Category: This Week In ID Newsletter

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Virtual Field Trips & Guest Speakers

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""Before COVID, instructors and teachers were beginning to incorporate virtual field trips and guest speakers more readily in their classes. During the pandemic, these opportunities became very common and a welcome addition for students to engage with course material in interactive ways. Thankfully there are many exciting resources available for instructors to incorporate a virtual field trip and invite guest speakers to their courses. For students, the more interactive and real-world applicable the content, the more they are eager to participate in the course.

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Who:

This week we have curated resources about virtual field trips and incorporating a guest speaker for your courses. When designing a field trip or choosing a guest speaker, think about how the immersive experience can spark conversations, and provide background knowledge about a particular topic or event. Students enjoy investigating and are used to having the ‘world at their fingertips’. When given the opportunity to bring the world to them, they are more likely to be interested in the content connections. The wonderful thing about virtual field trips and guest speakers is that they can be applied across many social science disciplines and the humanities. Have fun incorporating trips, creating your own field trips, and guest speakers into your courses to enhance learning engagement.

How:

In this edition learn how: 

  • To create a virtual field trip or have your students make one.
  • Virtual field trips and guest speakers enhance engagement in your courses.
  • You can find virtual field trips.

You:

Our goal for you is to: 

  • Create assessments after students participate in virtual field trips or guest speakers.
  • Incorporate field trips and guest speakers into your coursework.
  • Offer students real-world connections.

Take a Virtual Field Trip!
🎧 Listen to Podcast
“There’s nothing quite like a field trip…Although virtual field trips don’t physically bring kids to new locations, they make use of the web and video to amplify online learning in an experiential way.”

Leveraging Virtual Field Trips to Engage Students in Authentic Learning
🎧 Listen to Podcast
“…bring a new level of magic into the learning experience that can inspire and enrich our students at an even higher level. Research has shown that when we can provide real-world learning—like field trips and guest speakers—to our students, they gain academically as well as socially and emotionally.”

Playing the Field: How Virtual Field Trips Can Benefit Student Learning Now and in the Future

–Times Higher Education
Virtual Field Trips, Educational Games & Additional Resources

–College of Education, Rowen University
Are You Successfully Using Your Guest Speakers?

–Faculty Focus
Integrating Guest Speakers and Panelists in Online Courses

–Faculty Focus

⭐️New Approaches to Teaching and Learning Conference Registration and Call for Proposals is Open

Instructional Development works with faculty to…

  • Explore, design, and experiment with different teaching and learning modes.
  • Research and integrate technologies that can enhance teaching and learning.
  • Design and develop online courses and programs.
  • Write learning outcomes, design assessments, craft activities, and develop content.
  • Utilize best practices for using instructional technologies.

Feel free to contact us online to book an appointment!

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Gamification in Teaching and Learning

Gamification

Gamification

“Be open to putting yourself in a position to try something that can potentially fail.”

–Rachelle O’Brien

Hello, faculty!

This week we are taking you on a learning experience. First start by reading the Gen Z report- as you read it think about the students that are attending your classes currently. Next, take a look at the Ted Talk and/or listen to the podcast about digital escape rooms. At first, this activity and assessment might seem inapplicable to your class, however, think back to the student in your class and what is engaging to them as well as what life skills such as collaboration and communication are also important to their learning. Finally, visit the UMass Dartmouth ID site and read about one of our latest tech tools Kahoot!. Also in this newsletter is information about Kahoot! including a webinar on applying it to your courses, both asynchronous and synchronous.

-The ID Team
CITS | Instructional Development

The WHY: Who How and YOU, Gamification in Teaching and Learning

Who:

Adding a variety of opportunities for active engagement in the classroom offers students an interactive collaborative and exciting way of learning. More recently games such as online tools like Kahoot! and designing escape rooms have become increasingly popular across campuses and with college students. This week our newsletter explores the profile of the Gen Z student and how they learn, as well as examples and resources about digital escape rooms and tech tools such as Kahoot! As always, feel free to reach out to ID and we would be happy to help you design interactive activities and assessments for any of your courses.

