Best Practices/Tips for Success

Use the LMS to Increase Teaching Efficiency

All communications with students (including feedback on assignments and grades) are in one location.
Reduce paper use, create assignment dropboxes and online exams.
Add, remove, store, and delete course materials within the course space instead of in multiple locations.
Monitor required group interaction by requiring use of the LMS discussion tool.

Electronic grade book allows the instructor to grade and the students to access those grades in a secure (FERPA-approved manner) at any time.
Grade book can be accessed anywhere there is an Internet connection.
Grade book auto-calculates both overall grade and individual assignment/exam grades.

Keep your course space well organized with each item located in an aptly named folder
Post Once: Avoid posting the same information in multiple locations.
Dates & Point Values: Keep deadlines and points on your course schedule or syllabus only instead of sprinkling them throughout the course space.
Convert to PDF: When possible, convert documents to PDFs to ensure that students with varying versions of word processing software can access your documents.
Post Tech Help Policies: Post the IT Help Desk’s contact information and your policy about missing assignments or exams due to “technical” issues on your syllabus.

Students have 24/7 access to posted resources, announcements, grades, etc.
Students can email from within the course space to fellow classmates.
Reduce classroom barriers through increased communication.
- Schedule live office hours
- Promote asynchronous discussion
- Invite guest participants to join discussions
Utilize the assessment tool for self-assessments.
Absent students can check for updated content, schedules, and announcements without requesting information individually.
Students can view current information, such as links to websites, articles, videos and other multimedia as well as critical course information such as the syllabus, assignment instructions and course calendar.