What does it take to create an engaging, effective course? The Blackboard Exemplary Course Program, with its peer and expert review processes, can provide valuable
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Blackboard Ultra Transition Academy
As NIU moves forward with our transition to Ultra Course View, CITL is increasing our support to help faculty prepare. While we have provided a long
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Highlighting accessibility resources
Accessibility continues to be a high priority at NIU. Here are just a couple of our notable accessibility resources, as well as an exciting announcement!
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Supporting first generation college students
Workshop Takeaways NIU’s Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning recently hosted a workshop on Supporting First-Generation Students. The workshop featured Kimberly Shotick (Assistant Professor, Student
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New library resource on blended learning
The NIU Library has secured the eBook Blended Learning: Research Perspectives. Volume 3, edited by Anthony G. Picciano, Charles D. Dziuban, Charles R. Graham, and
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Interactive techniques
We added a new guide to our website! This compendium of interactive techniques was compiled and shared via Creative Commons by a Dr. Kevin Yee
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Looking back, moving forward, and saying good-bye: Strategies for ending the semester
Taking the time to deliberately plan for recognizing the end of a semester can help students better retain what they have learned, more easily transition to whatever comes next, and provide satisfying closure for the community you have built.
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Developing fair, consistent, and transparent grading practices
An educator’s grading policies reflect their beliefs about student learning, motivation, and success. Grading policies often vary across campus, within individual departments, and even between
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Improving accessibility: Contrast issues
What’s the issue with contrast? In order for students to be able to follow your instructional materials, they must be able to read them. An
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Midterm check-in reflection questions
The midpoint of the course is a great opportunity for faculty to pause and check in with students on their experience thus far and to
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Fostering a sense of belonging in online learning
What is it about online courses? You spend hours developing interactive lesson plans, but there is a lingering suspicion that students are losing focus. As
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Improving course material accessibility: Scanned vs. OCRed PDFs
Scanned PDFs can be problematic for students with visual impairments because their screen reader may not be able to interpret the page. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can solve that.
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