Michelle Louch

Donna, In short, education is all about marketing. We just happen to be peddling knowledge rather than a good or service. My research found that students do read into text -- just as we read into advertising. It's not something that schools tend to take into consideration, however. With increasing competition for students, though, we need to think about brand perception even in the most mundane areas, such as emails and LMS. I attempted to pull up a copy to paste a link, but I think my company's firewall is causing problems. Here's the citation to help you find it:… >>>

Due to the lack of face-to-face interaction online (unless you have the ability to capture lessons and/or Skype, of course), students will read into the design of the typeface that you use. Interested in alienanting them all in one fell swoop? Use something visually heavy and angular such as "Impact." Want to be mistaken for passive and childish? Aim for "Kristen ITC" or any other font that looks like a child's handwriting. Trying to come across as a professional? Use traditional fonts -- "Times New Roman" and "Courier" are good choices. Finally, if you want to make it look as… >>>

While we focus on the content of the message, we also need to consider the visual impact. If you are able to choose your typeface, make sure that it conveys a professional image (e.g. Times New Roman, Georgia, Cambria, or Ariel). Using a font that is childish (e.g. Comic Sans, Kristen ITC, Freestyle Script) suggests that you are more playful than serious and that you are not particularly professional. A heavy font (e.g. Impact) will make you look pushy. This might sound silly, but there's a ton of research on the impact that typeface has on the reader's perception of… >>>

I've started to let my student collaborate on essay exams. And use their smartphones. They have to cite the webpages they use, and they have a specific time limit on the exam. They're also allowed to ask each other for what I call "memory joggers," meaning that they can check with their peers to make sure that they're on the right track. The resulting papers are quite good, and I have yet to have anyone abuse it. In fact, most are reluctant to do something that seems to go against everything they were taught from K-12. For it to work,… >>>