Many of us arrive to our classrooms without time to spare. We then concentrate on taking attendance, turning on the computer and projector, or reviewing our lecture notes. Meanwhile, our students sit silently, gazing at their phones. We may not consider the minutes before class begins as consequential, but they offer a fertile opportunity to get…
Starting a new semester can be daunting but let us help you with our Start of Semester Checklist! This checklist gives you a list view of important tasks to complete to make sure your semester starts off smoothly, it also tells you how to complete most tasks. Some of the tasks and include: Verifying your course shell…
I am a huge fan of Microsoft Excel. It’s my second favorite application, after Photoshop. However, I’ve been attempting to move all of my work to Google Apps for Education and I felt like Google Sheets was just not as robust a program as Excel. That being said, I’ve been working with Sheets exclusively for several…
Last week, I was commiserating with an instructor about her struggle to engage students in discussion during class. “Sometimes it’s like talking to a brick wall,” she lamented. Facilitating lively conversations that require students to apply, synthesize, and evaluate their knowledge is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. Even the most brilliant lecturer…
There are many ways in which faculty can extend the classroom conversation online; OAKS Discussion board, VoiceThread, and blogs to name a few. However, there is an art to getting students to actually think critically and discuss thoughtfully in an online environment. The document below outlines a few tips to help you get more out of…