Blogs

I was excited and eager as I read the university's guidance about returning to in-person teaching - no more shaky internet connections and Zoom black boxes, and now PEOPLE. Actual people! In a classroom! But, I got to thinking: What, if I were a student, would I miss about learning remotely? What about as an instructor? The point of this article is not to lament the going away of remote learning, but rather to be prepared to encounter some differences that we might miss from the Zoom days.

Chances are you spend very little time thinking about how a person who is visually impaired interprets images you have in your slides, documents, and Isidore sites. In this accessibility quick tip, we'll explain why you should spend some time thinking about this and how to improve the learning experience for all your students through the usage of alternative text or alt text.

Find your summer reading and listening in this blog post. We provide a curated list of pedagogical articles, books, and podcasts from the FlexTeaching listserv and members of the LTC. Read and listen on your own, or gather a group of colleagues or friends to share your thoughts.

Whose job is it to care about web accessibility? Everyone’s. (That means you, the person reading this.) We must make our online platforms and course content accessible to all. This is the first blog post in our series of Accessibility Tips. Each post will include steps to implement a practical change in your emails, courses, and any other place you work online. These tips will help ALL learners and users, not just those students with disabilities. 

A "heartbeat" article is intended to provide a glimpse behind the scenes of the work our team is doing. We'll tell you what we've been working on and what we're working on next! 

". . . More often, though, hidden curriculums grow so large because the lessons that they teach become background noise in the busyness of university life. Teaching methods, communication styles, networking skills, and even assessment strategies can all become assumed pieces of the academic experience which can easily derail the success of those who aren’t aware of them.

We know that even just the smallest acts of hands and heart can help students push through their challenges. At the end of the Fall 2020 semester, we asked students, "What is the most helpful thing instructors have done to help you learn?" The answer was pretty resounding: instructors showed that they cared. Find a way to check-in with your students this semester - it could make the difference.

I finally did it. I watched every recording from the 2021 Learning and Teaching Forum. And I have to say, I’m so glad I did. There wasn’t one session I watched where I didn’t learn something new.

The Commons widget on the course homepage is a great spot for students to interact with each other - but it often doesn't get used. In this post are a few examples and use cases for the Commons tool, and some suggestions on how to get students to use it. 

Did you know you began preparing for the semester's first day of class years ago? It began when you found your passion for the course's topic and your field of study. Do you still have that spark? If you answered yes, then get ready to share it. This article is all about having a great first day of classes.