Information Technology Services

By: Jonathan Coons

On this we should all agree: the revolution of smartphone adoption is over and it is no gross generalization to assert that each incoming SIUE student has a one. Given this, as educators, we should be past treating them like a nuisance fad, and we should be working to increase our students' knowledge so that they can properly leverage these ubiquitous tools. However, there is a gap in the ability of our students to be able to apply the actual capabilities of these devices,...

By:  Tori Reany

SIUE has adopted the Open SUNY Course Quality Review (OSCQR) tool to provide quality course reviews using evidence-based principles. Instructional designers are available for consultation at any time during the development of your course regardless of course delivery method – online, blended, or face-to-face, and they will use OSCQR to make recommendations on course design and content delivery. To request a consultation or course review, please complete the&...

By: Laura Million

Faculty, do you have students asking this question at the end of the semester? It's an unfortunate truth that some students wait until the end of the semester to check their grades and realize that they are not doing as well as they thought. Blackboard's Retention Center is one tool that can help faculty quickly identify and communicate with students who are falling behind (i.e. not logging in, missing deadlines, or falling short of specified course benchma...

By: Jennifer Albat and Laura Million

Have you ever seen a really great interactive learning module and said, “I wish I could have that in my course!”? Now it can be a reality. The ITS Instructional Design & Learning Technologies group have been working on several modules already that have been beneficial not only to academic courses but to Springboard and other department training initiatives, as well.

Our first major project began with the Office of Admissions. They needed a learn...

By: Niki Glick

I recently attended a conference focused on improving accessibility in higher education. One big takeaway for me was that accessibility isn't just about disability; it's about providing as many opportunities as possible for people to learn, often by identifying and reducing possible learning barriers. Captioning is an example of improving accessibility because, not only does it remove the barrier audio-centric content could pose to students with hearing impairments, it can add cl...

By: Jennifer Albat

Looking for teaching tips in higher education? Teaching in Higher Ed has some excellent podcasts on digital pedagogy, students, work/life, and teaching. The podcasts are broken down into those 4 categories for easy exploration. I highly recommend you give them a listen!