Whether you are looking to save your students money on high-priced course materials or leverage learning content that offers you the freedom to customize the learning experience for your highly-diverse student demographic, open educational resources (OER) can help you to achieve your goals. In this session, participants will learn about the richness of openly-licensed educational materials, where to find them, and potential use cases for implementation in their courses. Additionally, a UCF professor will share his story about his journey to OER and how his idea began a chain of events that turned his static text to life for his students.

Bruce Wilson is a professor in the Department of Political Science at UCF. His current research interests include the politics of Central America, the Caribbean, and Latin American countries, comparative judicial reform, political economy, and political parties and interest groups. His research on Latin American politics has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals including Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Latin American Studies, Comparative Politics, Electoral Studies, and the International Journal of Constitutional Law. Bruce has been using open educational resources (OER) extensively in his POS2041: American National Government course, where he completely replaced his previous textbook.

Jim Paradiso is an instructional designer on the personalized adaptive learning (PAL) team at the Center for Distributed Learning (CDL). He is experienced with leveraging open educational resources (OER) to both enhance the student learning experience and reduce the cost of course materials for students. In addition to his deep, genuine desire to make education more affordable, Jim is often further exploring the world of adaptive learning, working arduously to create pedagogical solutions that challenge extant educational frameworks, as he searches to unlock the mysteries of student motivation and achievement.

Annabelle Conroy is a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Political Science. She teaches courses in the area of Comparative Politics, Latino Politics, and Comparative Public Policy as well as courses in the Global UCF program for international students. Annabelle participated in a quality review for her Politics of Developing Areas course.

Aimee deNoyelles has been an instructional designer in the Center for Distributed Learning for seven years, and a co-team lead since 2017. She oversees CDL’s Quality Initiative, ensuring that university efforts are aligned with the quality tactics outlined in the State University System of Florida’s 2025 Strategic Plan for Online Education.

UCF Digital Learning and Webcourses@UCF Resources

Plans and Rubrics

Scholarly Articles

Is your personality, humor, and care for student success lost in translation while teaching your online course? When you are not seen or heard, learners may have more difficulty connecting with you, which may hinder the overall experience. Integrating video can help develop your online persona by fostering your social presence in the online classroom. Video has the potential to enhance student satisfaction, engagement, and meaningful learning. By using video, you can model multimedia fluency skills, essential for learners’ employability and career advancement.

In this seminar, you will learn how to effectively integrate video into your online course. An instructional designer and teaching faculty member describe the ease of video creation, leading to the joy of teaching and deep learning. Choose from a variety of teaching methods and video scenarios that best portrays your unique online persona.

Marc Consalo is a lecturer at the University of Central Florida in their Legal Studies Department. In addition to running their internship program, he is highly involved in their online degree where he has designed and developed six different online classes and served as an ADL mentor for 5 faculty members.

Shelly Wyatt is an instructional designer in the Center for Distributed Learning and works extensively with faculty in the College of Arts and Humanities and the College of Health and Public Affairs.  Her research interests include social media and online learning, second language acquisition and immersion through technology, and mobile learning.

Projecting Your Online Persona Via Video [PDF; 1.3MB]

Course Enhancements from Video@CDL—Review best practices for well-produced and well-integrated videos.

Video@CDL Consultation Request—Complete this form to request a potential video project.

Office of Instructional Resources—Find multimedia support for engineering services classroom support, Panopto Lecture Capture, Adobe Connect web conferencing, Lightboard One Button Studio, and video conferencing.

Video Conferencing—Tips and a form for faculty to request to use video conferencing resources from the Office of Instructional Resources.

UCF LyndaCampus—Offers UCF faculty, staff, and students online interactive video-based tutorials on such topics as software and applications to enhance business and design skills.

Alexander, B., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., & Hall Giesinger, C. (2017, August). Digital literacy in higher education, part II: An NMC horizon project strategic brief, Part II, 3.4, 1-39. Retrieved from New Media Consortium website.

Buzzetto-More, N. (2015, March). Student attitudes toward the integration of YouTube in online, hybrid, and web-assisted courses: An examination of the impact of course modality on perception. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 11(1), 55-73.

Costley, J., & Lange, C. (2017). Video lectures in e-learning: Effects of viewership and media diversity on learning, satisfaction, engagement, interest, and future behavioral intention. Interactive technology and smart education, 14(1), 14-30. doi:10.1108/ITSE-08-2016-0025

Draus, P., Curran, M., & Trempus, M. (2014). The influence of instructor-generated video content on student satisfaction with and engagement in asynchronous online classes. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 10(2), 240–254.

Educause. (2016. December). 7 things you should know about online video platforms.

