NE Indiana Course Design Retreat Advances Student Engagement

Twenty-seven faculty from five northeast Indiana universities met for two days, May 19-20 at IPFW to work on re-imagining their courses with student learning and engagement in mind. George Rehrey, Principal Instructional Consultant with IUB's Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, guided participants through a set of highly interactive processes intended to help them design or re-design courses using a backward course design method. The goal of the retreat was to forge new collaborations among members of the NE Indiana consortium while energizing faculty to champion excellent course design and teaching on their respective campuses. Participants responded positively to a very intense two days of work. Typical of their reaction is this comment, "Designing my course from the "big idea" made my course outline much more relevant and engaging!  I will definitely be sharing my learning with others.Thanks again for a great workshop!"

IPFW's Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching organized and hosted the event. Participating universities included: Indiana Tech, Trine, Manchester, St. Francis and IPFW.

Why You Shouldn't Use PowerPoints in (Most) Online Courses

If you are thinking of updating your PowerPoint presentations, or want a fresh perspective, the resource below shows some common missteps and provides ideas on how to better design slides to work with the human brain.

Why You Shoudn't Use PowerPoints in (Most) Online Courses.