In case you have not heard the news, a new Learning Management System (LMS) will be coming to Denison beginning Fall 2022. The ITC, the Office of the Provost, and ITS have been working together to ensure Denison faculty are involved in the process of selecting a LMS that works best for the university. Demos of three systems, Canvas, D2L Brightspace, and OpenLMS (Moodle-based), will be held the second and fourth weeks of January.
Tech Tip – TTT
A quick technology tip to help you engage your students whether in the classroom or remotely.
Tech – Workshop: “Seeing Through Your Text with Voyant: Low Barrier Text Analysis in the Classroom”
On Saturday, December 4, the Ohio Five CODEX team, in collaboration with Denison ETS and the Library, hosted a workshop on computational text analysis and using a tool call Voyant. Most of the faculty participating in the workshop left with ideas on how they can use this digital tool to have students conduct distance reading on their texts.
Tech – Using tablet capture to save time
Ever want to communicate a quick idea or demonstration to your students outside of class, but an email format was cumbersome? Have access to a tablet, such as an iPad? Consider making a quick tablet capture voice-over video. Unlike a talking-head video made in something like Loom, with an iPad connected to a desktop you can create a quick voice-over video to:
- share a quick example that may involve drawings or computations
- point out key parts of a reading or diagram
- provide verbal feedback on students’ work
This excellent website from the University of Pittsburgh instructs how to create video capture on a variety of tablets and systems.
Tech – Press Pause
If you, like so many of us, have said or thought the phrase “I’m just trying to make it until the end of the semester,” it might be a good time to pause your digital devices and/or your notifications to take a moment to yourself “unplugged.” Read this ETS blog post “Press Pause” to learn more about how to use various do not disturb modes on devices, pause your email, and turn off different notifications.
Tech – Scheduling Advising Appointments
Leaves are falling, the air is crisp, and, once again, it is time for Denison students to register for spring classes. Along with course registration comes opportunities for students to make advising appointments with faculty members. Gone are the days when you had to email students back and forth 20 times to find a perfect time for an advising session.
Tech – Interactive Video Lessons
Creating interactive videos for your class offers a different learning experience for students, increases student engagement with media content, and provides a way to gauge student comprehension of content through checking in on what they understand. Check out this post “Interactive Videos for your Classes” to see some of the options that ETS recommends for creating these videos.
Tech – discussion boards on Notebowl
Back in classrooms does not mean we have to leave behind the opportunities to create meaningful asynchronous class discussion in Notebowl. This summer, ETS hosted a workshop titled “Engage Students with Meaningful Discussion Boards.” This ETS blog post covers the main takeaways from the workshop, and it also includes resources for creating discussion boards in Notebowl (on the ETS YouTube Playlist).
Tech II – Transforming back to campus
Want to know what Denison faculty and staff think about Equity? Watch this week’s ETS Word of the Week: Transformation. You can also catch the last three weeks of videos on community, technology, and equity on the playlist here. ETS used these interviews to design the August sessions for faculty, which started last week and continue for the rest of this week.
Tech – Pronouncing Student Names
We all know that names are important and pronunciation matters. In a recent Times Higher Education article, the authors discuss just how important correct pronunciation can be for our students, and also provide tips for Chinese names in particular. If you struggle with name pronunciation, you might be interested in one of the newest Notebowl features available for students and faculty.
Tech – Getting Ready for Fall Semester
As you polish your syllabus and prepare for class, Educational Technology Services (ETS) is here to help you get ready for the fall semester. In addition to a new and improved website, ETS will be hosting sessions in August. In preparation for these sessions, Denison EdTechs interviewed faculty members and are featuring interview clips in our ETS Word of the Week video series.