How:

In this edition learn how: 

  • Students of this generation view learning.
  • Games can be incorporated into higher education.
  • To use Kahoot!.

You:

Our goal for you is to: 

  • Consider using an interactive activity in your course.
  • Discover escape rooms and how they are used as an assessment.
  • Add activities to your course that strengthen skills such as collaboration and communication in your students prepping students for their upcoming careers.

Podcast: Playful learning and virtual escape rooms""

Rachelle O’Brien and Nicola Whitton talk about Playful Learning and Virtual Escape Rooms on episode 402 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. “Have an idea that you can explain in a sentence. If it goes beyond that, it is probably too complex.”-Rachelle O’Brien

Dr. Christopher See is sharing his idea behind one of his innovative education projects: Escape Room feat. Medical Examination! Gaming professor and Kahoot! co-founder Alf Inge Wang hosts Kahoot! in higher-ed: How to engage students through distance learning.

 

Game-Based Learning: The Impact of Kahoot on a Higher Education Online Classroom

–Journal of Educational Technology and Instruction
Getting to Know Gen Z: Exploring Middle and High Schoolers’ Expectations for Higher Education

– BNCollege Report
Escape Rooms as a Didactic Tool in Higher Education

–Institute for the Future of Education

Instructional Development works with faculty to…

  • Explore, design, and experiment with different teaching and learning modes.
  • Research and integrate technologies that can enhance teaching and learning.
  • Design and develop online courses and programs.
  • Write learning outcomes, design assessments, craft activities, and develop content.
  • Utilize best practices for using instructional technologies.

Feel free to contact us online to book an appointment!

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Meaningful Mid Semester Check-ins

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“To better approach engagement in my courses —whether on the first day or any day of the semester—I start with empathy. “

–Michael Roberto

Hello, faculty!

As we approach the mid-semester point, you may be noticing some of your students feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, and lacking motivation. Our newsletter this week highlights the importance of maintaining connections and ways to re-engage students for a strong end-of-semester experience. Through articles and podcasts, we share strategies, ideas, and tips that can be used in both the classroom and online to foster these connections with your students.

Next week, our focus will incorporate active learning tools such as our newest engagement technology Kahoot!. We hope you find it motivating as we enter the mid-semester point!

-The ID Team
CITS | Instructional Development

WHO; Who How and You. Meaningful mid semester check-ins

Who:

Building and maintaining connections between students and instructors is crucial for an enriched educational experience. Such relationships foster a reciprocal learning environment, encourage active engagement, and provide opportunities for mentorship, guidance, networking, and future opportunities. Cultivating these connections in both traditional classrooms and online learning environments can be supported by inquiring about student’s interests and accomplishments, providing expectations around course participation, and designing work that is meaningful. In an age where technology impacts every aspect of our learning and interaction, it is vital to incorporate learning experiences that are active and varied in an effort to maintain meaningful connections with students.

How:

In this edition learn how to incorporate small activities of active learning for better student engagement.

You:

Our goal for you is to renew a sense of connection with your students.

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Here is a webinar from The Chronicle of Higher Education where several professors and specialists discuss how student engagement needs have changed in 2023. Please either click on the video above or the link, Meaning Classroom Engagement, to begin viewing the webinar.

Isis Artze-Vega and Oscar Miranda Tapia discuss Connections Are Everything on episode 482 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Please either click on the image above or the link, Connections are Everything, to begin viewing the webinar.

Engaging Students on the First Day and Every Day:
7 Strategies for Connecting in the Classroom–Harvard Business Publishing
Students are Less Engaged: Stop Blaming COVID

–Inside Higher Ed
Recovering Student Engagement at Mid-course Time

–Faculty Focus

Instructional Development works with faculty to…

  • Explore, design, and experiment with different teaching and learning modes.
  • Research and integrate technologies that can enhance teaching and learning.
  • Design and develop online courses and programs.
  • Write learning outcomes, design assessments, craft activities, and develop content.
  • Utilize best practices for using instructional technologies.

Feel free to contact us online to book an appointment!