Dear Colleagues,
The work of faculty and staff at the university continues to evolve with the demands of 21st century life… including ongoing technology changes. A faculty colleague mentioned just this week that she thought faculty were adapting to the ongoing technology changes in the tools we use. I know that part of my weekly routine is updates: to my operating system, to Office 365, to browsers… It's necessary to keep my computer safe and working well. And it takes time. I often set updates to go when I'm planning to do something that doesn't involve the computer. This is the world and work environment that we live in. We can fight it or make it work for us.
Add/Drop Deadline
The add/drop deadline for full semester classes is this Friday, January 26 at 5 pm. You have the option to drop students from your class who have not shown up or participated in a course and they will get a full refund on tuition and fees. I hope that you have attempted to contact the no-shows and encouraged them to participate or drop the class. I hope that you have given 0's for assignments that are already due.
Yes, you have the choice to drop the no-shows by 5 pm on Friday January 26 and give them a tuition refund. I encourage you to drop them. If they registered for the course by mistake and forgot to drop, they will appreciate not having the bill.
Lectures Aren't Just Boring…
Lectures aren't just boring, they're ineffective according this 2014 article from Science Magazine. My take away: break up the lecture every 10-20 minutes with an activity in which the students have to process and engage with the material you just lectured on. The "mini lecture" combined with active engagement with the content provides an opportunity for the students to process the material better.
Accessibility - Styles in Word
Accessibility is a university-wide issue that we will all be addressing this year. We have a moral and legal authority to provide materials that are accessible to diverse learners. One way to start is with Word. Using styles to format sections is one essential component and it makes it easier to create documents with a consistent look. The headings must nest in order. Heading 2 follows heading1, no skipping to heading 3 or 4. Styles create the structure for the Table of Contents and for the Outline view. So, take a stab at styles. Here are a couple resources: Formatting With Styles in Word 13 from University of Edinburgh and Customize or Create New Styles in Word.
Warmly,Instructional Designer
907-786-4903
http://ak-lee.blogspot.com
UAA Community and Technical College
Building Alaska's Workforce
