Canvas, our open online learning management system, recently announced the immediate availability of a new annotation feature in its mobile application. This new functionality allows students to open, annotate, and submit an assignment directly within Canvas. Historically this has been accomplished through a third-party app, which can create an additional expense for our students. Providing one platform where all of these capabilities reside eliminates the need for students to buy additional software and reduces the need for paper, both cost saving actions. The mobile annotation feature allows instructors to spend less time demonstrating procedures for moving and transitioning digital assignments and more time teaching. Digitizing assignments inside Canvas also allows instructors to grade assignments using the Canvas SpeedGrader. Read more here.
ENGAGEMENT IN THE ELEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
Learning is about personal relationships. Deep learning doesn’t happen
through reading or rote memorization online any more than in the
physical world. It is the experiences and meaningful conversations (or
maybe human interactions) within a course that enable students to
critically reflect, and deepen their learning. All too often, online
students feel isolated, which can decrease motivation and increase
attrition. When learning occurs entirely through computer-mediated instruction,
professors often overlook simple steps like asking participants to
introduce themselves. Details like asking your students to create a
video introduction to a class can have a powerful impact. Video-based
introductions can help develop a community of learners more quickly than
simply posting text on a discussion board. Students who are in courses
with introductory videos have been shown to actively participate in online discussions very early in the course. And research shows that learners who are more engaged and have higher levels of interaction, have higher success rates. Read more here.
The classroom is a non-stop hub of feedback: test grades, assignment scores, paper comments, peer review, individual conferences, nonverbal cues, and more. Feedback is essential for student learning. Still, students’ ability to process and use feedback varies widely. We have some students who eagerly accept feedback or carefully apply rough draft comments, while many others dread or dismiss their professors’ notes or reject exam grades as “unfair.” Although feedback is integral to our classrooms and work spaces, we often forget to teach students how to manage it. Two Harvard law professors, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, argue that identifying different kinds of feedback is a good place to start. Continue reading here.
