Upon completion of this module, participants will be able to answer the following guiding questions:

As you move through this module, you will continue to return to these guiding questions. Whether you are working from a pre-existing course syllabus designed for face-to-face delivery or starting from scratch for a new online course, these questions will help ensure you address some of the major requirements for a robust course syllabus.

References:

Syllabus. (n.d.). in dictionary.com, retrieved March 29th, 2020) from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/syllabus?s=t

A great deal has been written about what a learning outcome (Bloom, 1956; Allan, 1996; Hussey & Smith, 2002) is as well as the difference between a learning outcome and a course objective. Unfortunately there is not a great deal of consistency with the use of language when it comes to outcomes vs objectives or even goals. For the purpose of this resource (and the work that we do at the Teaching Centre) we are going to use the following definitions to describe the terms goals, objectives and learning outcomes (as identified by the Undergraduate Education and Academic Planning group at San Francisco State University):

This option gives you the opportunity to craft your own course outcomes. In this option you will do the following:

• Define goals, objectives, and outcomes
• Review Bloom’s Learning Taxonomy
• Review the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Gain practice writing learning outcomes

Definitions

---

A few of the key points:

•  Course objectives are often a description of what the Faculty member/instructor will cover in the course
• Learning outcomes are student focused and written in such a way that they are measurable/observable

• Identify the most frequently encountered endings for nouns, adjectives and verbs, as well as some of the more complicated points of grammar, such as aspect of the verb
• Read basic material relating to current affairs using appropriate reference works, where necessary.
• Make themselves understood in basic everyday communicative situations.

*retrieved from https://ueap.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/assets/docs/student_learning_outcomes.pdf April 3rd, 2020.

Learning Taxonomies:

To write learning outcomes, we need to understand not only what we want our students to be able to demonstrate upon completion, but at which level we expect them to be able to complete it. Accordingly, we need a common language to identify possible levels of understanding. There are several educational taxonomies that will help us to find the language necessary to write these outcomes.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=126

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=126

Here is a graphic that illustrates both the original Bloom’s Taxonomy and the revised version of 2000:

There are other several other taxonomies that might be of interest when thinking about how learning objectives can be written/framed. Some of the other prominent taxonomies are:

• The Six Facets of Understanding by Wiggins and McTighe (1998) – discussed in detail in their Understanding by Design book. Here is a link to a whitepaper published by the ASCD.
• The SOLO (Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes) taxonomy by Biggs and Collis (1982) – outlined in their book Evaluating the quality of learning: the SOLO taxonomy (structure of the observed learning outcome). Here is a link to an overview of the SOLO taxonomy created by Future Learn.
• The Taxonomy of Significant Learning by Fink (2003) – published in his book Creating Significant Learning Experiences. Here is a link to an overview of the Taxonomy of Significant Learning put together by the Peak Performance Centre.

Writing Learning Outcomes:

The process of writing learning outcomes then becomes a matter of matching the level of skill/understanding that you expect your students to demonstrate with specific area of understanding and how you will expect them to be able to demonstrate this to you (and themselves). There are many resources that can be extremely helpful in writing outcomes, but probably one of the easiest to use (and most visual) is this one by Arizona State University.

By following the steps in their outcome (they use the term objective) builder, you can quickly write learner-centred outcomes for your class.

Additional Resources:

The following additional resources may be of interest but are not required:

• Constructing a Course Outline or Syllabus (Teaching Centre, University of Lethbridge)
• Foundations of a Course Outline Template (Ryerson University)
• List of Measurable Verbs used to Assess Learning Outcomes (Clinton Community College)
• Blooms Taxonomy of Measurable Verbs (PDF) (Utica College)

References:

Allan, J., (2006). Learning outcomes in higher education, Studies in Higher Education, Vol. 21, Issue 1, pp 93-108.

Bloom, B., ed. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook 1 cognitive domain, London: Longman

Biggs, J. B., & Collis, K. F. (1982). Evaluating the quality of learning: The SOLO taxonomy (structure of the observed learning outcome). New York: Academic Press.

Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses (1st ed.). San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass.

Hussey, T., Smith, P. (2002). The Trouble with Learning Outcomes, Active Learning in Higher Education, 3(3), 220-233.

Wiggins, G. P., McTighe, J., & NetLibrary, I. (2005). Understanding by design (Expand 2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

 

Whether you create your course syllabus as the starting point for designing your online course or after you have created the structure of the course, it is important to understand that the syllabus is the entry point into your course. In many of our courses, we discuss the syllabus at the beginning of the course and then expect students to refer back to it throughout. But do they? How many student interactions go just like this:

 

To combat this unfortunate reality for many, consider turning your course syllabus into not only something more useful for students, but also something that is referenced throughout your course (both directly and indirectly). Creating your course syllabus in such a way that you can link back to specific parts of it will help students remember the role it has in helping explain the structure of the course. The idea of creating a “warm” syllabus has been an idea that has been discussed in a number of articles written for the Association for Psychological Science. One such article titled Creating the Foundation for a Warm Classroom Climate (January, 2011), discusses the impact that the tone of the course syllabus can have on setting the tone for the entire course.

---

There are many different ways in which a course syllabus can be presented to students. How about considering a course syllabus that is laid out as a graphic organizer of sorts – with all of the key information presented on the first page in an easy to view layout. The Visual Communication Guy has an excellent tutorial on turning your syllabus into an infographic (Aug 14, 2017) that is worth reading if you are interested in going this route with your syllabus. Another example of this can be found here.

---

Another possibility is creating what Michelle Pacansky-Brock calls a Liquid Syllabus. A liquid syllabus is a version of your syllabus that is mobile friendly (displays well on a mobile device). She writes about it in an article posted to the Teaching Without Walls website (Aug 13, 2014) and also summarizes her ideas in this brief YouTube video (2 minutes 48 seconds).

 

 

---

Designing an Online Course

Creating a well structured, inviting and engaging learning experience for students is about much more than simply having engaging content. The entirety of the course — from the introduction of the course and materials, to the course syllabus, to the structure, design, and layout — contributes to the student learning experience (and to student success). Most often we are not creating course material from scratch for online delivery; rather, we are re-purposing material that was created for a face-to-face delivery for online. This brings with it specific challenges and considerations:

• How will online delivery impact what/how I present to the students?
• How will working online impact the students’ ability to complete tasks?
• How will I engage students in their learning and with each other?
• How much time will these activities take in an online environment?
• How will I balance synchronous (real-time) vs asynchronous interaction with the students?

In addition to these questions, we should also consider how we present this information to students.

---

A great deal has been written about how to design an effective online course (for a variety of audiences). An article title Designing Effective Online Courses: 10 Considerations (Burns, 2016) for eLearning Industry outlines the following 10 key points. She indicates a good online course needs to have the following attributes:

1. Grounded in an understanding of the learning process
2. Based on the needs of the adult learners
3. Links theory and practice
4. Accommodates a wide range of learning styles
5. Accessible to all
6. Flexibly designed
7. Flexibly delivered
8. Provides for flexible assessment
9. Utilizes a variety of media
10. Promotes interactivity

Point #5 makes reference to accessibility. This term refers to ensuring that the course, its content and assessments associated with it are all equally available regardless of the learners race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation. We have created a resource to help better understand accessibility and posted it on our website here – the Accessibility of Education Toolkit for Educators.

 

An article titled 4 Expert Strategies for Designing an Online Course published to Inside Higher Ed (Rottmann & Rabidoux, 2017) outlines the following 4 strategies:

• Involve the learner – find ways to engage the students in the learning process. Find ways to get students interacting with the material (and each other) as part of the course.
• Make collaboration work – find ways to engage students in meaningful peer collaboration. Clear expectations and the time to engage with each other (as well as support for the tools being used) will help.
• Develop a clear, consistent structure – a well designed course draws the learner into the experience. A clearly laid out structure that is repeated from module/section to module/section helps. Breaking the material down into more manageable sections can help make it easier to work through for students.
• Reflect and revise – there are several models that can help gather feedback on the course and make revisions. The key is to be open to feedback – even seek it out from students.

These are great tips, but what does this look like within the confines of a course? What are some of the things that you can do within the University of Lethbridge Moodle environment that will help to create an inviting environment for the students? A few simple steps that can help make Moodle a bit more inviting for students are listed below:

Examples

Here are a few samples from one of our FLOf course:

 

---

---

Ultimately, there is no “right” way to accomplish this. It comes down to what works for you (and your students), the content that you are presenting and your approach to teaching. It often takes some experimentation to find an approach that works for you.

Additional Resources:

The following resources might help you get more familiar with some of the content that you can place into Moodle and some of the ways in which you can format content for a more inviting presentation to your students:

• Changing Topic Titles in Moodle (moodleanswers.com support site)
• Adding and Removing Sections in Moodle (moodleanswers.com support site)
• Embedding a YouTube Video in Moodle (moodleanswers.com support site)
• Building Custom Content in Moodle (moodleanswers.com support site)

References:

Burns, M., (2016), Designing Effective Online Courses: 10 Considerations, eLearning Industry website, retrieved April 8th, 2020 – https://elearningindustry.com/designing-effective-online-courses-10-considerations

Harnish, R. J., McElwee, R. O., Slattery, J. M., Frantz, S., Haney, R. H., Shore, C. M., Penley, J., (2011), Creating the Foundation for a Warm Classroom Climate, Association for Psychological Science Observer, retrieved April 10th, 2020 – https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/creating-the-foundation-for-a-warm-classroom-climate

Newbold, C. (2017), How to Turn Your Syllabus into an Infographic, The Visual Communication Guy Blog, retrieved April 11th, 2020 – https://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/2017/08/14/how-to-turn-your-syllabus-into-an-infographic/

Pacansky-Brock, M. (2014), The Liquid Syllabus: Are You Ready?, Teaching Without Walls website, retrieved April 15th, 2020 – http://www.teachingwithoutwalls.com/2014/08/the-liquid-syllabus-are-you-ready.html

Rottmann, A., Rabidoux, S., (2017), 4 Expert Strategies for Designing an Online Course, Inside Higher Ed, retrieved April 8th, 2020 – https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/advice/2017/03/15/4-expert-strategies-designing-online-course

Methods and Strategies

What you will learn in this module PART 2

You will:

• Read about the changing roles of instructors in an online environment.
• Explore and select an appropriate online facilitation model to guide your facilitation
• Determine what you want to do and how you want to work with your students (eg. lecture, discussion, small group work)
• Using an online facilitation model, choose from a list of facilitation methods in order to help design an activity *Optional submit activity for peer feedback
• Provide a final summary post, describing and reflecting upon how you’ve utilized your chosen online facilitation model *Optional Reflective discussion post

Required Resources

Online facilitation models

• The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework
• Diagram: http://cde.athabascau.ca/coi_site/documents/coi_model.pdf

• Gilly Salmon’s Five Stage model
• https://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html

List of facilitation methods

Below you will find two different live links of facilitation methods to choose from one from the University of Illinois Springfield and the other for McGill University.

• University of Ilinois Springfield (**skip to instructional strategies section)
• https://www.uis.edu/ion/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/instructional-strategies-for-online-courses/
• McGill University
• https://www.mcgill.ca/tls/instructors/strategies

Tools

Changing Roles of Facilitators

With instructors facing new roles that demand a thorough understanding of the relationship between technology, pedagogy, and content within their given discipline (Mishra & Koehler, 2006; Wu et al., 2016), the role of educators is increasingly more complex (Ouellett, 2010). Facilitating online calls for an instructor to take on several different roles including that of facilitator, designer, technology specialist, and director.

As the facilitator, the instructor’s role is to create meaningful learning opportunities for learners to gain the skills they’ll need in their chosen careers. The instructor needs to carefully design and scaffold assignments and assessments that will help lead to personal growth and self-efficacy among students (Kwantlen Polytechnic University, n.d.).

As a designer, instructors curate resources that serve the learning goals and enable students to grow knowledgeable in their field. They select the most relevant resources such as videos, readings, and the like to best serve learning outcomes. Instructors must design the online environment, so it is logically organized and easy to navigate (Kwantlen Polytechnic University, n.d.).

As a technology specialist, the instructor assumes the role by choosing appropriate technologies to meet learning goals. It is necessary for the instructor to understand how to use the tools and clearly explain their use to students. Furthermore, as a technology specialist, the instructor needs to ensure the course site is continuously running smoothly otherwise the lack of efficiency can lead to student frustration and a barrier to learning (Taylor-Massey, n.d.). Educators now need to consider asking “when, to what degree, and to what ends” (Ouellett, 2010, p. 12) technology should be used, rather than whether it should be used, in order to make informed decisions about which educational technologies are best suited for their subject-matter (Koehler & Mishra, 2009).

As the director, instructors need to make themselves available to guide students and clarify or answer questions along the way. They need to provide just-in-time feedback, so students know where they are at any given time within an assignment or project and how to proceed forward (Kwantlen Polytechnic University, n.d.).

Knowing the extent to which educators need to adjust their roles is necessary to gain knowledge or a sense of mastery in a particular area. This module will focus on providing knowledge and proficiency in facilitating online learning environments.

