Reading Time: 4 minutesToday we’re going to start our dive into the new Canvas Accessibility Checker and tackle a few of the issues it checks for. We’ll cover the rest of the items next week, but for now, we’ll focus on the text-based items. Before we start looking at the individual items, let’s chat about how to get to this tool and run the report. In your course, find the “Accessibility” link in your course navigation and click it. The first time you go to this page, you’ll get a note that says you have not yet scanned your course and a prompt to scan the course. Once the scan is complete, you’ll see a graph detailing the kinds of issues and a list…
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Transform Your Teaching: The “Teaching Compass” with Dr. Nathalie Aelterman
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhat is the “Teaching Compass?” How can it be used as a tool to adjust our teaching to meet the needs of our students? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Nathalie Aelterman (Co-founder of Impetus Academy, a spin-off from Ghent University) about how to provide pathways that motivate students to learn. View a transcript of this week’s episode. Podcast links Resources Chat with us!
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Course Accessibility: Intro
Reading Time: < 1 minuteToday, we’re kicking off a new series on accessibility – Canvas has a new tool they’ve launched, and we want to take this opportunity to also revisit accessibility principles and how they apply to each of us – regardless of whether your class is online or face-to-face. While these may seem like they’re just “extra work” or something that doesn’t make a difference, they’re still best practice. And by preparing our courses and materials to be ready for whatever needs a student may have, we’re showing our love for others in action. Across this series, we’ll explore how Canvas tools can help us in this journey – as well as what they don’t cover but we still need to address. We’re excited to dive in and explore all this with…
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Transform Your Teaching: Student Perspectives – Usage of AI
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHow are current college students using AI in their academics? Where are they finding it useful? What limitations do they see? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss how students are using AI with current students Kaiya and Jude. Please take this opportunity to fill out our 2025 wrap-up survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes and your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Even if you enter the drawing, your survey response will remain anonymous. View a transcript of this week’s episode. Podcast links Resources Chat with us!
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Beginning of Semester Reminders and Tips
Reading Time: 2 minutesWelcome to the start of a new semester! Today we’re going be chatting about some tips and reminders to make the first week (and the rest of the semester) easier. We know there’s a big chunk of time between semester starts, so it’s easy for some of these things to slip your memory. Combining Canvas sections You may be teaching multiple sections of the same course but want to combine all your students into one section so you have a single place to work on the course. Canvas makes it simple to combine those multiple sections into one. A brief note: you’ll need to combine them before…
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Transform Your Teaching: Book Review – “Teach Like a Human” with Dr. Dave Mulder
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHow do Christian educators approach Generative AI with caution? How can educators find the balance between using GAI as a tool and having it take over their teaching? In this episode, Rob and Jared chat with Dr. Dave Mulder about his new book Teach Like a Human. View a transcript of this week’s episode. Podcast links Resources Chat with us!
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Submitting Final Grades from Canvas to the Registrar
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIt’s a simple process to submit your final course grades to the registrar from Canvas. Before you start this process, however, you’ll want to follow these three tips for checking your Canvas gradebook to make sure you’re all squared away. Once you’re ready, follow these three steps: 1. Click the “Submit Grades to Registrar” link in your course menu. If you don’t see the link there, click “Settings” in the course menu then the “Navigation” tab. Drag and drop “Submit Grades to Registrar” from the inactive items list to the active items list and click “Save.” 2. Scan the information on the “Submit Grades” page. Is…
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Transform Your Teaching: Mind Mapping for Systems Thinking with Dr. Larry Cox
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWe’ve discussed how mind mapping can impact teaching and learning, but what other applications exist? How can mind mapping help solve problems or organize thinking? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Larry Cox II (Senior Instructional Designer at Virginia Tech) about his presentation on using mind mapping techniques in systems thinking while at the 2025 OLC Accelerate Conference. View a transcript of this week’s episode. Podcast links Resources Chat with us!
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How I Used ChatGPT to Reimagine “Introduction to Literature”
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhen I was asked to teach a face-to-face section of LIT-2300 this semester, I was a bit hesitant. While I have experience teaching literature to high schoolers, I had never taught it at the college level. With the campus-wide subscription of OpenAI’s ChatGPT EDU in place, I decided to integrate AI not as a grading shortcut or a novelty (although a Gatsby bot that appends every answer with “old sport” is very tempting), but as a teaching assistant. Using a dedicated ChatGPT project (“LIT-2300 TA Bot), I developed lectures, discussions, and creative learning materials grounded in Cedarville’s theological framework. My first steps were to start like any…
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Student Perspectives: GenAI and the General Writing Major
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn August, Cedarville University became the first evangelical Christian university to implement campus-wide educational ChatGPT. This has been met with a lot of different responses—enthusiasm, fear, disdain, apathy. I know some people who use it for everything. I know others who would equate AI use as an unforgivable sin. I’m Sophie, a senior studying Professional Writing and Information Design, and I land somewhere in the middle, if a bit on the “less AI” side. But there are some specific contexts where I do (or do not) use genAI—so let’s take a look at those! In my education The first day of class, all of my professors banned…