One of the most exciting aspects of online education is how the environment, with its quickly evolving technologies, is making content easier to consume. Some of these developments are more exciting than others, and many are more well-intentioned than they are actually helpful, but I thought I would take the opportunity to show you one that I’ve heard a little bit…

I found myself mildly freaking out about what to write this week for the blog post. We are nearing term start and most of us are focused on finishing up our courses. The building is filled with stress. My favorite way to deal with stress is cake. Who doesn’t become excited and giddy, like a small child, when cake is…

Sixteen years ago, I met a blind professor who was an early adopter of what we now call the flipped classroom; students completed assignments online and class-time was reserved for collaborative projects and discussions. Early on in one of his flipped courses, he began receiving multiple emails from a student asking questions about everything from course content to his experiences…

NACCHO’s Annual Conference, the largest gathering of local health department leaders and other public health professionals in the US, was held in Phoenix in late July this year. UNE attended as an exhibitor in order to add value to the conference conversation, network with fellow public health professionals, and learn more about the latest public health topics. It was wonderful…

A good story generally contains the following elements: Protagonist: The hero (or anti-hero) of the narrative. Central premise: The argument or thesis of the story. Backstory: The context of the story. Conflict: The challenges faced by the protagonist. Narrative arc: The chronological movement of the story. Should any of these be missing, readers will find the story lacking, though they…

We use the web for so many different things. We shop, read the news, watch movies, listen to music, talk with friends — often all at the same time. Some people call this multi-tasking. Others don’t call it anything — it’s just second nature that when we sit down with our computers or pull out our phones, we automatically become…

As noted in our previous blog New Education Legislation: Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Every Student Succeeds Act reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It was also noted in the blog post, that this new act would bring changes, and changes have already begun in the State of Maine. On May 16th, the Maine Department of…

We’ve received several requests to dive more purposefully into the nitty gritty of using Blackboard, and so today we conducted the first in a series of webinars on it, focusing on the Grade Center. As we found ourselves jumping rather quickly from tool to tool, we think the video may be less valuable as a recording than a textual breakdown,…

UNE Online is pleased to be chosen as one of the 2016 U.S. News and World Report Best Online Programs in Graduate Education.   “Our 2016 Best Colleges listing reflects UNE’s commitment to delivering an outstanding return on investment.” – UNE President Danielle N. Ripich, Ph.D.   The U.S. News and World Report ranking takes into account: Total enrollment Student engagement Faculty credentials Student services…

Group projects – online especially – have been an interest of mine for a long time. In a way, group projects are spaces for students to learn from each other, collaborate, and form relationships. If you have never heard about Sugata Mitra and his Hole-in-the-Wall project – old news, I know! – he takes it even further saying that kids…

Research shows that online students appreciate a strong instructor presence. Online instructors who leave regular digital footprints in their classes show that they are actively engaged and committed to supporting student success. In addition to discussion boards and assignment feedback, course announcements provide an excellent opportunity for instructors to maximize their online presence while also sharing important course information. Personalize…

  Megan Landry, BSN, MHA, and former Program Director for the Graduate Programs in Health Informatics, was a speaker on a healthcare panel during Maine Startup and Create Week on June 23, at Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine. The panel focused on an important aspect of health informatics in today’s healthcare environment: how the health informatics industry is embracing…

One of my favorite features on my iPhone is the Maps App. I lost my beloved DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer several moves (and states) ago. I don’t have a GPS in my car. I’ve often found myself lost in many an unfamiliar part of a town when traveling for work or even pleasure. There is something very comforting in saying,…

Student support specialists are intrinsic to the success of our students. The other day I sat on the Maine coast, not too far from the UNE campus, and watched a tall ship come into port. As usual, many other boats greeted the tall ship and escorted it into the harbor. Complete with a lighthouse, this nautical scene made me think…

UNE Online graduate wins award of excellence Karen Aldworth, recent UNE MSEd: CTE graduate, was nominated for and won the Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education (IACTE) New Teacher of the Year award and represented Illinois at the Region III Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) conference on June 15-17th, 2016. Karen is a Health Science / Certified…

Back in March, my colleague Olga wrote about authentic assessment. In her post, she noted “you scaffold the assignments (activities) and put together course materials necessary to help students do their best in achieving the desired result.” In this Vision post, we’ll take a look at how scaffolding and formative assessment can foster student success throughout your courses. Together, scaffolding and…

Regardless of the Learning Management System your institution uses, many of the recognizable names in this crowded field have various modes for authoring and viewing that can be turned on or off by a faculty or staff role to see, and edit, the course in different ways. The ability to put on a different set of eyes and view your course…

At UNE Online, our faculty and staff have adopted a practitioner-scholar model that bridges the gap between academia and the real world, blending scholarly research with practical application to solve complex problems in their professions. It is because of this philosophy that Monique Roy, Assistant Program Manager for the Graduate Programs in Education, will be speaking at the upcoming Maine…

This is for instructors and students alike. For those of you who are instructing, this could come in handy as a resource for any students who are claiming they can’t find the feedback you know you provided for their assignment. As a first step in addressing that issue, consider sending the student to this post. For students…well, of course this…

Each spring, the College of Graduate and Professional Studies holds a Hooding ceremony to honor doctoral and master’s graduates and celebrate the successful completion of their studies. The Hooding ceremony is not meant to replace the university-wide commencement. Rather, it is a special time to come together to meet your fellow students, Faculty, Program Managers and Student Support Specialists for…

Final projects make or break a course. A good final project incorporates everything the student has learned in the course. It lends structure and meaning to the assignments that precede it, and it offers the student a chance to demonstrate mastery of course material in a way that is authentic to the subject matter. In an introductory nutrition course, for…

In past posts, we have discussed how to create rubrics, why we use rubrics at UNE, and how to use rubrics in Blackboard. This particular post will focus on the different types of rubrics one may encounter and what they look like. There are three main types of rubrics: holistic, analytic, and a love child of the two that we’ll…

UNE Online has a newly redesigned online Physics I course, 100% online, with fresh, custom-developed content. The new class has been designed to be especially relevant to students in the health professions. Geared toward health professions UNE’s new online physics course takes its examples from real life, and incorporates elements of how health science professionals actually use physics in their…

I’d wager that most people reading this blog have some important documents and files stored on their computers and phones. I’d also be willing to bet that less than half of those people have backed up their devices. I don’t blame them – backups are really, really boring. But, in this case, the opposite of boring is misery, because losing all…