May 2023
5 Tips for Making Existing
Online Courses More Accessible
Sometimes small changes can have big effects. In this blog from D2L, 5 Tips for Making Existing Online Courses More Accessible, suggestions for revisions are given to improve the accessibility of current courses.
Use Accessibility Checker
D2L is equipped with an accessibility checker that will help you catch many issues that might affect the way in which students access the content of your course.
Content Organization
Consider the logic in the organization of your course. Using heading for course sections and subsections. These help screen readers navigation information.
Share Accessibility Efforts
Share information about accessibility tools that are available for students to use in your course. They can change the default font size or use the listen button at the top of the page.
Provide Captions and Transcripts
Video captions and transcripts benefit not only students with hearing impairments but also second language learners or students with sleeping children.
Record Lessons to Support Equity
Recorded lessons serve as an additional resource for all students, not just those who are absent. Rewatching lessons support note-taking and improved comprehension.
AI Detection Tool - Benefits but Caution
As technology continues to advance, it’s becoming increasingly important for us to use tools that can help us ensure academic integrity and prevent plagiarism. The College uses Turnitin to assist in checking for originality and recently they’ve added an AI detection tool to the Originality Report. While this new resource is certainly an enhancement in our ability to check for originality, we shouldn’t use it as the only mechanism to ensure a student is producing their own work.
Here are a few resources to help guide you in understanding this new technology along with strategies to use in tandem with Turnitin’s originality reporting tools.
Instructors may want to embrace the use of a tool like ChatGPT. To explore these options, the American Psychological Association provides an article
If you have any questions or would like to chat with someone in CCIT, please submit a ticket at support.dtcc.edu.
Supporting Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
At the end of a semester, it is especially important to reflect upon our courses. Were our instructional strategies as effective as we had hoped? Are we using outdated videos that show 80s hair and legwarmers? Have we integrated technology effectively in a way that supports learning?
In a resource from Yale (Reflective Teaching | Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning), you can find some examples to determine effective efforts and areas in which you might like to improve.
| 1. | Self-Assessment | ||
| a. | Reflection Journals: Instructors take a few minutes after a class session ends to record observations. These observations might address the following questions: | ||
| i. | What went well? | ||
| ii. | What could have been done differently to obtain a different result? | ||
| iii. | What changes can I make – for me or for my students? | ||
| b. | Recording Teaching Practices with Video: In these new days following the pandemic, it is has become more commonplace to record class sessions for the absent student or an opportunity for students to review class sessions and deepen their understanding of the content. Another reason to record a class session is to provide an opportunity for Faculty to be reflective of their practices. By reviewing the video, faculty can ask the same questions as they might in the Reflection Journal. | ||
| 2. | External Assessment | ||
| a. | Student Evaluations: Ask students for their reactions to a particular unit or lesson. Use an anonymous survey in D2L to find out what students thought instruction was brilliant and where they found difficulty in understanding content. Students could be asked for suggestions to improve course effectiveness in response to their learning needs. | ||
| b. | Peer Observation: Faculty could ask a trusted colleague to sit in on a lesson that is challenging. The observing colleague can offer feedback to help improve instructional strategies or to inject new approaches into the current course design. | ||
D2L Updates
On June 1, 2023, the Legacy D2L Brightspace Help site will be decommissioned. The new D2L Help site is already up and running.
You can read more about that site and upcoming updates to D2L by visiting the D2L Release Notes page in the Instructor Hub.
Join CCIT for this Month's Trainings
Zoom Link for all sessions:
https://dtcc.zoom.us/j/93627251230
Every other Wednesday at 11:00 am
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May 3: Share Awareness of Institutional Supports |
| Have your students ever asked you questions about college resources that you didn’t know the answer to? Do you need to know about resources that are available to support students? This Lunch and Learn is for you! Karianne and Laura will help you discover resources and ways to share them that reduce the possible stigma attached. |
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May 17: Take Time for Self-Care |
| Did you know that sometimes the best way to take care of your students is to figure out how to take care of you? In this Lunch and Learn, Karianne, Laura, and a special guest will help you find some ways to preserve your sanity! |
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May 31: DEI Competencies @ 11:30 am |
| This final Lunch and Learn is a very special episode because it is also a part of the Equity Summit. We will explore some competencies across the learning continuum to help recognize the extent to which we are serving our students with a lens on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Special Time: 11:30 am |
Every other Friday at 9:00 am
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May 5: What is our ROI? Does it Make a Difference? |
| Our culmination of our DIY “This Old Course” is to see if we made an impact through our updates! Learn how to use data to make informed decisions in your course. You can use surveys, intelligent agents, and reports to be a reflective practitioner, enhance your course, and grow in your instructional approach. |
Fridays by Appointment
Do you ever go to a Coffee Talk or Lunch and Learn session and want to implement the strategies, but you just don’t know where to start? If so, we are here for you! We’ve created a Teaching with Technology makerspace to help you put your ideas into action! CCIT will work with you and your colleagues to create a mini project that you can use with your students.
To get started fill out our Make It Take It Appointment Form, let us know what you want to make, where and when you want to meet, and who you’ll be bringing with you!
How to Check for Badges & Certificates
We are nearing the end of a semester and there is an important aspect that comes with successful completion. Have you earned badges or a certificate in D2L and do not know where to find them? Would you like to be able to share your accomplishment with others? In this 5 Minute Sound Byte, find out how to locate your awards in D2L.
Learning from Each Other
As part of our efforts to facilitate diversity, equity, and inclusion, we need to ensure that students feel empowered to succeed. Students need to see themselves as contributing members of the College and in their chosen program of study. This is called Representation and is the focus of many of the articles in this newsletter. In case you missed the Lunch and Learn that presented definitions for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, it is provided here.
| Gain inspiration from: | ||
| Heather’s Canva Video Template | Megan’s Escape Room | |
| Jody’s Interactive Activity | James’s 3D Modeling | |
| Sharlene’s Bitmojis & Jamboard | Kim’s Digital Storytelling | |
| Holly’s VR Classroom Tour | Simeon’s ThingLink Tour | |
Coffee Talk: Learner Engagement Fieldtrip