Fish, K., Mun, J., & A’Jontue, R. (2016). Do visual aids really matter? A comparison of student evaluations before and after embedding visuals into video lectures. Journal of Educators Online, 13(1), 194-217.

Lee. M., Nikolic, S. Vial, P., Ritz, C., Li, W., & Goldfinch, T. (2016, November). Enhancing project-based learning through student and industry engagement in a video-augmented 3-D virtual trade fair. IEEE Transactions on Education, 59(4), 1-19. doi:10.1109/TE.2016.2546230

Pond, K. (2016). Student engagement in video case based undergraduate business teaching. International Journal of Higher Education, 5(1), 119-127.

Chapes, J. (2017, June). Online video in higher education: Uses and practices. In J. Johnston (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology 2017 (pp. 1133-1138). Waynesville, NC: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

Malaga, R. A., & Koppel, N. B. (2017). A comparison of video formats for online teaching. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 10(1), 7-12.

Paolo, T. D., Wakefield, J. S., Mills, L. A., & Baker, L. (2017). Lights, camera, action: Facilitating the design and production of effective instructional videos. Tech Trends, 61(5), 452-460. doi:10.1007/s11528-017-0206-0

Thomson, A., Bridgstock, R., & Willems, C. (2014). Teachers flipping out: beyond the online lecture: Maximising the educational potential of video. Journal of Learning Design, 7(3), 67-78.

Underdown, K., & Martin, J. (2016). Engaging the online student: Instructor-created video content for the online classroom. Journal of Instructional Research, 5(8), 8-12.

West, R. E., Jay, J., Armstrong, M., & Borup, J. (2017). “Picturing them right in front of me”: Guidelines for implementing video communication in online and blended learning. Tech Trends, 61(5), 461-469. doi:10.1007/s11528-017-028-y

The online classroom environment can sometimes cause students to feel isolated, both socially and cognitively. Digital storytelling creates a framework that can bring the online classroom to life, energizing social-cognitive dynamisms, and promoting a more authentic sense of community in the virtual teaching and learning space.

During this seminar, presenters will describe how storytelling in online learning facilitates a welcoming space, provides a structured springboard for personal agency empowering students’ thinking and creative expression, and personalizes those expressions to bridge connections that catalyze deep meaningful associations. The plot will thicken when an online teaching faculty member shares anecdotes of digital storytelling, which showcases learners’ coursework as a conduit for authentic opportunities for connections.

Susan Jardaneh is an Associate Lecturer in the English Department in the College of Humanities.  Over the years, Susan has used various creative projects in her classes, especially the use of digital stories and e-Portfolios. Susan has also developed online courses for UCF’s Interdisciplinary Studies’ program that focused on research, experiential learning, and multimedia technologies. Susan served as a Faculty Fellow for the Center for Teaching and Learning (2017) where her focus was on the use of storytelling as a learning tool.

Ashley Salter is an Instructional Designer with the Center for Distributed Learning. She facilitates faculty with the design, development, and delivery of online and mixed-mode courses. Her research interests include professional development for teaching online, application of emerging technologies, like digital storytelling, and the use of open educational resource (OER) materials.

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Published Articles:

Storytelling Resources:

Technology Resources:

Learning management systems (LMS) such as Blackboard and Canvas provide a foundation for instructors to design online learning experiences. In recent years, the functionality of most LMSs has expanded to offer more flexibility, primarily by allowing external tools to be integrated. Tools such as Twitter, YouTube, and Quizlet have the potential to increase learners’ access to content, foster interaction with others in the community, and assess learning in diverse ways. In this session, we will provide examples of how these tools can support sound pedagogical practices, and encourage attendees to explore integrations in their online courses. Specifically, an instructor shares experiences of utilizing several integration tools within Canvas online courses.

Amanda T. Groff is an Associate Lecturer in the Anthropology Department in the College of Sciences at UCF. Over the years, Dr. Groff has integrated various tools and strategies to engage online learners in her undergraduate archaeology and cultural courses. Dr. Groff was awarded the Chuck. D. Dziuban Excellence in Online Teaching Award (2012), as well as a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award (2014) for her research on the integration of Twitter into online courses.

John Raible is an Instructional Designer with the Center for Distributed Learning and an Adjunct Professor in the College of Education and Human Performance. He facilitates faculty with the design, development, and delivery of online and mixed-mode courses. His research interests include integrating emerging technologies into the curriculum, open educational resources, and universal design for learning.

