Teaching and Engagement

Mar 9, 2026

Get Your Students Talking with Yellowdig

In this article Building a community of inquiry Yellowdig is an online discussion platform designed to build community. In Yellowdig learners initiate discussion threads based on course guidelines, topics for posts and expectations for participation. Learners are invited to connect course material to real-world experiences, prior knowledge and their own ways of thinking. Yellowdig awards…

Feb 9, 2026

Developing Course AI Guidelines & Driving Class AI Discussion

In this article: Develop Course and Assignment AI Guidelines Course-level AI guidelines are where policy meets practice. You should design concrete, actionable instructions for students on how and when they can use AI. This could be a good opportunity to discuss AI use and expectations with students and design the procedures together. Whether you design…

Dec 2, 2024

Increasing Student Success Through Effective Task Management

In this article Understanding Task Management and Project Management When addressing the management of tasks and projects, it’s important to understand the difference between the two and know which tools best support each one. Task management is a broad term that refers to the organization and prioritization of all tasks an individual needs to complete.…

Oct 24, 2024

Tips and Strategies for Successful Group Work

In this article Cultivate your course community early on If you are planning to assign group work, consider being very intentional and proactive about establishing a classroom community at the very start of the semester. If students have not interacted at all in your course prior to the group work assignment, they may lack a…

Oct 21, 2024

Course Introductions: Forums, VoiceThread, Padlet

In this article What are Course Introductions? Course introductions provide instructors with the first opportunity to connect with their students on a personal level. Introductions are a best practice primarily in online courses, but they are increasingly being used in all types of courses as a way for instructors to get to know their students…

Sep 27, 2024

Get Your Students Talking Online

In this article Student Interaction Interactions between students are a cornerstone of effective online learning. Research consistently shows that student-to-student interaction is one of the strongest predictors of satisfaction in online courses (see Liu et al., 2024; Azizan et al., 2023). When students commence with one another, they gain multiple benefits: building a supportive learning…

Jan 26, 2023

Use an Online Learning Expectations Template

In this article Make a copy of the template Follow these steps to make an editable copy of the template for your own use. You may now edit your copy of the Course Overview template to reflect your own course. Best practices Examples View an example of online learning expectations from ENG 331. Resources WolfSNAPS:…

Jan 26, 2023

Use a Syllabus Template

In this article Make a copy of the template Follow these steps to make an editable copy of the template for your own use. You may now edit your copy of the template to reflect your own course. Best practices Set Viewing Permission Resources Using the Course Syllabus Template (DELTA Knowledge Base) WolfSNAPS: Setting Up…

Jan 24, 2023

Use a Welcome Letter Template

In this article Access the template Follow these steps to make an editable copy of the template for your own use. You may now edit your copy of the template to reflect your own course. Best practices Set Viewing Permission Examples View an example welcome letter from ENG 331. Watch a video walkthrough of an…

Jan 24, 2023

Use a Course Overview Template

In this article Make a copy of the template Follow these steps to make an editable copy of the template for your own use. You may now edit your copy of the Course Overview template to reflect your own course. Best practices Examples View an example course overview from ENG 331 (Communication for Engineering and…

Jan 10, 2023

Perusall: Interactive Reading Assignments

In this article How to get started With Perusall, instructors provide students with a text, and students use commenting to have an asynchronous discussion about the text. Depending on instructor settings, Perusall can auto-grade student work and provide instructors with analytics about how students are engaging with the text. “Texts” in Perusall are defined as…

Oct 25, 2022

Mid-Semester Check-Ins

In this article: Benefits of mid-semester check-ins Mid-semester is a great time to check in with your students – enough of the semester has passed that they will have some valuable insights, but enough is remaining that you can adjust course as needed in a meaningful way. By hearing from your students and responding, you…

