Education Commons^™

That’S What Friends Are For, Stephanie Theessen

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Remember in kindergarten, sitting next to your buddy on the carpet squares? Eating goldfish with a friend at snack time? Running around the playground with whoever seemed fun? There was plenty of time for friends. Of course, making friends gets tougher as we get older, but as the old adage says, “Everything I ever needed to know, I learned in kindergarten,” and one of the most important things we all learned was, “be a good friend!”

As adults, friends are just as important to our health and well-being as they were when we were children. Not only in our personal …

Training For Hlc Peer Reviews, Yuerong Sweetland

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

In this article, I would like to share my experiences from the HLC (Higher Learning Commission) Peer Review training that I completed in October 2017.

Modeling: Online Students Need Demonstrations, Too, Matthew Barclay

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

How many times have you seen children pretending to be their sports heroes while playing basketball or soccer? How many teens or adults have you seen wearing a movie star’s hairstyle or adopting the clothes of another favorite celebrity? How often have you observed people mimicking media personalities in voice, gestures, sayings, etc.? Have you ever found yourself doing something because someone else did it and you thought it was a great idea? Of course you have. Whether it was beneficial or damaging in the long run, you have most likely done something only because someone you esteemed did it.

Helping Students Become Better Writers Inside And Outside Of Tutoring Appointments, Natalie Kopp

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Writing tutors provide invaluable resources to students, but writing help can come from all levels of student support on campus, not just in tutoring appointments. I spoke with Elisha Teague, the Assistant Director of Learning Resources at Franklin University, and Shurouq Ibrahim, one of Franklin’s professional writing tutors, to discuss how they help students in the Learning Commons and what we can all do when working with students or course material to help foster stronger and more confident student writers.

Quantifying Creativity: A Left-Brain Approach To Learning Objectives, Rob Wood

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

I am a teacher. I love the time when the proverbial light goes on in a student’s mind and a theory or concept or method or technique suddenly makes sense. I witness the moment that a few sparks of knowledge kindle a fire of learning.

Teaching Abroad: Ensuring A Good Opportunity Is Really Great!, Garry Mcdaniel

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

With increased globalization, more colleges and universities are establishing faculty exchanges, study abroad programs, collaborative research efforts, and technical assistance programs with counterparts overseas. The result is enhanced faculty development, increased learning for students, added revenue generation, and prestige for the partnering institutions. For faculty, the opportunity to teach abroad can be a fulfilling and career-enhancing experience. However, if faculty are inadequately prepared and supported, valuable time and resources are wasted, student learning is impacted, and the image of the institution and faculty member may suffer. This post examines how faculty and their home institutions can ensure that teaching abroad …

Tips For Effective Collaboration With Subject Matter Experts, Tasha Weaver

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are critical members of any course design team, for their contributions to both the course content and the cost of the project (Bedell, 2018). A SME can identify and prioritize the content needed to address critical course learning objectives, and she can do this efficiently, saving the designer hours of research. The question is: how can you, as the designer, best partner with the SME to create an effective learning experience for students? The following presents some tips and best practices for collaboration.

How Much Work To Assign In Our Courses?, Jesse Fuhrman

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

No matter what type of course we are designing, we have to keep in mind how much time we are expecting learners to spend. When thinking about time expectations, there are a number of things to consider, beginning with the expectation set by those who are asking for the course or training module.

De-Stressing At Work, Jeannie Black

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

As a member of a high-performing, deadline-driven team, it is important to manage everyday workplace stress as well as develop strategies to increase concentration. There are many ways to de-stress, but music is my balm of choice. Some of my other favorites include doing anything artistic (think: painting or photography), along with reading. Some people practice breathing exercises or will walk around a bit as well. Of course, there are many other ways to de-stress, but doing so at work can be tricky.

Graduate Assistant Experience At The Institute - An Interview With Amie Tope, Amie Tope

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Amie Tope, 2018 graduate of Franklin University’s Master of Science in Instructional Design & Learning Technology (IDLT) program, recently sat down for an interview with the IDLT program chair, Dr. Yi Yang. Amie not only graduated with a 4.0 GPA and gave a speech at the Winter 2018 Commencement—she also accepted a job offer before she graduated from the program! During this interview, she talks about her experience working as a graduate assistant for the International Institute for Innovative Instruction (the Institute), and offers suggestions for future graduate assistants.

Bridging Learners And Clients: Challenges And Strategies, Xiaopeng Ni

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

As discussed in my previous post, “Clients as an Instructional Resource,” integrating clients into the curriculum is promising and potentially innovative. A client-based course emphasizes a pedagogical orientation to gain real-word experience through meeting the “expressed needs” from the outside of the classroom. Students create impactful work, collaborate with clients, and sense professional culture. During the past several months, by collaborating with other faculty members, I had opportunities to implement some of these ideas in two graduate courses: Marketing Communication Planning and Instructional Design Capstone. The results, based on students’ feedback, are positive and well demonstrate its pedagogical values.