Instructions

STEP 1: Read the following two articles:

Anderson, T. (2004). Teaching in an online learning context. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 273-294). Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from https://auspace.athabascau.ca/bitstream/handle/2149/758/teaching_in_an_online.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Wright, P. (2015). Comparing e-tivities, e-moderation, and the five stage model to the community of inquiry model for online learning design. The Online Journal of Distance Education and e-Learning, 3(2), p. 17-30. Retrieved from https://tojdel.net/journals/tojdel/articles/v03i02/v03i02-02.pdf

References

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for integrating technology in teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054. Retrieved from http://onlinelearningcurriculumcommittee.pbworks.com/f/mishra.pdf

Learning to Learn Online by Kwantlen Polytechnic University is licensed under a CC BY-SA 4.0

Ouellett, M. (2010). Overview of faculty development: History and choices. In K. J. Gillespie & D. L. Robertson (Eds.), A guide to faculty development, 2nd ed., (pp. 3-20). Retrieved from https://tpa.abu.edu.ng/www.devcomlibrary.com/Ebook%20Database_E/A_Guide_to_Faculty_Development__Jossey_Bass_Higher_and_Adult_Education____2nd_edi.pdf#page=29

Taylor-Massey, J. (n.d.) Redefining Teaching: The five roles of the online instructor. Retrieved from http://blog.online.colostate.edu/blog/online-teaching/redefining-teaching-the-five-roles-of-the-online-instructor/

Wu, B., Hu, Y., Gu, X., & Lim, C. (2016). Professional development of new higher education teachers with information and communication technology in Shanghai: A Kirkpatrick’s evaluation approach. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 54(4), 531-562. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/doi/pdf/10.1177/0735633115621922

Instructions:

STEP 1: Read a brief summary of the Community of Inquiry Framework below.

The Community of Inquiry Framework (CoI)is an online learning model that focuses on collaborative and constructivist principles. Constructivist principles “recognize that the learner has prior knowledge and experiences, which are often determined by their social and cultural environment. Learning is therefore done by students’ “constructing” knowledge out of their experiences” (Wikipedia, 2018). The framework is used to analyze online learning environments and consists of three interrelated domains: social presence, cognitive presence, and teacher presence.

By using this framework in your practice, you ensure you are addressing the three critical presences (explained below) that exemplify sound practice in online learning.

Instructions:

STEP 2:

In an effort to offer a meaningful educational experience for your learners, view the Community of Inquiry framework here, and explore the website’s related files.

Figure 1:  Community of inquiry framework. Reprinted from The Community of Inquiry, by T. Anderson, R. Garrison, & W. Archer 2000. Retrieved from https://coi.athabascau.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/COI-ANIM.swf. Reprinted by permission.

References

Anderson, T. (2004). Teaching in an online learning context. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning (pp. 273-294). Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from https://auspace.athabascau.ca/bitstream/handle/2149/758/teaching_in_an_online.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer. (2001). Community of Inquiry. [Vector graphic]. Retrieved April 17, 2020 from https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/

Constructivism. (2018). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 17, 2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(philosophy_of_education)

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher educationmodel. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105.

Gilly Salmon’s Five Stage Model

Instructions:

STEP 1: Watch this video called 5 Stage Model (9:05 mins) by Gilly Salmon.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=63

Next explore this website and pay attention to the slideshow, infographic and model to familiar yourself with the process and steps of the online facilitation model.

Glossary

• conferencing – students communicating and collaborating
• e-tivities – “frameworks for enabling active and participative online learning by individuals and groups” (Salmon, 2013, p. 5)
• scaffold – refers to “teachers providing successive levels of temporary support that help students reach higher levels of comprehension and skill acquisition that they would not be able to achieve without assistance” (The Glossary of Education Reform, n.d.).

Salmon’s Five Stage Model

Figure 2: Salmon’s five stage model. Reprinted from Being a Successful Online Teacher by G. Salmon 2011. Retrieved from https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/ccbe60fc-4a3c-4a2c-a80e-286a4946a9f3/1/html/ote_1_30.html

References

Salmon, G. (n.d.) Salmon’s Five Stage Model. [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/ccbe60fc-4a3c-4a2c-a80e-286a4946a9f3/1/html/ote_1_30.html CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

The Glossary of Education Reform by Great Schools Partnership is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Instructions:

STEP 1: Now that you have a better understanding of each facilitation model, you need to choose one that speaks to you to guide you in the design of your activity. Use the guiding question(s) below to help you as you move through the rest of the module. Consider answering the following question(s) for yourself depending on which model you choose.

Summary of each online facilitation model

Community of Inquiry

“…defined as a process model of online learning, it emphasise [sic] the importance of developing a community of learners, who through collaboration and connectivity, are able to create sustain higher order processes of learning. It seeks not only to establish this integral online learning community of students, but to embed the pursuit of inquiry into online learning. In order to create this, the CoI frame work identifies three key overlapping areas that are integral components of learning design for applying the model. These key elements are known as Social Presence, Cognitive Presence and Teaching Presence” (Wright, 2015, p. 20).

Salmon’s Five Stage Model

“The 5-Stage Model (Salmon, 2011) is a strategic approach to structuring course content and interaction, around the basis of a natural stage-by-stage progression the e-learner is likely to go through in online learning. The model provides the course designer a scaffold in which to organise course content and structure, with the integration of specific stage appropriate e-tivities, to meet the individual online pedagogy needs of the learner. This links directly to providing a valid strategy for meeting learner satisfaction in Course Structure and Organisation factors” (Wright, 2015, p. 19).

If you choose the Community of Inquiry Framework… 

Question #1:

If you choose Salmon’s Five Stage Model…

Question #2

Instructions:

STEP 2: Now you need to decide what you want to do and how you want to work with your students (eg. I want my students to work in teams to analyze a case study.) To do this, visit these two websites 1: University of Illinois Springfield (**skip to instructional strategies section) 2: McGill University to explore a variety of instructional strategies. Choose one to two instructional strategies to design your activity.

At this stage, you should have chosen one to two instructional strategies to design your activity. You should have your objectives (what your students will learn) and learning outcomes (what your students should be able to do) written as well. SEE: Crafting Course Outcomes 

Activity/Lesson acceptable submission formats:

Written, PowerPoint or video

Instructions:

STEP 3: Now that you have decided which model you will use to create your online activity, use the additional guiding questions below to guide your planning.

___________________________________________________________________________

Guiding Questions

If you chose the Community of Inquiry framework

Social Presence

1. Will students work individually or collaboratively?
2. Will student choose their own groups, or will groups be assigned?
3. How will students get to know one another and develop trust?
4. How will you create a safe space for students to share their ideas?

Cognitive Presence

1. How will students be expected to process the lesson information?
2. How will students demonstrate an understanding of the lesson information?

Teacher Presence

1. How will you build trust with your students?
2. How will you make yourself available to your students?
3. How will you demonstrate teacher’s presence online?
4. How will you structure your learning environment and activity, so as to support your learners?
5. How will you teach your learners how to access and use relevant technologies?

Guiding Questions

If you chose Salmon’s Five Stage model

1. How will you ensure accessibility to all learners?
2. How will you motivate your students?
3. How will you encourage socialization among you and your learners?
4. How will you scaffold your activity?
5. How will you support knowledge construction?
6. How will you communicate with your learners?
7. How will you communicate and support technology use?
8. How will you gage knowledge retention?

___________________________________________________________________________

Reflection

Instructions:

STEP 1: Write a final reflective post in this general discussion forum describing how you have utilized the your chosen online facilitation model.

References

Lalonde, C. 2017. LRNT 505: Community building processes for online learning environments: Winter 2017 [Course lecture]. Retrieved from royalroads.ca

Wright, P. (2015). Comparing e-tivities, e-moderation and the five stage model to the community of inquiry model for online learning design. The Online Journal of Distance Education and e-Learning, 3(2), p. 17-30. Retrieved from https://tojdel.net/journals/tojdel/articles/v03i02/v03i02-02.pdf to inform your understanding of the Community of Inquiry Model and Gilly Salmon’s Five Stage Model that comprise of this module.

Guiding Questions

It is expected that you will be able to answer the following questions by the end of the Module…

1. What elements create an authentic, online assessment?
2. What needs to be considered to encourage academic integrity for online learning?
3. How do I (re)structure assessment(s) appropriate for online learning environments?

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the Module, you will be able to…

1. Articulate and describe intended learning outcomes for an online course.
2. Identify factors of authentic assessment, which include reliability and validity.
3. Know how to encourage academic integrity.
4. Re-design or create activities & assessments conducive for online learning.

Module Expectations

If you choose to engage in all aspects of the Module, you will…

1. review some of the theory behind sound assessment practices
2. contribute to discussions in Moodle
3. build or revise specific course material for upcoming courses

If you read every section and complete the activities for one of the options, this Module will take you between 6 hours – 9 hours to complete. If you choose to interact with extended resources, this Module can take you significantly longer than the time recommendations.

Section 1 provides an overview of assessment methods and the leading method of how to build strong assessments. You will not need any specific materials.

This section should take 35 – 60 minutes to complete.

Guiding Questions

Please think about these questions before you begin this section:

1. What is your biggest concern regarding assessment in online courses?
2. In your courses, what kinds of learning are particularly difficult to measure, and why?

Three Methods of Assessment

Assessment is “the process of using tools and techniques to collect information about student learning. In other words, assessment is the way teachers see their students’ learning” (Gareis & Grant, p. 2,  2015).

We use assessment to determine the “nature and degree of student learning” (Garies & Grant, p. 3, 2015).

There are three methods of assessment:

1. Pre-Assessment
2. Formative Assessment
3. Summative Assessment

Pre-Assessment occurs before you teach your students.

Formative Assessment includes ungraded activities and feedback you provide to students.

Summative Assessment involves graded activities that occur at the end of learning.

Achieving Effective Assessment

Assessment needs to align with your curriculum (course content) and instruction (teaching methods). Scroll your mouse over the question marks in the diagram to learn more.

Figure 7.
Ellis, D. (2007). Aligning learning outcomes, assessments and teaching methods. Teaching Excellence Academy workshop for University of Waterloo, Canada. Retrieved from Queens University, Matching Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes.

The Cycles of Assessment

We also use the practice of assessment, as a whole, to inform our teaching. By looking at assessment as a cycle throughout the duration of a class, we can begin to see how assessment informs our teaching and learning activities. For every assessment[ we create, we want to engage in a cycle that has four stages (scroll over the question marks below).

In this approach, we begin with the end in mind. This is also known as understanding by backwards design (UbD).

Understanding by Backwards Design (UbD)

 Using the Backwards Design approach will help you align your assessment, curriculum, and instruction.

 Backwards Design is a learning theory for designing sound pedagogical courses by starting with the learning outcomes first, rather than starting with your course activities. Please consider the diagram below to gain an understanding of how UbD can help you design good activities and assessments.

Indiana University Bloomington. (n.d.). IUB backward course design model. [Infographic]. Retrieved April 16, 2020 from https://citl.indiana.edu/teaching-resources/course-design/backward-course-design/index.html.

Extended Activity: Watch this video to review the methodology and purpose of backwards design. (8 min) 

Another important aspect of backwards design is that it helps ensure your assessment is authentic. All authentic assessment starts with alignment to intended learning outcomes. When we need to change our assessment and/or learning activities, it may feel daunting. And in the face of a new teaching environment (e.g., online), it becomes clear just how crucial it is that we create authentic, pedagogically sound assessments.

What is Authentic Assessment?

As you have been transitioning to online teaching, you have undoubtedly thought about how you will accurately assess your students’ learning. Questions about how to do this properly while maintaining academic integrity in your virtual classroom may be plaguing you. The good news is that maintaining authentic assessment practice is probably less work than you think! The bad news is that it will still take some work.

TIP: the more opportunities your students have to demonstrate learning of an outcome, the more reliable your assessment is.

There are two main components of authentic assessments: validity & reliability:

A valid assessment is one that is “truthful, suitable, legitimate, applicable, convincing, compelling” (Gareis & Grant, p. 24, 2015).

A reliable assessment is one where “the consistency or dependability of the results of the assessment” are maintained (Garies & Grant, p. 37, 2015).

 TIP: when building an activity for assessment (e.g., exam) try asking 2 – 3 questions that evaluate the same learning outcome. This gives students multiple chances to demonstrate their understanding of a particular content area. 

Authentic assessment is achieved when you have considered the perspective of your student and built your assessment after you have created well-thought-out learning outcomes.

   Here is a friendly reminder from our friend, Louis Pasteur:

Chance favours the prepared mind

• Next, we will move into Section 2: Types of Scoring Criteria

Extended Resources

Bowen, R. S. (2017). Understanding by design. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved April 11, 2020, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/understanding-by-design/.

Queens University (n.d.). Assessment types: Diagnostic, formative and summative. Retrieved April 11, 2020 from https://www.queensu.ca/teachingandlearning/modules/assessments/09_s2_01_intro_section.html.

Queens University. (n.d.). Deciding what to assess. Retrieved April 11, 2020 from https://www.queensu.ca/teachingandlearning/modules/assessments/05_s1_02_deciding_what_to_assess.html.

References

Bowen, R. S. (2017). Understanding by design. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved April 11, 2020 from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/understanding-by-design/.

Gareis, C. R. & Grant, L. W. (2015). Teacher-made assessments: How to connect curriculum, instruction, and student learning (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Indiana University Bloomington. (n.d.). IUB backward course design model. [Infographic]. Retrieved April 16, 2020 from https://citl.indiana.edu/teaching-resources/course-design/backward-course-design/index.html.

Queens University. (n.d.). Matching assessment tasks to learning outcomes. Retrieved April 11, 2020 from https://www.queensu.ca/teachingandlearning/modules/assessments/18_s2_10_revisiting_learning_outcomes.html.

Feel free to leave any feedback you may have about the design, structure, or content of this module. We appreciate feedback because we are always learning!

Section 2 is an introduction to the types of scoring criteria we use in assessment. You will have an option to create one of the tools below for your upcoming course. By the end of this section, you will understand proper structure and types of assessments/activities to evaluate student learning. This should take you 30 – 50 minutes to complete.

Guiding Questions

Please think about these questions before you being this section:

1. What assessments can you administer online with technologies available to all of your students?
2. What assessments do you need to change in your upcoming course?

Types of Scoring Criteria

We will discuss three types of scoring criteria in this section: checklists, analytic rubrics, and holistic rubrics. Please note that scoring criteria can be retooled for use within a course with a few simple tweaks (e.g., using the same rubric for multiple discussion forums) and between courses (e.g., repeatedly using the same checklist for project requirements for different courses). You may want to use checklists and rubrics for grading exams, projects, and other assignments.

