Brent A. Anders's Blog, page 4

Why VIDEO is Such a Powerful Educational Tool

Let us go on a visual adventure and experience the power of video together!

In addition to this article, I have created a video version to watch, available on the Sovorel Educational Blog YouTube channel (be sure to like and subscribe if you found the video helpful. It provides multiple visual examples pertaining to the topic of the power of video especialy with regards to education.

This article will explain 7 key ways in which video is a powerful educational tool that all instructors,...

How to Overcome Zoom Fatigue

What is Zoom Fatigue

This trending term describes what many newly online workers, instructors, and students are feeling, having to attend multiple Zoom videoconferencing sessions every day. There are two main ideas as to what is causing this Zoom fatigue. One theory is that it actually has little to do with Zoom and videoconferencing and has more to do with the situation we find ourselves because of lock-down due to the Coronavirus pandemic. We are feeling more anxious because we are forced...

How to Have an Online Live Graduation Commencement

All students deserve and some might even argue have a right to a graduation commencement ceremony. However, due to the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and the need for social distancing, a live, in-person graduation commencement just isnt feasible right now. Although some schools and universities have chosen to simply postpone their graduation ceremony, many medical experts are warning that this virus is unpredictable, can have a second wave, and that social distancing initiatives will...

Increase Active, Hands-On Learning Online, Part 3: Future-Me Technique

The Future-Me instructional technique Ive developed works to increase student engagement and active learning. The Future-Me technique possess a question where the student has to answer from the perspective of a future version of themselves. This can be enhanced using artwork/video. The idea is that the student would have to use critical thinking and reflection as well as empathy in trying to deliberate how a future version of themselves would address/answer the question posed. Creation and...

ZOOM Best Practices and Advanced Engagement Guides

In an effort to help all educators who are working hard dealing with remote learning and online education due to this coronavirus situation, I created two separate easy to read and understand guides to assist with using Zoom. 

There are two separate guides. The first is called ZOOM for Instruction Best Practices 1-Page Guide. It is a quick read to help ensure that you are doing the best things when using the Zoom software. The second guide is called ZOOM Increased Student Engagement &...

Increase Active, Hands-On Learning Online, Part 2: Interviewing

Although we are all quarantined in our homes, we can still increase engagement in our instruction. A powerful way to accomplish this is by giving students the opportunity to take action in real life, to actively engage in a process, hands-on. A great tool for this is by having students conduct an Interview. This is a great learning activity for multiple reasons such as improving social interaction skills, professionalism, critical thinking skills, increased ability to organize ones thoughts...

Increase Active, Hands-On Learning Online, Part 1: Webquests

As more and more instructors teach their classes online due to the coronavirus, we must remember to make our learning events as active, hands-on, and experiential as possible. But how can we make this happen? I will explain/demonstrate this in a three-part article series. Ill present the technique then provide a full-fledge example to highlight what is possible and how you can use the technique to its fullest. The three main techniques Ill concentrate on are webquests, interviews, and a new...

Top 10 Things to Implement when Switching to Online Course Delivery

This article was created to help those educational institutions that are having to rapidly switch to online course delivery. Many universities and K-12 schools are switching to online course delivery (online learning) to comply with the Center for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) mitigation recommendation of social distancing (actively reducing contact/physical interactions with others) to help combat the spread of the COVID-19, Coronavirus (CDC, 2020). I write this article in that...

Why Being Able to Write Well is So Important

Some people enjoy writing, some hate it, but we all need this incredibly important skill. The power of effective writing is immense in that it allows us to properly communicate to inform, persuade, convince, entertain, and evoke emotions. Yet that is only the tip of the iceberg. Developing good writing skills also helps us become better readers which aid in becoming better learners. Effective writing can also improve our ability to reflect, which has been shown to assist emotional...

Why Passion is Important for Effective Teaching

By passion I mean a powerfully strong emotion that one struggles to contain, and others clearly see and feel. In a compact ebook I recently published “7 Most Important Characteristics of an Excellent Instructor Based on Learning Science,” I express the significance of passion as being part of the important characteristic of being personable as well as tying in with the characteristic of being motivational (Anders, 2020). While it does fully belong to both of those aspects, passion is so much...