenty years old, its arguments are timeless.

Every citizen needs to have some basic numeracy and quantitative reasoning skills; they need problem solving strategies and critical thinking tools.

They need to know how to apply mathematical knowledge to real life. And yet, when I ask them to write about math—they do two short writing projects in a semester—they struggle. Here are ideas I share with them in addition to topics directly connected to our chapters.

I often use datasets from StatCrunch, as there are over 40, of them available. One of my favorites for this includes data about each state and has such things as poverty rates, education rates, crime, etc. This dataset is over ten years old now, and there are other ones to use. Any StatCrunch user can also easily upload datasets from the web, such as government census materials.

StatCrunch is an amazing tool! More on that another day. I also might incorporate media like Hidden Figures. The linked website here shares a bunch of resources with commentary and ideas. We can use probability to look at staffing of juries. We can use data to explore fairness of wages not just in the US but overseas. We might explore some graph theory and use some geometry to explore things like how UPS, FedEx, and USPS are functioning during the pandemic; has there been a greater disruption in service to lower socioeconomic areas?

What about the math behind LEED designed buildings or sustainable communities? Are these available in lower-income communities? How can we locate them to make them more accessible to all?

Social justice teaching in mathematics focuses on promoting equity within the mathematics classroom, and also on empowering students to understand and confront inequities outside the classroom. Teaching Tolerance Math Resources Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, has a wealth of teaching material, including math- and technology-related teaching resources.

This organization also has a lot of tools for thinking more about the hidden curriculum of our classrooms. They provide resources for educators interested in integrating issues of social and economic justice into their math classes and curriculum. And last but by no means least, here is a wiki site with a ton of resources.

We need to lecture, prepare digital materials and organize our online courses, provide individual feedback and check-ins, submit forms to our institution throughout the semester, and answer constant emails.

On the flipside, our students also have full their plates with family obligations, work and employment to balance, and of course the global pandemic. Getting students to class and having work completed is half the battle, and the other half is justifying grades.

Because of the increased educator workload and the mounting pressures on students, what can we do? They decide whether the piece of work meets their standard or not. If not, the work is sent back to the student for revisions. This requires some rethinking of the traditional grading workflow. For example, in a chemistry class a student completes a problem set.

Are all of the answers incorrect? Same thing. I refuse to accept the problem set until the work is done to satisfactory standards. How can you implement ungrading in your classroom?

There are a few different models to choose from as a starting point. One type of ungrading is called Spec for specifications Grading. These bundles include media, notes, homework assignments and simulations, and ultimately some sort of summative assessment.

Students need a clear understanding of what constitutes passing work prior to engaging in this model. Having exemplars or rubrics which clearly outline the required components of successful work is critical at the beginning of the semester. For example, in math this could include. Once your students have a clearer understanding of the expectations, the time devoted to giving feedback will lessen. In contract grading, the instructor has clearly defined and outlined requirements for each letter grade A, B, C, etc.

More or deeper work will be required for an A, standard work for a B, and less for each subsequent letter grade down. Students each write a contract which includes which assignments they will do, their due dates, penalties for late work, and a statement of the letter grade they want at the end of the term.

The instructor will keep a log of completed work that is, again, done to the level of work defined by the instructor. If the student fails to meet the requirements of the contract, the instructor has the ability to adjust their grade based on the submitted work.

All work is considered to be of equal weight, and meetings with students generally focus on improvement to work quality or opportunities for a deeper dive into the curriculum.

Student have regular check-in meetings with the instructor throughout the semester. At the end of the semester, the student writes a comprehensive reflection and puts together a compilation of their best work.

The student must have data that demonstrates that they deserve the grade they propose. An example of an end-of-the-semester reflection can be found here , as written by Dr. Thought needs to be given to how handle extenuating circumstances on the part of the student.

Besides choosing which model to go with, I still need to identify the following:. Butler, Ruth. Cordell, Ryan. Flaherty, Colleen. Hall, Macie. Rosenblatt, Adam. Sorensen-Unruh, Clarissa. Stommel, Jesse. Supiano, Beckie. What Should Professors Use Instead? Have you tried using videos to resolve problems or provide innovative solutions in your online classrooms? Effective video usage can foster both individual student learning and increase a sense of community in an online world.

In these COVID times, with so many instructors new to online teaching and attempting to provide or mimic the face- to-face learning environments, many have turned to the use of synchronous meeting tools. There is often the feeling students are being deprived by being forced out of the classroom and online. This phenomenal upswing in synchronous online learning has been nicknamed the Zoom Boom.

However, research is indicating this synchronous surge is simply not sustainable in the long run. There are issues with different time zones, mobile connectivity, as well as teacher and student screen time burnout. There are four areas or goals where using effective videos can help instructors solve some unique challenges in the online learning platform. I have eight suggestions for video activities that enhance the digital learning environment, hitting all four of the goals stated above.

