The Power of Social Learning: How to Incorporate Social Learning in Your Classroom

People learn by watching other people. Social learning theory states that we learn from anyone we come in contact. Humans can learn from anyone, including family members, coworkers, and celebrities! The same concept can be applied in education. Students learn through social interactions with other students. As students interact with one another, they also learn from each other. 

We will explore how you can use social learning in your teaching strategy.

Social Learning Benefits

• Retention: when learners discuss how they have applied what they have learned with each other, this helps to enhance content retention.

• Participation: learners interacting with each other helps improve learning and increases participation.

• Collaboration:  improves collaboration by allowing learners to collaborate and share ideas.

• Expanded perspectives:  can expand learners' perspectives by exposing them to different viewpoints and experiences.

Way to Incorporate Social Learning in Your Class

Use social media!

Learners can connect to do assignments, share resources, or discuss topics.

1. X (formerly known as Twitter) - students can research different topics by using hashtags or keywords

2. LinkedIn - students can research different topics, create a LinkedIn group for students to learn from each other, or create their profile and build their network.

3. Facebook - create discussion topics so students can communicate with each other and the instructor. You can also use it to send messages or reminders.

Online Discussion Forums

Online discussion forums can be used to facilitate social learning. Learners can ask questions, share ideas, and collaborate with each other. You can use the discussion tool in your Learning Management System, like Canvas or Blackboard, to encourage student communication and collaboration. 

Benefits of discussion forums: 

• creates a community

• encourages classroom participation

• allows students to contribute better to the discussion by giving them time to formulate their responses

Group projects 

Learners can work together to complete a project and learn from each other. Students can share ideas, collaborate, and build on each other's strengths by working in groups. 

Benefits of Group projects:

• Encourages students to take ownership of their learning and develop essential communication, problem-solving, and time-management skills 

• Helps students develop a sense of community and belonging within the classroom, which can improve the overall learning experience

Peer Review

Learners can review each other's work and provide feedback, enhancing learning and collaboration.

Benefits of Peer Review:

• Encourages learners to engage with and critically evaluate each other's work can help them identify gaps in their understanding and deepen their knowledge

• It can help learners develop critical thinking skills by requiring them to evaluate and analyze each other's work, which can help them develop the ability to assess arguments and make informed decisions

Sample Peer Review Assignments:

• Essay peer review - students can be assigned to read and provide feedback on each other's essays

• Group project peer review - students working on a group project can be asked to provide feedback on each other's contributions and overall performance within the group.

• Presentation peer review - students can be assigned to watch and evaluate each other's presentations.

• Code review - for computer science or programming courses, students can be assigned to review each other's code and provide feedback on style, readability, and functionality.

Mentorship

Learners can be paired with a mentor who can provide guidance and support.

Benefits of Mentors:

• improved grades - guide students on test-taking strategies

• increased self-esteem - having someone who believes in them will make them more confident in their abilities

• creates a feeling of community - introduces students to new experiences and ideas and to people who share similar interests

• increased connection at school

• career guidance - support students in their careers by providing them with job search strategies and networking opportunities

Social learning allows your students to engage more with you and each other, creating more communication and collaboration, leading to more memorable learning experiences. Creating a sense of community is important for supporting learning, especially in online or remote teaching environments.

Effective Course Design with the ADDIE Model

When designing a course, the most important part is ensuring the course is effective and meets the learners' needs. The ADDIE model of instructional design is commonly used for course design to create instructional materials and experiences that are well-organized, engaging, and meet the course learning objectives.

The ADDIE model consists of five phases: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.

Let's review how using these five phases will help design your course!

Analysis

During the analysis phase, you identify the learners' needs and determine your course's goals. This also includes analyzing who your audience will be, the learners' learning styles, and identifying potential learning barriers.

For example, some questions you can ask yourself will be:

• What do you learners need to learn?

• Do your learners need to know specific skills to take your class? Are there any technical requirements necessary for the class?

• How will the class be structured? Do you plan to use weekly modules or by chapter?

• How will you assess your learner's performance?

• How do you envision their learning environment, and how will this affect their learning? 

• What kind of content will you be designing to engage your learners? For example, will you use graphics, videos, text, or audio?

This phase helps you understand your course needs and how you will measure success.

One way to achieve this is to use the backward design model to identify the learners' needs and determine your course's goals. The backward design model helps you to start with the end goal in mind, which is the desired learning outcomes, and then work backward to create instructional materials and activities that will enable learners to achieve those outcomes.

You can identify what learners need to learn, what skills they need to acquire, and how you will measure their learning outcomes. You can also identify potential learning barriers and determine how to overcome them.

For example, if you are designing a course on project management, you can start with the end goal of the course, which is for learners to be able to manage projects successfully. Then, you can work backward to identify the specific skills and knowledge learners need to acquire to achieve that goal. You can also identify the best instructional materials and activities to enable learners to acquire those skills and knowledge. Lastly, you can determine how to assess the learning outcomes and address any potential obstacles preventing learning.

Design

In this phase, you will create a course outline that includes the following:

• Learning objectives - for your course and modules

• Course materials - content, videos, and audio or other course materials will you be designing for your course or plan to use

• Assessments - assignments, quizzes, projects, or other assessment methods will you be using to measure learning outcomes.

