Month: July 2015

I missed last week so I am making up for it!

I am often asked what I do besides record lectures, and we do a lot of that at CAHS but my degree is in Instructional Technology and I recently came across this article which might describe more clearly what I can do.

“Instructional Designers support faculty throughout the development of their online course. Their goal is to make online course development easier for faculty as well as to assist in making knowledge acquisition more efficient, effective, and appealing for students. Below are 15 ways … Instructional Designers can assist faculty.

  1. Help faculty identify what they want students to do/know at the end of the course (course and unit level objectives)
  2. Provide tutorials and tips on using Blackboard to teach online
  3. Provide a second pair of eyes to identify potential issues
  4. Provide a sounding board for ways to improve courses
  5. Provide a student perspective
  6. Identify ways to encourage collaboration and build community
  7. Consult on course structure and organization
  8. Promote academic integrity by providing solutions through pedagogy, technology, and community building
  9. Share examples of instructional strategiesused in other courses and programs
  10. Help define criteria for graded work
  11. Help ensure course accessibility
  12. Serve as a liaison for video and other media development
  13. Identify technology to support learning objectives
  14. Provide expertise on integrating innovative tools for learning
  15. Help keep course development on track.”  (from https://teachonline.asu.edu/2015/07/15-ways-instructional-designers-can-assist-faculty/

With just over 3 weeks until Fall Semester begins why not see what can be done?  But do take some time, shut down the computer, turn off the phone and read a book, explore new places, reboot!

Two weeks and counting

And we will put Summer Semester 2015 to bed!  A lot of information to be learned in a short amount of time.  Need to review?  Why not use clickers?  Great way to get the class involved and also find out what they might need some extra help.  Try Anywhere Polling for quick questions “right atop of web pages, videos, documents or any application”.

Contact OET to reserve clickers.

Want to try this technology for Fall Semester?  Contact OET for a demo!

and for those who thought The Final Countdown meant this?

Something I used to do!

When I talk at PCC the Intro to Computers course we touched on email and with many of my students having just graduated high school the following 14 Email Etiquette rules is still timely and perhaps should be shared with your students even if they are graduate students!  Have something to add? Leave a comment! 14 Email Etiquette rules handout

  1.  Include a clear, direct subject line.
  2.  Use a professional email address.
  3.  Think twice before hitting ‘reply all.’
  4.  Use professional salutations.
  5.  Use exclamation points sparingly.
  6.  Be cautious with humor.
  7.  Know that people from different cultures speak and write differently.
  8.  Reply to your emails — even if the email wasn’t intended for you.
  9.   Proofread every message.
  10. Add the email address last
  11. Double-check that you’ve selected the correct recipient.
  12. Keep your fonts classic.
  13. Keep tabs on your tone.
  14. Nothing is confidential — so write accordingly.