. How not to make a PowerPoint presentation a boring slide show:

http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/powerpoint-for-e-learning/

This was not a highly technical article, however it did challenge me to examine how I incorporate PowerPoint in a f2f classroom or an on-line course. Traditionally I've relied on it as a linear, slide show format to summarize in bullet-point fashion information I thought was fundamental to the topic at hand. Of course this was the most boring, ineffective way to use PowerPoint. The author gave a few basic pointers to enhance the presentation such as being careful about clip art, bullet points, and a flat screen filled with information I hope the students memorize. Three resources available on PowerPoint include the "branched scenario using PP hyperlinks," Flash animation, and custom graphics. I suspect this is just a start.

Here's a link to a web site, followed by a summary of comments by the author:
Accessibility: Resources and considerations for on-line teaching with students with disabilities. See the following:

http://www.onlinecollegesdatabase.org/online-college-learning-for-students-with-disabilities/#five

"Typical accommodations made by schools include:
* Allowing extra time for tests
* Providing captions or transcripts for all videos
* Ensuring assignments and PDFs are readable by assistive technology software
* Providing text descriptions for images and graphics so that assistive software can read the image
* Offering textbooks in alternative formats: eTexts, audio, PDF, enlarged print, and Braille
* Creating screen reader-compatible web content
* Creating accessible Word documents
* Allowing for a variety of interfaces: keyboard, mouse, voice
Schools try to anticipate needs as much as possible. At Washington State University's Global Campus, Wendy Steele, multimedia designer and web accessibility coordinator, makes sure online courses emphasize:
* Clear and consistent site navigation
* Strong content organization
* Alternative text for diagrams and graphics
* Legible web fonts
* Text that can be zoomed
* Recognizable links
* Good color contrast
* Alternate ways to convey meaning besides using color
* Properly tagged PDFs and documents
* Site pages that can be navigated using only the keyboard
* Transcripts for media
* An option to use a built-in text-to-speech tool to read online course content"
Margarita Barresi, author of web site from Online College Database

https://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/teachingonline/before.html

http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415997263/pdf/Teaching_Online_Ch_5.pdf

These two articles address the significance of the syllabus. As I reflected on the questions of time management, I discovered that as a teacher I can assist myself and the students with this issue by investing more time and detailed attention to the syllabus before the on-line class begins. If I anticipate the students' questions, problems, anxieties, and needs by designing an extraordinarily detailed syllabus that might appear repetitious, I will have reduced the number of emails, phone calls, on-line meetings, and worried blogs throughout the semester.

A few highlights:
(1) Imagine the syllabus in a variety of ways - as our students will do - as a map, for example, in which the teacher is plotting the terrain and geography of the course, and as a contract between the instructor and learners, and as a timeline of activities in which the due dates are specified by calendar dates (e.g. October 1) rather than modules or classes (e.g. day 4 of module 6). Being clear about exact dates and times will be helpful for everyone.
(2) Be sure that the on-line syllabus is available in a hardcopy format so that students can have a hard copy beside them as they work on the computer, phone or ipad on assignments, remembering that students learn in different ways and the syllabus itself ought to reflect those varieties of apprehending a class;
(3) Design realistic learning goals and assignments. Teachers are not always the best judges of the realities of students' lives, capacities, and commitments, so test the objectives, expectations, and assignments on a focus group of students and other faculty.

http://lsc.cornell.edu/Sidebars/Study_Skills_Resources/Study%20Skills%20PDFs%20for%20LSC%20Website/Time%20Managment%20for%20Right-Brained%20People.pdf

The article (above) is titled Time Management for Right Brained People (or what to do if to-do lists are not your style). I suspect most faculty are list-makers and have developed the habits of working from a calendar of deadlines, and we have particular criteria to triage tasks on those long lists. This is not always the case with our students, some of whom might not be as linear or left-brained, and who might have other kinds of lists shaping their lives (e.g. child care, employment, care of aging parents, etc.). This was a liberating article with a few obvious, practical pointers that can help manage time and stress:
* do the most demanding tasks when you're most alert,
* respond to assignments sooner than later (don't procrastinate),
* s l o w down if you find yourself stumped or overwhelmed,
* see if focusing on learning outcomes can help you do less, not more.