Glori – St. Thomas E-Learning And Research

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Glori

Accessibility, Best Practices, Tips, and Tricks

Making Your Canvas Site More Accessible

Canvas as a Hub for Accessibility

Glori Hinck and Jo Montie

Glori Hinck and Jo Montie of STELAR recently presented at the InstructureCon 2019 (Canvas) conference on the topic of accessibility in Canvas courses.  It wasn’t that long ago that disability activists were fighting for physically accessible public spaces.  As educators, we need to advocate to make digital spaces, including our online course content, accessible to everyone.  What’s more, all students will benefit from a proactive approach to accessibility, not only those with documented disabilities.  For example, students may have an undiagnosed learning disability or English may be their second language.  Take a few moments to experience web accessibility from the perspective of a student with a vision or hearing impairment or loss of mobility.  Can you zoom your Canvas site to 200% without loss of content or functionality?  Navigate without a mouse?  Understand the content with the volume turned down?  Not sure how to get started?  Review the sites below for more information about accessibility.

Accessibility Resources

Accessible U

The University of Minnesota’s Accessible U website provides a wealth of information on how to make your course content more accessible.  They recommend starting with 6 core accessibility skills:

  1. Headings and Document Structure
  2. Hyperlinks
  3. Video Captions
  4. Bullets and Numbered Lists
  5. Color and Contrast
  6. Image Alt Text

STELAR Accessibility Course Site

STELAR has created a course site for sharing information and resources around accessibility.  Contact us via email at stelar@stthomas.edu if you would like to be added to this site.

Center for Faculty Development

You can also learn more about your role in creating an accessible, inclusive classroom at the Center for Faculty Development’s Accessibility page.

Canvas Accessibility Checker

Did you know that Canvas has an Accessibility Checker?  Simply click on the accessibility icon on the right side of the text editor for an accessibility report on a Canvas page.

 

 

 

 

 

This post was written by Glori Hinck, EdD, an Instructional Designer for the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

July 26, 2019 by
Future of Higher Education

HyFlex Model Expanding Into New Programs

The University of St. Thomas first offered a course in the HyFlex model during the summer of 2017.  Due to high student demand, FINC 321 was offered again using this delivery model during summer term 2018, and other programs are starting to offer HyFlex courses as a way to accommodate student preferences around course attendance.

What is HyFlex? 

HyFlex is a course delivery model that allows students to choose their mode of participation from online and on-campus options during each class session.  That’s right, each class session students can choose whether to come to campus or attend online.  Online options may include synchronous or asynchronous sessions.

Flexible participation policy in a single course offering the choice of face-to-face, asynchronous online, or synchronous online

HyFlex was recently added by the Registrar’s office as an official course type category and is defined as, “Instruction is delivered concurrently via in-person class meetings, synchronous online class meetings, and asynchronous methods. Learners choose how they participate and engage each week.”

What does a HyFlex Course look like?

A HyFlex course strives to provide equivalent learning activities in all participation modes.  In FINC 321 students can participate in a live lecture on campus or through web conferencing or can view the lecture at their convenience online. Participation points are earned through live class discussions or through asynchronous VoiceThread discussions.

What technology is used?

The HyFlex model is made possible through the use of cutting-edge technologies including Zoom, Canvas, Proctorio, Panopto, classroom video capture, and smart boards.  STELAR staff members are available to support faculty as they plan and develop these courses.

Integrating Online and Traditional Course Sections

In the graduate program in Special Education, Dr. Lynn Stansberry Brusnahan has found that students more often enroll in the online sections of required courses than in on-campus sessions. In order to honor individual student preferences for how they experience and participate in the class, Dr. Stansberry Brusnhan combined the online and on-campus sections of SPED 785: Behavior Management.

All of the students are in the same Canvas course site; on Wednesday evenings, they can come to class in Minneapolis Opus Hall, or they can attend online via Zoom and interact with the class remotely. If they aren’t available to attend during class time, they can watch the recorded lecture and provide a summary of what they learned. Students choose from week to week, so it’s all about student choice and preference. Courses in the educational leadership program are also exploring this model.

More Information about HyFlex

STELAR has presented about the HyFlex model at educational conferences including OLC Accelerate, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) and the Minnesota eLearning Summit and has found a great deal of interest in this model with follow-up visits, conversations, and a write-up in Inside Higher Ed.  Also check out our February 2018 post Interest Building Around the HyFlex Model of Course Delivery.

Interested in exploring HyFlex for your own course?  STELAR may have a grant for that.  See the call for proposals section of our website.

This post was written by Glori Hinck, an Instructional Designer for the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.  To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

 

December 17, 2018 by
Future of Higher Education

STELAR Staff Sharing Their Expertise at International Conferences

Educause is the largest community of technology, academic, industry, and campus leaders advancing higher education through the use of IT.  The Educause annual conference gathers people from around the world to share ideas and discover solutions to today’s challenges.

Creating the STELAR Experience:  University Center’s Impact on Educational Transformation.
Brett Coup, Associate Vice President for Academic Technology (St. Thomas eLearning and Research- STELAR)
Peter Weinhold, Director of Academic Technology (STELAR)

Delivering Course Materials Inside the LMS:  An ITS and Libraries Partnership
Greg Argo, Associate Director for Access & Digital Services (St. Thomas Libraries)
Trent Brager, Education and Social Sciences Librarian (St. Thomas Libraries)
Glori Hinck, Instructional Designer and Research Manager (STELAR)

 

OLC Accelerate is the premier global gathering covering the field of online learning in higher education.  The conference is devoted to driving quality online learning, advancing best practice guidance, and accelerating innovation in learning for academic leaders, educators, administrators, online learning professionals, and organizations around the world.

Development of an Online Student Orientation: Supporting Success in the Digital Environment
Jo Montie, Online Learning Support Systems Manager (STELAR)

Hyflex Course Delivery: Learner Choice, Equivalency, Reusability, Accessibility
Glori Hinck, Instructional Designer and Research Manager (STELAR)

Town Hall:  Professional Development and Support
Glori Hinck, Instructional Designer and Research Manager (STELAR)

Stay tuned for highlights from these conferences in a future post!

This post was written by Glori Hinck, an Instructional Designer for the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.  To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

October 25, 2018 by
Technology Tools

Journaling as a Teaching Strategy

Journaling is an effective way to help students deepen their understanding of concepts while supporting reflective and critical thinking.  TeachThought recently published an article discussing 20 Types of Learning Journals that Help Students Think.

Ready to explore one of these journaling strategies?  Perhaps the meta-cognitive journal would support student learning in your course.  Or maybe the change journal.  Our Office 365 Canvas integration supports password-protected digital journaling for private, student-instructor, or public journals.  The link below takes you through the step-by-step process and STELAR Instructional Designers can provide additional guidance!

Using OneNote as a Journal

This post was written by Glori Hinck, EdD, an Instructional Designer for the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, MN.  To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

August 7, 2018 by
Best Practices, Tips, and Tricks

Design Tips for Digital Content

Design impacts others’ perceptions of you and your online content.  Bad design can make your message hard to interpret or understand.  The principles of CARP (contrast, alignment, repetition and proximity) are the foundations of good design, whether presented in hard copy or digital format.

Below are several additional recommendations to improve the design of your digital content.

This post was written by Glori Hinck, EdD, an Instructional Designer for the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, MN.  To learn more about this topic, visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar, or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

June 12, 2018 by