Presentation Resource

Center for Distributed Learning Resources

Scholarly Articles and Resources

Canvas Guide

Supporting the learning needs of students in online courses is commonly perceived as challenging for instructors, as the time and effort needed to master particular concepts may vary widely. Adaptive learning, an educational method which adapts presentation of material and assessment according to students’ unique learning needs, is gaining popularity in online courses. In this session, we will provide an overview of adaptive learning approaches, describe real-life examples, consider the instructor’s role in personalizing the experience, share available support and resources, and encourage a call to action for attendees. Specifically, an instructor’s experience of integrating personalized adaptive elements into online courses using the Realizeit platform will be presented.

Professor
Department of Educational and Human Sciences
College of Education and Human Performance
University of Central Florida

Debbie L. Hahs-Vaughn is a Professor in the Methodology, Measurement, & Analysis Program in the College of Education and Human Performance, and Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Excellence at UCF. She teaches graduate courses in quantitative statistics, primarily in online and blended formats. Dr. Hahs-Vaughn has recently integrated adaptive learning elements to allow online students to more directly control and engage in their learning and, from an instructional vantage, to provide a richer learning environment.

Instructional Designer
Center for Distributed Learning
University of Central Florida

Corrinne Stull established her career with the Center for Distributed Learning (CDL) in 2012, serving on the Techrangers team to help develop and maintain courses taught online at UCF. She joined the Instructional Design team at CDL in 2014, focusing on courses using adaptive learning software. Corrinne specializes in personalized adaptive learning and also works with accessibility and the use of OER materials.

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Scholarly Articles

RealizeIT Resources

UCF-Specific Resources

Addressing the needs of individual learners in online courses is commonly perceived as challenging for instructors. Design principles included in the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework have the potential to optimize learning in all spaces for all people, based on scientific insights in how people learn. In this session, we will share principles from the UDL framework that promote flexible learning opportunities within online courses. Specifically, an instructor’s experience of integrating UDL principles into online courses will be presented, and an online tool called Universal Design Online Inspection Tool (UDOIT) will be showcased.

Professor and Program Coordinator
Department of Child, Family, and Community Sciences
College of Education and Human Performance
University of Central Florida

Dr. Little is a Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Programs in Exceptional Student Education at UCF. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, both online and face-to-face, in subjects such as mathematics, assessment, instruction, action research, and program evaluation. In addition, Dr. Little implements the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to meet the diverse learning needs of students, and often presents in this area at state and national venues.

Instructional Designer
Center for Distributed Learning
University of Central Florida

Nancy Swenson is an Instructional Designer at UCF’s Center for Distributed Learning, assisting faculty in the design, development, and delivery of online courses. She has over 25 years of experience in the educational field and has taught online, mixed-mode, and face-to-face courses. Her online teaching and learning research interests include adult learning theory, accessibility of online education, and universal design for learning.

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PowerPoint Presentation [PDF; 2MB]

Universal Design for Learning Guidelines: This interactive graphic designed by the Maryland State Department of Education and Howard County Public Schools showcases the three main principles of UDL and offers strategies on how to apply them.

Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST): This is the primary site for the Universal Design for Learning framework, and goes into detail about the UDL guidelines.

UDL On Campus Universal Design in Higher Education: This page from CAST demonstrates how the UDL Framework applies to the higher education learning environment and provides additional resources.

Ten Steps Toward Universal Design of Online Courses: This page provided by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock offers ten practical strategies to uphold the principles of universal design in online learning.

Learn the Basics with Equal Access: This page from the University of Washington provides a video and publication about how college teachers can design courses to be more accessible to all students.

UDL Toolkit: A state collection of UDL resources, including the UDL Curriculum Toolkit, guidelines, and policy foundations for UDL. Retrieved from University of Florida, Collaboration for Effective Educator, Development, Accountability, and Reform Center: Gainesville, FL.

Universal Design for Learning: Recommendations for Teacher Preparation and Professional Development: This document sponsored by the CEEDAR Center features an innovation configuration (IC) matrix that can guide teacher educators in the development of appropriate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) content.

What is UDOIT?: This page provides an overview of the Universal Design Online Content Inspection Tool (UDOIT), which is available in all UCF online course sections. It also provides a link in which to download the source code for those outside of UCF.

Articles and Artifacts

UDL: A Systematic Approach to Supporting Diverse Learners: This article written by Mark Hofer Ph.D. in the Faculty Focus discusses applying UDL principles to the classroom from a faculty member’s perspective.

UDL Provisions in the Higher Education Opportunity Act: This page from the UDL Center provides basic provisions of the law pertaining to universal design for learning.

Published Books and Articles about Universal Design of Online Learning: This page from the University of Washington provides a comprehensive list of scholarly articles about universal design in the higher education environment.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A Content Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Journal Papers from 2012 to 2015: This article by Ahmed Al-Azawei, Fabio Serenelli, and Karsten Lundvquist featured in the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning analyzed papers about UDL implementation and found that positive results were yielded in the majority of studies.

