5 Ways to Increase Engagement in Your Courses

November 7, 2019,

Closed Captioning

If you use PowerPoint and Google slides, you can now do live closed captioning. Captions are not only eye-catching; they also support students with disabilities as well as English Language Learners. For video, captions are mandated by Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Live closed captioning can be used in live and virtual presentations. Visit https://go.osu.edu/trycc to try it on sample Google Slides and PowerPoint presentations.

Watch the videos to see live closed captioning in action.

Live closed captioning in Google Slides
Live closed captioning in PowerPoint

Live Polling

Did you know that you can use live polling during a lecture or virtual session? OSU supports a tool called Top Hat that can sync with CarmenCanvas and provide polls and discussion prompts. Other polling tools you may want to check out include Poll Everywhere and Mentimeter.

Storytelling

As humans, we are drawn to stories. Have you considered providing content as a story? You do not have to use bullet points to highlight essential ideas. Instead, reframe the lesson as a scenario or story that provides real life context to your material. Doing so will allow students to apply the new information in a way that provides them an authentic learning experience.

Visual Design

You do not have to be a graphic artist to use principles of visual design in your course materials. OSU supports Adobe Spark, which allows you to make videos, webpages, and graphics quickly with hundreds of visually appealing templates.

Easter Eggs

An Easter Egg is something hidden in your learning experiences that is unexpected. Often found in software development and the video game industry, creating an element of surprise in your learning experiences can have your students interacting with them to find something more. 

Next Steps

These are just a few of the ways you can level up engagement in your course design. If you’d like more information about any of these techniques, feel free to contact EHE Academic Technology for a consultation and a staff member will be happy to assist.