A few of the titles and dates plus excerpts follow
Transitioning from on campus to online
by Janene McMahan | Jul 26, 2021
Your use of Canvas can help you translate your face-to-face course into an enjoyable online experience for you and your students. Here are a few steps to get you started, including how to build a template to use for each week or module and how to add your lectures right inside the editor.
How to inspire success through student interaction
by Janene McMahan | Jun 28, 2021
Get ready to inspire someone to do their personal best this semester. This Teaching Tip includes ideas for increasing interaction in your course. Start with one thing and be consistent. Your choices will impact student learning and achievement. Before the semester,…
Introducing the online course evaluation rubric
by Janene McMahan | Jun 1, 2021
The Online Course Evaluation Rubric serves as a framework for making notes on and progress toward preparing your course for next semester. Several instructional designers worked together gathering important course elements into categories with evaluative statements to jumpstart your review.
My course content is in Canvas. Now what?
by Janene McMahan | May 17, 2021
Blackboard courses are currently being migrated to Canvas to help make the transition easier for faculty. Once there, courses will be ready to teach with some lightweight cleanup.
Blackboard improvements within Grade Center
by Janene McMahan | Jan 20, 2021
This tip continues to explain new features available to instructors after the Blackboard upgrade that happened over winter break.
Adapting to recent changes in Blackboard
by Janene McMahan | Jan 12, 2021
Blackboard was upgraded last month to provide users with better performance and reliability. Here are tips and solutions to help you adapt to the changes.
Three ways to make your course more accessible
by Janene McMahan | Oct 20, 2020
Everyone’s pinched for time and we need real solutions that are quick to implement with regard to accessibility. This tip provides a look at three areas you can improve in your course using simple ideas that are easy to execute.
Address uncertainty in your syllabus
by Janene McMahan | Jul 9, 2020
Recommended strategies and language to include in your syllabus to help address the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, try surveying students about their current routines and internet access.
One perspective on Quality Matters course certifications
by Janene McMahan | Feb 24, 2020
UAF adopted Quality Matters as a framework for continuous improvement of online and blended courses four years ago. Gary Copus, professor emeritus, shares highlights, benefits and challenges of certifying three UAF Justice courses.
Quick communication with students
by Janene McMahan | Oct 6, 2019
A few ideas on how to easily increase your communication with students while possibly reducing your time performing course management.
Invite students to publish
by Janene McMahan | Jun 10, 2019
Are you interested in encouraging your students to create work to share with others? Adding your voice to the domain knowledge–which shapes our education–is a strong motivator. As teachers, writers, designers, and artists we long to create and share. What…
Adding Custom Questions in Blue Evaluations (#facdev)
by Janene McMahan | Mar 19, 2019
View the slides to see a bit about the Blue Evaluation form process.
Tackle Grackle to make accessible materials
by Janene McMahan | Feb 17, 2019
Course materials need to be accessible. The Grackle add-ons assist you with making your materials more accessible even if you’re not a standard Google apps user.
Rebuilding your course
by Janene McMahan | Jan 6, 2019
As faculty, at some point you’ll have to rebuild and refresh your existing course or rebuild and rebrand one you inherit. If you’ve found yourself in this situation for the upcoming semester, read on. I’m right there with you and these are the steps I’ve taken:
Our journey with Quality Matters
by Janene McMahan | Nov 27, 2018
UAF’s Master of Education in Special Education program became the first online special education program in the nation to earn the Quality Matters’ Online Program Design Certification. Here’s how they did it and how you can earn Quality Matters certifications for your course or program.
Three ways to set up your course more efficiently
by Janene McMahan | May 30, 2018
Teaching online since 2011, Janene McMahan has learned some things along the way. In this tip she shares three ideas for making the best use of your time: set expectations, set up your workspace for good flow, and prep a layout once then replicate it.
Make your Google Docs accessible
by Janene McMahan | Sep 17, 2018
If you use Google Docs in your online course or share them electronically with your face-to-face students make sure they are readable. Some students use a screen reader to assist them. Here are three tips with the needed steps to make your Google Docs more usable.
Clean up and refresh your course today
by Janene McMahan | Aug 28, 2018
Welcome to the fall semester. Here are quick tips to clean up your course today. There is one amazing “Wow’ item for Blackboard and a few very clear steps on cleaning up your WordPress shell. Feel free to stop into UAF eCampus during Open Lab to learn more.
Calendars and Schedules
by Janene McMahan | Apr 17, 2018
Pedagogy Resources The eCampus collection dedicated to thoughtful teaching practice All Pedagogy TopicsReference Glossary Calendars & Schedules Helping students stay on track What are Calendars & Schedules? Sometimes the terms “course calendar”…
New Box View replaces Crocodoc for inline grading
by Janene McMahan | Jan 21, 2018
As of this month when your students turn in programming code and graphics inside of Blackboard you can use the New Box View inline grading tool to view the code and add comments to the images. If you previously used Crocodoc to quickly view spreadsheets or papers inside of the Blackboard Grade Center, you’ll find the expanded list of supported file types a breath of fresh air!
Students communicate strategies and pitfalls
by Janene McMahan | Dec 14, 2017
During National Distance Learning Week UAF eCampus conversed with students via Facebook. Here’s a light read on student strategies to stay on task as well as a few shared challenges we all face. Read on; it might spark a small change to make in your course as a result.
Use video to capture students’ attention
by Janene McMahan | Oct 6, 2015
Engage your students via voice over visuals. You can do it with tools you already have. Sure, you can make a video and incorporate it, but if you’re not quite ready, don’t despair. Put your voice into your course today. Use Keynote (or PowerPoint) and Quicktime to bring your materials to life.
Free graphics
by Janene McMahan | Apr 28, 2015
There are at least two great ways to search for images you can use in your course materials (or homework):
-Google Images search
-Website repositories of graphics labeled for commercial or non-commercial reuse
Joanne Healy’s Grant Submission Adventure
by Janene McMahan | Feb 9, 2015
Joanne Healy, while pursuing her CITE project goals, wrote two grant submissions in the last two months. She notes, “It’s important for new teachers to shift their pedagogy to a more collaborative approach based on continuous improvement of learning with 21st-century mobile devices.” Her proposal work parallels and supports recent SOE initiatives. While Joanne hopes […]
Promote your course
by Janene McMahan | Aug 26, 2014
Is your department counting on you to bring new students into the discipline? Are your class sizes smaller than you’d like? Often times being listed on the course schedule isn’t enough. Here are some ideas to increase enrollment and visibility of your class.
Community
by Janene McMahan | Jan 13, 2014
Whether you teach face-to-face or online, consider using a WordPress site for all or most of your course content. UAF eCampus supports a multisite WordPress installation at community.uaf.edu.
Incremental change
by Janene McMahan | Nov 18, 2013
Get ready for next semester now. This teaching tip helps you think about how to make the needed changes while enjoying the process. Whether face-to-face or online, all classes need routine care.