For example, a graphic design instructor might design learning objectives that include learning how to use design software, understanding design principles, and applying them to real-life design projects. The graphic design instructor will use video tutorials to teach learners about design software and hands-on design projects to apply the concepts learned in the course. The instructor will also use quizzes to test the learners' understanding of design principles and assess whether or not they can apply what they have learned to real-life design challenges.

This phase is also where you will decide the most effective delivery methods for the course, such as face-to-face or online instruction.

Development

The development phase is where the actual course materials are created. This phase includes developing course content, creating multimedia elements such as videos or audio, and assessments. During this phase, you must ensure that you create course content accessible to all learners, regardless of their abilities.

For example, a photography instructor during this phase will create course content that consists of videos, audio, and different assessments to ensure that our learners have a well-rounded understanding of photography.

The content will also be accessible to all learners. The instructor will use closed captions in their videos to ensure that learners who are hard of hearing or deaf can still understand the content. He will also provide transcripts of the audio lectures for learners who prefer to read the content. Lastly, he will make sure that course content meets accessibility standards, which include providing alt tags for images and making sure that any external website used in the course can navigated by learners who use assistive technologies.

The photography instructor will create various materials for course content to engage the learners and cater to different learning styles. For example, he will develop interactive quizzes to test learners' knowledge of photography concepts and provide hands-on exercises to allow learners to practice their photography skills. The instructor will also create video tutorials that demonstrate specific techniques and provide examples of how to apply these techniques in real-life situations.

Implement

After developing the course, it is time to implement it. During this phase, the instructor delivers the course to the learners who take the class. Any necessary adjustments are made based on feedback from learners and instructors.

For example, a history college instructor recently developed an online course for their students. The professor implements it by giving their students access to the course materials. As the students go through the course, the professor receives feedback regarding the content, the format, and any technical difficulties they may have experienced. The professor uses this feedback to adjust the course, improve the experience, and meet the needs of the students. For example, most students need help understanding a particular module. In that case, the professor may create additional resources or provide more detailed explanations to help the students better understand the material. Similarly, if there are technical issues with the learning platform, the professor may work with the IT department to resolve them and improve the overall user experience. By making these necessary adjustments, the professor ensures that the course is effective and engaging for their students.

Evaluation

Lastly, the evaluation phase is where the success of the course is evaluated. In this phase, you want to analyze how effective the course materials were, the learner's performance in the class, and identify any areas for improvement.

For example, if you were a high school physics teacher who recently designed and implemented a new course on electromagnetism. You would collect student data and feedback during the evaluation phase to determine the course's effectiveness.

Some ways to collect feedback is to use surveys that ask questions such as:

• Did you find the course materials engaging and useful?

• Were the learning objectives clear and achievable?

• Did the assessments accurately measure your understanding of the material?

• Were you able to apply the concepts learned in the course to real-life situations?

• How can the course be improved?

Based on the feedback collected during the evaluation phase, you can identify areas for improvement and make necessary changes to the course to help future students have an even better learning experience.

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In conclusion, by following the ADDIE model, course designers can ensure that their courses are effective and meet the needs of learners.

Virtual or Augmented Reality in Instructional Design: A Guide for Educators

The world of instructional design is constantly evolving, and virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR) is one of the latest trends in the field. Both of these technologies allow users to engage in immersive learning experiences and allow for some exciting possibilities for learning different content.

Difference between VR and AR

Virtual Reality allows the user to immerse themselves in a computer-generated environment that appears natural. In comparison, Augmented Reality provides a real-world experience of visual elements, sounds, or sensory stimuli delivered through cutting-edge technology. Both have unique benefits and challenges in instructional design.

Let's go over these benefits and challenges.

Learning Objectives

VR/AR can be a powerful tool for creating an engaging and enjoyable learning experience. However, it's important to consider whether the technology is being used to support the course's learning objectives or simply using it for the sake of using it. It should also aid in providing students with hands-on experience and a better understanding of complex concepts.

VR/AR platforms 

Various VR/AR platforms are available, from simple mobile apps to complex headsets. Choose the platform that best suits your learning objectives and budget. For example, Adobe Aero allows you to create immersive AR without coding, which is excellent for beginners. Adobe Aero will enable you to add 2D images from Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. Another example is Google Tilt Brush which is great for artists and a great VR design software. It allows you to paint in 3D using different brushes and interact and walk around your artwork.

Realistic Scenarios

The latest AR/VR technologies are revolutionizing how students learn and explore. With immersive learning experiences, students can now travel through time and witness historical events firsthand or explore the human body in remarkable detail. These state-of-the-art tools are opening up a whole new world of possibilities for education.

The power of VR/AR lies in its ability to create realistic, immersive scenarios that textbooks cannot offer. Learners can hone their real-world skills in a secure and structured setting. Whether it's hands-on training or simulated scenarios, these experiences can help learners gain confidence and expertise without the risks associated with real-life situations.

For example, you can create VR scenarios such as medical procedures or visiting Michelangelo's David in the Galleria dell'Accademia without flying to Italy. You can also use AR overlays to view the night sky. For example, SkyView allows students to view the universe and identify stars and planets.

