Week 14, Fall 2019

Guest Blogger

Suganya Sankaranarayanan
Adjunct Instructor

School of Business, Technical Careers and Workforce Initiatives

Oopsie Woopsie!

Suganya created a video for her guest blog post. View it here and/or see the transcript below.

Transcript:

From a student's point of view, taking an online course can be daunting at the beginning and there could be various reasons behind this. Some of my students have mentioned that taking an online class felt like an isolating experience for them. The reason is because they were not able to make connections with their peers, instructors, or the course itself. Humanizing a course can help make a class lively and interactive so that students don't feel distant. Us instructors, being human, make them feel that they are part of the class environement.

As a part of humanizing the course, there are a few things that I do to make students know that being imperfect is perfectly fine. One such example is my blooper videos. I upload my blooper videos on Canvas occasionally. How has this helped my students you may ask? Students feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts and opinions both with their peers and with me because they don’t feel pressurized about the need to be “perfect.” Even for assignments that require for them to talk or do a presentation, they know that it’s okay to make mistakes and to learn from them. So, here’s one of my blooper videos and I hope you all enjoy watching it! 

Now view the short Blooper Video that Suganya shares with her students below:




Canvas Hack: Student View - Grades



There's a nice little feature in the New Canvas Gradebook--you can get to an individual student's view of grades right from the gradebook.

In the Gradebook, click on the student's name. A context card will pop up:

There are several things you can do from here, including emailing the student and viewing the New Analytics (more on that in an upcoming post). If you click on Grades, you will see what your student sees:

Try This!

Answer Garden

Use this for quick feedback in your online or face-to-face classes. Students don't need to create an account or login to participate.

Add your answer below to see how it works:



Links & Resources

The Global Education Conference takes place online, around the clock from Monday, November 18 - Wednesday, November 20.

A great little thread on how to encourage questions from students.

Another reason including voice online is important: The Human Voice Can Communicate 24 Emotions

Four Lessons From Moving a Face-to-Face Course Online