Online Learning News - January 27, 2021

How to Improve Student Engagement in Your College and University Courses by Using K-12 Teaching Techniques

Thursday, February 4, 2021
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (ET)

Register Now!

Join our host Dr. Janet Wood Varner, visiting professor in the educational studies department at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, to explore how:

• Open-ended questioning with total participation techniques not only work but also ensure everyone is engaged and can participate.
• Reflective activities designed to get students to find out what actually gets them to learn are vital. This includes engaging students with the concept of metacognition.
• Flexible grouping of students with norms and protocols is key.
• Exploratory activities with hands-on materials engage college students as much as a group of kindergartners.
• Explicit instruction on when to be engaged with technology and when not to be is important.
• Self-created projects based on clear course objectives can bring a class to life for students as they conduct their individual research as well as share their learning with others.

View Contact North | Contact Nord’s full list of upcoming webinars

Fostering Lifelong Learning Skills
at OCAD University with My3L

An OCAD University Innovation

Learn how Jutta Treviranus, Director of the Inclusive Design Institute and a professor in the Design for Health (MDes) program, launched the My Lifelong Learning Lab (My3L) project to build a supportive community of learners during the formal period of education and after graduation when students are working in the field. 

Neil Fassina Made an Outstanding Contribution to Athabasca University and to Canada’s
Online and Flexible Learning Sector

Read Contact North | Contact Nord’s reflection on Dr. Neil Fassina’s four-year journey as the eighth president of Athabasca University.

During his tenure, he reinvigorated the University by creating energy and a passion for innovative, technology-enabled learning, launched new programs and initiatives, and rekindled the innovative spirit, which was the hallmark of the University in the past.

Read how Neil Fassina Made an Outstanding Contribution to Athabasca University and to Canada’s Online and Flexible Learning Sector.

Spots Still Available!

How to Be a Successful Online Learner

Thursday, January 28, 2021
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (ET)

Register Now

Join Dr. Steve Joordens, a professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough for an interactive one-hour conversation designed to prepare students to succeed in their online courses.

Contact North | Contact Nord’s Directory
of 83 Online, Open & Distance Learning Associations and Consortia Throughout the World

Contact North | Contact Nord created this non-exhaustive list of online, distance and open learning associations and consortia around the world, providing links to websites (if available) to widen access to the valuable information offered by each.

Explore the Directory

Still Time to Register!

Learning to Learn Online

Monday, January 18 to Sunday, February 21, 2021

Ideal for:

• Students learning online for the first time
• Students who want to improve their approach to online learning
• Teachers or education professionals who want to support their students in learning online

1,541 students and educators from 79 countries ‬participated in the September 2020 offering.

Start any time after January 18, 2021. You must complete the course no later than February 21, 2021.

More Information and Registration

Read Dr. Tony Bates’ Blog Post

This blog post is the second in a series of posts on online learning in the K-12 school sector. In this post, Dr. Bates addresses the issue of access, technology and the costs of online learning for K-12 in Canada.

Read Contact North I Contact Nord Research Associate Dr. Tony Bates’ blog post:

Online learning and (k-12) schools: 2. Technology and cost issues

Must-Read Books on Online Learning

Must-Read Books on Online Learning features books and articles of interest to those involved in the expansion and improvement of online learning.

Dempsey, P.R. (2021). Creating Transformative Online Communities in Higher Education. New York: Routledge.

Combining three related ideas – complexity theory, transformative learning, and the Community of Inquiry model of teaching and learning – this creative, practical and insightful framework provides instructors an approach to the development of compelling virtual learning experiences for students. As we shift from presenting information to creating experiences, the book offers an evidence-based disruption of the current thinking about course design. And moves us from content to challenge-based learning.

Browse all Must-Read Books

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