Joshua Parkinson / On the horizon
On the horizon
Presentation outlines, practical teaching resources, and the next questions I want to explore.
Proposed series
Practical workshops
for online teaching.
Eight proposed sessions. These are developed outlines, not completed decks or a record of delivered talks. Formats and timing are provisional.
01
Proposed · Faculty and course designers · 60-minute workshop
Accessibility in the everyday course
Identify barriers in a sample module and make a short, prioritized repair plan.
Session outline & participant takeaway
- Start with a student task: find, understand, and submit an assignment.
- Review headings, meaningful links, image descriptions, contrast, and document structure.
- Demonstrate a keyboard walkthrough and discuss what automated checks miss.
- Compare media options, captions, and useful text alternatives.
- Repair a sample module, then identify the next human review.
Takeaway: A before-and-after course page and a practical review checklist.
02
Proposed · New and experienced online instructors · 75-minute workshop
Build an online course students can navigate
Map an outcome to assessment, practice, and a clear weekly module.
Session outline & participant takeaway
- Define what students should be able to do.
- Choose evidence of learning before selecting content.
- Create a start-here page and a repeatable weekly sequence.
- Write assignment directions, time estimates, and a visible completion path.
- Peer-review one module using selected OSCQR design criteria.
Takeaway: A one-week course blueprint and module template.
03
Proposed · Faculty exploring AI · 60-minute workshop
Practical AI in the online classroom
Evaluate one useful AI-assisted activity and provide a meaningful non-AI alternative.
Session outline & participant takeaway
- Separate planning assistance from student-facing activities.
- Draft examples, practice questions, and alternative explanations using invented course scenarios.
- Check outputs for errors, bias, missing context, and accessibility.
- Set clear disclosure expectations and protect student information.
- Redesign one activity with instructor review and an equivalent alternative.
Takeaway: An activity brief with review steps, disclosure language, and an alternative route.
04
Proposed · Higher education faculty · 75-minute workshop
Game-based learning beyond points and badges
Design a short learning game with an assessable outcome and a debrief.
Session outline & participant takeaway
- Distinguish a learning game from a reward system.
- Match meaningful decisions to a course outcome.
- Build feedback, replay, and productive failure into the activity.
- Offer accessible participation routes without making speed the learning objective.
- Play a paper prototype, debrief the choices, and plan evidence of learning.
Takeaway: A playable scenario, debrief prompts, and a simple assessment rubric.
05
Proposed · Online instructors · 60-minute workshop
Feedback that helps students take the next step
Rewrite feedback so a student knows what to keep, change, and try next.
Session outline & participant takeaway
- Compare praise, evaluation, and actionable feedback.
- Use a rubric to connect comments to the task.
- Plan a sustainable response schedule and welcoming weekly communication.
- Gather midcourse student feedback and close the loop with a specific response.
- Practice a difficult feedback conversation using a fictional submission.
Takeaway: A feedback phrase bank and a midcourse listening-and-response plan.
06
Proposed · Faculty and instructional designers · 45-minute session
A consistent course, a clearer path to participation
Create a repeatable course structure and plan how to check whether it helps students.
Session outline & participant takeaway
- Walk through the same task in two contrasting course layouts.
- Standardize names, locations, due-date patterns, and weekly checklists.
- Preserve variety in learning activities within a predictable structure.
- Identify accessibility and mobile navigation barriers.
- Use student feedback and participation patterns to assess the design rather than assume an effect.
Takeaway: A course consistency checklist and a small evaluation plan.
07
Proposed · Faculty and program leads · 60-minute workshop
Assessing learning when AI is available
Revise an assessment to make student reasoning and process visible.
Session outline & participant takeaway
- Identify which thinking the assessment is intended to reveal.
- Separate permitted assistance from work students must demonstrate.
- Add checkpoints, rationale, revision, and short reflection.
- Compare access and workload implications of alternative formats.
- Review an assignment and its rubric together.
Takeaway: A revised assignment with process evidence and transparent AI expectations.
08
Proposed · Educators and technical practitioners · 45-minute demonstration
Working with a local AI research assistant
Trace a research question through source collection, review, and human approval.
Session outline & participant takeaway
- Introduce Artex and the scope of a bounded research question.
- Show the distinction between collected sources and generated notes.
- Walk through researcher, reviewer, and librarian roles.
- Examine a rejected or uncertain claim and document the correction.
- Discuss local operation, external connections, and the limits of automated review.
Takeaway: A source-review worksheet and a documented human approval step.
Proposed sequence
On the horizon
A development plan, with completion criteria instead of speculative release dates.
First · Course foundationsBuild the first workshop pair
Accessibility and course-building decks, paired with an editable module template and review checklist.
Ready when: examples, references, slide reading order, speaker notes, and participant materials have been reviewed.
Next · Classroom practicePilot AI, games, and feedback
Develop the practical AI and game-based learning sessions, then test the feedback and consistency activities.
Ready when: a pilot produces specific revisions and each activity has a usable alternative.
Then · Document the toolsPublish a small Artex case study
Follow one accessibility research question from source collection to a reviewed note. Explore a small, accessible learning-game prototype alongside it.
Ready when: the example is reproducible, sources are traceable, and private material has been removed.
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