It’s important to keep your content fresh when teaching an online, flipped, or hybrid course, and that includes your video recordings. A good rule of thumb is to review the video content in your course at least once every three years and make updates as necessary, but if your course covers current events or an emerging field, you may want to review your videos more often.

As an instructor, you are an expert in your field! You spent years studying the content and continue to explore current research topics. Combined with our knowledge and background in various educational aspects, we can create an engaging and accessible educational experience for your students. Even if you have been teaching for years, I would like to highlight some of the ways in which instructional designers can be of assistance.

The spring of 2021 is a strange, liminal time in many ways, including how we think about teaching and learning. We’re looking back on a year of disruption and looking forward to a new version of normal. Instructors in higher education are now expected to be familiar with teaching online or in hybrid formats, but our options are expanding again. It is an ideal time to reflect on what we learned from educating during a pandemic and plan what we can incorporate into our teaching practice moving forward.

Is your online course in need of revisions? At some point in time, your virtual learning environment is going to require a makeover. Perhaps content or technology has changed significantly, maybe there are more up-to-date materials that can be incorporated, or you may have inherited a course that you did not design yourself and would like to better reflect your teaching style. Fortunately, course revisions are one of the many services that instructional designers at the Center for Instructional Technology and Training provide.

Do you ever pause in the middle of a conversation and notice the other person’s eyes have glazed over? Have you ever offered up an exciting idea only to have the rest of the room act like you read them several pages of the U.S. tax code? I guess I’m just trying to say that sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who likes talking about rubrics.