Online Learning News - February 10, 2021

Entrepreneurship Course Gives Students Real-World Experience Running Online Businesses

A Guelph University Innovation

Read how Dr. Felix Arndt, John F. Wood Chair in Entrepreneurship in the Department of Management at the University of Guelph, designed a new Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship online course. He combines theory with real-world, practical experiences by having the students run their own business.

Free Contact North | Contact Nord Webinar

How to Make Your Course
Interactive and Engaging

Wednesday, February 17, at 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (ET)

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Learn five practical ways to go beyond the talking head and ensure high levels of student engagement in your course.

• How do you design and oversee small group work online?
• How do you support individual presentations or group presentations?
• How do you design other activities to ensure interactivity during a class and student engagement between classes?
• How do you give feedback which helps students progress?
• How do you use analytics to see how students are using the online resources in the course?

Our host: Dr. Stephen Murgatroyd, Chief Innovation Officer, Contact North | Contact Nord

What are the advances, concerns, distractors, promise and opportunity for online learning in 2021?

All of us with a stake in the future of higher education are wrestling with five significant questions at the start of 2021:

1. What three major advances in online learning are likely to happen in 2021? 
2. What are the three major concerns for online learning in 2021?  
3. What are the three likely distractors?  
4. What is one promising development to keep an eye on? 
5. What are three items to really focus on in 2021 that will enable the development and growth of online learning?

To find the answers to these five questions, read Advances, Concerns, Distractors, Promise and Opportunity for Online Learning In 2021.

Free Online Course

Blended and Online Learning Design

Offered by University College London (UCL)

Start Anytime!

This three-week teaching course supports teachers’ own innovations in teaching and learning online, whether you teach in a school, college or university. It creates the opportunity for a collaborative exchange of ideas, solutions, and learning designs.

Topics covered:

• The nature of learning design in the context of blended and online learning
• The Conversational Framework as a tool for thinking about learning design and assessment
• Digital tools and resources to enhance your learning management system 
• The Learning Designer tool for borrowing, planning, creating and sharing designs
• Learning designs and types of formative assessment for blended and online learning
• Implementing online learning across your institution 

For More Information and Registration

Search Contact North | Contact Nord’s
Directory of Teaching and Learning Centres in Ontario and across Canada 

Access the resources of over 80 teaching and learning centres at colleges and universities in Ontario and across Canada that support faculty and instructors by offering resources, tools, coaching, and training to enhance teaching and learning strategies, assessment practices, and student interaction.

Search the Directory of Teaching and Learning Centres

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

In this blog post, Dr. Bates reviews and comments the Higher Education Strategy Associate’s (HESA) recent survey that looks at students’ learning experiences in Canadian post-secondary institutions.

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

HESA’s survey of post-secondary student responses to learning during Covid-19

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.

Fisher, D., Frey, N., Bustamante, V. and Hattie, J. (2020). The Assessment Playbook for Distance and Blended Learning: Measuring Student Learning in Any Setting. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

One challenge the pandemic gave rise to was the need to rethink assessment for and of learning. This is as true for higher education as it has been for K-12, which is the focus for this book. Despite its overly cute format – the book has three sections titled cookies, playlist and upgrades – the book is very practical, insightful and helpful. The ideas apply just as much to graduate work as they do to high school or any educational setting. As you explore what else you can do to help students learn through evaluation and assessment, this will prove to be an invaluable resource.

Browse all Must-Read Books

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