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In the online seminar on CD, Motivating Students: From Apathetic to Inspired, you will learn ways to tweak your course design and instructional methodology to better engage students and foster accountability. You will explore evidence-based strategies that will help you create a learning environment that increases student motivation, interest, and success. You will finish with the information and tools that you need to connect with—and maybe even inspire—modern learners.

Your assessments can be a lot more than a nuisance or necessary evil. When all your constituents see and understand that you actually use your assessments to make decisions, set goals, and improve learning, then your constituents might not be so dismissive. We help you review your assessment efforts to identify what has worked, what hasn’t, and what you can do to get better results next time.

Conflict resolution is never an easy process, but it can be more successful (and less stressful) when sound methods are applied. Strategies and tactics that are particularly valuable for academic leaders are be covered in this seminar. Two respected voices in organizational development share how to take a rational, disciplined approach to consensus-building.

Some are reluctant to embrace new tools, software and technology. Others fear they’ll be buried under a mountain of administrative responsibilities. Still others feel they’ll lose their connectedness to students, or be forced to change well-honed pedagogical methods. And for some, it’s “all of the above.” We provide a veteran of almost 30 years in the field of distance education to learn from.

Sometimes things that are good for us can be a bit … painful. Certainly that’s the case with the recent federal regulations regarding distance education and financial aid. The regs are there to protect our institutions and our students from fraud, waste and abuse, but – particularly for those committed to program integrity – compliance can be a difficult, unpleasant process. This seminar will help you gain the confidence that your program is in compliance.

This 60-minute Magna Online Seminar will not only tell you what today’s students believe are the most essential qualities for effective teaching, but it will also prepare you to make simple and sometimes subtle changes to incorporate or develop practices and traits that resonate with students and yield improved academic outcomes.

Imagine your online students eager for feedback from both you and their fellow classmates; that’s only one well-designed rubric away. Learn how to set up your online course so that your students need to – and want to – connect with their classmates, be in contact you with, and think critically about the subject matter at hand. We will introduce you to ways of creating the perfect rubric for an online course.

With the increasing popularity of online courses, instructors need to have clear, effective methods of creating, implementing, and grading group projects. Change the perception and the results with this seminar. 

One especially significant development in recent years has been the emergence of specific teaching competencies. The potential list of competencies gathered from literature reviews, experience and expert interviews now number over 100, and these are helping to improve understanding of what is necessary to realize success in online teaching. We give you a better grasp of the competencies necessary for helping to elevate the quality of online instruction at your institution.

By combining the best of face-to-face instruction with online learning technology, blended approaches can reduce time on campus while contributing to better learning outcomes. One way “hybrid” courses do this is by increasing student engagement through creative uses of technology–before, during, and after class. We offer you specific strategies to use with students before class meetings, during class time and after class is over.

Your school won’t get any attention when you are compliant with the Clery Act. But wait until you see the headlines when you aren’t. There is no good outcome for failure to comply with the Clery Act and other campus crime and safety reporting requirements. We provide essential information on complying with the Clery Act as well as the Fire Safety and Missing Persons requirements imposed by the Higher Education Opportunity Act.

Student engagement is critical to the learning process. The combination of online and face-to-face teaching environments creates a unique set of challenges. In order to maximize the full potential of a blended course, a professor needs to understand how to harness the possibilities of both formats. This seminar will teach you  techniques for improving student interaction in blended courses.

While there’s a common misperception that some people are born wheeler-dealers and others are not, there is a large research literature that shows that good negotiation skills are both teachable and learnable:  negotiation is an acquired skill, not an inherent trait. In this seminar we provide tips for approaching common situations, discuss when to negotiate and outline a three-part way to analyze and prepare for negotiations that can be put to immediate use.

Creating a learner-centered classroom involves more than just engaging students; it is a philosophical shift in how the instructor approaches the class. We provide a step-by-step guide to integrating learner-centered strategies into existing courses.

It’s generally agreed that the sooner you engage incoming students in your retention program, the better your results will be. That would naturally lead you to assume that Day One – the first day of school – would be the optimum time to start. Our experts experience reveals that you can achieve still better results by starting before Day One – engaging and involving students from their very first contacts with your institution. We focus on critical elements of an “early engagement” strategy

It’s never been easy to recruit and retain top students.  The state of the economy has made the job even more difficult by reducing financial aid and limiting resources. In this seminar we provide you with the key strategic and tactical tools to make that working relationship a reality.

The classroom is supposed to be a distraction-free place to learn.  So why do some students treat it like a social club?  Instructors don’t have to accept bad behavior and they don’t have to be tyrannical rulers to keep classrooms civil. We cover typical disruptive behaviors, from the habitually late student, to the eater, gum chewer, sleeper, and even the interrupter. We also provide you with strategies to deal with new and unexpected situations that arise in classrooms every year.

Success in the teaching of writing rests in part on at least three key factors: Showing students the necessary skills and techniques for improving their writing, encouraging them to take ownership of their growth as writers, and cultivating a healthy rapport between teachers and students that supports individual writing growth. Learn about available instructional technologies for teaching writing effectively as well as some of the latest research findings.

Distance educators' reading loads balloon, demand for research accelerates, and the pressure to publish is intensifying. If you’re a distance education leader on your campus, you know these pressures well and you’re undoubtedly ready for this seminar that tackles them head-on. This seminar is designed to address the unprecedented demands being placed on distance educators.

To keep pace with changing times, higher education institutions must continue to focus on recruiting and retaining a more diverse and culturally competent faculty. Faculty members possessing multicultural competence are best able to teach, advise, and mentor school populations with increased racial diversity.  We deliver clear-cut strategies you can use to increase the racial diversity of final applicant pools as you approach the crucial task of hiring new faculty members.