Effective digital content is authentic.<\/h3>\nEffective digital content includes your<\/em> presence.<\/h4>\nStudents are taking a Messiah course with YOU as their instructor, not Pearson or MacMillan or some random YouTuber. Avoid the correspondence course vibe by adding your own presence: film yourself (or at least record your voice) and include anecdotes and examples that are from your own experiences. It should be very clear to students that you<\/em>\u00a0are their teacher.<\/p>\nSharing stories from your own experience adds dimension to your presence in the course. Students can see you as a multi-faceted person instead of just a talking head. It helps build a sense of community and trust. If students feel like they know you, they are more comfortable contributing during class discussions, regardless of whether they are synchronous or asynchronous.<\/p>\n
Effective digital content includes diverse perspectives.<\/h4>\n
Incorporating multiple perspectives enhances the authenticity of your content and fosters a more inclusive learning environment (see CRT for details<\/strong><\/a>). When you present multiple perspectives in the course content, you invite students to connect it with their lived experiences. When students see themselves and\/or people like them in your instructional materials, they receive a clear message that their perspective is a valuable contribution to the learning environment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/span>Effective digital content is engaging.<\/div>\nEffective digital content is engaging.<\/h3>\nEffective digital content is varied.<\/h4>\n
When we say “varied,” we are referring to both variety of format and of perspective. A mix of text, images, audio, and video makes content engaging and also enhances comprehension (see UDL for details<\/strong><\/a>). At the bottom of this page, we have included links for different types of digital content that you can consider.<\/p>\nEffective digital content is chunked into manageable lengths.<\/h4>\n
It’s well-known and documented (Briggs, 2015; Cercone, 2008; Vai & Sosulski, 2016) that attention spans for digital content are short. Therefore, it’s important to chunk content into manageable lengths to reduce cognitive load. In other words, don’t overwhelm your students with 60+ slide PowerPoints, 30+ page syllabi, or 2 hour videos. Instead, chunk these into shorter PowerPoints (separated into subtopics), a syllabus with links to relevant items, and shorter videos (or time-stamps for particular parts of the videos) to support retention.<\/p>\n
\nThe art and science of CHUNKING | Brain Blast
\nChunking: \u201cthe process by which the mind divides large pieces of info into smaller units (chunks) that are easier to retain in short-term memory.\u201d (Source: APA Dict. of Psyc.)#teacher<\/a> #instruction<\/a> #education<\/a> #k12<\/a> #edchat<\/a> #ukedchat<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Infographic](\"https:\/\/blogs.messiah.edu\/IDblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2024\/07\/chunking.jpg\")
<\/a>[Text Transcript]<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\u2014 Todd Finley (@finleyt) August 10, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nEffective digital content follows visual design principles.<\/h4>\n
Check out the video below for some visual design basics as they pertain to instructional content.<\/p>\n
Students are taking a Messiah course with YOU as their instructor, not Pearson or MacMillan or some random YouTuber. Avoid the correspondence course vibe by adding your own presence: film yourself (or at least record your voice) and include anecdotes and examples that are from your own experiences. It should be very clear to students that you<\/em>\u00a0are their teacher.<\/p>\n Sharing stories from your own experience adds dimension to your presence in the course. Students can see you as a multi-faceted person instead of just a talking head. It helps build a sense of community and trust. If students feel like they know you, they are more comfortable contributing during class discussions, regardless of whether they are synchronous or asynchronous.<\/p>\n Incorporating multiple perspectives enhances the authenticity of your content and fosters a more inclusive learning environment (see CRT for details<\/strong><\/a>). When you present multiple perspectives in the course content, you invite students to connect it with their lived experiences. When students see themselves and\/or people like them in your instructional materials, they receive a clear message that their perspective is a valuable contribution to the learning environment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n When we say “varied,” we are referring to both variety of format and of perspective. A mix of text, images, audio, and video makes content engaging and also enhances comprehension (see UDL for details<\/strong><\/a>). At the bottom of this page, we have included links for different types of digital content that you can consider.<\/p>\n It’s well-known and documented (Briggs, 2015; Cercone, 2008; Vai & Sosulski, 2016) that attention spans for digital content are short. Therefore, it’s important to chunk content into manageable lengths to reduce cognitive load. In other words, don’t overwhelm your students with 60+ slide PowerPoints, 30+ page syllabi, or 2 hour videos. Instead, chunk these into shorter PowerPoints (separated into subtopics), a syllabus with links to relevant items, and shorter videos (or time-stamps for particular parts of the videos) to support retention.<\/p>\n The art and science of CHUNKING | Brain Blast Check out the video below for some visual design basics as they pertain to instructional content.<\/p>\nEffective digital content includes diverse perspectives.<\/h4>\n
Effective digital content is engaging.<\/h3>\n
Effective digital content is varied.<\/h4>\n
Effective digital content is chunked into manageable lengths.<\/h4>\n
\n
\nChunking: \u201cthe process by which the mind divides large pieces of info into smaller units (chunks) that are easier to retain in short-term memory.\u201d (Source: APA Dict. of Psyc.)#teacher<\/a> #instruction<\/a> #education<\/a> #k12<\/a> #edchat<\/a> #ukedchat<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Effective digital content follows visual design principles.<\/h4>\n