Challenges of using AR/VR

It's worth noting that AR/VR technology can come with some challenges. For starters, it can be quite costly and requires a fair amount of technical resources to maintain. Additionally, some users may experience fatigue or anxiety when using AR/VR due to the high cognitive demand placed on them. It's also important to acknowledge that while AR/VR can be affordable to use in some instances, there are, unfortunately, some educational organizations that may require assistance to be able to afford this technology.

Support and feedback

VR/AR can disorient some learners, so providing clear instructions and feedback is important throughout the experience. Ensure learners know what they are expected to do and allow them to give feedback on their experience. With feedback, you will be able to gauge the effectiveness of the technology.

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To sum up, implementing AR/VR technology in education can revolutionize how students learn by providing immersive, lifelike experiences that translate into improved comprehension and retention of critical concepts.

Unlock the Potential: The Power of Gamification in Education

What is Gamification?

Gamification is the use of game-design elements and principles in non-game environments. What this means to educators is that they can use gamification in educational settings. 

What is Gamification Popular?

Gamification has become increasingly popular in recent years, with many companies and now educational institutions incorporating game-like features into their products. Adding gamification elements like badges or leaderboards increases user engagement and motivation. It makes routine tasks more enjoyable and rewarding, creating a sense of achievement and progress for users.

Gamification in Instructional Design

A popular trend in instructional design, gamification creates more interactivity and engagement for student users. 

Let's explore the benefits of using gamification and some of the downsides.

Advantages:

Increases engagement - by adding gaming elements like badges, points, or leaderboards, learners are more motivated to participate and complete learning activities and increasing retention rates.

Making learning fun - can create a sense of competition and achievement, thus making learning less of a chore.

Disadvantages

Only for some students - some users will not be motivated to learn by rewards or competition.

Extrinsic motivation - users will focus on getting points or badges instead of genuine love for learning.

Unfair advantage - students who are good at playing games might do better than those who do not like gaming or are new to gaming.

Using Gamification Effectively in instructional design

• Learning objectives are clear - What do you want your learners to learn? How will the game align with your learning objectives? Answering these questions will help you create games or incorporate gaming elements that make sense into your course content.

• Don't overdo it - If you use too many gaming elements, it overwhelms the learner. Only use sparingly and without distracting from the course content.

• Provide feedback: Learners need to know how they are progressing and what they need to do to improve. Ensure you provide regular feedback on their performance and progress toward their learning objectives.

Using Gamification in Education

• Badges: Awarding badges for completing tasks or demonstrating mastery can motivate students to complete their work.

• Leaderboards: Leaderboards ranks students again their peers, creating a sense of competition and motivating students to perform better.

• Simulations/scenarios: Creating simulations or scenarios that allow students to apply their knowledge in a realistic setting can improve their understanding and retention of the material. 

• Role-playing games: allow students to explore complex social and cultural issues in a safe and engaging environment.

• Interactive quizzes and games: Creating interactive quizzes and games that test student knowledge can help students reinforce their understanding of the material.

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Gamification Tools

• Booklet: Instructors can select question sets and game modes. Booklet generates a unique code for players to access the game. Once the game begins, the player can answer the various questions to win, keeping them engaged and motivated.
  

• Brainscape: Looking to help students excel in their studies? Brainscape offers a seamless solution with its custom flashcard feature that turns learning into an engaging and rewarding experience. Create your personalized flashdeck today and make studying an enjoyable experience for students.
  

• Quizalize: With this tool, you can easily craft questions about any topic you desire and then convert them into engaging gamified quizzes that everyone will enjoy!
  

• Quizlet: This fantastic tool is free for instructors and students, making it an excellent resource for all. You can customize your quizzes and flashcards to suit your teaching style and create engaging games to keep your students interested and excited about learning.
  

• Kahoot :This innovative tool allows you to effortlessly turn your quizzes into engaging games that keep your students interested and excited about learning. With its easy-to-use interface and customizable options, you can tailor your lessons to suit your teaching style and make the learning experience more enjoyable for everyone involved.
  

• EdPuzzle: Teachers can effortlessly craft interactive video lessons that incorporate quizzes or other fun gaming elements. Whether you prefer to use your audio comments or come up with your questions, this innovative tool makes it easier than ever to keep students engaged and interested in the learning process.

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In conclusion, gamification has the potential to be a highly effective tool in instructional design. Incorporating game elements into the course can improve the educational experience and make it more exciting and interactive for your students. However, it's important to use gamification effectively and for students to understand how they relate to the course's learning objectives. With these tips in mind, you can create course content that is both fun and effective.

ICONIC COURSE

Icons are great visual tools that can significantly enhance the design and usability of your online course. Using icons will help students quickly identify important information, navigate course content, and improve engagement. This blog post explores how to use icons in your online course effectively.

What are Icons?

Icons are symbols or pictures that are used to represent a file or application. In course design, icons can be used to support text. 

Choosing the Right Icons:

When deciding what icons to use for your course, you need to make sure you choose icons appropriate for the course content. For example, you might use a "mouse" icon to indicate links or a "video" icon to indicate video lessons. 

example of a mouse icon used to show links

Keep it Simple

Use icons that are easy to understand and clear. Avoid using abstract or complicated icons that may confuse students. You want to use icons that students can easily recognize and identify. 

