Monthly Archives: February 2019

Discussions with a Twist

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Laurie Berry and Kristin Kowal gave an excellent presentation on how to make online discussions more engaging, taking a traditional discussion prompt and offering different ways to expand upon it.

A pdf of their presentation is included at the link below. While viewing a pdf can’t replicate the experience of attending their presentation, their slides offer numerous discussion examples with a variety of ways make them more personable and interactive.

Discussion_rocks_5.8.2018

What are some of your favorite ways of using discussions in your courses?

ADEIL: Book Discussion Group / Web-based Activity Presentation

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The Association for Distance Education and Independent Learning has two new connecting and learning opportunities:

1) ADEIL is launching a book discussion group, reading Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education by Thomas J. Tobin and Kirsten T. Behling and discussing it on LinkedIn. The first discussion is found at the link below, and please note that you can still be part of this first discussion even if you haven’t yet read the book.
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8521464/

2) I (Rich Freese) recently gave a video presentation for ADEIL. It examines three online-research activities, created by IL’s very own Sarah Korpi and Joan Bell-Kaul, and discusses how to adapt these for different courses.
Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGWBggFEpAQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR37a3AGcs05I1FLVsijFXtshN4pzYFeWcbGBxicJO635aK5dRwx_s60n34
PDF Handout:
http://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/wp/ilinstructors/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2019/01/Hemingway-WebQuests.pdf

New for 2019 and Beyond: Copyright Law and the Public Domain

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As of January 1, 2019, works published in 1923 – literature, movies, images – are now in the public domain. The public domain refers to works that are available to the public with no copyright restrictions; works published in 1922 and prior had already been in the public domain, and if copyright laws remain unchanged, each new year until 2073 will see a new batch of published works enter the public domain (next year, works from 1924; the year after that, works from 1925).

Are there any ways you might be able to use these new open materials in your courses? I teach music courses; alas, copyright for standalone sound recordings isn’t as straightforward, but I can freely distribute sheet music of these pieces or look at examples of music in film.

Voting for Canvas Feature Request: Make links in DocViewer annotations clickable

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Alan Ng recently requested a feature for Canvas that’s open for global voting. The request is for instructors to be able to include a direct link while annotating feedback as we grade student work. This link could go to a specific Canvas or OER page containing relevant or clarifying information that students can simply click on to access.

If you’re interested in such a feature, or if you’d simply like to help a colleague, you can vote at the link below (please note that you’ll be prompted to log in to your Canvas account).
https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/13334-make-links-in-speedgrader-comments-clickable