bCourses

Digital Pedagogy Resources

Digital Pedagogy Resources

The DLS Core Template will provide you with a structure to develop a pedagogically sound remote or online course. You can use the DLS Core Template in conjunction with the following resources, which highlight how to implement best practices in digital pedagogy. Though presented in the context of a remote course, these practices are useful for developing courses in any format.

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Organize Materials in Your Course Site Using Modules

Organize Materials in Your Course Site Using Modules

Creating a pattern of weekly tasks allows students to plan ahead and stay organized in your course. As you plan discussions, quizzes, and assignments, make sure they follow a pattern. Indicate on your syllabus or course page any departure from the established patterns. Consistency in course design is a component of the universal instructional design to meet the needs of all learners (Palmer et al., 2003). In addition to the bCourses Pages layout, provide organization through a modular learning pathway. bCourses ...

Add Reading Assignments to Weekly Landing Pages

Add Reading Assignments to Weekly Landing Pages

Whether you provide reading material as PDFs in bCourses, link out to articles, or assign chapters from books or eReaders, make sure to consistently describe them on the weekly landing page. If some of your readings are optional, specify this on the landing page. Consider creating a separate section in the page layout for additional resources to challenge students. Use a naming convention for your files that includes the week, title, and your name for students to distinguish it from other courses after they have downloaded it to their...

Managing Resources

Managing Resources

There are always more articles, books, podcasts, films and images than what we can realistically include in a single course, but that we’d still like to share with students. These additional resources are important, especially for students who want to learn more but may not be sure where to start looking.

Resource management and thoughtful curation are useful not only in managing instructor resources, but also as a possible exercise for students themselves, individually or in groups, to practice their digital literacy skills as...

Edit the Weekly Landing Pages

Edit the Weekly Landing Pages

Weekly landing pages are an excellent way to keep your course organized so that students have easy access to relevant course content. Ensuring that students can successfully navigate your course site means that all of their time and focus can be directed to the course. Establishing appropriate heading structure will ensure that your pages are accessible to screen readers, and incorporating images will not only lend an aesthetic appeal to the pages, but will also give students the opportunity to explore course content more thoroughly....

Check for Accessibility with the Ally Instructor Report

Check for Accessibility with the Ally Instructor Report

The Ally tool in bCourses identifies if images and files in your course site are formatted for accessibility. It then provides guidance on how to edit materials that are currently not in accessible formats, a process called remediation. As you add links to documents or embed images on your weekly landing pages, you may notice the green, orange, and red meters next to the files identifying if the materials are fully, partially, or not accessible, respectively. The Ally tool indicates the problem when...

Engage Students Through Discussion

Engage Students Through Discussion

Learning requires a social component, and much of what is enjoyable about teaching and learning is wrapped up in the exchange of ideas. This is true for in-person and remote instruction. In an in-person class, methods for creating an environment for engaging students can seem more intuitive, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible to also create this environment in a remote instruction course, too. So, the first thing you might consider is how to relay and share in that sense of camaraderie in your remote instruction class. Discussion...

Include Beginning of the Course and Mid-semester Surveys

Include Beginning of the Course and Mid-Semester Surveys

One way to learn more about your students and their experience in your course is to conduct surveys at the beginning and mid-semester points. A survey at the beginning of the course will allow you to get a better understanding of the challenges students may face in a remote instruction course, as well as provides an opportunity to learn more about each student on an individual basis. A mid-semester survey provides an opportunity to find out what’s working and what’s not in your course, and then make adjustments where needed. It...

Add Lectures to Weekly Landing Pages

Add Lectures to Weekly Landing Pages

When adding lectures, ensure consistency in your layout so that students can follow a pattern; make a statement when you deviate from it. This will increase ‘findability’ and reduce time lost on tasks and frustration levels (Simunich, et al., 2012). bCourses Pages can be used to create a pattern layout for your units of study.

In the Core Template

Week 1 is set up in the page format in the template. You are welcome to edit the layout to create your pattern and designated space for your lectures.

How to Add Your...

Faculty Checklist for Quality Digital Learning Development

Faculty Checklist for Quality Digital Learning Development

The DLS Core Template is a solid starting place to establish an effective and successful remote instruction course. Ultimately, however, the student experience will depend on how you use the template and deliver your course. DLS has created a Faculty Checklist for Quality Digital Learning Development so that you may review your course and how its design and execution may impact the student learning experience.

The DLS Faculty Checklist for Quality...