Jon presented an interesting approach to increasing student engagement (click here). They work to improve access to university for students.

Nugget 1: Students are an Excellent Workforce

Most of the content is build by students who receive training to develop it. Inters create learning objects based on direction from the course professor. Everything was quality checked by the professor.

Interns are a cheap workforce – LOL #GlobalSummit18 pic.twitter.com/Qkcs2s5Hkl

— Laura Killam (@NurseKillam) October 18, 2018

The Problems: Large class sizes, timetables that do not promote independent work, limited problems.

The Blended Teaching Model Pilot

Structure: Lecture followed by independent online resources that reinforce the same material. They also had class time for working through homework that was optional. They use Mobius to create the online content that was voluntary. Everything was accessible on all devices.

Creating fun interactions improves memory and engagement.

Pixies / Pixabay

Having too much on the screen detracts from content. The design and layout matters. This statement had me questioning the layout of our Moodle shells. I need to play with it to see if there is a way to clean it up.

Soft Benefits are Powerful

Online content provides an enhanced view of the lecture.

Independent learning that was not tracked helped students engage without fear.

Using their own devices works well.

Immediate feedback helps learning happen in the moment.

They were impressed by the outside of class participation.