Online Learning News - September 9, 2020

Host: Dr. Roland van Oostveen, Associate Professor and Director, Educational Informatics Laboratory (EILab) at Ontario Tech University

Host: Dr. Elizabeth Childs, Professor and Program Head of the MA in Learning and Technology at Royal Roads University

Free webinar! 

How to Assess Students for Their Readiness to Successfully Study Online

Thursday, September 17, 2020
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. (ET)

Learn about a suite of tools developed by the Educational Informatics Laboratory (EILAB) designed to give students the ability to self-assess their readiness for online learning and to give colleges and universities additional information to meet the needs of the students. In this interactive 1.5-hour webinar, you will:

• Preview the Digital Competency Profiler tool (DCP), a free tool that provides visual information about a student’s competency to use digital tools in their personal, work and study lives. Hear how it is being used at Ontario Tech University and other institutions in Ontario, across Canada, and around the world.
   
• Explore how the Digital Competency Profiler tool can be used to strengthen student online learning and assist faculty in creating courses that leverage the strengths of their students digital skills.
   
• Learn how to use the Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) model to foster online learning environments that are inclusive, collaborative and engaging.
   
• Explore ways to set a context in which students are co-creators of the learning environment as a way to democratize learning, increase student engagement and success.

Register Here

Five Guiding Principles are Changing how Faculty and Instructors Approach Assessment

Assessment is crucial to learning. Providing feedback, nudging learners to improve and suggesting additional work and activities that could strengthen their learning is key to assessment for learning. Grading against clear rubrics that reflect the objectives of the course and intentions of the program of study is key to the assessment of learning and to the task of quality assurance.

What will assessment look like in the future?

How might assessment change, given:

• The emergence of technology-enabled tools for assessment;
• New challenges about security and academic integrity; and
• New ways of delivering learning?

To find the answer to these questions and more, read How Assessment is Changing in The Digital Age: Five Guiding Principles.

Developing a Class Response System to Promote Active Learning During Online Courses at Seneca College

Learn how Dr. Ken Kwong-Kay Wong, Professor at the School of Marketing at Seneca College in Markham, Ontario, Canada, developed a class response system called Presentria that helps to promote active learning and enhance engagement in online classes.

The tool pushes polls and questions to the student’s device to encourage group discussion with innovative questioning techniques, which get more students involved in class participation. In addition, there are advanced features such as team competitions, speed challenges, peer review, peer feedback and experiential learning.

Register Now!

Using Zoom to Teach Online 
Training Sessions and Resources

College and university faculty and instructors, literacy and basic skills and training providers are increasingly using Zoom to teach and train. Zoom is fast becoming a learning platform of choice.

Contact North | Contact Nord is offering a series of free, 60-minute live training webinars on how to teach online with Zoom for faculty and instructors, in additional to a variety of resources.

For more information on the sessions, the upcoming schedule and links to register, visit Zoom Training Sessions and Resources.

Contact North I Contact Nord’s Searchable Directory of Selected Journals in Online and Distance Learning

Journals play essential roles in online and distance learning for sharing the latest in research, innovation, theory, practices, and events. Educators find ideas and connections, building a collective knowledge base that advances teaching, learning, management – and student success. 

Search the Directory

Read Dr. Tony Bates’ Blog Post

Stanford University received responses from 6,000 of their students (response rate just under 40%) to identify the main obstacles students encountered during the spring quarter, when it moved its classes to remote learning.

In this blog post, Dr. Bates reviews the main lessons of survey and its implications for the fall semester that apply to many other higher education institutions.

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

Lessons from Stanford University’s move to remote learning.

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.

Conrad, D. & Openo, J. (2018). Assessment Strategies for Online Learning: Engagement and Authenticity. Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University Press.

A practical, helpful and insightful book full of advice and support for the faculty member seeking to develop meaningful, authentic formative and summative assessments for and of learning. Written by two of the most experienced professionals in ODFL in North America, their experiences shine through on every page – making this both an immensely readable, useful and practical collection of insights, practices and suggestions. Since assessment will become increasingly important – more and more students are seeking and are able to find assessment only qualifications and credentials – and also an area where quality of learning can best be seen, this is a must-read book for faculty members. It is fully downloadable, either chapter by chapter or as a whole e-book.

Browse all Must-Read Books