  Read through the first two portions of Jennifer Gonzalez’s breakdown of holistic and analytic rubrics here.

• You can use this infographic to determine if you need to put your exam online or choose an alternative method of assessment. Feel free to use this tool before making your decision:

Forsythe, G. [@guiliaforsythe]. (2020, March 15). “so… you need to put your course online” flowchart… now generic and explicitly CCBY. [Tweet; Image]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/giuliaforsythe/status/1239371142206496770

It is also recommended that you reference the Tool Boxes and FAQ as needed. If you are looking for more information before you get working on your activity, you can follow these links below. A new page of the book will open in a new tab.

Next step: Click one of the activities you would like to complete for your class (the link will guide you to the next place you should go to in the book):

NOTE: do not click ‘next page’ here. You need to choose which activity you want to complete by following the links in one of the options below.

1. Create a Discussion Forum for my class,
2. Change an Exam to an online exam,
3. Alter a hands-on project into an online project for my class, or
4. Transform an in-person presentation to an online presentation

Extended Resources 

Brock University. (n.d.). Flexible teaching and learning. Retrieved April 16, 2020 from https://brocku.ca/pedagogical-innovation/resources/flexible-teaching-and-learning/#1584019016028-8316430e-669c.

References 

Forsythe, G. [@guiliaforsythe]. (2020, March 15). “so… you need to put your course online” flowchart… now generic and explicitly CCBY. [Tweet; Image]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/giuliaforsythe/status/1239371142206496770.

Gonzalez, J. (2014, May 1). Know your terms: Holistic, analytic, and single-point rubrics. Cult of Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/holistic-analytic-single-point-rubrics/

For this section, we will have you convert a current exam into an alternative exam that is better suited for online learning. We will be walking you through some tips for converting the exam to an asynchronous, take-home exam.

We will not recommend methods of proctoring exams online as we do not have an online proctoring solution at the U of L at this moment. Furthermore, it is generally understood that offering online, synchronous exams is not a sound, pedagogical practice.

If you are concerned about Academic Integrity, we suggest you read Tool Box 2 before moving ahead with this activity.

Please read the key elements of online exams below. You will be notified with a STOP: message once you reach the activity portion of the section. 

Activity: Designing an Alternative

To design an alternative delivery method of an exam, you will want to complete five steps:

1. Evaluate your current exam
2. Create a table of specifications using the ICE Model
3. Design & build your alternative exam
4. Create questions for the exam
5. Create supporting scoring criteria or exam key
6. Receive feedback

Remember to have your course outline, learning outcomes (goals), and your current exam (digital or hard copy) on hand.

Follow these three steps to evaluate your current exam:

Once you have your table of specifications ICE Model open, follow these 8 steps to complete the table:

Be prepared to rework the questions that currently sit in the ideas category. These types of questions are easily copied and replicated.

1. Determine the new form of your exam. Open the proper instructions:

• Take-Home Exam Instructions

• Open-Book Exam Instructions

• In-Tray Exam Instructions

Next step: You can go back to the beginning of the module and select a new activity, or continue reading more in the tool box sections by clicking here.

Footnotes

¹The template of a Table of Specifications using the ICE Model was first adapted by Queen’s University and can be found here. We have made a few adaptations to suit our needs.

Extended resources

Arthur, L. (2018, February 13). How to design a good open book exam. UTS. https://lx.uts.edu.au/blog/2018/02/13/design-open-book-exam/

Assessment Centre HQ. (n.d.). How to pass an in-tray exercise. https://www.assessmentcentrehq.com/assessment-centre-exercises/in-tray-exercise/

Bengtsson, L. (2019, November 6). Take-Home exams in higher education: A systematic review. Education Science 9(267), 1 – 16. doi:10.3390/educsci9040267

Gordon, D. (n.d.). Don’t panic: The hitch-hiker’s guide to alternative assessment. (p. 18). http://www.damiantgordon.com/Guide.pdf.

Government of Canada. (2015, October). Best practices for unsupervised testing. The Personnel Psychology Centre. [PDF]. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/canada/public-service-commission/migration/plcy-pltq/guides/tools-outils/pdf/pract-prat-eng.pdf.

Gray, T. G. F. (1994). Open book examination. Biochemical Education 22(3). 122 – 125. https://iubmb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/0307-4412(94)90041-8

Gupta, M. S. (2007, December). Open-book examinations for assessing higher cognitive abilities. Educator’s Corner, 46 – 50. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=4405045&tag=1

Johnson, C., Green, K., Galbraith, B., & Anelli, C. (2015). Assessing and Refining Group Take-Home Exams as Authentic, Effective Learning Experiences. Journal of College Science Teaching, 44(5), 61-71. Retrieved April 15, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/43631852

Mellet, E. (2020, March 1). In-tray and e-tray exercises, examples and practice. Practice Reasoning Tests. https://www.practicereasoningtests.com/what-are-in-tray-exercises/

Mills, P. (2017, April 24). Reduce cheating on online quizzes with randomisation. https://lx.uts.edu.au/blog/2017/04/24/reduce-cheating-online-quizzes-randomisation/

Silverman, R. (2018, October 15). Exam preparations: Strategies for open book exams. Simon Fraser University. https://www.lib.sfu.ca/about/branches-depts/slc/learning/exam-types/open-book-exams

University of Saskatchewan. (n.d.). Common assessment questions. https://teaching.usask.ca/remote-teaching/exams.php#CommonAssessmentQuestions

References

AssessmentDay. (2015, March 13). Free in-tray exercise: Graduate retail banking candidate instructions booklet. https://www.assessmentday.co.uk/example-in-tray-assessmentday.pdf.

AssessmentDay. (n.d.). In-tray exercise. https://www.assessmentday.co.uk/in-tray-exercise.htm.

British Columbia Institute of Technology. Developing checklists and rating scales. Retrieved on April 15, 2020 from http://www.northernc.on.ca/leid/docs/ja_developchecklists.pdf.

Gordon, D. (n.d.). Don’t panic: The hitch-hiker’s guide to alternative assessment. http://www.damiantgordon.com/Guide.pdf.

Kramer, L. (1991, Fall). Example examination instruction and questions. University of Michigan. https://www.law.umich.edu/currentstudents/studentservices/Documents/Sample%20exam%20instructions%20and%20questions%20handout.pdf.

Mertler, C. A. (2000). Designing scoring rubrics for your classroom. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 7(25), 1 – 8. https://doi.org/10.7275/gcy8-0w24.

Queens University. (n.d.). Table of specifications: General model. Retrieved April 15, 2020 from https://www.queensu.ca/ctl/sites/webpublish.queensu.ca.ctlwww/files/files/What%20We%20Do/Assessment%20and%20Teaching%20Strategies/table%20of%20specifications%20general%20model.pdf.

Ryerson University. (n.d.). Open book exams. Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching. https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/learning-teaching/teaching-resources/assessment/open-book-exams.pdf.

Ryerson University. (n.d.). Take home exams. Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching. [Google Doc]. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TLxW2GSMRNHNjoSf3U71Ondpx1PN1MiUMsAoUFlj_hs/edit.

Simon Fraser University. (n.d.). Designing take home/ open book exams. https://www.sfu.ca/content/dam/sfu/cee/documents/pdfs/Take%20Home%20_Open%20Book%20Exams%20handout.pdf.

University of Newcastle. (n.d.). A guide for academics: Open book exams. Centre for Teaching and Learning. https://www.newcastle.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/268980/Open-Book-Exams.pdf.

University of New Mexico. (n.d.). Take home exam #3. http://www.unm.edu/~hookster/Take%20Home%20Exam%203.pdf.

University of Saskatchewan. (n.d.). 5-minute assessment interviews information table. https://teaching.usask.ca/documents/gmctl/5min-assessment.pdf

Young, S. F. (2005, September). Teaching, learning, and assessment in higher education: Using ICE to improve student learning. Proceedings of the Improving Student Learning Symposium 13, 105 – 115. https://www.queensu.ca/teachingandlearning/modules/principles/documents/Teaching,%20Learning%20and%20Assessment%20in%20Higher%20Education.pdf

Problems with Synchronous Online Exams

If you relied on students going to the Testing Centre to take your midterms and final exams, you probably find yourself at a loss. The problem is, there is not a sound way for you to distribute an online, in-person exam that upholds academic integrity. If you do rely on exams for your courses, there are a few adjustments you can make to ensure that your students maintain academic honesty and your grading practices are still valid and reliable.

Read the Grade Network’s (2018) blog about the Importance of Validity and Reliability in Classroom Assessments.

TIP: Online exams that are high stakes and require a proctor are not the best option for you or your students. There are many alternative methods of assessing students.

Creating shortened timelines and strict rules around a synchronous online exam leads to heightened anxiety for your students. This, in turn, may lead to:

• More questions about instructions during the exam
• More requests for accommodation
• An increase in clerical errors during exam writing.

For more information about transitioning to online exams, please visit Waterloo’s Teaching Tips.

TIP: The University of Calgary recommends a minimum time-frame of 24 hours for a student to complete a final assessment that is replacing a synchronous, online exam.

There are circumstances beyond your control. Even if you utilize an online proctor software that closes out access to other applications on a single device, this does not ensure academic integrity. Your students will most likely have access to another device that is not being invigilated, like a smartphone. Your students can still gain knowledge from their friends and roommates, or even share information freely.

Here are some other notes about challenges your students face when writing online exams:

• Students may not have a stable internet connection while testing.
• Many students are sharing computers, so creating a shortened, designated time to access an exam may not be feasible for some.
• Your students may now live in different time zones and mistake that time of your exam.
• If your students haven’t had any experience taking timed, online exams, you are assessing their ability to complete this type of exam without teaching them how to do it.

(University of Calgary, _EDC co-curated covid resources, n.d.)

Checking for cheating is neither convenient nor guaranteed. There are loopholes in many of these approaches and cheating may be difficult to prove. It is for this reason that we recommend you consider changing your assessment to accommodate online learning environments.

Considerations for Synchronous Exams

If you must keep a synchronous, online exam, we recommend you consider adopting two techniques:

1. Consider making your online exams more low-stakes. Students are more apt to cheat on an assignment or exam when the weight is extremely high. While this method may not be the easiest to adopt, it can be a consideration as you build your course.
2. If you are sticking with a final exam, you may want to consider how you can reduce the weight of the exam.
3. Include an honour statement for your students to sign for the course or a particular assessment piece. We have created a sample template for you in the FAQ Section.

The Taylor Institute for Learning (n.d.) recommends you avoid these four things when you are building an assessment:

1. High stakes exams
2. Makeshift proctoring
3. Tight deadlines
4. Inflexibility

Footnotes

¹ The information cited has come from a co-curated COVID Resources and Strategy Resources Google Document has been created and continues to be updated daily. You can find the document in References

Extended Resources

University of Waterloo. (n.d.). Learner-centred assessment. Retrieved April 17, 2020 from https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/assessing-student-work/grading-and-feedback/learner-centred-assessment.

 References

(n.d.) _EDC co-curated covid resources and strategy resources. [Google Doc]. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i8cocuh5LFhjabn17MdYk3EFjoTsQwdpywZx92vbT_o/edit.

Grade Network, The. (2018, September 10). Importance of validity and reliability in classroom assessments. https://www.thegraidenetwork.com/blog-all/2018/8/1/the-two-keys-to-quality-testing-reliability-and-validity.

University of Calgary. (n.d.). Academic integrity in online courses: Adapting during covid-19. Taylor Institute. https://taylorinstitute.ucalgary.ca/academic-integrity-online-learning.

University of Waterloo. (n.d.). Teaching tips: Assessing students. Centre for Teaching Excellence. https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-tips/by-category/117.

FAQ Section

Feel free to explore the resources and templates below.

A good starting point for those among you who have little online teaching experience can be to listen to students who’ve enrolled in online programs/ courses and can therefore share what they consider important in online education.

In the video below, Janson Hews is sharing his perspective regarding some of the factors that have positively shaped his online learning experience. He discusses issues of access, open learning, workload, digital literacy and the need for educators to adopt more carefully considered, technologically supported teaching strategies.

You can enlarge the video by pressing the icon on the far bottom right. Note this video contains questions that guide or check your understanding.

UDL: Alternatively to viewing the video, you can read the Transcript for Youtube Video Learning Online from Student Perspective (word document).

  back to top

Like other sections in our FitFOL course, this module is designed with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles undergirding all of its parts. This is done to demonstrate proactive ways of creating interactions with learners, so they do not have to ask for special accommodations, regardless of the barriers they may face – time, connectivity, or disability.

Rooted in Universal Design (UD), UDL expands efforts that guarantee access rights to people with physical challenges to also include ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, and ability-based diversity in the design of educational environments, resources and interactions. (Tobin & Behling, 2018) Given the current circumstances, it is unrealistic for educators making such a sudden shift to the online teaching delivery to implement the full suite of accessibility standards in their online courses. However, a certain familiarity with the concepts and the rationale for why you would want to apply certain proactive design strategies will be of great benefit to a broader palette of your students.

Historically, students had to find ways to document specific needs in order to request accommodations, but in the last decade more people in higher education have moved away from the medical model to a more social approach that works with a proactive quality learning design for many. The understanding how UDL can help expand the reach and efficacy of learning and has therefore led to the more common adoption of the research-based set of UDL principles by many academics and educational staff, who now use it to plan the design of teaching and research, continuous professional learning, workforce development, and online publishing. (CAST, 2018)

Each of the three UDL principles come with a set of concrete suggestions that incorporate multiple means of:

1. engaging with content and people
2. representing information, and
3. expressing skills and knowledge

1. Engagement is shown through the variety of ways in which you can interact with the materials, your peers and the instructors.

