Kathryn Robinson Huff,MFA

My online course design ensures that all students have equal access to learning. For instance, close captioning, screenreaders, audio texts, and alt text meet special accommodation requirements for my visually impaired students. The Canvas Accessibility Checker verifies ADA compliance of course assignments and materials.

For my online courses, I've created Web 2.0 lessons with over 1.5 million hits. For ease of user interface, I link these engaging lessons directly into the Canvas course assignments. Each lesson has five stages: Watch, Think, Dig Deeper, Discuss, and Finally. The lesson begins with a short video of instruction, followed by ten questions designed to check for understanding. Then the lesson leads the learner onto further resources and deeper into discussion with other students. The lesson concludes with a tie back to the LMS assignment. 

To enhance learning, I integrate many LTI's into my courses. Macmillan LaunchPad, for instance, integrates our composition e-handbook with exercises , diagnostic tests, podcasts, videos, and adaptive activities that give students practice of writing concepts and flexibility to control their pace of learning.

To create and foster a warm, transparent learning community, I hold virtual office hours each week in BigBlueButton, the LMS video conference tool. Students know they can drop in and find me there. They can discuss any questions or concerns they have about an assignment or about any aspect of the course. 

My online course design uses clear rubrics that detail the criteria for the  distinct writing skills that are being assessed. Learners can set their goals for what areas they want to focus on and the level of mastery they want to achieve. 

My online students value the detailed feedback their peers and I give them in the LMS commenting tool. To support different learning styles and students with disabilities, I also use Kaizena LTI or Screencast-o-matic for audio/visual feedback. Students can review the feedback at their own pace as needed. Prompt constructive feedback reinforces writing as a process, and my student writers report that they love the helpful guidance.