Ed Tech in HE Reflections

      Video usage in education is accelerating rapidly across all grade levels, including higher education. Videos can be used for teaching and learning outside of the classroom. Students are growing up in an era of technology, so it is important to view technology as a way to engage students, rather than a way to distract students. Research states that using multimedia in the classroom increases student engagement and student learning. Embedding videos into your instruction can increase student learning and student engagement by doing the following: 1. Increase comprehension - Incorporating videos into a lesson is known to improve student comprehension. Videos allow for students to go at their own pace, stop and playback the video as much as they want.  2. Increase student motivation – Students enjoy using technology due to the fact of being raised in a digital era. When students enjoy learning, they are motivated to keep learning.  3...

Online learning continues to grow in higher education. However, based on research, one of the drawbacks that students tend to have in online learning, is less interaction with the students and the instructor. Interaction in an online course is very important and can definitely be a drawback for students if the course is lacking in it. Interaction in a face-to-face course is a lot easier since the students are meeting with their instructor in a classroom once, twice, or maybe three times a week. Whereas in an online course, students are not meeting face-to-face. But, with technology being as advanced as it is, there are multiple ways to incorporate interaction in an online course. Student/Instructor Interaction Student/Instructor interaction is communication between the student and the instructor. Communication between the instructor and the student is key to making an online course successful. Communication can be done through many ways. In an online course it is a best p...

        No matter how much students enjoy studying, there are times when studying can seem a chore. So why not make studying fun and more enjoyable? One way to do that is with Flippity. Flippity is a series of web apps that makes creating study tools easy. This tool is a free add-on to Google Spreadsheets. All you need is a free Google account and you can simply add it to Google Sheets.          Flippity is a tool for both teachers and students. The app allows you to easily turn a google spreadsheet into a set of online flashcards, quizzes, or games. Teachers are able to create random groups or mix and match activity. The app also allows for teachers and students to track students accomplishments by earning badges and certificates as they master each activity. For more information on how to use Flippity, click the links below. Flashcard Instructions   Quiz Instructions Author: Jessica Hall (Mew) 1/26/...

Accessibility for all is supported by multiple avenues, including faculty and service units. Three core components relating to accessibility are UDL, proactive requests for services by users, and a demonstration and attitude supportive of an immediate need for services being provided.  I've been asked many times recently by faculty, administrators, and even students: What's the deal with UDL in Higher Ed, and in particular within the online learning space? Why is everyone all of a sudden talking about accessibility and Universal Design (UD)?  Good question! There has certainly been a significant increase in interest in universal design as an approach for teaching and learning over the last 5 to 10 years within the Higher Ed community by the general community. Some of this has to do with a focus on improving the inclusion of educational services and academic coursework on college and university campuses.  Additionally, a number of high-profile cases have occurre...

Just last year, we began the hard work of making some changes and improvements to a course quality model and training sequence that was being used on campus to assess online courses & support our online faculty. It was a great model--one of the better models, in fact, that I've seen in quite some time. I wanted to really tie together the assessment and training pieces in a way that had an impact. I strove to find a way to really dig into the core concepts of what research said was "quality online teaching". (If you're interested, these are the 5 topics we arrived at after much work & rework: Course Organization & Design; Accessibility & Usability; Student Assessment; Communication & Community Building; and Interactivity)  By nature each has some cross-over, and when our first iteration of an online, self-paced workshop rolled out with these modules, I found that #1 We'd hit the nail on the head, and #2 our faculty learn FAST and genera...

Flipgrid is a fun and exciting, free tool that promotes student interaction through video. Flipgrid can be used in online and face-to-face courses. It is an excellent way to further conversations by assigning questions to students and having them respond to the question and each other through video. Not only is Flipgrid incorporating technology in the classroom, it is also encouraging students to communicate with each other. Flipgrid can also be used as an opportunity to post tutorials, book reviews, narrated presentations, etc. It is accessible on all types of devices, giving students access everywhere they go. It is designed like a grid and has an unlimited amount of storage which allows teachers and students to post as many videos as they would like. Flipgrid is a great tool to use in the classroom and I recommend it to everyone.

Are you tired of having to go through email to book appointments with your students? Moodle now has a plugin that allows for you to do scheduling directly in your Moodle course. The Scheduler allows for teachers to setup time slots for appointments, presentation times, etc. Once created, the students log into their course and choose a time that works best for them. In return, teachers can record the outcome and a grade if needed. Please see the Scheduler Activities Instructions Guide on how to add this plugin to your course and how to use it.