Assessment, Innovative Instruction, instructional technology, Pedagogy, TLT, Web 2.0

Get Geddit to track understanding in your classroom

UPDATE: On 3/14/15, we received an email from Geddit notifying us that their servers will be shutdown on July 1, 2015. Contact your instructional technologist to review possible alternatives.

 

What is Geddit?

Geddit is an online tool that enables instructors to track understanding, instantly and privately, in their classrooms. Geddit is easy for students to use during class, and it can be viewed on any device with an internet browser. It takes just a moment for instructors to invite students to join a class and set up a lesson. There are many benefits to using Geddit in your courses, such as incorporating Just-in-Time Teaching, and we will touch on just a few of advantages and features in this overview.

Geddit Check-ins Overview
Geddit Check-ins Overview

 

How does it work?

During class, students can “check in” by self-assessing their understanding of the current topic being covered in class. Instructors can launch poll, multiple-choice, short answer (140 characters), long answer (unlimited characters), and math questions and view results in real-time.

Student Check-in View
Student Check-in View

 

Why should you try it?

The information tracked by Geddit makes it possible for instructors to adapt their teaching and the amount of time spent on certain topics to meet students’ needs. A quick glance at Geddit during class provides valuable information as challenging concepts are introduced and discussed.

Student reported understanding on the cell cycle. Green and blue colors indicate that most students indicate understanding.
Student reported understanding on the cell cycle. Green and blue colors indicate that most students responded with “I’ve got this!” or “I’m OK with this.”

 

The real benefit and strength of this web-based app is the variety of information both instructors and students can review after class. Instructors can view class understanding as a whole, along with responses from individual students. It is easy to view trends and fluctuations in class understanding by topic over the length of the class period. Students indicating confusion on certain topics are flagged allowing instructors to easily follow-up and manage struggling students. It is also possible to review responses to any questions asked through Geddit. Importantly, instructors can export all check-in information and question responses to a CSV file for sorting and grading purposes.

Geddit Check-ins Over time
Geddit Check-ins Over time

 

A further advantage of using Geddit is that students can revisit their own reports from a lesson and quickly see which topics they flagged as not being very clear. The report highlights topics students should study.

 

Students can easily find out which topics they need to review after class and before exams.
Students can easily find out which topics they need to review after class and before exams.

 

Where can you get Geddit?

Visit http://letsgeddit.com and sign up for a free account. Try Geddit on your most challenging classes.

Top Ten Tech Tools
Innovative Instruction, instructional technology, Productivity, TLT

TLT’s Top Ten Tech Tools

In TLT, we are continually conducting research, starting trials, and experimenting with a variety of technology applications to find the best and most useful tools for our faculty. It makes sense that faculty and staff often ask me about apps and other tools I use in my courses, training sessions, and typical day-to-day activities. During iPad training, instructional technologists are nearly always asked some variation of “What’s the most popular app?” or “What’s your favorite app?” After technology sessions or presentations, I usually get questions from faculty expressing curiosity as to whether there are other faculty members using the tool or technology.

Through the new ranking feature in Poll Everywhere, your instructional technologists ranked nearly 30 of the most popular tools. I asked my colleagues to rank these technologies based on frequency of personal use and overall impression of the tool, while also considering the usefulness of the tool for faculty at College of Charleston. Listed below are the top 10 tools ranked by your instructional technologists in TLT. Please contact us with any questions.

 

  1. Google Drive: We use this for everything – meeting minutes, tutorials, brainstorming, group work, etc. It’s great for real-time collaboration.
  2. Poll Everywhere: This is one of the most popular tech tools on campus. We love it so much, it’s how we came up with this list.
  3. SMORE: You might be familiar with this tool if you have paid close attention to the flyers in our emails. We use it because it’s very easy to put together a great looking flyer in just a few minutes, and it tracks our views. Faculty could use it to brighten up weekly announcement emails or for introductions at the beginning of the semester.
  4. Screencasting: We use Screencast-o-matic to make quick how to videos rather than writing out tedious step-by-step instructions in emails. This program allows you to record your voice and your screen for up to 15 minutes with a free account. I use this technology frequently in my online courses.
  5. Skitch: All I have to say is Mac users, get this now! Take a screenshot, crop it, add arrows or text, and then drag the file into an email or presentation. The best part is that you can set it up to sync between all your devices.
  6. Kahoot!: We’re addicted. We love this fast and interactive quizzing game. I use it as an alternative to Jeopardy for in class review sessions.
  7. Canva: This is the best free graphics tool we have tested that offers professional-quality design options. It’s a lot of fun to experiment in Canva.
  8. EdPuzzle: Make an existing YouTube video more instructional or relevant to your class by adding in audio comments and quiz questions. You can track student views too.
  9. Haiku Deck: Make beautiful presentations in a jiffy on your iPad or computer. The image finder is fantastic and the formats are striking.
  10. Twitter: Stay up-to-date with news and interact with students and colleagues.
Kool Kats Photo of school bus reflection
Pedagogy, TLT, Training Opportunities