Do use icons that are recognizable

Avoid using abstract icons

Use Consistent Icons

Ensure you use the same icon for the same type of content throughout your course. For example, use a "discussion" icon for all discussion forum links.

Do use same icon for same type of content

Make them Accessible

The icons you use should be accessible to all students, so include alt text descriptions for each icon. By doing so, screen readers can read the icon description to visually impaired students.

Using Icons in Course Navigation

Icons in your course navigation to help students quickly identify essential course elements. For example, use a "home" icon for the course homepage link or a "calendar" icon for the course schedule.

sample course navigation

Finding Icons to Use

The Noun Project is an excellent resource for finding high-quality icons to use in your course. It has over 3 million icons that you can choose from to find the perfect icon to represent any concept or topic. A community of designers creates the icons, and they are available in multiple file formats, making them easy to use in your course design. 

The Noun Project also offers a subscription service that provides access to additional features such as custom icon requests and royalty-free use of the icons. Using icons from The Noun Project can help enhance your course's visual appeal and organization, making it more engaging and user-friendly for your students.

When used correctly, icons can be a powerful visual tool that can enhance the design of your course. By choosing the right icons, using them consistently, and making them accessible, you will create an engaging and user-friendly course for your students.

TYPOGRAPHY IN COURSE DESIGN

You encounter typography almost every day! Do you know what typography is? Typography is how you arrange text and letters using spacing, different fonts, and different font sizes. You are using text and letters to create a story. You can use typography to convey various messages and create engaging and readable text. So why is this important for your online course? If you think about it, online course design is almost entirely using text, so why would you not want to use text to create a course that is both readable and visually appealing?

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Reasons why you should use Typography in your course:

1. Optimizes readability – using good typography creates a visual hierarchy. It lets the reader know which elements are essential and how they relate to the other text in your course content. One example of this is using headers. Headers established the main points of each page of content. Examples of headings you can use are H1, H2, H3, and H4.

2. Creates accessible content: Did you know that you can make your content more accessible with learners who have poor vision depending on the font you choose? Many learners have learning disabilities such as poor vision, dyslexia, or aphasia and need to have course content be as accessible as possible. For example, make sure that all font letters you use are easily distinguishable since many fonts have letters that look alike.

3. Creates a memorable experience: By using good typography, you create a good experience for your learner. You hold their attention and thereby helping them to easily read and remember your course content and stay focused and engaged in the course. 

Basics of Typography

Typography has the following elements that you need to understand to use in your course:

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Typeface

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Not to be confused with font, it is the style that makes up the font. In contrast, the font is how you graphically render a text character.

There are three types of typeface, (1) serif (2) san-serif and (3) decorative:

In your course, you will not want to use all three simultaneously. You will want to use two fonts at most to keep it clean and easy to read.

Contrast

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You create contrast when you emphasize certain text and not the other. One example of this would be using headers or images that has text. You can use text size or color to signify which course information grabs the learner’s attention.

Example 1

Example 2

Hierarchy

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Lets your learners understand what they need to read first and how content is organized. Headers allow you to manage your content using different heading:

Whitespace

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Also called “negative space.” Whitespace ensures the content is not overwhelming and created when you chunk your content or create other groupings. It makes more visually appealing content by not allowing too much clutter to appear on the page. 

Consistency

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Having consistent fonts and hierarchy for your course content is vital. If you use too many fonts or hierarchy in one page of content and not in the other might lead to a confusing and even disordered look of your course.

Example of content having too many fonts

Color

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The color you use for your content is important. One reason is you might have learners who are colorblind. You can quickly check for color contrast using this online contrast checker.

Alignment

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This is how your text or images align with other elements in your course content. You want to keep this as consistent as you can. For example, you might want to place a course banner on the top center of your page or any images you use on the left of the page before the paragraph begins.

Now that you understand the basic principles of typography, I hope they will help you when designing your course content. Comment below if you are using typography principles in your course or any tips you would like to share!

IMPORTANCE OF A MODULE OVERVIEW

When going to a bookstore or library, what is the first thing most people look at when they pick up a book that interests them? Is it the table of contents? The author or maybe the book summary? If the answer is the book summary, it also explains the importance of having a course module overview.

The book summary convinces people to read a book and creates a first impression on the reader, just like a course module overview creates that initial reaction from your students. That is why a course overview is an integral part of a course module. Before a student begins their module, described as a lesson, chapter, unit, or segment of instruction, the student should be introduced to the content and the module’s purpose.

The module overview summarizes what they will learn in the module, how it may build on previously learned information, and its relation to the course. It also helps students remember the main ideas, relevant information, and material covered in the course module. 

Let’s break it down

Sample Module Overviews

Sample 1: Module Overview(Text)

Without even realizing it, we use the principles of psychology every day. Have we ever grounded a child for being disobedient? We are using negative punishment, a type of operant conditioning. Psychology studies behavior, emotion, and cognition. Psychologists work to understand people better and how and why we act in certain situations. In this module, we will review the history of psychology as a discipline. We will also discuss the variety of specialty areas in Psychology and the five fundamental goals of Psychology.  