2. The Representation of Information  in this module is demonstrated through content in multiple formats, including text, visual prompts, video and audio.

3. The principle of Action and Expression in FitFOL happens through a variety of options to inspire, demonstrate and self-evaluate your learning.

Listen to or download this overview in audio format by clicking on this link here.

  back to top

As briefly laid out in the Introduction above, there are several distinct elements you can weave into your online course to make it a truly inclusive space that is welcoming, accessible and equitable to all learners alike.

1. Orientating Students to an Online Course
2. Designing for Diverse Students
3. Managing Student Behaviour and Conflict

To decide which of the three options above you’d like to work on, you can read up on the resources, activities and course products by clicking on thegreen information (=i) icons in the cake picture below.

You are completely free to take/ do only as much as you need.

The German in me wishes you ‘Guten Appetit’ and hopes the module of your choice will be ‘a piece of cake’ for you!

UDL: Alternatively to viewing the picture information, you can access the module options in the attached word document here: Descriptions of the 3 module options Working with the Online Learner

  back to top

Bates, T. (2019, November 19). Results for 2019 survey of online learning in Canadian post-secondary institutions now available | Tony Bates. Retrieved December 1, 2019, from https://www.tonybates.ca/2019/11/19/results-for-2019-survey-of-online-learning-in-canadian-post-secondary-institutions-now-available/

Bennett, D., McCarty, C., & Carter, S. (2019). Teaching Graduate Economics: Online Vs. Traditional Classroom Instruction. Journal for Economic Educators, 11(2), 1–11. Retrieved from https://libjournals.mtsu.edu/index.php/jfee/article/view/1478

Bernard, R. M., Abrami, P. C., Lou, Y., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Wozney, L., Wallet, P. A., Fiset, M., and Huang, B. 2004. “How Does Distance Education Compare with Classroom Instruction? A Meta-analysis of the Empirical Literature.” Review of Educational Research 74 (3): 379–439.

CAST (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2 [graphic organizer]. Wakefield, MA: Author. Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org/more/downloads

Hung, M.-L., Chou, C., Chen, C.-H., & Own, Z.-Y. (2010). Learner readiness for online learning: Scale development and student perceptions. Computers & Education, 55(3), 1080–1090. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.05.004

Learning online from a student perspective. (2014, July 20). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwx_UDaCMxc

Li, N., Marsh, V., & Rienties, B. (2016). Modelling and Managing Learner Satisfaction: Use of Learner Feedback to Enhance Blended and Online Learning Experience. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 14(2), 216–242. https://doi.org/10.1111/dsji.12096

Manning-Ouellette, A., & Black, K. (2017). Learning Leadership: A Qualitative Study on the Differences of Student Learning in Online versus Traditional Courses in a Leadership Studies Program. Journal of Leadership Education, 59–79. Retrieved from https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/leadership_pubs/3/

McLaren, C. H. (2004). A Comparison of Student Persistence and Performance in Online and Classroom Business Statistics Experiences. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 2(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0011-7315.2004.00015.x

Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., and Baki, M. 2013. “The Effectiveness of Online and Blended Learning: A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Literature.” Teachers College Record 115 (3): 1–47.

Ní Shé, C., Farrell, O., Brunton, J., Costello, E., Donlon, E., Trevaskis, S., Eccles, S. (2019). Teaching online is different: critical perspectives from the literature. Dublin: Dublin City University. Doi: 10.5281/zenodo.3479402 Retrieved from https://openteach.ie/publications/

Ochs, J. H. (2017). Online or In-Class: Evaluating an Alternative Online Pedagogy for Teaching Transcultural Nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 56(6), 368–372. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20170518-10

Ottawa University Teaching and Learning Support Service (TLSS). (n.d.). Blended Learning Course Quality Rubric. https://tlss.uottawa.ca/site/files/docs/TLSS/blended_funding/2017/TLSSQARubric.pdf](https://tlss.uottawa.ca/site/files/docs/TLSS/blended_funding/2017/TLSSQARubric.pdf

Redecker, C., & Punie, Y. (2017, November 20). European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators: DigCompEdu [Text]. EU Science Hub – European Commission. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/european-framework-digital-competence-educators-digcompedu

Roddy, C., Amiet, D. L., Chung, J., Holt, C., Shaw, L., McKenzie, S., Garivaldis, F., Lodge, J. M., & Mundy, M. E. (2017). Applying Best Practice Online Learning, Teaching, and Support to Intensive Online Environments: An Integrative Review. Frontiers in Education, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2017.00059

Seaman, J., Allan, E., & Seaman, J. (2018). 2018 Report: Grade Increase: Tracking Distance Education in the United States. ICDE. https://www.icde.org/knowledge-hub/grade-increase-tracking-distance-education-in-the-united-states

Tobin, T. J., & Behling, K. (2018). Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education: Vol. First edition. West Virginia University Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1936511&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Unal, Z., & Unal, A. (2017). Comparison of Student Performance, Student Perception, and Teacher Satisfaction with Traditional versus Flipped Classroom Models. International Journal of Instruction, 10(4), 145–164. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1155632.pdf

Zhao, Y., Lei, J., Yan, B., Lai, C., and Tan, H. S. 2005. “What Makes the Difference? A Practical Analysis of Research on the Effectiveness of Distance Education.” Teachers College Record 107 (8): 1836

If you are interested in designing an orientation for your online course, you can do the suggested steps in the following learning activity. Otherwise, feel free to skip the activity and move into the next section in this module.

 Orientation to an Online Course

30 – 45 min.

This activity has 2 steps (outlined in the presentation below).

Purpose: This activity starts off with two students talking about their learning in their online courses. You will then access examples of course orientations from fellow university instructors and consider templates to help you build your own online course orientation.

Navigation:

You can move between the steps in the presentation by accessing the slides on the bottom of the presentation below (see them numbered 1 – 4).

You can enlarge the slides for a better viewing experience by hitting the arrows on the lower right. In Slide 3, you can access the examples by clicking on the active links.

You can also type your own notes at the bottom of the Slide 3 and finally export them together with the links for reference on Slide 4.

Technology: The presentation was created with the OER tool H5P to allow for embedding of video and exportable text. An instructor tutorial for how to create H5P activities can be found here [new tab].

Watch this brief tutorial below to see how students work with an H5P presentation.

ADD Video

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=84

Please find attached here the Transcript to the Youtube Video in Slide 2: Transcript Video by Open Suny The Online Student Perspective

  back to top

---

2.2 Extended Resources

As discussed above, Stavredes (2011, p. 103)  produced a scaffold planning tool for the different kinds of scaffolds. To inspire your own planning of scaffolds for your online course(s), the table below contains current examples and template resources that you can open in new tabs by clicking on the respective active links.

You are free to browse as many or as few examples you would like to get your course design juices flowing. There is no task attached other than to take a look at one or some of the resources that will help your students come into your online course better prepared and be well supported throughout its duration.

  back to top

 Activity  2: Teaching and Learning Expectation Template

60 – 90 mins

This activity has 3 steps (outlined in the presentation below).

Purpose: This activity will allow you to first articulate your pedagogical preferences for your online course and then describe your teaching and learning expectations in a course document to be shared with your students.

Navigation:

A: Teaching and Learning Expectations Presentation: You can move between the steps by accessing the slides on the bottom of the presentation below. You can enlarge the slides for a better viewing experience by hitting the arrows on the lower right.

B: Google Folder Tutorial in Step 3, watch the brief video below the Teaching and Learning Expectations presentation.

Technology: Find all technologies used for the presentation listed and linked in the last slide = #8.

Click on the picture below to start the presentation! Then move into the following slides by clicking on them sequentially.

Pedagogy Cards: Please find attached the pdf document used in Slide 2 here to download: Cards to Determine Pedagogical Preferences

Tutorial: Watch the brief tutorial below if you need help with adding your own document to our shared U of L Google folder: Teaching Values and Expectations for Learning [new tab] for the step 3 in slide 6:

A video element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can watch it online here: https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=84

2.4 Strategic and Conceptual Scaffolds – Activity 3: Create a Resource of your Choice

We will now take a closer look at the following two forms of scaffolding and consult references to inspire your own planning of at least one resource for your own course. To briefly recap:

a) Conceptual Scaffolds are those that support your students when they encounter new information or information that is difficult to understand.

b) Strategic Scaffolds are means to emphasize alternative pathways that can be applied to the learning context to meet diverse learner needs.

If you would like to revise or create new resources to fulfil either the conceptual or scaffolding purpose, you can follow the steps in the suggested activity below. Else, feel free to skip this section and move into the next part.

Activity 3: Develop Conceptual and Strategic Scaffolds for your Online Students

45 – 60 min.

 

This activity has 4 steps (outlined below).

Purpose: This activity provides you with examples of scaffolds that you can adapt to support student learning in your online course(s).

Navigation: You can access the examples and templates by clicking on the links in the table above.

Technology: You will access a range of digital resources through the use of links that direct you to original websites or documents.

---

STEP 1: Build on existing resources by browsing 3 -5 of examples for conceptual and strategic scaffolding in the Scaffolds table in 2.2 and/ or the additional resources at the bottom of this box.

---

STEP 2: While browsing the resources, reflect on their applicability to your own online course.

---

STEP 3: Create one (either conceptual or strategic) scaffolding resource for your own online course based on the information you accessed before.

---

STEP 4: (Optional) Share your resource with our FitFOL2020 cohort for comments and feedback in our Moodle Module Forum.

---

Additional Resources:

1. Orey, M. (2010). Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology. (p.226-236) Retrieved from https://textbookequity.org/Textbooks/Orey_Emergin_Perspectives_Learning.pdf

2. Swanson, J., & Lipscomb, L. (2017). Ch. 11 Scaffolding. In Instructional Methods, Strategies and Technologies to Meet the Needs of All Learners. https://granite.pressbooks.pub/teachingdiverselearners/chapter/scaffolding-2/

  back to top

3. Notes on the Design of this Module Option

The design of this module option: Orientating your Students to your Online Course was based on the following two Frameworks for Quality Standards in Online Teaching, which might be helpful planning and evaluation tools to guide the creation of your own online course:

1. Part 1 in the OSCQR – Open SUNY Course Quality Review Rubric: Quality Scorecard Suite: OSCQR 3.1.   Link to Part 1: Course Overview and information

2 TELAS Standard 3 in the ASCILITE Technology-Enhanced Learning Accredidation Scheme. https://www.telas.edu.au/framework/

  back to top

4. Extended Resources: Student Success

Please find below a selection of materials from different higher education institutions to support academic student learning online. Feel free to share other applicable resource that you know of in our Moodle Module Forum.

6. Chapter References:

Hannafin, M., Land, S., & Oliver, K. (1999). Open Learning Environments: Foundations, methods, and models. In Instructional-Design Theories and Models (Vol. 2). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237035032_Open_Learning_Environments_Foundations_methods_and_models

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Learning Centres, Page, C., & Vincent, A. (2018). Learning to Learn Online. Kwantlen Polytechnic University. https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/learningtolearnonline/

Open Suny Online Teaching, & Online Learning Consortium. (n.d.). OSCQR – Open SUNY Course Quality Review Rubric: Quality Scorecard Suit: OSCQR 3.1. CC-BY 4.0. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://oscqr.suny.edu/

RattusScholasticus, ~. (2020, April 12). Let Them Suck Eggs: Framing advice to students appropriately in a crisis. Rattus Scholasticus. https://rattusscholasticus.wordpress.com/2020/04/12/let-them-suck-eggs-framing-advice-to-students-appropriately-in-a-crisis/

Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective Online Teaching. Foundations and Strategies for Student Success. Jossey- Bass: San-Francisco.

TELAS + ASCILITE. (2019). ASCILITE Technology-Enhanced Learning Accredidation Scheme. https://ascilite.org/get-involved/telas/

Villasenor, J. (2020, April 8). 6 Steps to Prepare for an Online Fall Semester. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/6-Steps-to-Prepare-for-an/248463

  back to top

7. Annotate this Module page to provide feedback

This is OPTIONAL and only reccommended for those already familiar with the freely accessible web-annotation tool Hypothes.is, which you can use to share your reflections, ideas and suggestions in feedback comments with us the instructors and other peers in our secure, closed group specifically created for UofLFitFOL2020 cohort annotations.

You can only join this group after the set up of an Hypothesis account.

If you are curious learn more about Hypothes.is first, read this brief instructor tutorial here.

Content

UDL: Principle of Representing Information in Multiple Ways:

Listen to or download this overview in audio format by clicking on this link here. It will direct you to access the audio file on a U of L instructor Google drive (no sign-in required).

  back to top

2. Accessibility and Inclusive Course Design

To plan for a facilitation of engagement, equity and fairness, requires some time and dedicated efforts to determine who your learners are and how you can best match their learning needs with your teaching intentions. To remove potential hurdles, you will need consider full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, race, gender, age, and other forms of human difference.

Designing and facilitating an equitable online course includes five primary areas of consideration, all of which are integral parts in the five different modules of this course (Kelly, 2019):

Aspect	Meaning
Academic	Students’ preparedness for learning and readiness for online learning
Pedagogical	Course Organisation and design, engagement and interaction, effective teaching methods, strategies and practices
Psychological	Student’s feelings of social belonging and ability to express stereotype threat, as well as perceptions of course relevance and instructor compassion
Social	Students’ perceptions of connection versus isolation related to the course
Technological	Students’ ability to access and use course technologies

We hope that the Fit for Online Learning Course models quality inclusive online design and facilitation with regards to all of the following elements:

1. The online learning environment,
2. the accessibility of the course resources,
3. the diversity in and different formats for the resources we curated, adapted, and/or created,
4. the choices we allow you to make relating to content, learning and assessment so you can stay invested and engaged,
5. the various levels of challenge in tasks and content,
6. our availability and willingness to respond to question and ideas,
7. the tips we deliver how to stay motivated,
8. the connections we draw between the information and real world applications,
9. the feedback we provide on progress and completed projects.

  back to top

---

2.1. Online Learning Environments

Let’s take a look the virtual environment first. The important elements here include the user interface, the navigation strategies, the layout, functionality, accessibility and user experience (TELAS + ASCILITE, 2019, Standards 1-3).

