Deciding on Your Instructional Materials

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Last revised: 6/14/2022 by ess

Overview:

This article provides instructional material alternatives, with examples, for use in online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses.  Three options will be considered. Should you "make", "buy" or look for "free" materials that support your learning objectives?

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Effective Communication in Online Courses

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The retro two robots with tin can phones.

Overview

Asynchronous communication in online courses takes place via a variety of tools; announcements, rubrics, email, discussion forums, audio feedback, video feedback, etc. The learning benefits of regular communication with students in an online course are often overlooked by faculty. Effective and regular messaging is essential for an inclusive, motivated and engaged learning community. In this brief article, we’ll review guidelines for communicating with your students online.

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Specifications Grading: A Method to Improve Student Performance

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Last revised: 10/07/2021 by JP

Overview

Are you looking to increase student motivation and the quality of their academic work? If yes, consider specifications grading.  According to Linda B. Nilson, Ph.D. the traditional higher education grading method is broken and specifications grading offers a solution with benefits for both students and faculty. Nilson published her seminal work, Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students and Saving Faculty Time, in 2015.  Since then, faculty have adopted her method, including some at UConn.

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Tips for Conducting Online / Remote Synchronous Sessions

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Last Revised 07/13/21 by DSM

Overview

Woman sitting on bench watching an instructor write on a whiteboard.

This article was created to support video conferencing workshops offered by educational technologies at CETL, but the information may be helpful for any synchronous online session. Conducting remote live sessions using video conference software such as WebEx and Collaborate Ultra can be a daunting task (Boland & Major, 2021). Below are some tips and strategies for designing and facilitating online synchronous sessions.

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Authentication of Students in Online Courses

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Last Revised 02/05/2024 by SW

Overview

The purpose of this article is to guide the University community as faculty seek methods of verifying student identity in distance learning and online courses.  These guidelines were designed to meet NECHE accreditation standard 4.48 and Federal requirements under Sec.  602.17(g)of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Additionally, these guidelines are designed to meet Department of Homeland Security requirements for International Students in online and remote learning environments.
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