[ how it relates to the course ] Without even realizing it, we use the principles of psychology every day. Have we ever grounded a child for being disobedient? We are using negative punishment, a type of operant conditioning. Psychology studies behavior, emotion, and cognition. Psychologists work to understand people better and how and why we act in certain situations.

[ main ideas, relevant information, and material covered in the course module] In this module, we will review the history of psychology as a discipline. We will also discuss the variety of specialty areas in Psychology and the five fundamental goals of Psychology. 

Sample 2: Module Overview(Text)

[ how it relates to the course ] Our previous lesson covered an introduction to chemistry and how it is found everywhere, not just in a lab setting. Drinking soda or having your plant hit sunlight, there is a chemical process happening. This module will cover the chemistry of life. Did you know that fruit is a rich source of biological macromolecules or large molecules needed for life?

[ main ideas, relevant information, and material covered in the course module] Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus can be found in living things and are the critical building blocks of life. We will discuss the importance of these building blocks, their unique properties, and how their interactions with other atoms help shape life molecules.

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A module overview can compare to presenting a lecture or lesson in a face to face class. You do not just start lecturing about the lesson. There is excitement, context, or curiosity created to stimulate students’ interest in a topic and connect new information to previous information. So be creative in the module overview!

Please let me know what other topics you would like for me to discuss in the comments below. See you in the next post and please share with others if you find this information useful!

MAKING COURSE CONTENT EASY TO READ

Have you have ever visited a web page and can’t find what you are looking for on the page. Many users get frustrated right away when they can’t locate what they need on the page. In an online course, users feel the same way. If you create a page that is all text or has a very long scroll, your students will not be excited about the content. They will find it tedious to read through every line of text or paragraph to figure out the content. Creating an easy-to-read page is easy to do. You will want to make sure your content has the following:

Heading/Subheadings– helps to organize the content.

• Chunking – don’t group too much text together, make sure you create short logical paragraphs.

• Transitions – make sure your content transitions easily from one idea to another.

• Images – enhances your message and keep students interested.

• Bullets/Numbered Lists – helps students visually see essential information.

• White Space – makes sure that the content is not overwhelming and is created when you chunk your content or create other groupings. 

Let’s look at an example and break down the different elements.

Headers/Subheadings

Makes content easy to locate and creates a visually appealing page. Main header will use <h1> tags, while subheadings will use <h2>, <h3>, <h4> tags.

Chunking

Creating short paragraphs of information makes the content less intimidating and easier to read.

Transitions

Transitions help readers understand how the content is connected. If you create several paragraphs of content, make sure to incorporate transitional statements like:

• In addition

• In particular

• For example

• In fact

• For this purpose

• In conclusion

Images

Images reinforce the message. Use when appropriate.

Bullets/Numbered Lists 

Helps students to locate key points and sort items.

White Space

Creates a visually appealing page and content. Content is not overwhelming and easier to understand.

In conclusion, creating clear and intuitive content and avoiding a cluttered page will facilitate learning, help students understand their lesson, and quickly locate the information they need.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Please post below how you design your course content and other methods you use to help students understand the course content.

WHY SHOULD I USE GRAPHICS IN MY COURSE?

When you think of graphics, you do not necessarily think of education. So how do graphics fit into education? We all know that people respond to images. Images can evoke different emotions. Images can be funny, sad, meaningful, or capture a certain feeling. When you graphically present a concept or lesson, students understand it better because it enhances your written content. It also helps students find course content easily and might even help them to remember the information. Using images for your content in a significant way will help create an excellent online course and content.

Types of Computer Graphics

There are two types of graphics that you can use for images. You can use:

• Raster (also known as bitmap images)– uses dots called pixels (short for picture element) to represent pictures. The dots are squared-shaped, and each pixel is assigned a set of coordinates. Raster images when made larger will lose their smooth appearance and appear jagged.

Vector – the computer works with the relationship between the pixels rather than the location of the pixels themselves. It uses a mathematical algorithm to connect the various point and paths of an image. This helps the image remain smooth at any size or resolution.

Resolution

Images are described as high or low-resolution images. Resolution is the measurement of the output quality of an image.

PPI (pixels per inch) – refers to screen resolution
PPI is the number of pixels displayed in an image. The images you see on your computer screen are displayed in pixels. The PPI is how your image is displayed. The higher the resolution, the bigger the image and the better it is displayed on your screen.

DPI (dots per inch) – refers to print resolution
DPI measures the resolution for your printer. It refers to the dots of ink or tuner used by your printing device to print your text and graphics. The more dots, the better and sharper your image will print.

File formats

Your file format is how your computer “reads” the document. Whenever you save a document, it always saves it in the format of the computer program you are using. If you want to save an image or document to be recognized by other programs, you need to save your file as cross-platform compatible. Cross-platform compatible means it is supported by many of the most commonly used image editing/graphic softwares.

Most common types of Raster formats:

• BMP – developed by Microsoft and is the format used on Windows operating system.

• PSD (Photoshop Document) – Adobe Photoshop native format.

• TIFF (Tagged Image File Format ) – Cross Platform, best used for high quality printing. This type of format uses lossless compression. Lossless compression means this type of file writes a large file that loses no data. Best use for high-resolution printing of images. Not recommend for the internet.

• JPG/JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Groups)- Cross Platform, best used for web and photography prints. Most commonly used for photography on the web, although it reduces the size by about 50%. This is considered lossy compression since some of the quality is lost.

