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Teaching Tips of the Week: Improving Course Navigation and Organization

Teaching Tips 4

In addition to the complete list of Teaching Recommendations available for instructors preparing courses for winter term 2021, the MacPherson Institute has developed a variety of resources to assist with course organization and navigation in Avenue to Learn.

Teaching Tips of the Week #4

Improving Course Navigation

Students described that their online/virtual courses lacked consistent and clear structure. They shared that they often did not know where to go for information.  

  • Use the first week of class to provide an orientation and welcome to the course.  
  • Use MacPherson’s online course rubric/checklist to create positive learner experience.

Improving Course Organization

Many students reported having trouble keeping track of course activities and managing their time. They shared that having more consistent, built-in communication about deadlines would be beneficial: 

  • Use Avenue to Learn as a course hub to centralize all learning resources, activities and assessments. 
  • Post detailed schedule of events using Avenue’s built-in Calendar Widget. 
  • Use Avenue’s checklists to provide a clear “to do” list for each week/unit. 
  • Use Avenue due dates and start/end dates on assessments and checklist items. 
  • Post consistent announcements/reminders about the week’s activities and deadlines. 
  • Keep schedules consistent and predictable. 
  • Provide students with resources to develop their time management. 

Looking for additional resources? 

 Teaching Tips,  Updates