Canvas Discussions Redesign offers instructors the ability to create anonymous spaces for student engagement that might otherwise be stifled by social pressure. Anonymity is a tricky pedagogical tool. On one hand, it can encourage learners to engage more honestly. While on the other hand, we have this sense that anonymous responders will seize the opportunity […]
Examine data from students about smartphone usage and consider how this affects the place of smartphones inside and outside the physical classroom space. In a previous post, I advocated for taking a “mobile-first” approach to course design, offering 10 teaching practices that benefit students accessing your course from mobile devices. In this post, I want […]
In this special two-part blog post, we examine what Ball State students say about flexibility and how teachers can offer students flexibility so they can fit their education into their busy lives. In Part 1 of this two-part blog post, we examined what students have to say about flexibility. Both quantitatively and qualitatively, Ball State […]
In this special two-part blog post, we examine what Ball State students say about flexibility and how teachers can offer students flexibility so they can fit their education into their busy lives. Our students need flexibility in their education. As the cost of higher education has risen, the days of students managing 40-hour weeks between […]
How can we use digital space of an online LMS to work towards creating a space of Radical Openness for co-creating with students and engaging them in shaping the course? I recently stumbled upon a 2017 blog article by Dr. Jesse Stommel in which he considers what kind of Learning Management System (LMS) bell hooks […]
How do we “view” our first-generation students? Who are they and what identities and backgrounds do they bring with them to the classroom beyond their first-generation status? From childhood memories of hanging out in academic offices to late night co-working sessions decades later as a graduate student, growing up with a mother who was a […]
Help first-generation and other students unfamiliar with higher education navigate the business of being a student with transparent course materials, agency, and guided learning through your course design. As a first-generation college student, neither of my parents (or their parents) attended college. The small and private, four-year liberal arts college I attended may as well […]
What does Open Educational Resources (OER) mean to you? Hear from two Ball State team members about how OER has helped them embrace a more accessible, affordable and equitable pathway for students. Consider one of your courses. What resources are you using to enhance the learning experience for students? What are the strengths and weaknesses […]
Learn how to set up a dynamic reflective space for your learners through the creative use of built-in Canvas tools. Reflection has been a huge part of my learning, and I engage my students in some of that deep thought in my courses. I value reflection because it provides learners and instructors with the opportunity […]
Are teachers too focused on comprehensiveness, trying to cover everything about their topic? What would teaching look like if we all just taught a little less? How much should my students learn in my course? This may seem like a strange question—especially compared to the more salient what students should learn—but it’s been on my […]
