12/04/2024

• Quick Tip - Total Gradebook Column
• Video Tip - Personalized Feedback Using Video
• What's New with Webcourses@UCF
  
• Accessibility Tip - Are Your PDFs Accessible?
• Digital Learning Day - Register by March 31
• Faculty Multimedia Center Focus - Creating Accessible Course Content
• Design with Quality in Mind - Introduce Course Modules
• Truman Award for Excellence in Blended Teaching - Submissions Period Closing
• Proposal and Submission Deadlines - DCI, TOPR
• Other Opportunities - AVID, AIM

For more information, visit the Canvas Guide: "How do I use the Total column in the Gradebook?"

Michael Strawser, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Nicholson School of Communication and Media, talks about why he decided to incorporate video comments in his feedback to his students and how his students have responded.

PDFs, or Adobe’s Portable Document Format, are commonly used as external documents in Webcourses@UCF. However, not all PDFs are accessible, and many could be improved upon for all student access.

How can you tell if your document is accessible? The first thing to check is whether the text can be highlighted. If text cannot be highlighted, the PDF file is not accessible and considered an image by screen reading software.

To address these concerns, consider these options. If you’ve created a document using Microsoft, review the directions in Microsoft 365 to save an accessible PDF. If a PDF is derived from a digital format, such as an online journal, use the weblink to the original resource in your Webcourses@UCF course. If this is not possible, explore these remediation options:

• Teach Online – PDF Accessibility
  
• UCF - SAS Digital Accessibility PDF Guide
  
• Adobe - PDF Accessibility Overview

Contact your instructional designer or Webcourses@UCF Support for further assistance with making your PDF documents fully accessible to your students.

You’re invited to the inaugural Digital Learning Day on Friday, April 14, 2023, which will be held at the UCF Fairwinds Alumni Center and with a remote attendance option.

This new and exciting event from the Division of Digital Learning (DDL) is intended to showcase innovative work being conducted by UCF faculty and DDL staff. It is for all UCF faculty and aimed at empowering them to leverage educational technology, tools, and resources in support of UCF’s mission. 

Need to add captions to your course videos to improve accessibility? The Faculty Multimedia Center (FMC) is here to help. We have resources and staff to assist with creating, editing, and delivering WCAG 2.0 AA conforming content noted in the UCF Digital Accessibility Policy 2-006.

When you record content in our Lightboard studios, captions are automatically created, allowing you to walk out with everything you need for accessible content. Need to add captions to your previous recordings? We can help with that too. We have software that allows you to edit video captions at your convenience.

Before your students step off into the deep waters of your online learning modules, it is important to spark their curiosity, boost their motivation, and prepare them for learning. Check out Introduce Course Modules for tips on providing your students critical information to help them comprehend and focus their efforts in your course modules.

As you continue to look for ways to improve your online and blended courses, check out the other posts in Design with Quality in Mind, a growing collection brief articles based on UCF’s Quality and High-Quality Course Reviews, that describe ways to support all students to succeed in your online courses. 

Now accepting submissions! The submission period for the Spring 2023 award closes Monday, March 20 at 11:59 p.m.

The Barbara Truman Award for Excellence in Blended Teaching recognizes one UCF faculty member who has recently taught an exemplary mixed-mode (M) or limited attendance (RS) course.

TOPR

The Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository (TOPR) call for submissions closes March 26.

AIM

Explore Affordable Instructional Materials (AIM) options to save students money.