• GIF (Graphics Interchange Format )- Cross Platform, best used for web especially animated images. Not to be used for photographs.

• PNG (Portable Network Graphics) – Cross Platform, best used for web. Superior lossless compression. It is an improved replacement for GIF.

Most common Vector format:

• EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)- can be used in many illustration softwares such as Adobe Illustrator. 

• AI (Adobe Illustrator Artwork ) – Adobe Illustrator native format.

What kind of image formats should I use for my course?

For the most part, the types of formats you should be using are:

JPG/JPEG – If you teach a course that uses a lot of photography. It will be a good idea to use JPG format since this format uses a wide range of colors and the file size is not so big that you will have a hard time uploading to your course and your students will be able to download easily. 

GIF – are used mainly for simple images, symbols, icons, and animations. GIF is a low-resolution file and only supports 256 colors.

PNG – supports both small and big image sizes and supports transparency and lossless. PNG can be used for digital art, logos, icons or symbols. It has a lot of versatility. 

I hope this information helps you understand the types of image formats available to you when designing your course. How are you using images in your course? If you have any suggestions or comments, please leave a comment below!

MODULAR COURSE DESIGN

Have you ever visited a website and were confused about the website layout? Did you have trouble locating the information you were looking for on the website? Did you not understand how to navigate the website and were left feeling frustrated? Course design is very similar to website design. You want the user to have the best possible experience, locate the information/resources, and understand your course or website’s flow. A well-designed course makes students perform the right choices and draw the correct conclusions about how they are supposed to navigate your course.  Using modular course design will help achieve this goal.

Why Course Modules?

Creating course modules in your online course is best practice. By dividing your information into smaller, more manageable segments of information and presenting it in a linear format, there is less likelihood that your student will have problems following your course structure and navigation. Designing your course in this approach is considered modular course design. In other words, you want to use segments of information that uses a logical path to teach your class. Each module is a self-contained block of information.

A book, for example, uses a modular approach. The chapters in the book would be considered modules. Each module is unique and has content related to only that specific module. So just like a book, you want to create content that makes sense for those modules. For example, most instructors create modules titled ” Week 1, Week 2, so on and so forth” This approach lets the student know that the course is structured by the current week. You don’t want to title one module “Lesson 1” and then your next module “Chapter 2”, where there is no consistency. 

Components of a Course Module

Once you decide on the naming convention of your modules, what elements will make up a module? It all depends on your teaching style, but recommended components to include will be the following:

1. Banner (Optional)

2. Module Overview – overview of your course module.

3. Learning Objectives – what does your module hope to accomplish?

4. Lecture – made up of text, PPTs (PowerPoint), PDFs, video, audio, or external resource.

5. Assignments – help students to understand the concepts and ideas presented in the course. 

6. Quizzes/Exams/Test/Labs -these assessments help identify any knowledge deficiencies and help students focus on the areas they need to review.

7. Practice Exercises (Quizzes, Labs, etc.) – help students review or practice skills and knowledge acquired.

8. Discussion – help to facilitate communication between the students.

9. Feedback – in the form of a survey or other manner that allows students to give feedback on their course progress so far. Feedback from your students can help you understand if there are any course deficiencies.

10. Supplemental Resources (Optional) – links to websites, publisher content, or other external resources that further enhance students’ learning. You can make this an optional activity for the student.

Sample Modular Course Design Template

Sample modular course design structure of first two weeks of a course

Each module should be created in a logical sequence, although every module might not look the same. You might include some components in a module but not in others. What is essential is to be consistent. 

Modular course design helps to design a successful online course. Once you carefully develop one module, it not only creates a template for your other course modules, you can also visually see how your modules relate to your course syllabus and course outcomes. Additionally, it enables you to transfer over content more easily from one part of the class to another or to another Learning Management System (LMS).

What are your thoughts about using modular course design for your course? Do you think your students benefit more from this type of course design? Let me know in the comments below!

Creating your Course Banner in Canva

What is the first thing you notice when you go to a website? Many users skim the content without actually reading it and try to locate the information they need. They also look for the website navigation to figure things out, but what is one thing that makes a website stand out or lose its audience? It is the website's visual design. First impressions always count! Visuals on a website or in your course matter because they keep the users interested and make the content more engaging. They also play a role in communicating to the user what your content is about, evoke emotion or reinforce content. For this reason, using banners in your course modules is good practice.

When you choose or create graphics for your course, they enhance your message and are directly related to the course content. You do not want to select any abstract concepts that students will not understand or use too many graphics that the message is lost. When you design your course module, you may want to use a banner in the module overview to set the module's tone and help reinforce the text of the module overview. Although it may seem like it would be a lot of work to create a banner, many free programs help you design it without any graphic design background. Creating a banner is good practice and will also help you gain some valuable skills as an instructor.

I will go over some of the programs you can use to create banners and show you how to create a simple banner for your course module.

Let's start with the most commonly used program that instructors use to design graphics. Canva is a graphic design platform that allows you to create graphics ranging from posters to presentations to many more visual content types. It is free to use, but you can subscribe to the Canvo Pro for added functionality.

