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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Nominations being accepted for Excellence in Online Teaching Award
Nominations for the 2022 Excellence in Online Teaching Award are now being accepted. This award recognizes NIU faculty and instructors whose performance exemplifies a commitment
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New feature in MS Teams meetings: Presenter mode
Instructor Presence Educators who teach online face challenges to establishing and enhancing instructor presence. Instructor presence has been defined as having “… students see you behind
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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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Dan Cabrera celebrates 25 years at NIU
We honor and congratulate Dr. Daniel Cabrera for 25 years of service assisting staff, students, and educators at Northern Illinois University. The Center for Innovative Teaching
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Choosing a course of action: Strategies to combat the high cost of textbooks
Written by CITL Guest Contributor: Dee Anna Phares (University Libraries) Everyone wants their students to be engaged and prepared not only to meet the requirements
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One small step for accessibility: Adding descriptions to images
Images can be a great way to engage your learners with different modes of learning, and can help communicate complex ideas to students. For students
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Getting students to read and respond to feedback
It’s a familiar story… A faculty member spends hours reading and commenting on student work only to have students turn right to the grade, often
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Fall 2021 pilot of Blackboard Ally
Beginning Fall 2021, anyone who is teaching a course, including all NIU faculty, instructors, staff, and teaching assistants, are eligible to sign up to be
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HyFlex teaching: A flexible alternative
What is HyFlex? HyFlex is a course model that allows students a flexible course structure. Students can attend class sessions in the physical classroom, participate
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