Webinar Today

March 19, 2012

Please join your colleagues for the following webinar sponsored by the Center for Instructional Design and Academic Technologies. The webinar will be held 2 – 3 p.m. in P266 (seating is limited, so come early if you can). Following this one hour presentation, we will have a 30 minute discussion regarding the content and implications of the presentation.

Using Student-Generated Content to Keep your Course Fresh and Relevant to Students Presenters: Dave Wilson, Associate Professor of Biology and Chemistry, and Toni Marie Burkhalter, Associate Professor of Biology and Kinesiology, at Parkland College

Executing an online course requires frequent attention to keep assessments and other materials up-to-date, and relevant to students' needs. Updating assessments and having large question pools is also necessary for maintaining the integrity of your course. As the instructor, doing all of this work yourself can be time-consuming and may not hit all of the needs your students have for their program of study. Using student-generated content achieves a number of goals. Among these include adding relevancy for your students and offering a course that is always up-to-date.

When employed properly, you can achieve all of these demands, create a dynamic learning opportunity, and reduce your overall work load.

One strategy is to require your students to create a common set of class notes. Students use a wiki which they can all access, to read and edit. Incorporating student-generated content gives students a say in what is being taught or learned, and offers them some ownership of the material. It also provides a valuable learning experience through the writing process.

Another strategy is to have students write quiz questions based on the reading and course objectives. This type of assignment can create some rich learning experiences and opportunities for you to connect better with your students by creating a vehicle to offer individualized feedback. This also provides a constant source of new questions to add to your quiz question pool, and a unique assessment approach based on Bloom's Taxonomy.

Dave Wilson and Toni Marie Burkhalter will explore these ideas, among others, during this session.