Reflecting on the Fall Semester

Your course is over and grades are submitted! Whew, you have time to take a deep breath and kick those feet up on your desk…well maybe. The spring semester is not so far away, and this is a great time to reflect on your teaching and courses. Here are 10 questions to think about:

  1. Review your course goals, objectives, outcomes, etc. Did the course meet your expectations?

  1. When were students most engaged? When were they distracted? Can you determine why?

  1. Did you cover all of the material you had hoped to discuss? Was anything extraneous?

  1. Should you consider re-sequencing any topics?

  1. When were students most confused?

  1. Which topics, discussions, and assignments were most relevant to your course learning goals and objectives? Are there any assessments that should be re-tailored?

  1. Did students come to class prepared? What could be adjusted to improve student preparation?

  1. What were the best and worst moments in the course? Was anything different, unique, or surprising about this semester?

  1. What would you change in future iterations of this course? What could you improve?

  1. Did your student course evaluations surprise you?

Other than reflecting and taking notes on areas to adjust for the upcoming semester, there are a handful of other tasks you can get started on. First, it’s always helpful to have examples of student work. If there’s a project or piece of work from this fall semester that you would like to share with future students, make sure you seek written permission from that student. It’s better to do it now while you still have the contact information for all of your students.

Have you reviewed your teaching evaluations? It’s OK to wait – ProfHacker actually recommends reading teaching evaluations at a later time. Regardless of when you read them, they can sometimes be difficult to interpret. Vanderbilt’s Center for Teaching has an excellent page with resources and thoughts about student evaluations. If you don’t feel like you can use the information from the standard evaluations for reworking your course, you might consider creating your own course evaluation with specific questions about your course. This reflection period is the perfect time to prepare a questionnaire or survey for your future students. You could even create a survey to hand out around midterms.

Lastly, if there is a particular topic or area of teaching that you are struggling with, come up with a strategy for how to address it. Consider attending a TLT Training Session to hear about best practices, setting up an appointment with your instructional technologist, or reaching out to your peers for a discussion about teaching. There are also some great resources available online to help with your teaching – contact your instructional technologist if you need help navigating them. In the long term, you may consider attending an FTI or checking out TLT’s brand new Spring Training initiative. Remember that there are a lot of instructors on campus with a passion for teaching – they are great for ideas and feedback. You could even invite a colleague to sit in on one of your classes to get some honest and constructive evaluations. If that doesn’t sound appealing, as an alternative you could plan to record a class period or lecture to watch on your own. This can be a very enlightening process, and it may give you ideas to keep in mind for future lectures. If this is something you would like to pursue,TLT has equipment you can borrow.

There’s so much that can be done in preparation for your 2015 courses! But, don’t forget to take a break so you come back energized and refreshed for a new group of students.

classroom discussion image
Pedagogy, TLT

Tips for improving classroom discussions

It’s a common scenario: an instructor asks a question in front of a classroom packed with students and…crickets.

I think we’ve all had one of those classes, either as a student or an instructor. I literally heard crickets during a discussion I was leading last fall, and I am not using literally by its new figurative definition. Crickets had actually escaped from a nearby lab, and they found a convenient hiding space under the teacher station in my room! It made for a more dramatic silence.

There are other issues that may come up while trying to facilitate a discussion in class. The response to a question from the instructor may not be silence, but comments from the same few students dominating the discussion. Perhaps the discussion only progresses to the point of covering a topic superficially.

