Active and Accessible Learning

Curriculum Sharing: Transforming 50-Minute Didactic Lectures
Duke School of Medicine is committed to sharing its unique curriculum with Duke-NUS, its Singapore-based sister medical school. At Duke, content is often presented in 50-minute didactic lectures, which are captured for export to Singapore. Studies have shown that the optimal video length for student engagement is about six minutes. We produce indexed video playlists of the content recorded in the Duke lecture hall. This enables Duke-NUS students to easily access course material in smaller chunks, using a customized, interactive, voice-annotated presentation (VAP) player. This innovation supports TeamLEAD, the flipped classroom active-learning educational paradigm developed and used at Duke-NUS.

OUTCOMES: Learn techniques and best practices for indexing videos * Learn how to take advantage of using VAPs for active and blended teaching and learning in an educational setting

Making Decisions about Accessibility: Considering Effort and Impact
In an effort to improve the accessibility of online courses, the University of Pittsburgh's Pitt Online team consulted with the disability resources and services specialists regarding frequently requested accommodations from students for online course materials. Two key barriers were identified: (1) inaccessible PDFs for blind or vision-impaired students, and (2) videos without transcripts or closed captions for hearing-impaired students. The Pitt Online team conducted a two-phase project to enhance accessibility. Phase One was a review of courses to determine barriers and identify best practices in online course development. Phase Two was a team decision matrix session rating the effort/impact of accessibility practices.

OUTCOMES: Identify barriers to students with disabilities in online courses * List best practices for developing accessible online materials * Create a decision matrix based on effort and impact of accessibility practices