While not all aspects are within your control, you can certainly communicate to your students how you will use the existing interface and layout to organize and structure your course. You can, for example, share strategies and basic tutorials that explain how students can navigate between the content you post and and the online activities you create for them to engage in.

Not every barrier in an online environment is necessarily due to software design. If you, for instance, post important information in places not directly visible to your students, you will need to clearly let your students know what it is you want them to access and where they can find it.

Testing through quizzes and exams within online environments often poses challenges to students that you will need to address proactively to avoid anxiety and frustration (Tobin and Behling, 2018, p. 226-228). Working closely with technical and pedagogical support staff will help you plan effective online testing.

To manage and improve the online learning experience of your students, it is important to build in feedback instances allowing students to share the nature and date of problems they are facing when using your course technology. Sharing that feedback with the people who are responsible for hosting and designing the tools and environments is critical to ensuring their continuous improvements.

Note that if you decide to use the university supported LMS Moodle, you can rely on a dedicated team of technically and/ or pedagogically trained specialists to advise and support you in teaching with Moodle online. You can request one-on-one help or access a set of digitally available tutorials by clicking on the following link: https://moodleanswers.com/.

The graph above is used to show that there are multiple levels on which access to learning can be impeded, not only pertaining to the resources you create yourself. The online learning environments and content created by others come with their own in-built design features, which cannot easily be altered. However, there are a number of things that you can do ensure that the course resources you use are accessible. The Accessibility activity in the following section will guide your focus towards ways to overcome (often undocumented) learning challenges in students.

  back to top

---

2.2 Course Resources – Activity 1: How to Meet Accessibility Standards

Accessibility of Education

When you choose or create teaching materials for your courses, you might want to ensure that all your students can easily access and use those resources.  Accessible content meets the requirements of the Alberta Human Rights Act, which “has as its objective the amelioration of the conditions of disadvantaged persons or classes of disadvantaged persons, including those who are disadvantaged because of their race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation.”

Content authors must ensure that their e-learning content is presented in multiple formats and, therefore, accessible through multiple senses. For people who are blind, visual materials require an alternative, typically in the form of text. While an audio version of visual content (such as an MP3 audio file that describes a complex image) could be used as an alternative, chances are the audio will interfere with the screen reader output. Text alternatives, on the other hand, are easily adapted or even simplified, read aloud by a screen reader, turned into Braille to be output through a Braille display, or translated into other languages.

 

 Activity 1: Personas – How to Meet Accessibility Standards

30-45 min.

This activity has 6 steps (outlined below).

Purpose: This activity introduces specific (often undocumented) learning challenges students can face along with different types of hardware and software that they might use for accommodations.

Navigation: You can access the information in the BCcampus Open Ed Accessibility Toolkit by simply clicking on the link below next to Step 1.

Technology: The Accessibility Toolkit in Step 1 is an open textbook created with the Pressbooks Software. It is being hosted in the BC Campus Open Textbook repository, where it can be accessed freely in digital format or downloaded for offline use. The Persona Card in Step 2 is available for viewing and downloading from a Google Drive link.

---

STEP 1: Read the following sections in the Accessibility Toolkit:

Sections	Links
Personas	https://opentextbc.ca/accessibilitytoolkit/chapter/using-personas/[new tab]
Best Practices	https://opentextbc.ca/accessibilitytoolkit/part/best-practices/[new tab]

STEP 2: Do you now know which learner types need what format for resources? Briefly check your knowledge here by dragging the appropriate content type on to the matching persona below.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=90

---

STEP 3: Open the following Persona Card Document by clicking on this link: http://goo.gl/m1Fp6 [new tab]

Now take a few minutes to think about 1-3 potential learners in your course. Fill in the missing blanks for a more holistic picture of the diversity of learners in your course.

Download a copy in a format of your choice (.doc; odt; txt, or other) if you would like to retain a document for future reference. Downloading is possible through the FILE tab on the upper left.

---

STEP 4: Based on the Best Practices introduced to you in STEP 1, you will now evaluate the accessibility of this Module Option 2 Page.

Take a closer look at all of the parts on this page with all its elements (headers, pictures, tables, links, etc.) before you answer the following five quiz questions:

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=90

Please note: Should you, contrary to the test results, encounter accessibility issues with this page, you can report them to us here [new tab directing you to UofL Qualtrics mask]

---

STEP 5: Implement accessibility recommendations into the design of your own online course.

Now refer to back to your online course in preparation to answer the following two questions:

1. What proactive practices outlined in the STEPs 1-3 can you apply to make your course more accessible this first time round? 
2. Which practices are long-term projects and will have to wait for future iterations?
3. Which element(s) will you revise/ create first?

---

STEP 6: Optional: You may share your answers with your FitFOL2020 II peers in our Moodle Module Forum here.

---

Additional Resources:

1. Accessible Assessments: The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to Alternative Assessment [new tab] (Gordon, 2020, p. 4-10)
2. U of L Accessibility Toolkit for Educators [new tab]

  back to top

---

3. Equity and Inclusion: Content Choices and Pedagogical Practices

Teaching is a radical act, in which your choices reflect your own identity, your view of learning and the opinions you have about your students. It is important to focus some of your time on the reflection of who you are as a researcher and educator. However, as Kevin Gannon (2016)  puts it: “Our students are not us. If we merely teach to how we prefer to learn, we exclude a majority of our students.” If you are to create an inclusive and safe learning environment for your learners, you might find the following subsections and activity useful for the design of an inclusive learning environment.

3.1 Diversity in Content Choices

The following excerpt from the ASCILITE technology-enhanced learning accreditation scheme (standard 7.3) provides quality markers for online courses at universities in higher ed courses in Australasian countries and may be a useful instrument guiding your content choices to reflect diversity:

Extended Resources:

If you would like to delve deeper into the topic within the context of the science disciplines, you can browse the following collection of resources for more ideas how to plan for inclusive online teaching.

CBE – Life Sciences Education. (n.d.). INSTRUCTOR CHECKLIST. LSE Resources. https://lse.ascb.org/evidence-based-teaching-guides/inclusive-teaching/

Peralta Equity Standards Rubric: The Peralta Rubrics developed by Stark and Kelly details the above items and provides descriptions for practices that demonstrate equity standards within an online course: https://web.peralta.edu/de/equity-initiative/equity/

  back to top

---

3.2 Plan or Revise a Course Resource

 Activity 2:

30-60 min.

1. Choose an element in your course that your wish to revise or plan (such as your reading requirements or other course).

2. You can refer to the previously presented Peralta Rubric or the ASCILITE technology-enhanced learning accreditation scheme (standard 7.3) to guide you in your planning of inclusive materials.

3. If you wish to share ideas or the fruits of your labour with the cohort, feel free to leave a post in our Module Forum in Moodle.

  back to top

4. References

Content

1. Guiding Questions
2. Introduction
3. Managing Difficult Students (includes Activity 1)
4. Addressing Conflict in Groups (includes Activity 2)
5. Optional: Annotate this Option to Give Feedback
6. Module References

UDL: Principle of Representing Information in Multiple Ways:

Listen to or download this overview in audio format by clicking on this link here [new tab]. It will direct you to access the audio file on a U of L instructor Google drive (no sign-in required).

2. Introduction

No different from traditional on-campus classes, online courses welcome a broad range of individual learners who, with their unique set of personality traits, desires for learning, life-changing events in their biographies, and high hopes for future advancement, will inevitably shape the dynamics of your course(s) through the interactions with you and her/ his/ zer/ their peers.

You can place bets on the fact that there will be students who keep quiet and tend to only hesitatingly take part in the course conversations. At the same time, you can expect their exact opposites – the take-charge students or the ‘noisy’ ones as defined by Ko and Rossen (2010, p. 343). There will likely be students who disengage from your course for different reasons opposite to those who will challenge your knowledge or your authority. No doubt, these difficult student behaviours can make online teaching difficult at times.

It is therefore very important to know which specific factors cause or amplify difficult behaviours of students in online environments. An awareness for those factors is crucial as it guides your course design to include proactive strategies that can help prevent behavioural issues from arising. It also equips you with management methods that you can utilize to if you need resolve conflict with individual students or with dissonant student groups after all.

This chapter is designed to support you in the development of behaviour management and conflict resolution skills for the online classroom.

  back to top

3. Managing Difficult Students (includes Activity 1)

Students who demonstrate behavioural issues are often unclear about the course requirements or have not yet build proficient skill levels to learn independently online without some extra help coming from you. The difficulties students have and exhibit in their behaviour can thus take many forms – from an inability to adjust to new technologies, to domination or sidetracking of conversations, to a lack of participation and scapegoating others for the own lack in sufficient academic progress.

As those difficulties might show up with a delay in an online environment, you will need to become able to read signs as early as they appear and know which strategies to apply for different types of behaviour issues, some of which we will examine with the following activity.

Activity 1: Management Strategies for Different Learner Types

This activity has  3 steps (outlined below).

Purpose: This activity introduces different learner types, describes their impact on the course dynamics and provides strategies to effectively deal with difficult behaviour.

Navigation: You will navigate between this chapter and the spaces where you can access the necessary information and collaborate with your peers.

Technology: The technology used for this activity include Pressbooks, Youtube, Moodle Wiki.

---

STEP 1: Choose your preferred way to learn about specific learner types, behavioural issues and suggested strategies below. Both formats present the same information, but in different ways (viewing/ listening a video presentation versus reading a book chapter).

Read the book chapter excerpt in  Ko, S. & Rossen, S. (2010). Online Teaching. A Practical Guide. Taylor and Francis. Read Chapter 12. Classroom Management. Special Issues, pp. 339 – 356. Available as a fair dealings copy on Moodle	Watch the video presentation by Mandernach, J. (2013, October 22). Dealing with Difficult Students in the Online Classroom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nTStCJBECw Pdf of powerpoint available from https://www.uttyler.edu/cetl/files/Difficultstudents.pdf

STEP 2: Direct your focus to answering the following two questions while accessing the necessary information.

1. What are some common behavioural issues in specific types of online learners?
2. What strategies can be applied to manage those behavioural problems?

---

STEP 3: Share what you have learned with your peers in a collaborative Wiki-Activity in our U of L Moodle course (for UofL profs only), which you can access by clicking on this link.

You will be asked to enter 1 piece of information that speaks to the two questions above. If you need help in navigating the Moodle Wiki to complete this step, please take a look at the tutorial linked here [new tab].

  back to top

4. Addressing Conflict in Groups (includes Activity 2)

If the ability for team work is a professional outcome in your discipline, you will need to have a solid understanding of online group dynamics to design group activities that will help your students build the related collaboration skills without much intervention on your part. Pratt and Palloff, both online teaching veterans who have closely researched online teaching, are of the opinion that “with increased knowledge of online group dynamics, instructors can more easily adjust their strategies for dealing with problems such as difficult students or waning participation.” (2003, p. 159)

Knowledge of online group work relates to 1) a theoretical understanding how groups form and what the stages in the process of group development are, and 2) the strategies you can apply to work with difficult student in online groups.

4.1. Stage theory

According to Pratt and Palloff (2003), two theories are often brought into the discussion of group development: Tuckman and Jensen (1977) and McClure (2005); the former view group forming as a linear process with 5 distinct stages, while the latter considers it a chaotic and self-organizing process with stages between which groups move more fluidly. Both theories consider conflict an inevitable part of the process “that arises at varying points in the development of the group, and it is not uncommon for it to occur almost immediately.” (Pratt and Palloff, 2003, p. 160)

A third theory, less focused on stages, considers people, tasks and technology as important factors determining the success of teams. McGrath and Hollinghead (1994) proposed that for groups to complete a task successfully its individuals need to generate a sense of well-being through the interactions with the group members. This needs to happen in safe spaces where the group members can each support each other in achieving the collaborative tasks. It is important for the group members to feel good about the work they produce, to offer help to each offer and to be able to solve problems or resolve issues together.

Most theorists agree that groups develop in stages and over time, beginning with separate individuals who join together for a common purpose. There is often anxiety at the beginning that subsides with group members negotiating group rules or norms ,defining the scope of the work to be done by all and each individual, as well as strategies for conflict resolution. Conflict is considered an inevitable element of group development that will need to be anticipated in order for it not to impair the collaborative work.

Palloff and Pratt (2003, p. 173) have summarized the above-mentioned theories of group development in a figure that clearly illustrates the links necessary to complete a task between the individuals, the group, the facilitator and the technology. Each of the elements shown in the graph below list the characteristics that are necessary for effective online group work.

You can access those lists by clicking on the pink icons.

  back to top

In the following activity you will learn how Pratt and Palloff have applied McClure’s stage model to their own teaching of a specific online course to then draw specific conclusions from that course which resulted in recommendations for how to avoid and resolve conflict in in online student groups.

Activity 2:  McClure’s Model Applied to Online Classes

This activity has  3 steps (outlined below).

Purpose: Through the description of one group of students in an online class you will be provided with examples that illustrate the movements of that group through the stages proposed in McClure’s model. It will also help you draw conclusions for conflict management in your own online course(s).

Materials + Technology: You can access a fair dealings copy of the chapter 8: ‘Online Classroom Dynamics’ IN Pratt, R. M. & Palloff, K. (2003). Working with the Virtual Learner. Becoming Truly Learner-Focused: Best Practices in OL Teaching. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series: San Francisco. in our U of L Moodle course [new tab].

