25/03/2024
Combine the safe, effective hands-on lab kits from Carolina Distance Learning® with the digital learning and teaching tools from Odigia and you have a formula for success for distance learners. Read how this partnership lets you go beyond the textbook to create an immersive, engaging, and affordable experience for your online students.
25/03/2024
When it comes to how your students purchase and receive their lab kits, you have options. Follow the two easy steps in this infographic to customize a kit to match your learning outcomes and then to choose the best way for students to purchase and receive their kits.
25/03/2024
As innovators in the field for more than 90 years, we are proud to be on the cutting edge, offering kits that you can trust and rely on—and we back them with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Supported with resources such as lab manuals that can be uploaded to your LMS, editable assessments, instructional videos, and more, our kits equip you and your students for success.
25/03/2024
For students to perform their best in an online course, they need to be engaged with you as the instructor as well as with other students taking the class. From first impressions to a social presence, these tips can pave the way for success.
25/03/2024
Get a quick visual of the easy steps to free course design with this helpful infographic. Just send us your syllabus so we can customize a lab kit that matches your requirements. Then receive a free sample kit for evaluation, and review our free resources. Finally, we’ll build and price your kit. And don’t forget—we back our kits with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
25/03/2024
Download this PDF to learn more about going hybrid-flexible with Carolina Distance Learning to provide students with the same engaging, rigorous hands-on lab experiences no matter how they choose to attend class.
25/03/2024
25/03/2024
When students are in a laboratory classroom, it’s evident whether they are participating in an investigation or obtaining information from a classmate or on the Internet. But how do you, as a college-level science educator, maintain academic integrity—ensuring students are actually doing the work and not trying to manipulate the system—when providing a hands-on laboratory experience as part of an online course?
Following are strategies to keep distance learning students honest and engaged, helping you avoid some of the pitfalls and enabling students to benefit the most from an online education.
Are students using online sources to adjust their results? Compare students’ work and pictures to what’s on the Internet. Since information is added rapidly, be vigilant and check for updates often. Students might post their work for others to use as well, so be sure to check social sites.
If a class’s grades are suspiciously high, it’s likely your assessment from a previous class is being shared. Create different versions of assessments by mixing the order of the questions to reduce the chance of students copying others’ work. Also, maintain a bank of questions so you can easily create new assessments for each class.
Change the order of experiments for students in a class and between terms to help keep the data real. Or promote interest and educational value by adding other variables: Have some students test one set of variables and the other students test a second set. Then combine the results at the class conclusion.
When it’s geographically possible, have students test at a central location. Or, with a strong Internet connection and a robust campus server, students can take exams in front of a web camera. There are also online proctoring services available that use computer algorithms to identify eye movements and body postures that indicate possible academic dishonesty.
Students need detailed feedback, and your discussions engage them in the process of the experiment and let them know their work is important. Set a clear timeframe in which student issues are addressed, and post feedback and grades within 24 to 48 hours to decrease student anxiety and improve morale.
Have students introduce themselves through pictures as they unpack their laboratory kits. During the investigations, have each student produce a live video feed while doing the work or take pictures of the key steps, including a slip of paper with their name and the date. Students should prepare detailed lab reports, describing exactly what they did. These steps will not only promote academic integrity but will also help you troubleshoot or correct any experimental mistakes.
While organizing your online lab, make sure your descriptions are easy to follow and that the labs are relevant and have clear outcomes. When you’re energetic and enthusiastic about the class and principled in your expectations, students will follow your lead.
25/03/2024
In August 2017, Carolina held the second annual meeting of its Distance Learning Advisory Board (DLAB). The board met for two days at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina. Board members included distance learning professionals from various colleges and universities, as well as accrediting organizations..
In 2016, the first meeting identified several best practices and ideas for Carolina Distance Learning® (CDL) to become the leader among online science course lab kit providers. Attendees discussed key topics such as completion rates, student engagement, assessment and learning outcome alignment, data analytics, and instructor choice. These trends remain important throughout the higher education distance learning space, and we continue to address them as we develop and improve our labs.
The second annual DLAB meeting began with a tour of the Carolina facilities, including our live biology and mounted slides departments and our distribution center. During the meeting, the board discussed these top five topics in higher education distance learning, all of which CDL will include in future development and improvement plans:
Presenters Dr. Jennifer McCall (from the University of North Carolina Wilmington) and Louis McIntyre (from Rockingham County Community College) shared data from their experiences with CDL science lab kits. Addressing concerns from some in the academic community that lab science cannot be taught online, Dr. McCall ran a study using our biology kit to determine the effectiveness of online learning in the UNCW RN to BSN program. She found that online education is as effective as traditional education.
To reduce rising costs for college students, Louis McIntyre worked with CDL to design a course in chemistry using our chemistry kit and an OpenStax™ chemistry text, saving students as much as $300 on course materials. Mr. McIntyre piloted the course in the fall of 2017 with the goal of making the course a part of the NCCCS Virtual Learning Community (VLC), a collaborative effort of the North Carolina Community College System for developing online course content and providing support services for the benefit and success of distance learning students, educators, and administrators.
We look forward to our third annual meeting in the summer of 2018. Please contact Shannon McGurk, Director of Distance Learning, with any questions.
[email protected]
866.332.4478
22/03/2024
Customizable lab kits from Carolina Distance Learning continue to meet the needs of students and colleges. Find out how.
Stay up to date on all of the latest product offerings and innovations that Carolina Distance Learning has to offer.
Our kits are as safe, reliable and rigorous as traditional courses. See for yourself with a free sample investigation kit.
