Christen Booth

Christen Booth

Christen is a designer, Google Certified Apps for Education Trainer, and has worked at eCampus for 20 years. She values inquiry and ingenuity as tools for remaining an effective lifelong learner, and is most engaged thinking about how we become better problem solvers. She finds the most interesting spaces are platforms that support user contribution, collaboration, and place-based learning. Christen has also taught the Web Graphics & Multimedia class (CITS F221) for 7 years at CTC, both face-to-face and online. Creative Director | Instructional Designer | Google for Education Certified Trainer | QM APPQMR

GER outcomes in your syllabus

General Education Requirements (GER) for baccalaureate degrees describe required courses that students must complete in order to achieve a bachelor’s degree. Here at UAF, GERs provide a common set of learning experiences for students and have outcomes that encapsulate the…

Animate your course banner

The GIF format is ideal for creating animated images and they are commonly used to propagate memes, grab attention, succinctly explain a step-by-step process and otherwise communicate visual information quickly. We see them in news articles, our social media feeds and even in instruction. Is a GIF an element you would consider incorporating into the banner image of your online course?

Should You Use WordPress?

A screen capture of the Wordpress theme directory
WordPress is a publishing platform that provides flexibility for course materials, facilitates open teaching practice, and serves as a public platform for student work. The flexibility of WordPress is one of its strengths, but it also means that the learning curve may feel steep for those using it for the first time. Is it right for your course?

Apply Universal Design to your course

Universal Design is a collection of principles for making an experience inclusive for a range of users with consideration to age, ability, size and any other condition that causes them to be more or less successful interacting with the world. It is an approach to design that intentionally means to benefit many individuals and it can be applied to course design.

Pick up Slack

There is no shortage of discussion platforms to choose from if you’re interested in implementing one in your class. Among the available platforms is Slack, a third party communication app that blends elements of chat, discussion board, and social media.

Three ways to manage WordPress contributions

If you’ve ever used WordPress in your class as a space for student contribution, you’ve likely wondered if there is an optimal way to see what is being published and who is making contributions. This information is vital in an online course where post and comment activity often happens asynchronously. In this Teaching Tip, we’ll discuss strategies that allow you to track student engagement and interaction.