---

STEP 1: Read the part: ‘Applying What We Understand About Groups to Online Classes on the pages 163-171 of chapter 8: ‘Online Classroom Dynamics’ IN Pratt, R. M. & Palloff (2003).

• What are the stages in the McClure model?
• What issues of concern do students experience as they move through those stages?

---

STEP 2: Identify specific student behaviour in the different stages laid out in McClure’s model to reflect on the following questions:

• What are the signs that you as an instructor should notice that tell you whether groups move through the stages of development?
• How could you facilitate movement to the next stage if a group becomes stuck in the conflict phases?
• What is critical for the instructor to do to support team building and conflict resolution?

---

STEP 3: Browse the following evidence based teaching guides on group work provided by the free online quarterly journal Life Sciences Education to generate ideas how you can support your online students in the formation of effective teams. Let the following questions guide you:

• Which of the resources would you like to use for your own online course? To what purpose?
  
• Will you need to make any modifications?

CBE – Life Sciences Education. (n.d.). Group Work. Evidence Based Teaching Guides- LSE Resources. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from https://lse.ascb.org/evidence-based-teaching-guides/group-work/?_ga=2.256019403.1325621918.1569271634-188462711.1569271634

  back to top

4.2 Strategies for Working with Online Course Dynamics

Generally, experienced online instructors agree with the statement made by Ko and Rossen (2010) that:

[…] most problems can be averted by the skillful management of student expectations such as we have outlined in earlier chapters – the comprehensive syllabus, clearly written assignment instructions, protocols for communication, code of conduct and clearly stated policies and criteria for grading as well as instructor responsiveness, are all ways to ensure that students understand how to do their best in your online course. (p. 343)

Pratt and Palloff (2003, p. 185-6) have derived a series of tips out of stage theory and their own experience teaching online, which are listed in the accordion below. You can click on each of its titles to reveal further explanations for each of the points.

  back to top

5. Annotate this Module page to provide feedback

  back to top

6. References:

Distance Education Services, Uv. (2013). Managing Difficult Behaviours in the Online Classroom. https://www.uvic.ca/til/assets/docs/for_instructors/managing_students/Managing-Difficult-Behaviours.pdf

Ko, S. & Rossen, S. (2010). Online Teaching. A Practical Guide. Taylor and Francis. Read Chapter 12. Classroom Management. Special Issues, pp. 339 – 356.

Mandernach, J. (2017). Dealing with “Difficult” Students  in the Online Classroom. https://www.uttyler.edu/cetl/files/Difficultstudents.pdf

Mandernach, J. (2013, October 22). Dealing with Difficult Students in the Online Classroom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nTStCJBECw

McClure, B. A. (2005). Putting a new spin on groups: The science of chaos. Psychology Press.

McGrath, J. E., & Hollingshead, A. B. (1994). Groups interacting with technology: Ideas, evidence, issues, and an agenda (pp. ix, 181). Sage Publications, Inc.

Pratt, R. M. & Palloff, K. (2003). Working with the Virtual Learner. Becoming Truly Learner-Focused: Best Practices in OL Teaching. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series: San Francisco.

Veletsianos, G. (2020). Learning Online: The Student Experience. Johns Hopkins University Press.Retrieved from: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/73824

  back to top

For the design of FitFOL2020 the following technological tools were used. Participants who actively participate in the course will be using the tools in italics to collaborate with peers. Otherwise, you will access content that has been created with the tools below.

Accessibility Checkers:

• Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool List
• Wave

Audio recordings:

• 123 Apps
• Audacity
• Camtasia
• Moodle Editor Box

Collaboration:

• Etherpad – shared online document
• U of L Google Drive – shared folders to contain submission
• Hypothesis for online annotations
• Moodle Forum and Wiki activities
• Pingo Polling Tool
• Pressbooks for Commenting
• Zeetings – live presentation slides with polling
• Zoom
• Zotero – for online library sharing

Content:

• Audio (mp3) files
• Fair Dealings copies on Moodle
• H5P Presentations, Graphs, Pictures and Accordions
• Links to Original Websites. Books or Journal Articles (many Open Access)
• Microsoft Office Word Documents
• Pdf Documents
• Powerpoint
• Pressbooks Open Textbook
• Search for Open Educational Resources
• Video tutorials (mp4) files
• Youtube

Feedback:

• U of L Google Forms
• Qualtrics (U of L subscription survey tool)
• Pingo Polling Tool

Interactive Content (e.g.  accordions, hotspot images, presentation slides, quizzes, video with questions or embedded information):

• H5P
• Moodle Quiz

Picture Editing:

• Canva
• Irfan View
• Snagit

Picture Search for Pictures with Public Domain Permissions:

• Creative Commons
• Google Advanced Search
• svgsilh.com
• unsplash.com

Video Recordings and Editing:

• Camtasia
• Moodle Editor Box
• Youtube (to host and edit)

For the design of this chapter the following resources were used as sources of inspiration or to inform the creation of content and learning activities.

Bates, T. (2019, November 19). Results for 2019 survey of online learning in Canadian post-secondary institutions now available | Tony Bates. Retrieved December 1, 2019, from https://www.tonybates.ca/2019/11/19/results-for-2019-survey-of-online-learning-in-canadian-post-secondary-institutions-now-available/

BCcampus. (n.d.). Consider these ideas when planning your course online. Retrieved from https://bccampus.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Inclusion.accessible.pdf

Bennett, D., McCarty, C., & Carter, S. (2019). Teaching Graduate Economics: Online Vs. Traditional Classroom Instruction. Journal for Economic Educators, 11(2), 1–11. Retrieved from https://libjournals.mtsu.edu/index.php/jfee/article/view/1478

Bernard, R. M., Abrami, P. C., Lou, Y., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Wozney, L., Wallet, P. A., Fiset, M., and Huang, B. 2004. “How Does Distance Education Compare with Classroom Instruction? A Meta-analysis of the Empirical Literature.” Review of Educational Research 74 (3): 379–439.

Brunton, J., Brown, M., Costello, E., & Farrell, O. (2018). Head start online: Flexibility, transitions and student success. Educational Media International, 55(4), 347–360. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2018.1548783

Canadian Digital Learning Association. 2019. Tracking Online and Distance Education in Canadian Universities and Colleges: 2018. Retrieved from https://onlinelearningsurveycanada.ca/download/604/

CAST (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2 [graphic organizer]. Wakefield, MA: Author. Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org/more/downloads

CBE – Life Sciences Education. (n.d.). INSTRUCTOR CHECKLIST. LSE Resources. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from https://lse.ascb.org/evidence-based-teaching-guides/inclusive-teaching/instructor-checklist-group-work/

Conrad, R, M., & Donaldson, A. (2004). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from http://eltandtech.pbworks.com/f/engaging+the+online+learner.pdf

Contact North. (n.d.). How to Build Effective Online Learner Support Services | teachonline.ca. Retrieved April 3, 2020, from https://teachonline.ca/tips-tools/how-build-effective-online-learner-support-services

Coolidge, A., Doner, S., Robertson, T., & Gray, J. (2018). Accessibility Toolkit—2nd Edition. BCcampus – OpenEd. https://opentextbc.ca/accessibilitytoolkit/

Davidson, C. (2010, August 7). Open Letter to Students in Future of Thinking—And To YOU! HASTAC. https://www.hastac.org/blogs/cathy-davidson/2010/08/07/open-letter-students-future-thinking-and-you

Davidson, C. (n.d.). “Introduction: How and Why to Structure a Classroom for Student-Centered Learning and Equality.” In Structuring Equality: A Handbook for Student-Centered Learning and Teaching Practices. Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/read/untitled-adf23c4d-e786-432d-8851-659189f441f0/section/6735c152-597e-4c61-bb14-2693007effe5

Distance Education Services, Uv. (2013). Managing Difficult Behaviours in the Online Classroom. https://www.uvic.ca/til/assets/docs/for_instructors/managing_students/Managing-Difficult-Behaviours.pdf

Dublin City University DCU. (2020). Quality Design Checklist: Questions for Designing and Delivering Online Courses. Retrieved from https://ni4dl.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/dcu-quality-checklist-online-courses.pdf

Geary, D. (2018, June 4). Ideas for Creating an Effective Syllabus for Online Learning. Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/ideas-for-creating-an-effective-syllabus-for-online-learning/

Gillett-Swan, J. (2017). The Challenges of Online Learning Supporting and Engaging the Isolated Learner. Journal of Learning Design, 10(1), 20–30.

Gordon, D. (2020). The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to Alternative Assessment. http://www.damiantgordon.com/Guide.pdf

Hamraie, A. (2020, October 3). Accessible Teaching in the Time of COVID-19. Mapping Access. https://www.mapping-access.com/blog-1/2020/3/10/accessible-teaching-in-the-time-of-covid-19

Hannafin, M., Land, S., & Oliver, K. (1999). Open Learning Environments: Foundations, methods, and models. In Instructional-Design Theories and Models (Vol. 2). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237035032_Open_Learning_Environments_Foundations_methods_and_models

HASTAC team. (2017, February 1). Structuring Equality: A Handbook for Student-Centered Learning and Teaching Practices. HASTAC. https://www.hastac.org/collections/structuring-equality-handbook-student-centered-learning-and-teaching-practices

Hung, M.-L., Chou, C., Chen, C.-H., & Own, Z.-Y. (2010). Learner readiness for online learning: Scale development and student perceptions. Computers & Education, 55(3), 1080–1090. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.05.004

Inclusive Design Research Centre. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2020, from https://idrc.ocadu.ca/

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Learning Centres, Page, C., & Vincent, A. (2018). Learning to Learn Online. Kwantlen Polytechnic University. https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/learningtolearnonline/

Ko, S. & Rossen, S. (2010). Online Teaching. A Practical Guide. Taylor and Francis. Read Chapter 12. Classroom Management. Special Issues, pp. 339 – 356.

Lab, P. W. (n.d.). Definitions // Purdue Writing Lab. Purdue Writing Lab. Retrieved April 16, 2020, from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/definitions.html

Learning online from a student perspective. (2014, July 20). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwx_UDaCMxc

Learning & Teaching Office, Ryerson University (2018). Instructional Scaffolding. 9. Retrieved from https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/learning-teaching/teaching-resources/assessment/instructional-scaffolding.pdf

Li, N., Marsh, V., & Rienties, B. (2016). Modelling and Managing Learner Satisfaction: Use of Learner Feedback to Enhance Blended and Online Learning Experience. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 14(2), 216–242. https://doi.org/10.1111/dsji.12096

Mandernach, J. (2017). Dealing with “Difficult” Students  in the Online Classroom. https://www.uttyler.edu/cetl/files/Difficultstudents.pdf

Mandernach, J. (2013, October 22). Dealing with Difficult Students in the Online Classroom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nTStCJBECw

Manning-Ouellette, A., & Black, K. (2017). Learning Leadership: A Qualitative Study on the Differences of Student Learning in Online versus Traditional Courses in a Leadership Studies Program. Journal of Leadership Education, 59–79. Retrieved from https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/leadership_pubs/3/

McClure, B. A. (2005). Putting a new spin on groups: The science of chaos. Psychology Press.

McGrath, J. E., & Hollingshead, A. B. (1994). Groups interacting with technology: Ideas, evidence, issues, and an agenda (pp. ix, 181). Sage Publications, Inc.

McLaren, C. H. (2004). A Comparison of Student Persistence and Performance in Online and Classroom Business Statistics Experiences. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 2(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0011-7315.2004.00015.x

Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., and Baki, M. 2013. “The Effectiveness of Online and Blended Learning: A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Literature.” Teachers College Record 115 (3): 1–47.

Minnesota State CAREERwise. (n.d.). What Makes a Successful Online Learner? |. Retrieved April 3, 2020, from https://careerwise.minnstate.edu/education/successonline.html

Ní Shé, C., Farrell, O., Brunton, J., Costello, E., Donlon, E., Trevaskis, S., Eccles, S. (2019). Teaching online is different: critical perspectives from the literature. Dublin: Dublin City University. Doi: 10.5281/zenodo.3479402 Retrieved from https://openteach.ie/publications/

Ochs, J. H. (2017). Online or In-Class: Evaluating an Alternative Online Pedagogy for Teaching Transcultural Nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 56(6), 368–372. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20170518-10

Open Suny Online Teaching, & Online Learning Consortium. (n.d.). OSCQR – Open SUNY Course Quality Review Rubric: Quality Scorecard Suit: OSCQR 3.1. CC-BY 4.0. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://oscqr.suny.edu/

Orey, M. (2010). Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology. (p.226-236) Retrieved from https://textbookequity.org/Textbooks/Orey_Emergin_Perspectives_Learning.pdf

Ottawa University Teaching and Learning Support Service (TLSS). (n.d.). Blended Learning Course Quality Rubric. https://tlss.uottawa.ca/site/files/docs/TLSS/blended_funding/2017/TLSSQARubric.pdf](https://tlss.uottawa.ca/site/files/docs/TLSS/blended_funding/2017/TLSSQARubric.pdf

RattusScholasticus, ~. (2020, April 12). Let Them Suck Eggs: Framing advice to students appropriately in a crisis. Rattus Scholasticus. https://rattusscholasticus.wordpress.com/2020/04/12/let-them-suck-eggs-framing-advice-to-students-appropriately-in-a-crisis/

Pratt, R. M. & Palloff, K. (2003). Working with the Virtual Learner. Becoming Truly Learner-Focused: Best Practices in OL Teaching. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series: San Francisco.