Sep 26, 2022

Digital Whiteboards for Teaching and Learning

In this article Accessibility Note Warning! Just like in-class whiteboards, doing an activity on a whiteboard exclusively means it will not be accessible to students using screenreaders. Find out more about accessibility and digital whiteboarding in this article. Getting Started There are many different digital tools available for online whiteboarding. To get started, determine your…

Jul 5, 2022

Perfectly Imperfect: On-The-Fly Videos

In this article What are perfectly imperfect videos? Perfectly imperfect videos (PIV’s) typically have some if not all of these features: Michelle Pacansky-Brock shares some great examples of perfectly imperfect videos on her website. Benefits of perfectly imperfect videos Videos make communication feel more personal, creating a stronger connection than text alone. Through a perfectly…

Jan 19, 2021

Engagement in Synchronous and Asynchronous Environments

Would you like to watch a video that covers the topics in this article? See DELTA’s video on Engagement in Online Courses (21 min 03 sec). In this article Introduction What is “student engagement?” Engagement include how students feel about the course, what do they do inside and outside of class, and how they think…

Nov 19, 2020

Creating Community Online (Overview)

In this article Consider instructor presence and student-instructor relationships As convener of your course community, how you approach teaching has an impact on the community as a whole. Several Teaching Resources articles address these topics and can provide ideas and considerations for you as you begin designing your online course. Define and agree on a…

Nov 11, 2020

Using Breakout Rooms in Zoom

In this article How to Get Started 1. Determine your goal(s) for using breakout rooms. You might decide to use breakout rooms to: 2. Choose an appropriate breakout room assignment strategy. Consider whether grouping quieter students together might encourage more balanced participation. Decide if you want to keep the same groupings across meetings or mix…

Nov 10, 2020

Helping Students Get Started in an Online Class

In this article: 1. Send a welcome letter before class starts You can begin connecting with students by sending a welcome letter a week or so before the first day of class. Include information that helps students know how to prepare for the start of class, such as: You can use a Welcome Letter template…

Nov 9, 2020

Leveraging Zoom Tools to Facilitate Engagement

In this article How to Get Started Step 1: Determine your goal(s). What engagement challenges would you like to solve in Zoom? Technology should follow pedagogy…in other words, use tools because they serve a teaching purpose. Zoom’s tools are especially good for: Additionally, a activitis using Zoom tools can help with building rapport and creating…

Jun 24, 2020

Learner Engagement

Learner engagement basics Making sure your students feel your presence in your online course Establishing connection and visibility helps students feel supported and engaged throughout the course. Facilitating meaningful interactions Fostering Learning Collaboration Designing group activities that help students learn from each other while developing collaborative skills. Supporting student agency and success

Dec 28, 2019

Real-time Assessments and Check-ins

In this article Getting Started Determine your goal(s) for adding real-time assessments and/or check-ins to your course. What kinds of questions do you want to ask? Some of the most common categories of questions include: Consider the delivery of your course. Different tools are appropriate for synchronous in-person classes, synchronous online classes, and asynchronous use.…

Jul 14, 2016

Providing Effective Feedback

In this article How to Get Started Step 1: Review learning objectives and assignments and decide which need more feedback from you, and which would benefit from peer review. Step 2: Because a plethora of instructor- and peer-feedback mechanisms are available for online courses, explore different options to find the best fit for your content.…

Mar 26, 2016

Netiquette—Or Best Practices for Interacting Online

In this article How to Get Started Students in the online learning environment are unable to experience the body language, tone of voice, or facial expressions of their peers. It is important to make them aware of netiquette guidelines at the beginning of the course. Instructors can emphasize that netiquette will be useful not only…

Feb 26, 2016

Discussion Forum Best Practices

In this article To make the most of this tool, it helps to think about discussion forums across three key phases: Design and Development, Setting Expectations, and Launch and Management (Goldman, 2011). Each phase contributes to creating meaningful, engaging, and inclusive online dialogue. Designing and developing your discussion Writing your discussion prompts: Example discussion structures…