Pricing:

Free: You can design a lot with this option
Canva Pro monthly: $12.99 per month
Canva Pro Annual: $119.99 per year

What I will Cover:

1. Creating a Canva Account

2. Banner Dimensions

3. Selecting a Background

4. Selecting Graphics

5. Adding Text

6. Downloading Banner to your Computer

Video Tutorial

1. Creating a Canva Account

• Go to http://www.canva.com

• Click on the "Sign Up" button to sign up for an account.

• You can also choose to sign up with your  Google or Facebook account.

2. Banner Dimensions

Common banner image size is 800px by 150px or 900px by 160px (px stands for pixel). It depends on how big or small you want your banner, so play around with sizes to see which size you prefer.

• Once you login to Canva with your account, click on "Create a Design" and select "Custom Size", to enter the size of your banner.

• Enter 800 for width and 150 for height and click on "Create new Design".

3. Banner Dimensions

After you determine the size of your banner, you can now have fun! Let's start by adding a background. Select "Background" from the left side navigation. Here you can use solid colors, patterns, and other abstract shapes. For this tutorial, let's select a solid background. You can click on the colors located on the top row of the background options for solid colors.

4. Selecting Graphics

Let's add some cool graphics! First, let's add a photo. You do this by clicking on "Photo" and searching for the type of photo you had in mind for your banner. Once you do that, click on the image and it will appear on the banner. You can then place it exactly as you want it to show in the banner . Next, click on "Elements" to search for graphics. Please note: photos and elements free to use will have the word "Free," while images that are available for Canva subscribers will have the word "Pro".

5. Adding Text

Once you are happy with your graphics, let's add some text. Click on "Text" and you will see different text options. For this tutorial, let's choose the "Title/Heading" option. Once you click on it, it will show on your banner. You can then edit the text to whatever you want.

6. Downloading Banner to Computer

After you add your background, graphics, and text and are happy with your design, you can download it to your computer. Click on "Download", select the file type PNG - Portable Network Graphic (is the one most recommended since it is ideal for digital art)

Please let me know in the comments below, if you tried doing a banner with Canva. Did you find it easy or hard to use?

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Happy Designing!

I CREATED LEARNING OBJECTIVES, NOW WHAT?

After designing learning objectives, what activities will help achieve the learning objectives? Depending on the subject area, there are various types of activities that a student can complete. A well-designed course module will have assignments, opportunities for discussion, collaboration, quizzes, exams, test, labs and practices exercises.

How Course Activities Help Student Learn

• Assignments – helps students to understand the concepts and ideas presented in the course.

• Discussion/Collaboration – help to facilitate communication between the students.

• Quizzes/Tests/Exams/Labs/Practice Exercises – these assessments help identify any knowledge deficiencies and help students focus on the areas they need to review.

Course Activities

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy, Let’s go over the different activities you can design in your course.

Activities:

• Code

• Concept Mapping

• Ice Breaker

• Practice Quiz/Exam/Test

• Read

Activities:

• Discussion Forums

• Debate

• Oral Reports

• Quiz, Exam, Test

• Review (Play, Movie, Audio, Book, etcetera.)

• Wikis

Activities:

• Art Project

• Group Problem Solving/Presentations/Reports

• Interview

• Journaling

• Laboratory Experiments

• Portfolios, Presentations

• Simulations

Activities:

• Brainstorming

• Essay

• Fieldwork

• Group Reports/Debugging

• Reflection

Activities:

• Article Critique

• Case Briefs

• Case Studies

• Document Analysis

• Literature Review

• Peer Editing/Review

Activities:

• Audio Recording

• Blogging

• Gaming

• Graphic Design

• Individual Project

• Video Creation

• Web Design

Things to Consider when Designing Course Activities

Once you decide on the learning activities for your course module, you need to consider the following:

• Learning Objectives – do the activities align with your with your learning objectives? Will the students achieve the skills you outlined in your objectives?

• Relevancy – are the activities relevant to your course and the learning process? Do they promote learning and have an educational purpose?

• Technical requirement – do students need to use specific software or create an online account to access certain tools? Are you familiar with the technology that you want your students to use? Are your students? Do not assume students are familiar with any technology you want to use in your course.

Designing your activities is an important step in your course module design process. By creating activities that align with your objectives, you not only make sure that your students have a successful learning outcome, but you also keep your students engaged and on task.

Do you agree with the activities that I used to match with Bloom’s Taxonomy? Why or why not? What activities do you like to use in your course? Please share it below!

CREATIVE COMMONS, AN EDUCATOR’S BEST FRIEND

As educators, you often want to use external content or resources to help students learn and make your course content more exciting and appealing. You might find interesting content online, but as much as you might want to use any content you see, you need to keep in mind that you are not always legally allowed to use it.

It might be frustrating to find a cool image or video and not know if you are authorized to use it in your course. So what can you do to make sure that you are not infringing on copyright-protected items? The solution will be to use Creative Commons licenses.

What is a Creative Commons License?

Creative Commons licenses allow you to use work created by different authors. You can use text, images, audio, video, and other content as long as you give the creator the appropriate attribution. There are six types of licenses. They range from allowing you to use the content as freely as you need, to content being somewhat restrictive. The license that you will want to use most would be the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY). This license means you can distribute, remix, modify and build upon the original work as long as the creator is given the appropriate credit. 