How can these problems be avoided during your next class discussion? While there are no simple cure-all solutions, there are strategies that can help you. Hopefully there is a tip here that you will find useful as you plan your next discussion with students:

  1. Be prepared

It seems obvious that instructors should prepare discussion questions in advance, right? It’s not just about having a few questions jotted down before class. It’s important to think about what you’re asking and what responses you’re expecting from students. Make sure you include multiple types of questions. Some questions should be basic and just ask for factual responses, but you should also be prepared with questions asking for interpretation, evaluation, or reasoning. Be careful to limit the number of yes/no-type questions, as that can disrupt the flow of the conversation.

  1. Encourage student preparation

Ask students to prepare a handful of their own questions before arriving in class. If you are discussing a reading assignment, ask students to write a short summary. Regardless of the type of discussion, give students adequate time to recall the material and collect their thoughts before starting the dialogue. This is something that is easy to overlook, and we should remember that many students may be rushing to class straight from work or an intense exam. Furthermore, students will be more likely to prepare if you emphasize the importance of participation by including expectations in your syllabus.

  1. Create a supportive environment in the classroom

One way to get things rolling at the start of the the semester is to start with an icebreaker. You may even provide students with the question prior to class so that they don’t feel put on the spot. During the first few discussions, putting the students into pairs or groups to answer questions and report back may ease the transition for student not accustomed to talking in class. If students are still hesitant to participate and the conversation stalls, be prepared to try out some anonymous response platforms, like Poll Everywhere, to get students comfortable. During the class conversation, provide positive reinforcement by affirming student input (verbally and nonverbally), and carefully correcting erroneous contributions. You can also help set the tone by using student names and rearranging the seating in the room (if possible). Students will feel heard if you repeat or summarize what they have said, which has the bonus of clarifying the comment and helping other students hear what was said.

  1. Be sure the material is suitable to discussion

Typically, textbooks are not good sources for in class discussion. Make sure the topic or reading involves ample viewpoints so that students have plenty of ideas to bring up during the dialogue.

  1. Consider cold calling

Cold calling, or calling on students in class when they have not volunteered, works well for some instructors. If you have fostered a supportive environment or are teaching advanced students, cold calling may work for your class. Warn your students that this may happen during discussions so that they come to class prepared. While this practice is somewhat controversial (just type “cold calling classroom” into Google and you will see a variety of articles and opinions), some research supports this practice.

1-1-1, instructional technology

Faculty Guest Post: Learning Catalytics

Our guest blogger is Wendy Sheppard from the Department of Mathematics. Wendy was a participant in the 2013 Spring FTI. This post is a report on her experience using Learning Catalytics in her course.

In Spring 2014, I used Learning Catalytics (try this link to find out more: Learning Catalytics), which is a web based platform similar to Poll Everywhere.  We learned about Poll Everywhere in the Faculty Technology Institute at the College of Charleston in 2013. Learning Catalytics is provided through Pearson for the text and online homework.

I first pilot tested the Learning Catalytics in a face-to-face classroom environment. On the first day of class, I asked students to sign in and asked if they had a smartphone.  Everyone in the class had a smartphone except for one student, who had a tablet.  Next, I had students login to Learning Catalytics to set up their account outside of class, and then bring their own mobile devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.) to class for a quiz.  The first quiz consisted of two questions. One question was a graphing question where students were asked to shade on a graph. Using Learning Catalytics, students could use their fingers on their smartphones or tablets to shade on the graph.  Students with laptops could use the mouse to shade.

I could set a time limit if I wanted, but chose not to in this case. The best part was that I could instantly review the students’ responses in class, to see how many people were correct.  Since the first question was a graph and thus a visual question, this was easy to assess.  About half of the class gave correct responses. I immediately knew we needed a little more work on this topic.

The second question was a feedback question. I asked the students “Did you like this? Why or why not?”.  The students knew their responses would not be anonymous for me, the instructor, but they appear anonymously below:

Yes because It is hands on and I feel more engaged in the class

Don’t like it at all if it’s for quizzes.

Yes, because it was easy to use and fun.

Yes, more hands on & helps me understand the material better.

It’s a little weird, but I think once I got used to using it, quizzes like this would be fine.