Redecker, C., & Punie, Y. (2017, November 20). European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators: DigCompEdu [Text]. EU Science Hub – European Commission. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/european-framework-digital-competence-educators-digcompedu

Roddy, C., Amiet, D. L., Chung, J., Holt, C., Shaw, L., McKenzie, S., Garivaldis, F., Lodge, J. M., & Mundy, M. E. (2017). Applying Best Practice Online Learning, Teaching, and Support to Intensive Online Environments: An Integrative Review. Frontiers in Education, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2017.00059

Ross, J., & Bayne, S. (n.d.). A manifesto for teaching online. The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.ed.ac.uk/staff/teaching-matters/features/a-manifesto-for-teaching-online

Seaman, J., Allan, E., & Seaman, J. (2018). 2018 Report: Grade Increase: Tracking Distance Education in the United States. ICDE. https://www.icde.org/knowledge-hub/grade-increase-tracking-distance-education-in-the-united-states

Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective Online Teaching. Foundations and Strategies for Student Success. Jossey- Bass: San-Francisco.

Stommel, J. (2012, December 3). Online Learning: A Manifesto. Hybrid Pedagogy. https://hybridpedagogy.org/online-learning-a-manifesto/

Swanson, J., & Lipscomb, L. (2017). Ch. 11 Scaffolding. In Instructional Methods, Strategies and Technologies to Meet the Needs of All Learners. https://granite.pressbooks.pub/teachingdiverselearners/chapter/scaffolding-2/

TELAS + ASCILITE. (2019). ASCILITE Technology-Enhanced Learning Accreditation Scheme. https://ascilite.org/get-involved/telas/

Tobin, T. J., & Behling, K. (2018). Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education: Vol. First edition. West Virginia University Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1936511&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Unal, Z., & Unal, A. (2017). Comparison of Student Performance, Student Perception, and Teacher Satisfaction with Traditional versus Flipped Classroom Models. International Journal of Instruction, 10(4), 145–164. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1155632.pdf

Veletsianos, G. (2020). Learning Online: The Student Experience. Johns Hopkins University Press.Retrieved from: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/73824

Villasenor, J. (2020, April 8). 6 Steps to Prepare for an Online Fall Semester. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/6-Steps-to-Prepare-for-an/248463

Weilandt, J. (2018). Accessibility of Education Toolkit for Educators | University of Lethbridge. https://www.uleth.ca/teachingcentre/accessibility-education-toolkit-educators

Yang, A. (n.d.). Online Teaching: Do This, Not That. Αℓιѕση Уαηg. Retrieved April 2, 2020, from http://alisonyang.weebly.com/1/post/2020/03/online-teaching-do-this-not-that.html

Zhao, Y., Lei, J., Yan, B., Lai, C., and Tan, H. S. 2005. “What Makes the Difference? A Practical Analysis of Research on the Effectiveness of Distance Education.” Teachers College Record 107 (8): 1836

I didn’t need to be told, but have known for a few years now: I know too little about disabilities.

What I do know is that they can cause students great stress when they impede with the generic access we provide to the physical spaces on our campus, to the academic content we choose to use in our courses and the tools we employ thinking they will assist our students in accomplishing the learning requirements.

Students and their different challenges have taught me lots, but there is still so much more to learn.

Inspired by a forum post to  #FitFOL2020 course that highlighted how people with the following three issues: colour-blindness, photophobia, and dyslexia, can quickly be excluded if no consideration is given to

1. the colour scheme
2. the background
3. the font.

The post made me wonder how our Pressbooks resource fares regarding these concerns, which is why I will be running a few tests using different technologies to find out how they can help students overcome some of the accessibility issues. I will be working on different devices as well.

This page is to document my Accessibility Testing for our FitFOL resources:

A. Ebook Readers:

1. Caliber
2. Freda
3. IReader

B. Screen Readers:

1. Microsoft Firefox and NVDA
2. Safari and Voice Over

C. Interactive Content

1. H5P Content (Accordion, Hotspots Images, Presentations, Video

1. Caliber (Open-source software: GNU license)

• works with epub format
• carefully designed and easy-to-use interface
• well-labelled controls and tool tips
• can be kept portable on USB stick or other removable device
• cross-platform compatible
• can open Amazon AWZ files

Passes the test as all three issues above can be overcome. All of the three things above can be changed to liking and needs.

1. the colour scheme
2. the background
3. the font

Problems: Interactive Content (anything created with H5P, video or audio files) are excluded from the reader and will have to be started directly on the Pressbooks resources

2. Freda

Freda is a free electronic book program, but with annoyingly blinking ads and not very user-friendly interface

(DRM-free) books in the supported formats: EPUB, MOBI, FB2, HTML and TXT.

• customisable controls, fonts and colours, plus annotations and bookmarks
• the ability to look up dictionary definitions and translations,
• and (new feature) text-to-speech reading.
• Freda understands EPUB formatting information (bold/italic text, margins and alignment) and can display images and diagrams in books.

1. Testing with NVDA for Windows

• NVDA (Download)
• NVDA Quick Reference and NVDA testing guide (Download .docx)
• Focus Highlight (Download NVDA add-in)
• How to use NVDA and Firefox to test your web pages for accessibility (Marco Zehe)
• Using NVDA to Evaluate Web Accessibility (WebAIM)
• Keyboard Shortcuts for NVDA (WebAIM)
• NVDA Quick Reference

  NVDA testing guide

Testing with VoiceOver for the Mac

VoiceOver for IOS and VoiceOver for the Mac are somewhat different, though in many cases, similar concepts apply.  To learn more about testing mobile sites and applications with VoiceOver for IOS (as well as TalkBack for Android),  visit the Mobile page on the SOAP site.

• Quick Guide to Using VoiceOver on Mac OS X (Victor Tsaran)
• Using VoiceOver to Evaluate Web Accessibility (WebAIM)

H5P

https://h5p.org/documentation/installation/content-type-accessibility

Camtasia is a software that allows you to record your screen (= screencasting) and edit any kind of video material. As you might have seen in the FitFOL online tutorials and video messages, the software makes the combination of text, pictures, annotations, video and audio possible. When casting your screen, you can decide to record yourself on camera and/ or audio alsongside the things you show on the screen. While editing, you can combine different materials and record audio once you are done.

Concerning teaching content, you can create instructor video messages, instruction tutorials, slideshows with instructor narratives, summaries, video feedback and many things more.

To learn more and maybe do a trial, visit the company page here: https://www.techsmith.com/video-editor.html

Note that if you are interested in the product, education pricing applies for you.

Canva is a graphic design platform that allows users to create social media graphics, presentations, posters and other visual content. It is available on web and mobile, and integrates millions of images, fonts, templates and illustrations.

Note that the free version has been used to create some of the visuals in FitFOL.

Etherpad (previously known as EtherPad) is an open-source, web-based collaborative real-time editor, allowing authors to simultaneously edit a text document, and see all of the participants’ edits in real-time, with the ability to display each author’s text in their own colour. There is also a chat box in the sidebar to allow meta communication.

There are many openly accessible Etherpad installations for you to choose as the following list from the Etherpad.org website shows. All links will open in new tabs:

SSL Enabled (Secure Data Transfer)

(*Please note that if you are using Safari as your browser, you may not be able to see all the content in this tutorial. To avoid this problem, use a different browser such as Firefox or Chrome. We kept this in as an example to you of the kinds of tech problems you may encounter with your students and a possible solution.)

The following presentation takes you through the steps of

1. accessing your educator Flipgrid account
2. creating your classroom grid
3. creating your first video task (= topic)

Note that you can navigate the tutorial by moving in between the slides

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=219

Watch the brief video introduction to learn how H5P can assist you in your online teaching.

Content Menu 

You can either scroll through the content from top to bottom or get to any specific section in this guide by clicking on the active links below.

1. H5P as Educational technology
2. Most useful content types for online teaching
3. Moodle integration
4. How to adapt existing H5P content in Moodle
5. How to download H5P content
6. How to create new H5P content in Moodle
7. More in-depth tutorials for specific content types
8. Self-enrol in the H5P Demo Moodle course to browse examples

1 H5P as educational technology:

H5P is open source software integrated with the U of L Moodle Learning Management System (LMS) which allows the easy and rapid creation of mobile-friendly interactive elements which can form an integral part of your course content.

You can use H5P Learning Objects to create, share and reuse interactive content to engage students and stimulate their learning within your Moodle courses. Being an Open Educational Technology Tool, H5P encourages (but does not mandate) the creation of Open Educational Resources that are licensed granting other users permission for reuse or modification.

In addition to the above mentioned aspects, H5P is:

• HTML 5
• downloadable, shareable and modifiable
• developed by a lively community of academic and technology users
• easy and intuitive to create and modify
• a Moodle plug in, so you can track and grade engagement with content
• securely storing student data on our U of L servers
• versatile as many different interactive content types can be created (see the complete list here.)

Note that all H5P content you create needs to abide by copyright law. To learn more about Open Licensing and OER, contact the U of L Copyright Office or visit the following U of L LibGuides:

1. What is Copyright?
2. Open Educational Resources

  back to top

2 The most frequently used content types for teaching in Higher Education are, among others,

1. Course Presentations: a series of slides that can include audio, video, questions and links. See the following examples for interactive lectures: https://www.ruvival.de/lectures/
2. Interactive Video: a video with interactive elements appearing on screen, including annotations, questions, links, etc. See an example here https://h5pstudio.ecampusontario.ca/content/1249
3. Question Sets: a series of multiple-choice questions of various types. See the following tool box for examples: https://www.ruvival.de/toolbox/
4. Branching Scenarios: a series of different multimedia rich content (i.e. presentation slides, text, images, hotspots, video) that can present learners with choices (= different learning paths). This can be used to create grade-able dilemmas, serious games, and multi-stage lessons. Click on this link for an example: https://h5p.org/branching-scenario

  back to top

3 Moodle integration

There are two ways to integrate H5P learning activities in Moodle.

Option 1 – Modification: Build on something useful that’s already there. If you find existing H5P content that you like or would like to adapt to your specific course needs, you can upload this to Moodle. Many university educators across the globe have started creating content with H5P, and many of these resources are now available on university websites, personal instructor blogs or other online spaces. It is noteworthy that many of these shared resources grant you permission to make modifications that better fit your specific teaching needs.

Option 2 – Creation: Create new and your very own H5P content from scratch by using H5P content editor in Moodle.

Once you have integrated H5P learning activities into your Moodle courses, you can decide whether and how to grade student engagement with those activities. The following parts (4 + 5 + 6) will take you through the steps of adapting existing H5P content and creating completely new H5P activities.

  back to top

­­­4 How to adapt existing H5P content in Moodle

If you choose the modification route, you can use an existing H5P file (you may have found on the internet) and upload it into this course following these simple steps (after you logged into one of your U of L Moodle course!):

1. ADD an ACTIVITY
2. CHOOSE h5p PLUGIN
3. UPLOAD the H5 file from your computer and give it a title/ write instructions for students
4. ENLARGE SCREEN and START your modifications (only if necessary)
5. SAVE (and add weightings in gradebook if you want the activity to be graded)

Watch the video tutorial below for detailed instructions or download the attachment with screenshots to represent the steps in the process.

Video Tutorial:

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=219

Attachment:

Click on this attachment to prompt the download of the H5P Tutorial with Screenshots Modify Content [word document]

  back to top

5 How to download existing H5P content from the internet

Downloading existing H5P content is easy and possible when content creators grant sharing permission by activating the download function for H5P as they publish content. You can either watch the brief video or view the two screenshots how to download existing H5P content from the internet.

Video Tutorial:

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=219

Screenshots:

6 How to create new H5P content in Moodle

If you choose the creation route, you can do so in your Moodle courses following these simple steps:

1. hit ADD an ACTIVITY

2. CHOOSE h5p PLUGIN

3. Choose the CONTENT TYPE you want to create and give it a title

4. START the creation of your interactive activity (see specific instructions for specific content types in 7: More in-depth tutorials for specific content types)

5. SAVE (and add weightings in gradebook if wanted)

Watch the video tutorial below for detailed instructions or download the attachment with screenshots to represent the steps in the process.

Video Tutorial:

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=219

Attachment:

Click on this attachment to prompt the download of the Screenshot Tutorial How to create new H5P content in Moodle

  back to top

7 More in-depth tutorials for specific content types

H5P has created tutorials for content authors for all existing H5P content types including the ones presented above, which you can access on their website linked here or by clicking on the new tab links below: https://h5p.org/documentation/for-authors/tutorials.

Interactive Video [new tab]

Course Presentation [new tab]

Question Sets [new tab]

Branching Scenario [new tab]

  back to top

8 Self-enrol in a Moodle mock course with various examples

Note that this option only works for U of L affiliated educators.

If you would like to browse a number of H5P content examples from various universities designed for a number of different disciplines, you can enrol in the H5P Demo Moodle course linked here: https://moodle.uleth.ca/202002/course/view.php?id=671. Hit ENROL ME to get in. You will access the course in the teacher role.

After 30 days of inactivity or 90 days of use, you will automatically be unenrolled from this course.

  back to top

Download the page H5P – Interactive Content in pdf Format

Most of the pictures in FitFOL have been deliberately chosen not only for what they represent, but for the fact that they are openly licensed and therefore grant permissions for reuse and modification. The repositories we accessed for our picture search are many of the following:

Content Menu

1. Introduction to Moodle
2. Basics about the U of L Moodle Set-up
3. Moodle Courses for Instructors
4. Access to Moodle Courses for Students
5. Functionality within Moodle Courses
6. Sharing Information with Students
7. Basic Moodle Learning/ Evaluation Activities
8. Tutorials and Help Requests

Introduction to Moodle

Moodle stands for Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. It is a popular open-source learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create personalised flexible environments for learning communities, including courses, departmental projects or campus working groups.

Moodle is built by the Moodle project which is led and coordinated by Moodle HQ (out of Australia), which is financially supported by a network of over 80 Moodle Partner service companies worldwide.

Basics about the U of L Moodle Set-up

The U of L IT Department hosts and maintains its own Moodle installations on a range of different servers to ensure the privacy and security of all users and the data generated by them.

