Ken Colby

I leaned into the idea of PBL as a method for further developing critical thinking skills.  It forces a student to tear down the problem into its parts in order to build up a solution.  For example, if a company is financially unstable, you need to look at a variety of components to understand how they got there before devising a solution in getting out; e.g.is it a lack of revenue, do they have too much debt, COGs too high, etc. I like to think of it as reverse engineering or deconstructing.  This can't be the only method of instruction,… >>>

Active learning is a critical component for successful online teaching and helps ensure student engagement and various learning styles. Additionally, it helps the students have a better comprehension and incorporation of the topic.  

To help ensure a students' success in the class is to provide a clear criterium or list of expectations on how grades will be provided. 

I appreciated the quick checklist to help ensure content for accessibility

This section has taught me how many different types of assistive tools are available. The abundance of tools can help close the gap for many students with disabilities and provide them with the accessibility needed for their individual situation.

Students with disabilities can be broadly interpreted and therefore misunderstood.  As teachers, we will need to work with the school in developing our curriculum to ensure students with disabilities have equal access to technology, tools, and other content delivery vehicles for our courses. 

One element that stuck out for me and is important to understand is not all impairments are visible and depending on the impairment, it can require different tools and approaches in an online learning environment.  Tools can be clear communication, magnification, text-to-speech translation, transcripts, bold text, FAQ, etc.  

One element that is consistent is to ensure there is clear communication and expectations.  

It is important to not rely on one method of evaluation. Having multiple methods deepens a student's level of understanding.

Feedback is a critical component in a student's learning...helping them to not only better understand the topic but it provides clear communication on how to better understand the topic.

Online tools play a significant role in a student's success in a course. These tools serve as a foundation in building a community for the students; where interaction with the instructor, fellow students, or people within a group can be fostered and facilitate a deeper learning.

As other instructors have stated in previous comments; module consistency, information chunking, and revisioning are all key components to successful online learning.