No images? Click here CDLI NEWSLETTERJANUARY 2020Welcome to the new year! DIAGNOSING ONLINE FORUM FAILSOnline discussions are an important aspect of most hybrid and online courses. Yet they pose some of the hardest course design problems. How can you ensure that students don’t feel like your online discussions are just busy work? Can discussions really help build a sense of community in your online course? How do you make sure grading online discussions doesn’t take forever? The Online Discussions Doctor, created by Mark Anthoney (Instructional Designer, CDLI) and Laura March (Senior Instructional Designer, UNC Chapel Hill) provides 13 fixes for your online forum fails. It can also serve as a guide even if you’re completely new to online discussions. The “remedies” for preventing forum fails are summaries of best practices based on educational research. Browsing through the ailments and their remedies will familiarize you with common pitfalls and strengths of online discussions, even if you don’t yet have a particular nagging online discussion problem. CDLI is offering two workshops this quarter (Feb. 3rd 9:30-10:30am and Mar. 3rd 1:30-2:30pm) where we’ll discussing best practices and start designing (or revising) your online discussions inside Canvas. Gadget of the MonthPadlet MapsWe’re pretty excited that one of our favorite tools, Padlet, is now offering a map function. We’ve been looking for a tool like this for years. Faculty love using Padlet because it is easy to make a space where students can add images, links, videos, audio and other interactive media. With the new map function, students can add media to specific places around the world. This makes it a great tool for sharing links that are geolocated so they can “report in” from anywhere. And, just like other Padlet boards, Padlet maps are easy to embed on a Canvas page. If you are interested in learning more about how to use Padlet, join us for some upcoming workshops! Canvas Tips & TricksThe New Canvas GradebookWithin the new Canvas gradebook, "muting" grades has been replaced by "hiding" and "posting" grades. You can now also set grades to be hidden by default class-wide for every assignment created until you manually post them. This saves you a few steps and allows you to make sure your grades and feedback are all correct before releasing each assignment. Check out the guide "How do I select a grade posting policy for a course in the New Gradebook?" for details. WORKSHOPSCanvas Basics: 1/3, 7, 9, 13, and 15 ABOUT CDLIThe Center for Digital Learning & Innovation supports faculty in the thoughtful use of emerging learning technologies to ensure that all digitally mediated courses reflect the high-touch, deeply experiential learning consistent with the Jesuit approach to education. |