Recent Posts

Step-by-Step Online Course Space Creation Guide

This guide conveys our recommended approach to setting up a basic course in Moodle at NC State. These suggestions and resources will help you incorporate...

Why Gamify Your Moodle Course?

Gamification is the practice of introducing principles and design concepts from games into non-game environments to increase participation, engagement, and performance. The Gamification Plugin for...

Using Intelliboard Data to Improve Student Success

Intelliboard is a powerful data visualization tool that gives you user-friendly reports about Moodle data. Intelliboard takes information about your online courses from Moodle and...

Cognitive Load Essentials for Effective Instructional Videos

An effective instructional video effectively communicates information and knowledge to its audience in a clear and engaging manner. There are several key elements that can...

Customize Learning Experiences for Students: Moodle Lesson Activity

The Moodle Lesson Activity allows instructors to create branching exercises where students are presented with content and then, depending on their responses or choices, are directed to the next stage of the lesson.

Use a Welcome Letter Template

Sending a welcome letter that gives students necessary information and resources to get started,  to students before class begins will help build a sense of...

Use a Course Overview Template

Providing a course overview can help your students orient themselves to your course and connect with you as an instructor. A course overview provides details...

Perusall: Interactive Reading Assignments

Perusall is a text-based social annotation/commenting/discussion tool. Instructors provide students with a text, and students use commenting to have an asynchronous discussion about the text....

Moodle Course Roadmap Overview

Roadmap is a Moodle activity you can build into your course to provide students with an interactive visualization of course activities and assessments.

Using Top Hat for Student Engagement

Do your students struggle to stay engaged during class? Do you want to encourage more participation, engagement and active learning, even in large courses? Top...

Mid-Semester Check-Ins

Mid-semester is a great time to check in with your students in order to make any adjustments or course corrections based on feedback from them....

Humanizing Your Online Course

“Human connection is the antidote for the emotional disruption that prevents many students from performing to their full potential and in online courses, creating that...

Panopto Basics

Are you looking to create videos to enhance your course and improve the learning experience for your students?  Panopto is an all-inclusive video management platform...

PlayPosit: Interactive Video

PlayPosit is a multimedia tool that allows you to create “bulbs” (video lessons) by combining interactivity and video content from YouTube, Panopto, or Vimeo. Using...

Engagement in Synchronous and Asynchronous Environments

Students must engage in their courses in order to learn. But what, exactly, do we mean by “student engagement?” And what teaching practices and strategies...

Using H5P Interactive Content in Moodle

H5P allows you to create a variety of tasks to provide interactive content delivery and quick knowledge checks alongside your course content within Moodle.

Using Breakout Rooms in Zoom

When teaching online and synchronously in Zoom, hosts and co-hosts can use the Breakout Room tool to split students into separate Zoom meeting spaces where...

Helping Students Get Started in an Online Class

First impressions make a big difference in the online classroom. How can you ensure that your online learners feel welcome in the class and that...

Leveraging Zoom Tools to Facilitate Engagement

How can you promote active learning and help keep your students engaged during your course meeting in Zoom? What tools are available? How do you...

Step-by-Step Online Course Creation Guide

This guide conveys our recommended approach to setting up a basic course in Moodle at NC State. These suggestions and resources will help you incorporate...

Communication

Communication is critical in any course. Students benefit greatly from regular interactions with instructors and other students. Establish your instructor presence in an online environment...

Real-time Assessments and Check-ins

Great teachers understand that learning is a conversation, not a monologue. Real-time assessments and check-ins spark conversation with your students, preventing your class from being...

Current Virtual Reality Best Practices for the Classroom

Virtual Reality (VR) allows students to experience a world that does not have a physical form (Sapp, 2015b). This technology provides numerous learning benefits, including...

Enhancing Active Learning With Digital Tools

Active learning is a widely recognized instructional approach, yet its definition and implementation can vary across disciplines and teaching styles. While it has long been...