Dear Colleagues,
I will be out of town March 6-17 and back at work on Monday, March 20. I hope you have a good spring break.
Don't Panic
You have several support mechanisms here at UAA:
The IT Services Call Center at 786-4646 option 1 can handle tech issues, basic Blackboard questions and more. I call them at least once a week with a question or issue. Many are surprised to learn that the Call Center is open 7 am – 10 pm M-F and 10 am – 2 pm S-S during the academic year.
Academic Innovations and eLearning (AIE)provides instructional design, more complex Blackboard support and more. I collaborate with their designers and other staff. They are open 8 am – 5 pm M-F.
What Do They Think of Your Class?
A few years ago, I taught EDFN 302, Foundations of Educational Technology online. After each online class meeting, I asked my students to fill out a quick survey in Qualtrics:
- When did you feel most engaged in class tonight?
- When did you feel most distanced in class tonight?
- What about the activities and materials tonight surprised you the most?
- When did you feel most engaged with the homework?
- How much time did it take to do the homework?
- Add any other comments here.
I found that my students consistently liked the small group conversations in the breakout rooms. They were surprised at how interactive our online class sessions were and had given me some good feedback on how my teaching can be improved. I put the survey result in Blackboard so they can see what the group is thinking. Many of them read the results and were surprised by converging and diverging answers to the questions.
Even if you don't collect feedback every week, asking for feedback on the class and letting your students know the aggregate feedback and your response is a powerful way to engage them in the learning process and to improve your teaching.
Secure Online Testing
eLearning: Distance Student Services now offers online testing services with Remote Proctor Now (RPNow). eLearning: Distance Student Services has coordinated test proctoring for students at proctor sites (schools, universities, etc.) for years. Now, students can be in a secure online test environment anywhere.
If you are interested in learning more about RPNow, set up an appointment with eLearning: Online Testing Services Outreach.
Cheating
I don't want to believe this article on cheating from Campus Technology that states 9 in 10 students admit to cheating. But it is sobering to think that cheating is rampant. The rationale stated by some students was that this is what they thought faculty did. That horrified me as well, though I realize it could be a rationalization. In any canse, it is important that we model ethical behavior. I also think we can design and grade our assessments to make cheating harder for the students and easier to catch for the faculty. It's also important to be clear about the consequences. And, based on my experience elsewhere, we must support our adjunct faculty in dealing with cheating.
Thank you,
Lee
Lee Maria Henrikson
Instructional Designer
907-786-4903
UAA Community and Technical College
Building Alaska's Workforce
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