Every term a new Moodle installation is created, into which Moodle course shells will be populated for all the courses taught during this period, regardless of whether instructors intend to use them or not.  Students registering in specific courses will also automatically be pushed into the respective Moodle course shells, which means that you can easily keep track of student numbers as students are enrolling in your courses.

While the hardware and software installation is in the hands of the IT department, all instructor support is offered through the U of L Teaching Centre.

Moodle Courses for Instructors

Moodle is an educational technology offered for use by instructors who can decide for themselves whether this Learning Management System is a valid resource for their teaching.

If you chose to work with Moodle, you know that your content as well as the data generated through student activity will stay in a secure, locally maintained environment. Everything you create as part of your Moodle course falls under your copyright, meaning that only you (and possibly other collaborators) will own the course. Should other colleagues or student assistants request access to a Moodle course of yours, it will only be granted with your permission.

FIRST TIME ACCESS

Once you have gotten a university ID, you will need to set up your BRIDGE Account in order to activate your Moodle account. Please click on that link if you have already accessed the Bridge before.

The Bridge registration for Moodle is the only thing you will need to do in order to access your Moodle course.  You can log into your Moodle account with your university username and password https://moodle.uleth.ca.

TEACHING WITH MOODLE

If you chose other people’s work as part of the content or learning activities, you will need to make sure to abide by the Copyright rules. In doubt, you will want to get clearance for your Moodle course from the U of L Copyright Office in the Library before starting to teach with it.

You can prepare for a course even before course start. Several weeks before a new term, your Moodle course(s) for the following term will be accessible to you. If you need to work several months in advance, you can request a development course shell, the content out of which can easily be transferred into your actual live course once that becomes available.

Only courses that you choose to make visible become visible to your students. They are hidden from student view by default. For instruction on how to show your courses, see this brief tutorial.

If you need to add your TA or colleagues to your course, see the instruction for adding people to your classes here. Note that only people with a Uleth ID can be added to your courses.

ACCESS AFTER TERM END

Your Moodle courses will remain “live” as well as directly accessible by you for a year after those courses have been taught. Since the servers change with every term, Moodle courses can be accessed by putting the url link into a webbrowser that clearly indicate the year and term in the following way:

https://login.uleth.ca/ + year + term, so for example the current summer term can be located through the following url: https://login.uleth.ca/202002

After a year, all Moodle courses will be archived and can be reused by requesting a course roll over with the Teaching Centre.

Access to Moodle Courses for Students

Students enrolling in your courses, will automatically become enrolled in your Moodle course shells as well regardless of whether you use those or not. Students retain access to their specific Moodle courses only for the duration of their enrollment. Unless you create exportable resources (downloadable textbooks, pdfs, word documents, other resources) students cannot keep copies of your course.

Functionality within Moodle Courses

1. Repository: Sharing Information with Students
2. Class communication
3. Learning Activities
4. Evaluation and Assessment

Sharing Information with Students

The most prominent use of Moodle happens in the form of information sharing either through instructor announcements or through content you decide to deposit in specific places in your course environment.

As for the instructor announcements, you can use the tool on the top of every new course set up to allow for your unilateral communication to all students in your course. This announcement tool is active with the start of enrolments, so you can choose to inform your new students about course-related issues way before your course starts. Your announcement will go out as email notifications and will also stay accessible/trackable for all involved parties in Moodle.

Concerning the other content that you might want to deposit in your Moodle course, you have a variety of options:

• Dragging and dropping files (in various formats, e.g lectures notes, ppt, pdf) into the specific locations in your course
• Creating sections that you populate with specific pages, labels, folders
• Include text multimedia-rich content into sections, pages or labels such as pictures, audio, video, as well as active web links

Basic Moodle Learning/ Evaluation Activities

In addition to considering Moodle as a resource/ information repository, you might want to consider the environment a space in which your students can actively communicate and collaborate with you and with each other. There are a number of activities you can design for students to:

• share information with select members or all participants in a class
• indicate choices
• collaborate on projects
• compile resources
• discuss course-specific issues with each other
• present their take on things in multi-modal ways (written text, video, audio)
• provide feedback to you or their peers
• submit individual contributions or group work
• receive grades and feedback from you
• (self)-evaluate their learning

You can find some of the most popular Moodle activities briefly presented with description of use for teaching and technology use in the Moodle Demonstration course created for the training of U of L faculty. The self-enrolment key can be found here: https://moodle.uleth.ca/202002/course/view.php?id=698

Tutorials and Help Requests

You can request help through our ticket system, request course transfers or book individual appointments with our technical and/ or pedagogical developers for the personalized support you might need. We also maintain a website with basic Moodle tutorials for instructors for you to browse at your convenience.

123 Apps are easy to use, safe and free audio, video recording, archive extractor and pdf tools run in webbrowsers, so they don’t require sign-ups or installation. The audio recording and joining tools have been used to create the audio recordings in Module 5.

Teaching with Zoom for beginners

This tutorial will cover the following topics:

• What is Zoom — and why should I use it?
• How can I Schedule a class?
• How can I record my Zoom class?
• How do I navigate Zoom as a host?
• How can I manage students as participants?
• How can I share my screen?
• How can I use breakout rooms?
• How can I secure my Zoom session?
• How can I make a poll?
• Other considersations
• Resources

What is Zoom — and why should I use it? 

Zoom is a video conferencing tool that is widely used for conferencing and delivering synchronous classes. As a U of L faculty member teaching in a given semester, you have access to your own host license (account). Your students do not need to have Zoom accounts to access your Zoom session — they only need the link you will provide. Along with providing a virtual classroom space where you can deliver lectures, share content, and create small group discussions, Zoom allows you to record each session and post this as a link students may access at a later date.

How can I schedule a class?

1. If you have never been on Zoom before you will need to sign into your ULeth account at https://uleth.zoom.us with your UofL username and password.

2. Once you are into your ULeth Zoom account, click on Meetings

3. Click the blue button Schedule a New Meeting

4. Once you have scheduled a meeting, you will see a screen like this:

How do I record my Zoom class? 

You can record your Zoom class in a cloud location in your online Zoom account or locally on your own computer. Here is an overview of the recording feature provided by U of L IT:

Once you have recorded the class, you can either download it to your own computer, or click on the “Share” button a new screen will open up that will provide you options for sharing:

It is recommended that instead of trying to upload the whole video on Moodle, you use a weblink from your Zoom account found here when you click on the meeting in your Recordings list:

How do I navigate Zoom as a host?

Take a look at the control bar in your  Zoom classroom as it appears as host:

As a Zoom session host, you will have more options available to you than your participants.

Compare that to the participant control bar:

How can I manage students as participants?

The attendees in your meeting are called ‘Participants’ in Zoom. You can use different features to manage your participants.

• Click on the Manage Participants button (see image above) to open the list of participants.
• You will see a list of all your participants as in the image below. You can control what role participants have from this list. You can also mute and remove participants.

• You can choose to make one or more participants a Co-Host (unlimited number)
  • A Co-host can manage participants record the meeting
  • A Co-host cannot
    • Stop or start the meeting
    • Start closed captioning and assign someone or a third-party to provide closed captioning
    • Start live streaming
    • End meeting for all participants
    • Make another participant a co-host
    • Start breakout rooms or move participants from one breakout room to another
    • Start waiting room (co-hosts can place participants in waiting room or admit/remove participants from the waiting room)

• You can tell your students to give you non-verbal feedback to indicate comprehension or to give simple answers. Click on your participants button on the control bar, and you will see a side bar open up with a list of all participants.
• They will have buttons like this to indicate their answers:

How can I share my screen?

1. You can share content by clicking on the Share screen button:

2. You will see a screen like this where you can choose to share your desktop, an application, video, or a whiteboard:

Please note that if you want to share a video, you will need to click on the buttons “Share computer sound” and “Optimize Screen Sharing for Video Clip” circled in red above.

When you are sharing your screen, you will see a new control bar at either the top or bottom of your screen that looks like this:

How can I use breakout rooms?

Creating

• • • You can put students into small groups easily with the breakout room button:           

• • • Click on that to reveal a pop-up box that looks like this:
    • Here you can choose the number of rooms and participants. You can do this automatically, or choose the groupings yourself by clicking on ‘Manually’

Monitoring

• • • Once the rooms are created, you can go into each different room to monitor or touch base with participants
    • Students may ask for help in the breakout room by clicking on the ‘Ask for Help’ button which will alert you by sending you a message.         

Issues

• • • Because you cannot share your materials in the breakout rooms directly, you will need to plan ahead and have these available in another location, say a document on Moodle, for example. You can provide the link in the chat box.
    • Be sure to provide clear and detailed instructions before each breakout session so that students know exactly what they need to do.
    • Make sure students know how to ask for help.
    • Consider assigning roles to participants in each breakout room to clarify what everyone needs to accomplish.

How can I secure my Zoom session?

Here are some tips from U of L’s Zoom webinar created by IT:

When you click on the security button at the bottom of your screen, you’ll see these options pop-up:

Key take-away points for security in Zoom include

• Always having the latest version of Zoom updated on your computer
• Enable waiting room
• Disable audio and video before entry
• Enable Password
• Disable chat saving for participants
• Lock the meeting using the security button on your host control bar.

How can I use the polling feature?

You can use the polling feature in Zoom to monitor student comprehension or engagement. You do this in two ways:

A) Set up a poll during your class (i.e. on the fly), or

B) Set it up before your class begins in your Zoom account.

A)  Set up the poll during your class

• Click on the polling button in your control bar at the bottom of your screen:

• When you click on the polling button, you will see this pop-up screen:

• You can give your poll a name, click on ‘anonymous’ if you don’t want students to see participants’ names on the responses, and add as many questions as you like. Be sure to click ‘save’
• You can leave the poll open for as long as you like. You will be able to see how many people are filling out the poll in real time.
• When you are ready to close the poll, click on ‘Close poll’ and then you will have the option to share poll results with the class by clicking on ‘Share Results.’

B) Set up poll before your class begins

• You can create polls in advance so that you do not need to do this while your class is in session.
• Go to your University of Lethbridge Zoom account and sign in.

• Go to your meeting that you have created and find the ‘Poll’ button on your bottom left (red square below). In the bottom right corner, you will see an ‘Add’ button (red circle below). Click on this button and you will be brought to the same ‘Add a poll’ pop-up screen as in the first step above.

• Now your poll is created. When you begin your Zoom session, clicking on the polling feature will automatically bring up your pre-created poll for distribution in class using the steps outlined in section A.

 Other considerations

• • Virtual backgrounds
  • Noise
  • Make sure that you tell folks that they will show up on camera
  • Consider students’ privacy concerns

Further resources

• University of Lethbridge’s Zoom tutorial in pdf developed by IT
• General support on multiple topics from Zoom
• Learn more about security and safety features of Zoom
• Tips and tricks from Zoom

Pressbooks is an open source content management system designed for creating books. It is based on WordPress, and can export content in many formats for ebooks, webbooks or print. U of L educators can request an educational version through the participation in the ABOER Publishing Initiative Open Education Alberta. You can also create a private account directly with the Pressbooks company in Montreal.

Once a book is published, viewers have easy and free access to digital publications or downloadable/ printable copies in a range of different formats.

One possible use for teaching is represented through this FitFOL2020 teaching resource, which has been designed to combine the delivery of information with the embedding of teaching/ learning activities. That way, our Pressbooks works much like a website and a textbook together. Unlike a traditional textbook, however, Pressbooks allows for the seamless integration of multimedia rich and interactive elements.

If you are curious to learn more about the use of Pressbooks for teaching, you can access the following tutorials here:

Pressbooks User Guide 

• Textbook format user guide with

BC Campus Video Tutorials

• • Short video tutorials
  • Suggested starting point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkiGwwI4eKY&list=PL50LJVchZ8-JQ-GC4pYmFraI_NIKdziVh&index=3&t=0s

• Book set up and content 
• Editing
• Embedding you tube, word documents
• Using LaTex
• Exporting various file formats

Ryerson Open Textbook Guide 

• Some background information to OER and open textbooks for introductory users.
• Specific chapter on adapting open content
• Good project focused approach to textbook creation opposed to Pressbooks specific.

Publishing/distribution

https://guide.pressbooks.com/chapter/how-to-make-and-self-publish-a-book/

• Information about designing book features in pressbooks
• Information about file formats for publishing
• Information about adhering to publishing standards for print on demand.

Padlet:

Padlet was used to create collaborative bulletin boards as in the Building Community and Student engagement module. There are many tutorials out there, but you may find the following useful for getting started:

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/?p=777

Permiakov, E. Padlet (2020, March 27). Tutorial – How to Get Started Guide 2020. [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPkq5q8nRbM.

Qualtrics is an online survey tool all educators and support staff at the U of L have access to. You can create student feedback forms, course surveys, assignments with it. To access the tool, you will need to sign in using the following url and your U of L user name and password: https://uleth.qualtrics.com [new tab].

Youtube is a video streaming platform that you can use to share your own video creations with either selected people through the unlisted and/or private options or with the world if made public.

TEACHING: As an instructor, you might consider using Youtube as a hub, from which students can access your recorded lectures, tutorials or other teaching videos without needing to download anything or logging into an account.

Once you have uploaded a video to Youtube, you can embed the share link into your email messages to students, into websites or into the Moodle Learning Management System LMS. Considering the embed into Moodle, you will not need to worry about large-size formats since embedding doesn’t require you to upload the original video. A simple url share link posted to Moodle Forums, sections, pages will automatically embed a player, so that student can conveniently watch your video within Moodle.

EXAMPLE: Below this paragraph you can see an example of the embedding function with the Moodle Navigation Video from the FitFOL Course Expectations Document.

TUTORIAL: If you would like to learn how to Set up a Youtube account, upload videos and embed your YouTube videos in Moodle, click on the following link[PDF] .