Author: Anwen Burk
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Teaching Online? We Can Help!
Whether you are new to online teaching, looking to expand your online teaching skills or just curious about what effective online learning looks like, there are many ways we can help. At any time, you can request a one-on-one consultation with a technology or online pedagogy expert by emailing learnsupport@viu.ca. We also have blog posts…
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Course Prep Week for Spring 2025: Hands On Curriculum Support for Faculty
Join us for Course Prep Week Spring25 : Hands On Curriculum Support for Faculty, December 10 – 12, 2024. This week the CIEL is hosting offerings that will help you get ready for your Spring 2025 courses. Learning opportunities will include workshops, consultations, and the opportunity to interact with colleagues who are working on the…
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Choosing the Right Tool for Asynchronous Online Learning
Asynchronous online learning activities are the ones that students can do in their own time and at their own pace. These activities are an important part of any type of course with an online component. There are several things to consider when choosing the right online tools to use for teaching and learning. In fact,…
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Using Teams to Build Connection
The importance of building connection into teaching and learning is not unique to online learning environments, but it can be more challenging when you are not in the same physical space as your students. To build connection into an online learning environment, there are three types of interaction to consider. These interactions can be built into…
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Generative AI and Assessment
In our previous post about GenAI, we explored a range of approaches for integrating GenAI into course design. In this post, our focus shifts towards strategies that harness GenAI to either design assessments or adjust existing ones. Assessments serve a dual purpose: they provide us with insights into students’ acquired knowledge and skills, and they…
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What does AI mean in your classroom?
As the new semester approaches, you may be considering if Generative AI (AI) and Large Language Models (LLM) are suitable in your teaching and learning context. Many students might already be using AI tools and that presents both opportunities and challenges in our classrooms. AI can be a beneficial learning tool. However, without careful consideration…
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Is Artificial Intelligence on your mind?
It is certainly on ours! As we head into a new semester, we can’t help but think about the rapid growth of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT, and consider the impact these tools are having on teaching and learning.
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The Share Drive (Ep. 22): Trust in the Process
This podcast was recorded in Fall 2022 when Vicki Nygaard was teaching Sociology of Gender Relations (SOCI 322). We talked about a project her class was working on at the time – the creation of a book on gender. That book, Gender: Reflections and Intersections, has now been published online and is also available for…
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Blended Learning
There are many ways to describe blended learning. One of my favourites describes blended learning as a “pedagogical approach that combines the effectiveness and socialization opportunities of the classroom with the technologically enhanced active learning possibilities of the online environment.” The Handbook of Blended Learning : Global Perspectives, Local Designs I like this one because…
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The Share Drive (Ep.21): How Much Water Do We Have?
It is Sustainable Development Week at VIU, so we wanted to share an example of how the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be integrated into your course design. In this podcast I spoke with Dr. Jerome Lesemann from VIU’s Earth Science Faculty about how he incorporated the SDGs into a recent course using a…
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Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework we can use to design courses that are more inclusive and accessible. The framework, developed by CAST, is quite extensive and there are many resources available that can help you implement UDL principles. In this blog post we will provide an overview of the three UDL guidelines…
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Flexible Assessment
What is Flexible Assessment? Flexible assessment can take many forms. The flexibility may come from format, due dates or topic. It can apply to individual assignments or the assessment plan for your entire course. However, the success of any approach to flexible assessment will stem from the development of clearly established learning outcomes. Why Adopt…