Experiences teaching over Zoom, increased student participation, and a new appreciation for synchronous learning
Last Week’s Teaching in 2020 – Episode 3
Tag: Blackboard Learn
Electronic Whiteboard Options for Online Lectures: iPad & Zoom or Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
by Diana Leung, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of Alabama. After the need for social distancing due to COVID-19, I had to transition my face to face classes to an online format. My teaching style relies crucially on the use of a whiteboard to provide handwritten notes. I believe the use of handwritten notes allows students time to process the information as the instructor is […]
Engage Students with Socially Distant Annotation of Course Texts
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies I hope that you and yours are keeping safe, healthy, and well this summer. With the University’s plan in place for Fall 2020, you might be taking more concrete steps in with your syllabus and course designs. Some of your planning might involve UA-supported online platforms and software. There are more than 200 faculty-written Teaching Hub blog posts, too, whose content you might adapt to your purposes. I wish to add to this list […]
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Use Your LMS to Reclaim Your Syllabus
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies Cutting to the chase Here is how to make your syllabi openly accessible online. Have your syllabi do less and then use your institution’s Learning Management System (LMS) to make up the difference and then some! I previously challenged the notion of “learning management” and championed what an LMS does. Now I want to think about how to divide tasks between publicly accessible syllabi versus password-secure course pages: Keep your syllabus basic with a […]
Blackboard Pro-Tip: Step Up Students’ Blackboard Literacy
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies “We couldn’t find it on Blackboard!” Maybe you heard this about your syllabus? I heard this from my class after I returned their assignments online. Some people could not find their grades. Others could not find the general feedback I wrote about the assignment. Others still could not find the individualized notes that I added to each of their assignments. “Blackboard Literacy” means being able to navigate, find and use items on UA’s […]
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Blackboard Pro-Tip: Tweaking Your Course Shell
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies The College of Continuing Studies likely houses the most people at UA with a total mastery of Blackboard Learn. If you use Blackboard and want to quickly learn how to optimize it for your teaching, then the folks at CCS may well have the answers you are looking for on their Information for CCS Online Instructors page. Likewise, the home page for the Online Course Technical Support site has a slew of resources for […]
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How to Add Grades to Blackboard, Box, and myBama
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies The syllabus charts out the machinery that makes the grades: learning goals and objectives, assignments and the grading policy. Once the term begins, the supporting technology must be put into action. Graded Assignments: Hard-Copy Vs. Digital The advantages of hard-copy versus digital assignments vary. Plenty of storage hassles are avoided by grading and returning hard-copy assignments promptly. If your assignments have names and/or CWIDs — or worse, SSNs! — listed somewhere, then be […]
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8 Reasons Why Your LMS is Awesome for Teaching and Learning (Yes, Eight)
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies This week, I learned about digital literacies.* My workshop leader was Jade Davis, the Manager of Digital Projects at Columbia University Library. Right at the beginning of the workshop, she stated why she loves the LMS. I have previously expressed skepticism about the LMS. Dr. Davis helped crystallize how my opinion of the LMS has begun to change. Here is why: Among all the digital platforms available, LMS providers are the ones most likely to […]
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Blackboard Testing Tips for Finals Week
Grades Here are some end-of-semester themed tutorials to assist you in wrapping up this Fall 2017 semester: Submitting Grades to myBama from Blackboard Non-Attendance Grading in myBama How to Download a Copy of the Grade Center from Blackboard Testing The FRC has also prepared some Testing Tips for instructors and students who will be using Blackboard for exams: for Instructors for Students Backing Up A Course To back up your current (or past) Blackboard courses, consult the FRC’s LMS Course Retention Policy […]
Creating Accessible Online Courses
by Jessica Porter, Office of Educational Technology (eTech) This post answers some of the most frequently asked questions about online course accessibility. To learn more about the accessibility of specific instructional technologies, visit accessibility.ua.edu or consult the official documentation for that technology. What does making a course accessible actually mean? Accessibility means all students can access and use your course from the beginning, including those with visual, auditory, cognitive and physical impairments. More specifically, it means your course follows the […]