Tip Sheets: Blended Learning and Educational Technologies

Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) and Flexible Classrooms (FCs) promote collaboration, engagement, and technology-enabled learning. These spaces encourage peer and team-based learning, shifting students from passive recipients to active co-creators. Effective use involves fostering group work, accountability, and adaptable instructional strategies that enhance participation and deepen learning outcomes.

Learn how to design and facilitate online discussions in asynchronous formats.

Enhance student participation and real-time feedback with backchannel tools that support inclusive, low-barrier communication during class sessions.

Learn to design effective blended learning experiences by integrating online and in-person elements with intention, flexibility, and a focus on student engagement.

Design and facilitate effective online lab experiences with strategies that support hands-on learning, collaboration, and skill development in virtual environments.

Visualize and organize complex ideas using concept mapping tools that highlight relationships and connections between key course concepts.

Encourage thoughtful dialogue and set clear expectations around the use of generative AI tools in academic work, with strategies to support transparency, integrity, and student learning.

Make your video content more inclusive with tips for creating accurate, accessible transcripts and captions that support diverse learners and meet accessibility standards.

Streamline grading and feedback with Crowdmark, a collaborative online assessment platform that supports efficient, flexible evaluation of student work.

Communicate complex information clearly and effectively by applying principles and techniques of data visualization.

Design and deliver effective online learning experiences with strategies for organizing content and fostering interaction.

Design online components for blended courses with strategies that promote active learning, complement in-person instruction, and enhance student engagement across modalities.

Plan and deliver impactful online tutorials with strategies to foster interaction and support student learning.

Support reflective learning and showcase student growth with ePortfolios.

Games can introduce goals, interaction, feedback, problem solving, competition, narrative, and fun learning environments, elements that can increase learner engagement and sustain motivation.

Create accessible virtual office hours by using strategies that support student connection, encourage participation, and maintain flexibility in online learning environments.

Design effective flipped classroom experiences by aligning in-class activities and assessments with pre-class preparation to promote active learning.

As Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) reshapes higher education, instructors must rethink their assessment approaches. This teaching tip presents a modified AI Assessment Scale (AIAS) as a framework for integrating GenAI into assessment design.

Design effective online assignments by aligning them with course outcomes, leveraging digital tools, and promoting student engagement through clear expectations and meaningful feedback.

Lightboard (learning technology) can clairfy complex ideas and boost student engagement. It allows the instructor to visually demonstrate key concepts to students, maintain eye contact and create dynamic, instructor-led video content.

Create a focused and respectful learning environment by setting clear expectations for technology use, encouraging purposeful engagement, and fostering dialogue about digital distractions and academic responsibility.

Maximize the flipped classroom model by designing online activities and assessments that prepare students for in-class engagement, reinforce key concepts, and promote self-directed, active learning.

Enhance collaboration and critical engagement by using online tools that support co-creation and annotation, which enables students to interact with content, share insights, and build knowledge collectively in real time.

Encourage interactive learning and idea sharing by using Padlet to create collaborative spaces where students can post, organize, and respond to content in real time, fostering creativity and engagement.

Boost student engagement and real-time understanding by using personal response systems to pose questions, gather instant feedback, and stimulate peer discussion during class sessions.

Facilitate collaborative learning and timely support by using Piazza to create an interactive Q&A platform where students can ask questions, share insights, and engage with peers and instructors in a structured, searchable format.

Create impactful presentations by designing PowerPoint slides that are visually clear, well-organized, and aligned with your teaching goals.

Boost presentation impact by using Prezi software to create dynamic, non-linear visuals that emphasize relationships between concepts, maintain audience interest, and support deeper learning through spatial organization.

Explore how screencasts can enhance student learning by delivering content in a flexible, engaging format that supports varied learning paces, reinforces key concepts, and fosters accessibility beyond the classroom.

Enrich collaborative learning by integrating social bookmarking tools that help students curate, organize, and share resources, fostering critical engagement with course content and peer contributions.

Design effective blended courses by asking key questions that clarify learning goals, align online and in-person components, and ensure meaningful integration that supports student engagement and success.

Support student learning and project planning by integrating timeline tools that clarify expectations, visualize progress, and encourage time management through structured milestones and deadlines.

Ensure a smooth shift to online teaching by adapting content for digital delivery, fostering student engagement through interactive tools, and maintaining clarity and presence in virtual environments.

Twitter allows you to share and find brief, text-based updates about things that are of interest to you. Users who follow you on Twitter are automatically sent your updates or “tweets".

Virtual reality (VR) involves the use of technology to enter an alternate, three-dimensional view of the real world, a fantasy world,