Teaching and Learning Technologies
In an effort to allow more faculty to participate in our 2015-2016 Professional Learning Clubs (PLC) we are extending the deadline to sign up until June 1st. To learn more about PLCs at CofC and to sign up go to https://blogs.charleston.edu/tlt/faculty-services/professional-learning-clubs-plc/
If you have questions feel free to email tlt@cofc.edu.
Our guest blogger is Ashley Brown from Health and Human Performance. In January Ashley was awarded an Ungrant for an iPod touch. Her goal was to film her kayaking students while they learn to paddle to help critique their performance and allow them to improve. Not only is this an interesting experiment into real-time assessment but also into exploring the waterproofing options for tablets and phones. There are many departments, such as the sciences and education, that can benefit from her trials with using the waterproof cases in the field.
I won an iPod Touch from the Ungrant through TLT!!
My main objective is to video students paddling during their Coastal Kayaking class and give them feedback on their strokes and maneuvers using the Coach my Video app.
My first challenge was the hardware. The iPod does not like to work when it is wet. I have it in a waterproof case and a life jacket to keep it floating, but when I swiped my wet hands over the wet surface the machine just ignored me. Believe it or not I took it out two times before it occurred to me that the machine doesn’t work when wet, it won’t work when the waterproof case is wet, it won’t work when my hands are wet…so I’m still trying to figure out how to stay dry when I’m wet. I haven’t tried filming under water, but plan to when it warms up – by then I hope to have solved the ‘dry when wet’ problem
Then, after washing my face one might, I had a revelation; if a towel could dry my face…although I still haven’t figured out how to keep the towel dry.
The iPod is still not a big fan of wet hands, and it is hard to get them completely dry.
I had luck videoing the students and using the Coach my Video app to show them their work. However, I didn’t want to waste class time discussing each video individually, and still haven’t found an easily accessible way to project the video for the whole class to watch. So my next challenge is to send them their own assessed video.
I’m enjoying the new technology, and the challenge of using it in an environment where one of the first things I say to students is, “Lock your electronics in your car if you don’t want to lose them or ruin them!” is ongoing…maybe a really big ziplock bag…I mean really big.
We’ll keep following Ashley’s progress as she works through some of these issues. Check back to see the resolutions and more on student outcomes! TLT has longterm iPad minis and two waterproof cases available in our Checkout Equipment if you are interested in trying something like this in your classes.
We have reached that glorious time of year when students are starting to plan for the future (i.e. – register for Fall semester). As we wrap up the current academic year, you may start thinking about the future yourself. What courses will I be teaching next year? How will I do that? What assessments am I going to use? What am I going to change up? Wouldn’t it be cool if {insert innovative idea here}? While TLT is here to help you with all of your planning needs this summer, there are a few things to keep in mind while you make plans for your future courses, especially in terms of meeting the needs of all learners.
College of Charleston currently has approximately 900 students with various disabilities on campus who are registered with the Center for Disability Services. [1] Some of you may have already worked with students with disabilities in your courses and have a working knowledge of accommodations. For others, this concept may be new and foreign to you. In any case, as you look to prepare your courses for future semesters, here are some overall tips that will help you to design with accessibility in mind:
Universal Design for Learning is a vast and useful framework for reaching all learners and to individualize the learning process to meet their needs and your course goals. I would suggest checking out some of the additional resources below if you are interested in learning more about the theory.
When using these principles there are a variety of resources available to help you out. Here on College of Charleston’s campus the Center for Disability Services is a wonderful resource for faculty. TLT can also help you differentiate your instruction and research academic-related technology solutions to implement. Here are some other resources to help you out:
[1] Mihal, Deborah. “Our Role.” Center for Disability Services. College of Charleston, Aug. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
[2] Poller, Lisa. “About Universal Design for Learning.” About Universal Design. CAST, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
Yesterday TLT held an informational session on the upcoming Professional Learning Clubs, PLC, a collaborative and supportive opportunity for faculty and teaching staff at CofC. The PLCs generated a positive response and the participants were excited about the opportunity to participate. We, in TLT, believe that the PLCs will provide teachers the opportunity to try something new in their teaching while being backed by the support of their peers.
Just complete our online application (at the bottom of the linked page)
Read the Info Session presentation and the information on our PLC blog page then contact your Instructional Technologist or tlt@cofc.edu with your questions. We’re happy to discuss it with you.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Where can you get Geddit?
Visit http://letsgeddit.com and sign up for a free account. Try Geddit on your most challenging classes.
