Finals are over and hopefully mostly graded. The real end is in sight and our eyes are all firmly fixed ahead toward the quiet green of summer. However, right now there’s a great opportunity to do as much to improve your teaching next semester as anything.
When streaming video was a new technology the capabilities to control volume, speed and resolution were novel. Could you imagine not being able to rewind and replay a video today now that these sorts of interactive features are standard? Video interactivity has come a long way since the early days.
How do your students know whether they have mastered a concept before they take a formal assessment? Your students may take advantage of online textbook resources that include cognitive tutors to test their knowledge if available. And, methods such as iterative assignments with defined revision cycles, group discussion, interactive video, a pre-quiz, and class review time can help as well.
It’s always a good idea to use a script or an outline when shooting a video for your online course. Your speech is more deliberate, and the script ensures that you are on message and do not repeat yourself or wander off topic. But there is another excellent reason to use a script when creating a video. The script can accompany your video as a transcript, and thanks to YouTube’s auto-timing caption feature, it can also serve as closed captions.
In preparation for student access, instructors may customize their course evaluation by selecting existing or creating up to eight new questions to be added to the survey. (This process is called “question personalization.') Instructors choose questions from predefined questions or craft their own. These questions appear at the end of the survey.
At the closing of SXSWEdu a few years ago, I watched one of the most memorable keynote addresses to educators that I have ever seen. Jeffrey Tambor quoted one of his favorite writers, Henry Miller, as saying “I did not learn to write, until my teacher told me to ‘do it badly.’'
It's important to establish a way for students to reach you when teaching an online course. If it is not easy--for you or the students--it isn't likely to work. In this week's Teaching Tip, we share a few instructors' methods for connecting one-on-one with students.
Combinatory play is the process of considering two or more unrelated ideas, topics, images, disciplines, etc. and putting them together in a way that is new. Experimentation, deconstruction, synthesis, iteration and failure are part of this process of learning and discovery. Combinatory play utilizes a wide range of learning domains that help to feed creativity and innovation.
Google provides a variety of professional development pathways for those who want to become more adept at using Google Apps with students, including two certification programs. Even if you don’t finish the program, instructors will have a better understanding of how to use the different Google applications in a meaningful and purposeful manner that relates to activities you could actually do in a classroom.
Like many of you, I still use a mix of analog and digital tools in my teaching practice. I use an old fashioned notebook and pen to keep up with ideas and to-do’s. Things like note taking, providing feedback on papers, and screencasting have all been awkward for me until now. The iPad Pro is broadening my options for practices that involve handwriting or drawing.
Quality matters to UAF instructors. And now UAF CTL is happy to be bringing the proven work of the Quality Matters (QM) organization to UAF in support of continuous improvement of fully-online and hybrid courses.
One of the great things about Google Apps for Education is that you never have to install an update — they update automatically. But this can be frustrating. Just when you thought you were familiar with the interface, Google changes it. A lot of such changes have happened over the past year.