By offering their work in Creative Commons, the creators are offered certain protection levels. All you need to do is make sure you do not infringe on those rights by giving the creators the correct attribution based on the license they offer.

Where can I Find Content Licensed under Creative Commons (CC)?

• Creative Commons website – allows you to search for CC licensed content. Its search feature allows you to search across more than 300 million images!

• Find OER – provides links to search for CC licensed work to use in your courses.

• Wikimedia Commons – allows you to search CC licensed educational media.

• Google Advance Search – by using Google Advance Search, you can put a filter to search for content that is free to use, share or modify.

• Internet Archive: – American digital library that allows you to access free collections of digitized materials that include images, books, audio, movies, and more!

• Flickr Commons – search for images that users have offered under CC license.

You can see how I used Creative Commons for my post Anatomy of a Learning Objective. The two images on the post were both licensed under Creative Commons.

Creative Commons helps educators create rich course content without worry. It allows educators to support each other and draw from each other in different ways to improve learner performance while at the same time enhancing their skills and understanding.

Please share in the comments below the ways you are using Creative Common in your class!

ANATOMY OF A LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Designing your online course is not merely about creating content and sharing your passion for the subject you are teaching. You also need to make sure that what you are teaching is being learned. How do you ensure that this happens?

Learning Objectives are essential parts of any course module and course. Learning Objectives communicate to the student what they will learn after completing a learning module and be confident they will make measurable progress. They also help define what the instructor expects of them for the particular lesson and what the course accomplishes. Learning objectives in each of your course modules are good practice and make for a well-designed course.

When designing your learning objectives, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• What will the students be learning?

• What level of thinking will be used to process the content?

• What observable student behavior will serve to show that the student has learned what they are supposed to?

• What are the conditions (materials, time limits, etc.) that the student will expect to work under?

• What is the level of mastery? What will satisfy you?

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs by Fractus Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Created in 1956 by Psychologist Benjamin Bloom, Bloom’s Taxonomy is the most extensively used scale to demonstrate the level of expertise required for measurable student outcomes. Verbs in Bloom’s Taxonomy are measurable and help instructors create assignments and assessments that are quantifiable. These verbs are useful in planning lessons and curriculum.

There are six levels of knowledge in Bloom’s Taxonomy:

1. Knowledge -is measured by asking questions to see what they have remembered from a lesson—for example, a multiple-choice test.

2. Comprehension – determines their level of understanding by asking students to summarize, describe or discuss a topic.

3. Application – students apply what they have learned in real-life situations.

4. Analysis -students analyze a problem and provide supporting evidence as to how they solved the problem.

5. Synthesis – students merge information they have learned to provide new ideas and solutions.

6. Evaluation – students use the knowledge they have acquired to evaluate and apply their learning using evidence, observations, and other criteria determined by the student.

Bloom’s Taxonomy by Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic license.

1. Remember -is measured by asking questions to see what they have remembered from a lesson—for example, a multiple-choice test.

2. Understand – determines their level of understanding by asking students to summarize, describe or discuss a topic.

3. Apply – students apply what they have learned in real-life situations.

4. Analyze -students analyze a problem and provide supporting evidence as to how they solved the problem.

5. Evaluate – students use the knowledge they have acquired to evaluate and apply their learning using evidence, observations, and other criteria determined by the student

6. Create – students merge information they have learned to provide new ideas and solutions.

Let’s break it down!

Sample Objectives

Sample 1: Learning Objective (Text)

Students will be able to draw on Sketchpad the four life cycles of a butterfly after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

• Conditions – Sketchpad, reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar

• Cognitive Process – draw (Remember) (Knowledge)

• Content – life cycles of a butterfly

• Observable Proving Behavior – drawing on Sketchpad the life cycles of a butterfly

• Standard of Mastery – drawing the four life cycles of a butterfly

Sample 2: Learning Objective (Text)

After a lesson on Linear Algebra, students will be able to correctly solve at least 8 out of 10 algebra problems using Linear Algebra.

• Conditions – lesson on Linear Algebra

• Cognitive Process – solve (Apply) (Application)

• Content – Linear Algebra

• Observable Proving Behavior – correctly solve algebra problems using Linear Algebra

• Standard of Mastery – at least 8 of 10 Linear Algebra problems

Sample 3: Learning Objective (Text)

Given the website, Linkedin.com and Chapter 4 in their textbook, students will create a Linkedin profile to effectively navigate the Linkedin interface and assess how Linkedin can be used to connect with peers and professional networking activities.

• Conditions – Linkedin website, Chapter 4 of textbook

• Cognitive Process – create (Create) (Synthesis)

• Content – assess how Linkedin can be used to connect with peers and professional networking activities

• Observable Proving Behavior – Linkedin profile

• Standard of Mastery – effectively navigate the Linkedin profile

Objective Builder

Developed by the University of Central Florida , use the Objective Builder Tool and create your objectives with this easy-use tool!

While it can be a bit daunting creating learning objectives, correctly done objectives are the first step in creating a high-quality course module and instruction.

What difficulties have you encountered creating learning objectives? Hopefully, this post has provided helpful information! Please let me know what other topics you would like for me to discuss in the comments below. See you in the next post!