At college campuses across the country, a new semester has begun, allowing us to once again begin anew. Few professionals have the opportunity to start fresh every couple of months but professors, if they’re so inclined, can modify their classes every semester based upon self and student evaluations. One part of teaching that I have consistently reflected upon is the very first day of classes. How much time should I spend on the syllabus? Are there any icebreakers that aren’t incredibly corny? Should I teach course material that day?
If students’ social media posts are any indication, professors can’t seem to win: if they spend time talking about the syllabus, students complain; if they launch right into course material, students complain. Check out the Twitter hashtag #syllabusweek for a glimpse into the minds of our students.
So what’s a professor to do? Based upon my own experiences and those of many other professors I’ve learned from, here’s my advice:
Don’t make the first day of class “Syllabus Day.” Avoid reading the entire syllabus to students. This is a waste of everyone’s time. Students who care about their learning will read the syllabus on their own. If you’re wary of putting that onus on students, include a syllabus quiz the first week or ask students to sign a syllabus contract. Perhaps more importantly, why not write a syllabus that students might want to read rather than one that looks like a Terms of Service agreement. For tips on making your syllabus more student-friendly, check out “Crafting a Learner-Centered Syllabus.”
Don’t let them go after five minutes. What’s the point of meeting if nothing is going to be accomplished the first day? I used to think students would perceive me as “cool” if I let them go after only a couple minutes. Not so. Most students felt their time was completely wasted. Put yourself in their shoes. If you were asked by a colleague to come to campus for a meeting then, after just a couple minutes, they said “Eh, let’s just continue this conversation later,” you’d likely be frustrated.
Focus the first class on making connections instead of giving directions. Rather than spending 50 minutes telling students what they can and cannot do in your class, spend time getting to know one another. That first day tells students a lot about who you are and what kind of teacher you will be. If you spend it giving them “do’s and don’ts” they won’t learn much about you except you like rules. According to Joe Kreizinger from Northwest Missouri State University, focus the first class on:
Build icebreakers into the entire first week, even beyond. Most professors include some type of “getting to know you” activity on that first day. But the class roster doesn’t solidify until after the add/drop deadline. Therefore, I suggest icebreakers are even more important during the third and fourth class periods. This doesn’t have to take much time. I typically incorporate self-introductions into roll call, asking students silly questions to make them chuckle. I’m consistently surprised by the number of times students find unexpected connections: “Seamus Finnigan is my favorite Harry Potter character too!!!!” Some students may be grumpy about icebreakers, which is understandable considering they do them in every class, but that encourages me to find new ones each semester.
I hope these tips help you design an engaging and productive first-week routine. Best wishes for an enjoyable 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:
Review your course goals, objectives, outcomes, etc. Did the course meet your expectations?
When were students most engaged? When were they distracted? Can you determine why?
Did you cover all of the material you had hoped to discuss? Was anything extraneous?
Should you consider re-sequencing any topics?
When were students most confused?
Which topics, discussions, and assignments were most relevant to your course learning goals and objectives? Are there any assessments that should be re-tailored?
Did students come to class prepared? What could be adjusted to improve student preparation?
What were the best and worst moments in the course? Was anything different, unique, or surprising about this semester?
What would you change in future iterations of this course? What could you improve?
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.
Clickers (or audience response systems) are a great way to check for understanding, poll students’ opinions, and even give quizzes. Normally it requires the students to have a purchased clicker such as iClicker or Turning Point or a phone, tablet or computer for use with software like Poll Everywhere. Either way, there is an investment of some type and this may make those of you new to polling a bit nervous. Well now there is an easy and investment-free way to get started with clickers in your class. It’s called Plickers (Paper Clickers). Thanks to Tamara Kirshtein in Teacher Education for sharing this with TLT.
Plickers requires only the professor to have a phone or tablet with a camera and the students to have, you guessed it, paper clickers. Here’s how it works:
With Plicker you can:
With Plicker you can’t:
It’s fast and easy to use. It’s not as robust as some of the other applications like iClickers or Poll Everywhere but it’s a great way to get some of the benefits quickly and easily with very little investment. Print out your cards and get started today.
Resource: http://plickers.com
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Have you ever told your students not to be afraid to ask questions because their classmates probably have the same question(s)? Well, professors shouldn’t be afraid to voice their queries either! It’s likely the questions you have about implementing instructional technologies are shared by your colleagues. So we are starting an online community, called “Dear TLT,” to answer your questions, inspire discussion of best practices, and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. Much like “Dear Abby,” your instructional technologists will respond to your questions with advice, suggestions, and troubleshooting tips.
To submit a question for TLT, please complete the following form: http://goo.gl/n1N2tq.
We look forward to corresponding with you!
Please note: Questions will be answered on a first come, first-served basis and added to TLT’s blog as space permits. If you need an immediate response, please contact your instructional technologist.
