Teaching and Learning are Evolving

Stay Abreast of Emerging Best Practices with ACUE’s Free Toolkits

From Online Teaching to Inclusive Teaching Practices, ACUE offers quick resources to help educators at any stage of their career give their pedagogical practice a boost.

Online Teaching Toolkit

Resources to Ease Into Online Learning

The shift to teaching in an online environment can feel overwhelming, but that need not be the case.

These free and downloadable resources can help make that transition more manageable, and can even offer fresh ideas to seasoned online educators.

We invite you to download our toolkit for tips you can put into immediate practices with your class(es). You can also explore videos in the Video Resources section.

Online Teaching Toolkit Videos

Welcoming Students to the Online Environment

Using these resources, you can create a welcome message, monitor Q&A forums, and much more.

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Managing Your Online Presence

Maintaining a social, teaching, and cognitive presence in an online course allows you to form connections with your students, and effective share your expertise in the content area.

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Organize Your Course

From ensuring your online course is clear and intuitive, to establishing a predictable rhythm – utilize these resources to help you and your students navigate your online course with ease.

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Plan and Facilitate Effective Discussions

Assign a self-reflection activity, aligned to your discussion forum rubrics, to help students evaluate their participation in an online discussion.

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Record Effective Microlectures

Resources that explain how to build short (6 minutes or less), instructor-produced videos that are informative, engaging and memorable.

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Engage Students in Readings and Microlectures

How can you keep students engaged and focused online, while supporting their learning and helping them prioritize information? The following resources explain the process.

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Special Thanks to Our Contributing Faculty Members

Who Contributed Their Time and Talents to the Online Teaching Toolkit

Flower Darby

Director of Teaching for Student Success, University of Missouri, and author, with James M. Lang, of Small Teaching Online

Kevin Kelly

Coauthor of Advancing Online Teaching: Creating Equity-Based Digital Learning Environments

Michael Wesch

Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University

Inclusive Teaching Toolkit

Because When Students Know They Belong, They Thrive

Creating more inclusive and welcoming learning environments for all students requires more than just goodwill; it takes effort on the part of every higher education professional.

From using inclusive language and gender pronouns, to ensuring course accessibility – every single interaction matters. Those thoughtful interactions are how we, as a profession, can mitigate unconscious bias and foster authentic belonging.

Access the ACUE Toolkit on Inclusive Teaching to unlock the latest knowledge and best practices that will help you ensure diversity, inclusion, and belonging in your own teaching practice. What does the Toolkit encourage educators to do?

Inclusive Teaching Toolkit Videos

Ensure Your Course Reflects a Diverse Society and World

Learn how to be intentional when selecting multimedia, readings, and examples to reflect diverse people, viewpoints, and voices.

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Ensure Course Media are Accessible

Accessibility benefits everyone. Learn how to make accessibility the norm in your courses.

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Ensure Your Syllabus Sets the Tone for Diversity and Inclusion

With this resource, you will find all the information you need on policies and resources to support all students in their learning, as well as a discussion of why it is important to include a diversity statement.

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Use Inclusive Language

Using current language around identity is critical to ensuring all students feel acknowledged. Review the following resource, which explains how to accomplish this.

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Share Your Gender Pronouns

Faculty can model inclusive language and behavior in their own digital and in-person spaces by utilizing the resources available in this toolkit.

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Learn and Use Students’ Preferred Names

From asking preferred names to explaining pronunciation, learn how names go beyond what is listed on a course roster.

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Engage Students in a Small Group Introductions Activity

Delve into ways that allow your students to get to know each other and develop a sense of community.

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Use an Interest Survey to Connect with Students

From preferred pronouns to future plans, this resource offers a questionnaire that can be helpful to any faculty member seeking to be inclusive.

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Offer Inclusive Office Hours

What can you do to remove barriers for students? Explore in depth the times, formats, and structures of the office hours you offer to students.

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Set Expectations for Valuing Diverse Viewpoints

Your students should be informed of your expectations right away and aloud so they know what is expected of them. The following techniques and best practices will assist in setting expectations early.

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Special Thanks to Our Contributing Faculty Members

Who Gave Their Time and Energy to the Inclusive Teaching Toolkit

José Antonio Bowen, PhD

Former President, Goucher College, Former Dean, Miami University and Southern Methodist University, Author

Kelly Hogan, PhD

STEM Teaching Professor and Associate Dean of Instructional Innovation, College of Arts & Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Darvelle Hutchins, PhD, MBA

Doctoral Candidate, Department of Communication, University of Missouri

Ece Karayalcin, MFA

Professor of Film, Miami Dade College

Kate Kelley, PhD

Visiting Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Religious Studies, University of Missouri

Kevin Kelly, EdD

Lecturer, Department of Equity, Leadership Studies & Instructional Technologies, San Francisco State University

April E. Mondy

Instructor in Management, Division of Management, Marketing, and Business Administration, College of Business and Aviation, Delta State University

Viji Sathy, PhD

Teaching Professor, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Alyson Snowe, PhD

Professor, English Department, Community College of Rhode Island

Jerome D. Williams, PhD

Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost, Distinguished Professor & Prudential Chair of Business, Rutgers University-Newark