No I dont like using my phone to do this. I would rather do it on paper.

Yes. I think it is an effective way to apply what we have learned in class to a real problem on our own. It gives us a chance to try out what we have learned.

It is a good concept because most (if not all students) have smart phones or tablets.

It’s just hard to shade, the concept is cool though

No it was hard to use and confusing. The concept is a good one, but in reality it’s easier to use paper and a pencil

I would but it takes college students way to long to figure this technology out for some reason. I think it’s very simplified and it would be good- maybe once we get used to it, everything would be smoother.

No. I prefer to do math problems and shading by hand. I understand it better when I write it out for myself.

Yes, I like this. I don’t think the entire class period should be centered around it, but it is very helpful.

Not really, it’s kind of difficult to use my phone and I’m not that technologically inclined, I prefer pencil and paper so I can write my steps out and see how I got the answer.

Incorporating technology in the classroom is important; however, with any new classroom additions there are bugs to work out.

I was able to copy and paste these responses quite easily from Learning Catalytics.  Overall, once students got used to it, I think everyone liked it, except for probably 2 or 3 students who had technical difficulties.  The backup was for them to complete the quiz on a sheet of paper.

The grading was easy as well!  I could go through and assign the point values and then mark each graph correct or incorrect, as well as type in verbal feedback for each individual student.

There are many options that I have not yet experimented with as far as presenting the information back to the students, but these options are chosen at the beginning when writing the questions.

Since I was preparing to teach an online course, I also made some video lectures of review questions for the class.  I then used Learning Catalytics to get immediate feedback about the videos, so that I could use it that semester.  It was not anonymous. I asked them, “What did you think of the video lectures that you watched online?  If you did not view them, please state that you have not viewed them yet.”  This also gave me a chance to find out if anyone had any technical difficulties.  If any students are afraid to speak out in class, this gives them a chance to communicate without that fear.

The third time I used Learning Catalytics in class, I asked the students for feedback on one of their tests.  “Were you pleased with your test grade?  If not, why do you think that you did not do well?”  This helped me to assess any classroom wide issues with the test, or if they were just not prepared for the test.  This was extremely valuable feedback for me because I knew that overall, they just did not study enough, versus thinking that the test was too difficult or too long.

The fourth time I used Learning Catalytics in this course, I asked the students to vote in a ranking order question.  Then I used that data to compile project questions for them to work on in groups later.  This time, students did not have to complete the question in class, they could do this outside of class, but then I had it on the screen at the beginning of class for students to go ahead and complete either before class started or right at the beginning of class if they had not already done so.  I gave class participation grades for these assignments where there was no right or wrong answer.

The final time I used Learning Catalytics in this class was to have students complete a matching quiz with application problems and formulas.  Students were allowed to use their mobile devices.  I did set a time limit on this one, which meant that there were about 3 people who had difficulty submitting their answers on time.  The good thing is that you can see immediately who has submitted responses and who has not.  Then you can address the problem.

Overall, I think Learning Catalytics is a useful technology platform for promoting student engagement and instructor assessment.  I plan to continue to use this technology in both my online and face-to-face courses to help assess individual student progress as well.

1-1-1, Faculty Showcase, Faculty Technology Institute, Innovative Instruction, Pedagogy

Tackling challenging concepts with problem-based learning in the classroom

Our guest blogger is Elizabeth Burton, an adjunct professor in the Department of Biology. Elizabeth was a participant in the 2013 Summer FTI.  This post is a report on her experience using problem-based learning in her courses.

In the classroom, many students have trouble translating the facts into action.  This is particularly true in the non-majors introductory biology classes that I teach.  Many of these students enter into the classroom with little knowledge or understanding of biology, with many having no interest at all in the subject.  Most only take this class as a general education requirement.  I have chosen to incorporate problem-based learning into the classroom to provide students with a way to translate abstract ideas into functional scenarios.  This is of particular importance in biology because many of these biological concepts translate into proper functioning of the human body.  From my experience, both personally and as an instructor, I have found that it is easier to understand a tough concept when you are “forced” to work through it.  Students are more interested in the topic when you relate it to something familiar to them or something that is more interesting than a cell, such as a disease.

