Evaluating Online Sources: Ukraine Classrooms and Fake News

Posted on April 1, 2019 by jrfreese

While the internet can be a source of worthwhile information, students researching online need to be thinking critically about the information that they’re finding; just because it’s online doesn’t mean it’s true. Some teachers in the Ukraine, in the midst of online propaganda and misinformation with a civil war, have worked to increase students’ media literacy to spot misinformation and hate speech. You can read about those efforts in the following link:
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/22/705809811/students-in-ukraine-learn-how-to-spot-fake-stories-propaganda-and-hate-speech

We’ve previously shared an online research activity (link below) about using and evaluating online sources. What have you found helpful to teach students how to critically think about the information they’re finding online?
https://courses.dcs.wisc.edu/wp/ilinstructors/2018/04/30/online-research-activity-webquest/

Canvas SpeedGrader Webinar

Posted on March 25, 2019 by jrfreese

How is the transition to teaching in Canvas going so far? If you’re looking for more information on getting the most out of grading and providing feedback, UW-Extension recently gave a webinar on the various tools available with Canvas. Items discussed include a to-do list that shows which items need grading, different ways to annotate student work, different ways to access student assessments, and how to grade quizzes that autograde some questions but need your feedback for others. The webinar can be viewed at the following link:
https://us-lti.bbcollab.com/collab/ui/session/playback/load/ae960284292a453b8a3ffc62e1f08eae?name=UW%20Extended%20Campus%20Faculty%20Webinar%20-%20recording_1

If you’re ever looking for more information with Canvas, you can also go through the Canvas Learning Center course that’s in your Dashboard.

TEDx Talk: Good Design is Good Education

Posted on March 11, 2019 by jrfreese

How much do you think about visual design as you prepare teaching materials? You can view a TEDx Talk at the following link that discusses how different fonts and graphic design can positively impact your students.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt7kbOPIauk

Have you found any fonts or visual layouts that seem to be especially effective for communicating with students? Let us know – we’d love to share your ideas!

Discussions with a Twist

Posted on February 28, 2019 by jrfreese

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

Posted on February 19, 2019 by jrfreese

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

Posted on February 6, 2019 by jrfreese

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

Posted on February 6, 2019 by jrfreese

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

Construct Your Career at UW

Posted on January 31, 2019 by jrfreese

UW-Madison is hosting a free conference for employees interested in managing their careers, offering resources, helping establish goals, etc.

From the conference website:
You can learn how to assess where you are now, build a career plan, execute that plan, or continue building within your current role. Join us for a full day or part of the day.
https://hr.wisc.edu/employee-career-conference/

Again, this is free, and includes access to workshops, a keynote session, and lunch.

Presentation: Creating and Evaluating Assessments

Posted on December 10, 2018 by jrfreese

Earlier this year, Nate Ewings and Kristine Pierick at UW-Extension presented Assessments, Alignment, Evaluation, Oh my! The Path to Creating and Evaluating Assessments. The presentation examines ways to create high-quality assessments. You can view a powerpoint from their presentation here:
Faculty Symposium Assessments

While viewing a powerpoint doesn’t replicate the experience of attending a presentation in-person, there are some great ideas included:

Characteristics of high-quality assessments
Aligning learning objectives with assignments
Including real-life applications for students
Rubrics
Examples of how these ideas have been implemented in courses

A Way to Help IL Colleagues: Quickmarks in Speedgrader

Posted on December 3, 2018 by jrfreese

Have you used Quickmarks when grading student work? It can save time – and lots of it – with its tools to save and reuse comments or other feedback that you might often provide when grading assignments.

Quickmarks is not currently available with Canvas, but we can reach out to the Canvas developers to request this feature at the following link:
https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/1751-ability-to-save-and-copy-from-frequently-used-comments-in-speedgradercrocodoc

Whether you’ve used this feature, would like to try this feature, or simply want to help your IL colleagues by making the request, your vote improves the chances of it being implemented.

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