Teaching and Learning at Vol State

Differentiated Instruction in an Online College Classroom Differentiated Instruction: Providing students opportunities to learn content using different resources, employing varied strategies, and/or allowing students to demonstrate their learning in different ways based on their individual learning needs and interests. --Natalie Milman, Differentiating Instruction in Online Environments Are we still thinking about differentiated instruction now that we're online? It's a core instructional principle that we all believe in, but in an overwhelming race to digital learning, it can easily be pushed to the side in a to-do-later-pile by even the very best and the brightest. How can we make an online learning environment engaging for our students while maintaining the integrity of the academic content and without further complicating the process? Creating an engaging course is as easy as focusing on the 3 main principles: Course Clarity, Student Communication, and Timely Student Feedba...

Hello, campus community!  In October 2021, I had the opportunity to participate in an online nursing mastery series focused on enhancing online instruction utilizing interactive activities and an understanding of learning theories to optimize student learning in the online environment. The program lasted through December 2021, with meetings one week each month and supplemental assignments, discussion, and collaboration in the remaining three weeks. Overall, the opportunity provided me with an improved understanding of online learning while providing me the opportunity to recognize areas of improvement in my current course delivery. For many of you, I am sure the concepts I learned are “old news”; however, as a new instructor, I found the discussion engaging and enjoyed the opportunity to explore ways to improve the classroom experience for my students (especially in this virtual environment). As you all know, the pandemic has changed the way in which we teach and learning occurs; t...