A Blueprint for UDL: Considering the Design of Implementation. The first section of this blueprint offers an overview of UDL; next, implementation stages are introduced. The roles of stakeholders are examined, and conclusions are drawn with respect to implementation of UDL across four school districts.

The ability to communicate in real time (synchronous) through media such as text, audio, and video, can enhance the online learning experience by providing dynamic opportunities for social connection, collaborative problem solving, and collective reflection. However, issues related to synchronous communication include scheduling conflicts, technical support, and the perception that it is extra or busy work. In this session, we will share strategies to incorporate synchronous elements that enhance engagement and learning within online courses for instructors and students. Concrete examples of applying these synchronous strategies will be shared by an instructor.

Bernardo Ramirez is an Associate Professor as well as the director of the Executive Health Services Administration and Global Health Initiatives programs for the Department of Health Management and Informatics at UCF. He teaches classes on the U.S. health system, international health systems, issues and trends in health professions, and quality improvement. He has incorporated synchronous elements in his online and blended courses for three years.

Tina Calandrino is an Instructional Designer for the Center for Distributed Learning at UCF, assisting faculty in the design, development, and delivery of online courses. She has over twenty years of experience in the educational field and has taught online, blended, and face-to-face courses in the United States, Canada, and Italy. Her research focuses on developing tools and strategies for effective synchronous teaching in the online learning environment.

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Tools and Resources

Articles and Artifacts

Webcourses@UCF How-To’s

Seminar Date: November 4, 2015 at 1:00 pm

Online discussions are extensively used in online and mixed-mode courses. However, a common concern is that students will minimally participate in order to fulfill the grading requirements, and not truly engage with the content, instructor, or peers. In this session, we will share strategies to create and sustain online discussions that foster critical thinking and student voice. These strategies guide an instructor to effectively design the discussion before it commences, as well as to facilitate the discussion as it progresses, and assess the discussion when it concludes. Specifically, an instructor’s experience of using innovative discussion prompts within Webcourses@UCF will be showcased.

Dr. Beatriz M. Reyes-Foster is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at UCF. Since 2012, she has taught online and mixed-mode classes and regularly incorporates online discussions. She has co-authored two articles that explore the relationship between the use of word clouds in online discussions and increased critical thinking and engagement. She is also the 2015 recipient of the Chuck D. Dziuban Award for Excellence in Online Teaching.

Instructional Designer
Center for Distributed Learning
University of Central Florida

Dr. Rohan Jowallah is an Instructional Designer for the UCF Center for Distributed Learning, assisting faculty in the design, development, and delivery of online courses. He has over twenty years of experience in the educational field and has taught online, mixed-mode, and face-to-face courses in the United States, the Caribbean, and England. His research focuses on developing and sustaining participation in the online learning environment.

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Resources

Articles

Using Socratic Questioning to Promote Critical Thinking by Yang, Newby, & Bill (2005)

TOPR Entries

Seminars

Webcourses@UCF How-to’s

Ownership of mobile technologies such as smartphones and tablets continues to rise amongst college students. Incorporating these devices in coursework can facilitate authentic learning, with students connecting what is taught in the course to real-world issues and applications. This can be especially powerful in online learning environments, allowing students to capture experiences in the field and share with others in the class. Although instructors may express an interest in incorporating a mobile element, they are often unsure how to design course activities that are not only engaging, but also effectively support authentic learning. In this session, issues of mobile design, assessment, and support will be discussed. Specifically, an instructor’s experience of integrating mobile devices to support authentic learning in a mixed-mode (blended) course will be showcased.

Associate Instructor of Journalism
Department of Journalism
Nicholson School of Communication
University of Central Florida

Rick Brunson is an Associate Instructor of Journalism in the Nicholson School of Communication. He developed and teaches the Nicholson School’s Mobile Journalism course, which trains aspiring journalists how to use mobile devices to produce breaking news content in the field. A professional journalist with more than 30 years of experience as a reporter and editor, Brunson won a national teaching innovation award in 2011 from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for mobile news best practices and now teaches them across the country at seminars sponsored by the AEJMC, Broadcast Education Association, the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Florida Scholastic Press Association, and many others.

Instructional Designer
Center for Distributed Learning
University of Central Florida

Ryan Seilhamer is an Instructional Designer in the Center for Distributed Learning, assisting instructors with the design, development, and delivery of online and mixed-mode courses. He has been the lead of the CDL Mobile Initiative for five years. Seilhamer’s research focuses on mobile learning best practices, design, and integration with online courses. Results have been published in journals such as the Journal of Educational Computing Research, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, and Educause Review.

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