Do your students look at what you post?

Some of us like to pack as much information as we can into our online, hybrid and supplemental courses-but is anyone looking at it? I know I often fall into this category, but I do try to use a number of the tips suggested in this article titled 8 Considerations for Online Text

Here's a summary of the tips:

1. Use white space.
   
   • Use bulleted or numbered lists or 
   • Use block quotes or 
   • Add extra blank paragraphs around key points you want to emphasize 
     
     
2. Limit text on a single page. Try to avoid "scrolling to death" your students.This is one tip that I need to work on. Break up your text into multiple sub-pages, instead of jamming as much text as you can on one long web page. According to the article authors Scott Fredrickson and Patricia Hoehner:
   
   "It is our firm belief that one should never create an on-screen document in which the reader has to scroll down or across a screen."
   
   Tips 3-8 are continued...click on the "Read more" link below
   
   
3. Left-justify your body text.
   
   • You can center or right-justify your headings and sub-headings
   • But always left-justify your body text
     
4. Use the right type and size font.
   
   • Use a sans serif font for body text, such as: Arial or Verdana
   • For headings and labels, use a a serif font, such as: Times Roman
   • A font size of 12px (px=pixels) is just right for online reading
   • Note: Students can override the text font and text size on their web browsers
     
5. Use mixed case characters.
   
   • Only use upper case letters for short headings or sub-headings. 
   • Tip: Instead, use the built-in headings provided with Sakai.
     
6. Limit your use of bold and italics. Some of us get a little too excited about using bold and italic highlighting, which can be distracting. Tip: Only hypertext links should be underlined, otherwise, people will assume your underlined text is a link.
   
7. Use colors that contrast.  Do use a dark text color on a light background.
   
8. Place your important text on the left part of your screen. Be consistent with your placement of important announcements and links. Tip: Use the Site Info-Update Information tool to update the top of your Home page.

Need more tips about effective design and tools available? Check out the following links:

• Course Design Tips for Instructors 
• Sakai Course Content Tools (Lessons, Resources, Syllabus, Site Info, Image Tips) 
• DTCC Sakai Text Editor tool bars/buttons
• Where can we find images?
• How do I use SoftChalk at DTCC?