Teaching Tips of the Week: Improving Course Navigation and Organization

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? 

• Check out this 8–minute video on how to organize your course shell in Avenue to Learn 
• Discover the steps in crafting an intro video in this 9-minute resource on “Creating a Welcome Video” 
• Consider completing “An Introduction to Avenue to Learn” – a self-paced, asynchronous module in the “Professional Development for Teaching” course. You can easily enroll in this course by logging into Avenue to Learn, clicking on the “Discover” tab, searching for the course name and clicking “Enroll in Course.”  
• A reminder that MacPherson’s Faculty Liaison contacts are available to support.