Rethinking The Library’S Role, Karen Caputo, Alyssa Darden

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Discussion of the library's evolving role in supporting students and the university community. In this presentation, we will discuss several projects and support services the Franklin University Library provides to the university community, including our etextbook initiatives, video tutorials, and rapid point-of-need reference services. These projects center around Affordability, Convenience, and Accessibility for our students, faculty, and staff.

Interactive Textbooks: What The Future Holds, Natalya Koehler

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Many educational publishing companies are creating digital textbooks, and like their traditional print counterparts, e-texts can be expensive. The common complaint about commercial textbooks is their high cost. Between 2006 and 2016, the prices of textbooks used in higher education increased by 73 percent (Senack & Donoghue, 2016).

Do You Apply Learning Theories To Your Online Course?, Jessie Kong

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Emerging technology is changing almost every aspect of our lives. As a result, we should not be surprised that new technology has an impact on how people learn. The development of online learning has rapidly increased through the advancement of technology. Indeed, technology is a powerful tool for instruction—it helps students actively engage in class activities, collaborate with their peers, and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Of course, technology can also save time and money by delivering online instruction anytime and anywhere. Therefore, we cannot ignore the use of technology that can create many instructional strategies and activities.

Learning Commons Passport Presentation, Karen Caputo, Alyssa Darden

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

How do you meet your distance students where they are for instruction? With attention spans set by social media behavior, how do you ensure your instruction message gets across? We created a tutorial library – the Learning Commons Passport – with short, navigable and succinct instruction videos that are accessible to learners across the globe and that instructors can embed in their courses. We worked with our IT and interactive media teams to create the structure and templates, but maintained ownership over the site and videos so we could quickly create needed tutorials, push edits, and provide the most up-to-date …

The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Getting Stuff Done, Kevin Stoker

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Getting things done is both daunting and empowering…and sometimes overwhelming. It’s likely rare that you have too little to do. Every day you look at that pile of work on your desk or the 500 emails that you need to respond to and you wonder how you’ll get through it. When you look at the totality of the things you need to accomplish it can sometimes feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

What International Teaching Has Taught Me About Instructional Design, Niccole Hyatt

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

As instructional designers, we rarely get an opportunity to interact with the learners who actually experience what we develop. We typically rely on learner evaluations, input from teaching faculty, or future enrollment numbers as evidence of positive instructional design interventions. However, there are many reasons why learning events succeed or fail. If a course is well designed, but the instructor is not up to par, can we blame the development of the course? What if the designer of a particular course is also the individual who teaches it? Taking it a step (or a flight) further, what if the class …

The Workflow Of Workflow, Jeannie Black

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Have you ever heard the Lewis Carroll quote, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there”? While it is true that not all who wander are lost, you shouldn’t completely forgo solid plans. Where do you start, though? With a cheat sheet, of course!

Applying Project Management Strategies In A Large Curriculum Conversion Project In Higher Education, Joel Gardner, Patrick A. Bennet, Niccole Hyatt, Kevin Stoker

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Higher education is undergoing great changes that require universities to adapt quickly, and making these changes can be difficult. One discipline that can aid in executing change is project management, which has developed a set of clear processes and strategies for completing initiatives quickly and effectively. Several authors have identified project management competencies as key in the practice of instructional design. However, in our experience it can be difficult to operationalize project management, particularly in instructional design projects that are large in scope and require a quick turnaround.

Mind Maps Allow Our Students To Paint A Picture!, Barbara Carder

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

When Fred Barnard said that “a picture is worth a thousand words” back in 1927, odds are that he wasn’t thinking about mind maps in higher education, but his idiom was true then and it remains true today.

Five Challenges For New Online Instructors, Constance Wanstreet

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

A boot camp for new online instructors focused on five challenges related to transitioning to online teaching, building spaces for learning, preparing students for the work of online learning, managing the classroom & assessing learner outcomes.

Investigating Instructional Design Management And Leadership Competencies - A Delphi Study, Joel Gardner, Lewis Chongwony, Tawana Washington

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Research in instructional design and educational technology journals typically focuses on the theories, technologies, and processes related to practice of instructional design. There is little research emphasis, however, on leadership and management of instructional design in higher education. Investigating the competencies associated with effective leadership and management of instructional design is critical as it would provide the field with guidance on how to more effectively prepare and train instructional design leaders and managers in higher education. In this study, we explored the competencies required for an instructional design manager to be effective in higher education settings. We used a Delphi …