Here are three suggestions for expanding on the written content through instructor-created, short videos. These activities focus on your specific course, adding to the content for added clarity and depth.

Micro lectures are not long, nor do they attempt to cover the entire chapter. Above all, they are not boring. They should be short and interactive.

And they need to chunk content in short management increments. As a communication professor, I can offer you some production tips for making your movies of these micro lectures.

These introductory videos are powerful ways to create community within the course. We know that emotional connections are one of the most powerful components for student persistence. Any method that increases the connection between instructor and student, and between students increases that emotive piece of the puzzle for decreasing student attrition.

Using video assignments can provide information you need to flip your classroom, teaching to the most challenging concepts to that specific group of students. You might use:. These types of activities vary the way students interact with the content before classes or before the next week. Having students view a micro lecture before class, completing a short online quiz on difficult concepts offers information to you about student engagement and student progress. Video quizzes can gauge engagement through data such as time on task, as well as information on questions most missed.

You can then fill in the gaps with your own teaching strategies. Videos can also provide us with the ability to give asynchronous talking feedback in an online environment by:.

My students, already in online classes with me, expressed such appreciation for my new weekly summaries with them about class progress with the material. And, it gave me a chance to speak with them about the challenges they were facing in their personal worlds as well, offering to help students find the support they might need. Videos are the perfect environment for the demonstration of processes, skills, and course navigation.

Let students demonstrate their mastery of the skill or concept by tapping into their creativity, engaging them with tools they are already familiar with such as:. Harness their inner director and ask them to create videos that demonstrate their proficiency with assignments such as:. Pre-created videos are a great way to start. They are often accessibility compliant and professionally made depending on the site you choose.

There are tools to help with video mixing, or combining several videos to demonstrate a concept. These can encourage student creativity and a deep understanding of the content of the course. Two of these are:. Backchanneling is another way to engage your students. This is what we do when we are messaging friends during a less than engaging meeting. Phone messaging and Twitter were the original backchannels.

And, while we might view these as distractions from the main event, backchanneling is engaging, community building and maximizes time if directed and focused on the lesson. Tools for this include:. If you want to create your own movies designed just for your course and your students, there are tools offering you a range of possibilities.

P lan what you want the video assignment to solve for you or your students. I mplement the tool that does this for you in the easiest and most effective way.

We are living in a time of change. How can we, as educators, help students make new schema and fit it together with their current world view?

It seems now, more than in the past, these news items carry more weight. What I do care about is creating students who have a wider world view and can approach problems with a critical mind to make the world a better place. Before tackling social justice topics in the classroom, however, I need to ensure the proper foundation is in place. Before you get started looking at topics, ask yourself these questions:.

In addition to choosing the right topics for my students, I also need to create a safe learning environment, so my students feel free to discuss a topic from multiple angles without the fear of retribution or judgement. They need to know that their thoughts are valued. Consider the following:.

If you think of a question organically while lecturing, pose it to the class. Let them work out the different sides of the issue and take a stand on which they feel is best. As an instructor, I see my role as asking follow-up and probing questions to challenge my students and move dialogue forward. How do you envision leading your students through the analysis of a multifaceted topic?

There are many ways to do this as there are topics. Here are a few I personally enjoy:. Having students prepare ahead of time is critical for an engaging discussion. I generally have my students write out their ideas and thoughts as a homework assignment prior to the discussion so that they have a position developed which is supported in fact. Have student take different roles based on their opinions and desires.

Have the different sides to the argument present, and ultimately the jurors other classmates will make a decision on who made the most compelling case. Students will form groups in pairs and discuss the issue. After a set amount of time, the pairs will form groups of four and discuss again. After some time, the groups of four will combine into groups of eight and so on until the entire class is one big group.

Most Learning Management Systems have a feature that allows for a question to be asked, without students viewing other student responses until they submit. I like this type of framing because limiting student exposure to other ideas will ensure that what they write is truly their position, without the sway of other ideas.

For some of the topics I mentioned earlier, students can move their ideas into the laboratory to develop cost-efficient ways to solve real-world problems.

For example, students can design a field test for water quality, creation of drainage covers that allow for efficient cleaning and reduction of pollution from run-off, or design methods to turn human waste into fertilizer.

Once you are done exploring an issue, there should be some sort of resolution. We have a good approximation, but no definite answer.

 
 

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XR has the potential to solve key learning challenges such as engagement, but also offers the opportunity for lower cost training in high stakes situations such as medical, defence and aerospace XR startups focusing on education range from mobile solutions that allow multi-use in schools, the redefinition of experiential learning, to alternative models for vocational training in physical trades and lab learning. When I began teaching online, I found it to be far more difficult to achieve.