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Foreign Language Class
Hello Everyone, We have an online Arabic class that is using quizzes. Some of the questions are multiple choice others require the students to answer in Arabic. I am currently at a loss as to how the students will write in Arabic to answer the questions. Any thoughts about how student can use the HTML editor to write in…
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End-of-Year Reflections: Making Space for Celebration, Gratitude, and Growth
A Season for Reflection For me, as an educator, the end of the school year smells like bumblebees visiting spring blooms—bursting with the excitement of summer, yet tinged with nostalgia. It’s a time to look back on the progress and accomplishments of the past months, to celebrate the hard work of both myself and my…
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Taming AI Hallucinations: A Guide for Instructional Designers
“It sounded so confident… but it was totally wrong.” If you’ve used ChatGPT or another AI chatbot, you’ve likely seen it confidently provide incorrect information. That’s an AI hallucination—when the model invents facts or distorts details. As instructional designers, we’re increasingly using large language models (LLMs)…
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Why Instructional Designers Are the Master Chefs of Online Learning
Just because someone has access to a kitchen and ingredients doesn’t make them a chef. The same is true for course creation. While many professionals have access to tools, like the many features of Brightspace, and plenty of content at their fingertips, turning those raw materials into an engaging, effective learning…
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Using AI to create branching scenarios
If you're new to branching scenarios (choose-your-own-adventure learning experiences), you may want to check out an earlier post A Bird, Some Berries and Lots of Branching Scenarios. If you're familiar with branching scenarios already and are looking for a way to develop them more quickly with AI, stay right here! With…
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Sound Advice: Enhancing Course Narration Through Better Audio
In online learning, audio quality plays a pivotal—yet often underestimated—role in learner engagement and comprehension. Clean, clear narration helps learners focus, reduces cognitive strain, and supports a more professional, polished learning experience. Whether you're an instructional designer, educator, or content…
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ChatGPT and Bloom’s Taxonomy: What AI Can and Can’t Do
As Instructional Designers, AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming more integrated into our workflows. While this is happening, many of us are asking: How can we use these tools and what are their limitations? With AI increasingly assisting in tasks like content development, learning objective generation, and feedback…
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In-Person, Blended, and Fully Online Learning in K–12 Education: A Closer Look
As education continues to evolve, K–12 schools are adopting a variety of instructional formats to meet diverse student needs. The three primary models—in-person, blended, and fully online learning—each offer unique experiences for students, families, and educators. Understanding the strengths and challenges of each…
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HTML Template Library
A well-designed digital platform is essential for engaging audiences and ensuring a seamless user experience. One way Learning Services helps clients achieve this is through the use of HTML Templates. However, we know that not every project has the resources for a fully custom HTML design. That’s why we’ve created the HTML…
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Weaving Social Learning into the Fabric of Online Courses
If you’ve been designing online courses for a while, you’ve probably wondered: how can I replicate the organic, spontaneous social interaction of in-person learning in an asynchronous online environment? You can lay out great content, structure modules beautifully, even add interactive elements—but giving learners…
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Fostering Engaging and Authentic Interactions with the Brightspace Discussion Tool
Online learning offers remarkable flexibility and access—but without intentional design, learners can drift into isolation or disengagement. Enter Discussions: a powerful tool for connection, when used well. In Brightspace, Discussions can become more than a course requirement—they can be the beating heart of an engaged,…
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Top Tips for Using Rubrics in Brightspace
Using rubrics for assessments benefits learners and instructors. For the learners, it clarifies expectations and provides more focused and consistent feedback. For instructors, it streamlines grading, saves time, and makes it easier to arrive at an accurate grade. Whether you're new to using rubrics in assessments, or…
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Empathy in Instructional Design: A Rising Tide
Imagine a ship at sea that struggles against an ill-directed wind and an unfavourable current. It would be a foolish Captain that toils to change the sea and sky. Instead, a wise Captain adjusts the sails to suit the conditions. The progress may be slower than they’d like, but fathom by fathom, the ship moves forward.…
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Third Party Student Engagement tools?
Is anyone using any add-on products to promote student attention, curiosity, interest, and self-reflection by providing opportunities for student-to-student and student-to-faculty interaction? In other words, tools that expand upon the intent of the discussion board to promote student engagement.
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Recording assignment feedback with desktop video
Hi everyone! My university is moving away from using VoiceThread in our D2L, which leaves me in a bit of a pickle. I teach an asynchronous painting class, and when students upload images of their work, I need to be able to record myself responding to (speaking) about their work while, importantly, being able to point to…
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Online Student Onboarding?
Hello all, Is anyone working in Higher Education doing an online student onboarding or orientation? We are in the process of building an online student orientation, and we are interested in the process of getting them enrolled when the are accepted as a student (not when they are registered for classes). We are also…
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Building a sense of community within your online course
While online courses offer a host of benefits, instructors may find it more difficult to build student relationships when teaching remote or asynchronous courses. In this article, we will discuss several ideas to help make your online course more conducive to relationship-building. 1. Introduce yourself! You might be…
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Syllabus Placement
Where do you guys all have instructors place their syllabi? We are using the Course Overview area because we want to be able to put a link directly to the course syllabus in the global navbar and that was an easy option. But are starting to run into issues with it not being visible on Pulse and Yuja Panorama can't check…
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Creating Content that can Elevate LUMI
Creating engaging content can be hard, but creating engaging content that truly tests and helps learners to grow is even harder. The best place to start is with the learning objectives. As most course authors know, the learning objectives inform both the learner and the course author about WHAT they will be learning and…
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Need for User Experience (UX) category or tags
More explicit attention needs to be paid to the look & feel and User Experience (UX) concerns of those of us using the BrightSpace platform on a daily basis. Issues like: • Lack of white space • Too much white space • Poorly formatted elements • Too much clicking required • Too much scrolling required • Poor navigation and…
