DOIs: APA Style Update (March 2017)

APA issued an update to their style guide in March 2017: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2017/03/doi-display-guidelines-update-march-2017.html. The new recommendation is to use a live link to the DOI instead of just listing the numbers. We can still use the old style while we gradually move to the new recommendation. So, for example, here’s the old style: Fred, H. L., &…

Fun with Adjectives

Last year’s team goal is historical. That cool thing we did today may be historic. Historic (adj) “famous or important in history” Historical ( adj) “of or concerning history” or “belonging to the past” The textbook is instructional. Failing the assignment may be instructive. Instructive (adj) “something that conveys knowledge, information, a lesson” Instructional (adj)…

Searching for a Singular, Nonbinary-Gendered Reflexive Pronoun

A recent human service (HUMS) course has a lesson about using critical reflection to uncover and deconstruct assumptions. The lesson explores how language is changing to acknowledge nonbinary-gendered people through pronouns. For example, a writer might choose “they” as a singular pronoun instead of “he” or “she”.  Using “they” as both singular and plural pronouns shouldn’t seem that…

Moodle Notes

We had a great info session this week with Carolyn T from Production. Here are a few things I noted: No more course “Home Page” so no more folders. The landing page when opening a course is the Course Guide. Media appears in a player if in the context of an activity or assessment, but…

Altruism Increases Productivity?

Thought I’d share this quote from MIST 2611: Management Information Systems: “Is there anything companies can do to make their employees feel less pressed for time? Yes. Force them to help others. A recent study suggests that having employees complete occasional altruistic tasks throughout the day increases their sense of overall productivity.” Leberecht, T. (2012, June)….

Value Added: Role of a Course Editor

“The editor has traditionally played a key role in the design and development of instructional and educational materials. As both the Web and the technology and processes for delivering instructional materials on it have evolved, so too has the editor’s role in course design and delivery. The typical ‘Web editor’ has a broad and changing range of responsibilities, from editing…

OLFM Guide Revision

The Open Learning Faculty Member Guide will be revised in the near future. The resources specific to Blackboard Learn will be updated to the new LMS, and these guides to facilitation and technical tools may be collected with other resources on a web page or wiki to be maintained by OL Delivery Support.