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New Way to Set Up Quiz Accommodations in VIULearn
There is a new way to set up quiz accommodations in VIULearn. Previously, student accommodations had to be set for each quiz individually using the Special Access feature. While Special Access isn’t going anywhere, a new Accommodations option allows you to set quiz timing and right-click behaviour for a student at the course level eliminating…
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Set Up VIULearn to Facilitate Student Choice
Giving students meaningful choices about how they demonstrate their learning can help students become self-directed learners who can apply the skills they learn with us in their future endeavours. However, for instructors in an online learning environment, giving meaningful choices can quickly become a logistical nightmare. Thankfully, there are things you can do to facilitate…
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The Pandemic Broke Our Teaching: Now what?
A Zoomside Chat, hosted by CIEL on Thursday, February 25 @ 3pm A lot has changed in the world of teaching and learning over the past few months. Some of us have been energized by this new reality. Others can’t wait to get back to how things were before. One critical question is, “CAN we…
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Purposeful Assignments: Encouraging Choice, Relevance and Creativity through Portfolios
In our first blog post on Purposeful Assignments, we laid out some ways you could know if you had created a purposeful assignment for your students. In this post, we are going to look at two variations on a portfolio assignment. We spoke to two instructors (Sylvie Lafrenière and Beth Mclin) and they shared the…
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Design Purposeful Assignments
As we all navigate new ways of teaching and learning, we at the CIEL are hearing a lot of stress from both students and faculty around major assignments. This isn’t all because of hybrid and online learning. Assignments that carry a large percentage of a grade have always been a source of stress for both…
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The Share Drive Episode 12: Aggie Weighill: Innovative Ways to Mobilize Knowledge
After learning the correct pronunciation of Aggie’s last name, we decide Aggie is so well-known and influential, that no last name is even necessary and “Aggie” can stand alone (think Beyonce or Madonna). When we get down to business, we discuss the ways in which Aggie shifted her energy and her teaching for the online…
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New Assignment Create/Edit Experience Available for Opt-In
Starting December 8, 2020, instructors in VIULearn can opt in to using the new Assignment creation interface. This new version of the Assignment tool will replace the current Assignment creation workflow in Summer 2021. In this blog post we will look at the new Assignment Creation screen in detail so you can see what is…
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Watch the Student Technology Orientation anytime!
This year, we are running live webinars to introduce students to the learning technologies available at VIU while protecting the health and safety of everyone involved. Are you unable to attend one of our live Student Technology Orientation webinars this spring but still want to see what tools are available & how to get support?…
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Spring Learning Technology Orientation Webinars for Students
This Spring, to continue to better support the busy lives of students and employees at VIU while maintaining safe social distance, the Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning (CIEL) will be offering fully online orientations for VIULearn and other teaching and learning technologies that are supported by CIEL. Students and employees can self-register for…
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Taking a peek: How do other instructors design their VIULearn courses? (Ravi Mohabeer and Stephanie Boychuk)
Would you like to take a peek into your colleagues’ VIULearn course shells? Do you have questions about how best to arrange material in VIULearn, or how to format the course material clearly and accessibly? In this recorded Show N Share session, two VIU teaching faculty, Ravi Mohabeer (Media Studies) and Stephanie Boychuk (Adult Basic Education) each share and discuss their…
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The Share Drive Episode 11: Evandra Panych: Instructional Design for Dinner
Evandra Panych, an alumni of the CIEL’s course redesign “sailing,” shares her process in designing and teaching an online course in the interior design program. Evandra acknowledges how challenging it was for her to redesign a practical, lab-based course for the online world. In this episode, Evandra honestly describes what didn’t work well, and what…
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CIEL Consultations: One on one support with a course design specialist
What’s a consultation, and how do you get one? CIEL staff are available to answer questions and act as sounding boards for your ideas. If you have a question about how to use a specific technology, are considering a new approach to teaching in one of your courses, or have run into an issue you’re…