One example of problem-based learning from my classroom is based around the concept of mitochondrial functioning in cellular respiration.  This concept is probably one of the most difficult for students to understand because everything is explained at a minute level.  In this section, I give a lecture on the basics of the electron transport chain in the mitochondria in one class period.  During the next class period, I reinforce this material through the use of a case study.  The one that I use is from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/), which is a great resource for case studies in all sciences, not just biology.  In this case study we follow the story of Connor, who is a wrestler hoping to lose weight and get down to a lower weight class for competition.  His friend suggests taking a weight loss drug that is available from foreign internet pharmacies but is banned in the United States.  Through this case study, the students dissect the mechanism behind how this weight loss drug works, looking specifically at mitochondrial functioning and why this drug is banned in the US.  Once the students figure out the mechanism by analyzing actual scientific data, I then show them additional substances that have a negative impact on mitochondrial functioning such as cyanide.

From my experience, more students understand the basic concepts after working through a case study problem.  In the classroom, I usually use one case study per unit to reinforce the material from lecture and multiple questions during the lecture.  I have had positive feedback from students on the use of problem-based learning in helping them understand the material.  The in-lecture questions also allow the students to think about the material that we have not yet covered to see if they can find the answers.  Sometimes I ask the question after covering a topic to reinforce understanding.  Frequently, students retain lecture material if they were “forced” to think about it during class instead of frantically writing notes.  While this does take away from the amount of material that I am able to cover, the material that we are able to cover during the semester is understood and retained better by most students.  Overall, I have found problem-based learning to be a welcome addition to the classroom that has facilitated a greater understanding of complex biological ideas.

Coterminal Angles
1-1-1, Innovative Instruction, TLT

Faculty Guest Post: Echo360 to (partially) Flip a Math Classroom

Today our guest blogger is Dr. Jason Howell, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics. Please note that as of August 2015, Echo 360 is no longer available to CofC faculty as a campus license. Mediasite Desktop Recorder is the new replacement allowing for media creation and media sharing.

 

I was very excited to learn that I was selected to attend the Spring 2013 Faculty Technology Institute as I was very interested in learning about some of the latest and greatest innovations that could help me improve my overall effectiveness as a teacher.  Having taught college math courses since 1997, my teaching style and techniques evolved to include many software and hardware tools, including programmable calculators, mathematical software, and even lecturing with a tablet PC, but I felt that I was not fully taking advantage of what was currently available in terms of instructional technology.  The TLT staff did an excellent job and the FTI showed me lots of new tools that were available to enhance student learning.

One of the instruction techniques that was covered in the FTI was the inverted, or “flipped” classroom, in which students are responsible for absorbing new lecture content outside of class meetings.  This way, class meetings can be devoted to more interactive discussions about the course concepts or, as is often the case with math courses, working more problems in class.  One of the tools introduced at the FTI for this purpose was Echo360 Personal Capture.

This software will record your desktop, microphone, and webcam (optional) all together to help you create lectures or presentations.  I decided that this would be a great tool to try out for myself – if I can get my students to learn some basic ideas or concepts though watching a video outside of class, I could then devote more class time to working problems, which students are always clamoring for!  I was teaching Precalculus (MATH 111) at the time, and we were getting ready to cover trigonometric functions, so I decided that my first experiment would be to create a video on finding coterminal angles and evaluating the sine and cosine functions at these angles (if you want to know exactly what I’m talking about, watch the video below!).

The Echo360 software was very easy to download and install on my old Toshiba Tablet PC (still running Windows XP Tablet) and I was up and running in no time. This is a relatively old computer but I really like it for writing – I’m left-handed so writing on a tablet doesn’t always produce good results, and I’ve tried many tablets but this one works best for me.  I started by creating a worksheet that was only partially complete – and my goal was to work through the worksheet on the tablet while Echo360 captured the screen and my voiceover.  I created the worksheet and produced a PDF version, and I annotated the PDF using a program called PDF Annotator (http://www.ograhl.com/en/pdfannotator/, I’ve used it for years).  Meanwhile, my discussions of the worksheet were recorded using a USB microphone, and the Echo360 software was launched to capture everything together.

One disadvantage of Echo360 software is the inability to splice two captures together to make another.  While this might seem annoying at first, it forces you to do two (actually good) things:

  • You really need to rehearse your presentation of the material before you attempt to record, as you don’t want to have to redo the whole thing once you’re a few minutes in. This is good practice anyway, just as going over your lecture notes thoroughly/rehearsing your lecture helps you become more effective in the classroom.
  • You do not want to set out to create really long videos – in fact, it’s probably a good idea to break a long lecture into a series of shorter videos.  Depending on your discipline, a few short videos may be better to retain student attention, and they definitely will be more convenient for the students to work into their out-of-class schedules.

After a few mulligans I was finally able to record two videos that split a three-page worksheet into two coherent mini-lectures.  The two videos can be viewed here:

Coterminal Angles: https://cofc.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Coterminal+Angles/1_i9xsilvj

Evaluating Trig Functions: https://cofc.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Evaluating+Trig+Functions/1_glewi067

Math Worksheet for Echo360 Lectures

**To access these videos, click or copy the link into your browser, login to Kaltura with your Cougars username and password, then click the link AGAIN to be taken to the video**

Once you create your videos using Echo360, you can share them on the college’s Echo360 server, and you can post a link in your OAKS course to the video. However, I don’t like the fact that Flash must be enabled in order for the videos to be streamed from the server – I find this quite limiting, as many students have iPads, iPods, or iPhones that will not play Flash content.  To work around this, I downloaded the m4v file and converted it to an mp4 movie file.  I then uploaded the MP4 files to Kaltura so students can access and play them on any device.  My MATH 111 students really liked the videos, especially the fact that they could rewind and play certain parts over and over – something they certainly can’t do in class!

Although these are the only videos I have done so far, I am planning on doing more as soon as I get time.  I think they could really help in many courses, such as Calculus and Discrete Structures.  In summary, the FTI was a great opportunity to learn some new and innovative ways to enhance student learning, and I successfully used Echo360 to create some lecture content for my students to view outside of class.

TLT

New from TLT: Extended iPad Mini Checkout

Have you been hoping to try out an iPad mini for an entire semester? Do you need a handful of iPad minis for a long-term classroom project?

TLT is introducing a new iPad mini equipment reservation program.  Faculty can check out up to five iPad minis for up to one semester!

Instructors at College of Charleston are using iPads in a variety of ways, including class preparation, interactive lectures, recorded videos, and group assignments. This long-term reservation program is an excellent option if you have been considering the possibility of lecturing from an iPad, but desire extra time to become comfortable using the iPad and practicing a lecture prior to implementing it in the classroom. This is also the program for you if you have a long-term student project which would be complemented by the use of a few iPad minis during class.

These iPads are available on a first come, first serve basis. The Extended iPad Reservation Form can be found here: https://blogs.charleston.edu/tlt/extended-ipad-checkout/

Remember that TLT has additional iPads available for reservations lasting up to 10 days if you miss out on this opportunity.

College of Charleston OAKS
TLT

Preparing for a New Semester: OAKS Training Sessions

As you may know, TLT offers small group training sessions for faculty on a weekly basis. These sessions focus on educational technology tools and applications. The training offered includes applications such as Poll Everywhere, Prezi, VoiceThread, and OAKS.

 

In preparation for the spring semester, TLT is emphasizing OAKS training sessions. There will be training available on how to prepare for the next semester as well as sessions on the most widely used tools within OAKS, such as Content, Grades, Quizzes, Discussion, and Dropbox. If you are a new OAKS user or just need a refresher we encourage you to attend a session. In an effort to accommodate varying schedules, we offer repeat sessions at different times during the day and throughout the week.

 

Please visit our Eventbrite calendar to view the full schedule and sign up for a session.

 

If you are unable to attend our training sessions, the TLT Tutorials and Apps Blog is an excellent resource for detailed OAKS instruction. You can also contact your instructional technologist to set up a consulting session.

TLT

Earthquake Safety: TLT shows you what to do

Your Instructional Technologists in TLT want you to be safe during earthquakes! When the earthquake drill struck on 10/17/13 at 10:17 am, the technologists were gathered in the FTC (Faculty Training Center – come check it out sometime!).

We hope this video will help you remember what you need to do in the event of an earthquake.

Link to video: TLT Earthquake How To

No TLT Directors were harmed in the filming of this video.

Comic features were added using Halftone App.