Teaching in Higher Ed

Video course trailers

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Our university is moving to Canvas this summer.

One feature I'm looking forward to utilizing is way Canvas approaches syllabi. The dates that many faculty re-create each and every semester at the bottom of their syllabi are auto-populated by whatever assignments and other date-related items you enter within the learning management system (LMS).

Above those dates is an empty space, just waiting for a professor to get creative…

2016-05-03_18-49-54

At the 2016 OLC Innovate conference, I saw a plethora of ways faculty are using either a custom course home page, or the top of the syllabus page to draw students in… This isn't specific to Canvas and would work in any learning management system (LMS).

I'm thinking I would like to use video to develop a sense of curiosity about my classes within an online syllabus.

Video course trailers

Thanks to Derek Bruff, I rediscovered what are called course trailers. These are similar to move trailers, but rather than getting students excited about a forthcoming movie, you get them excited about your class.

Duke has an introduction on how to create video course trailers, while there are plenty of other places to go for inspiration.

Harvard was one of the earliest developers of course trailers. They have a collection of trailers for their general ed courses and also from their school of government courses.

This trailer for a C.S. Lewis course is very inspiring. I suspect it could leave some faculty perceiving that the process of making a course trailer is too daunting, after watching it, however.

https://vimeo.com/album/2977329/video/47097354

Most of the trailers that I watched seemed to be geared toward attempting to persuade a potential student to take a particular course. Our department is such that getting students to enroll in my classes isn't typically the problem. Instead, I would like to have a course trailer to get them excited about what they are going to learn, once they have registered for one of my classes.

https://vimeo.com/album/2977329/video/20933798

Should any of us desire another resource for how to make a course trailer, this post from the University of Mary Washington should meet that need.

[reminder]What will you be working on over the summer to incorporate into your future classes? [/reminder]

My learning from the OLC Innovate 2016 conference

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Untitled design

This week, I've been experiencing the OLC Innovate 2016 conference in New Orleans.

Back in January, I was contacted by someone from MERLOT, to let me know that the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast had been included in their collection and had then won a MERLOT Classics award. They invited me to come have the award conferred at the OLC Innovate conference and to give a presentation.

That's how I got here.

Discoveries

Here are just a few things I discovered this week:

GooseChase is a great way to build mobile phone scavenger hunt for your classes. The service is free to educators using it in our classrooms. The presenter of this session built a game, using our input, in less than five minutes.

Dr. Katie Linder gave me a pair of Research in Action earbuds, having no idea that one of my trusty pairs of earbuds had broken right before I took off for the airport.

The new Research in Action podcast is fabulous and is a great complement to Teaching in Higher Ed. It focuses on topics that aren't addressed on Teaching in Higher Ed, while still making their content accessible to diverse listeners.

I had to privilege to talk with Dr. Carl Moore after my session. We covered all the bases: race, religion, politics, teaching, social justice, productivity, iPhone apps, and music. I'm not kidding. As you might imagine, I invited him to come on the podcast and look forward to having him share with us about proactive inclusion.

Carl shared with me about a professor who has taught him so much by always having two rules for his classes: That you be yourself and that you are present. 

Universities are experimenting with hyflex models of course delivery. Dr. Brian Beatty put together a great panel of  presenters, discussing the various ways they are giving their students flexibility, while ensuring that they still maintain the following four hyflex principles: Alternatives, equivalence, reuse, and accessibility.

Travis Thurston shared about the creative ways they are developing learning paths within the Canvas LMS. He's doing what seems to be a combination of choose your own adventure learning, as well as choose your own adventure assessment.

The presenters from UCSF shared about how to create screen lessons for our students and provided a link to their online resources. They gave four ideas for creating more engaging videos:

  1. Provide a virtual demo in a screencast format
  2. Ask questions (can even do video-based questions in a quiz)
  3. Annotate with ink using a stylus
  4. Use props to illustrate your point

They also suggested keeping videos less than 10 minutes, in most cases even as short as 3-5 minutes. They make use of Screenflow and Camtasia in creating their videos.

Finally, I started coveting the Swivl robot, once again.

You hold a small remote in your hand while you're presenting and the robot “follows” you to keep your image on camera. Also, you indicate using the remote whether you want to be recording your image, or whatever you're projecting on to the screen.

Given that our university is switching over to Canvas this summer, something tells me it isn't the right time to make a purchase of an entirely new type of device… But, that's probably just because I'm tired and I'll be back to wanting one, again, tomorrow.

I didn't do any sketchnotes, like I usually do at conferences. The tip of my Apple Pencil had fallen off and I didn't notice until I took it out to start my first note. Fortunately, I located it in the bottom of the tote bag they gave us and order was restored in my iUniverse.

You can view the slides and resources from my session online.

Emerging tools

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As I have shared previously, I don't jump on every new tool when it first gets introduced.

Part of the reason is just a question of workload. There simply isn't time. I also don't want to confuse students by overdoing it with technology.

Finally, I want to be sure I allow enough time to properly reflect and strategize on how to best utilize a given tool. That's one of the reasons I find my someday/maybe list for technology tools so beneficial.

Still, I keep my PKM system flowing with emerging tools to consider integrating into my teaching when/if the timing is right.

The possibilities are endless, when you find the right tool for the right situation.

Consider that without collaborative technology, projects like this musical piece put on by musicians from all over the world wouldn't be imaginable, let alone feasible.

Snapchat

If you haven't heard of Snapchat before, here's a good introduction to start with… NPR describes how teachers are using Snapchat, while Jilll Walker Rettberg gives this fabulous look at how scholars can use Snapchat.

I'm tempted to dip my toe in the Snapchat world, a bit less from an educational perspective and more because so many marketers are using it to connect with consumers. These ten Snapchat brands are leveraging the platform in creative ways and I want to understand the ways to engage made possible through Snapchat.

Not as much has been written about Snapchat in higher ed, though articles like this complete guide to Snapchat for parents and teachers are applicable enough to our context to be of benefit.

The Wall Street Journal published the best article I've seen on using Snapchat in a personal/individual context.

Slack

I've written previously about using Slack in my teaching and have shared about it on the podcast. Zach Whalen also provided his notes on teaching with Slack.

A friend recently suggested that I should have a Slack channel for Teaching in Higher Ed and give people a way to engage more as a community together.

This would only make sense to me if there were enough members of the Teaching in Higher Ed community who were already up on Slack and looking for a way to chat more about teaching effectiveness and productivity.

slack

I wouldn't want to try to convince someone to get up and running on Slack just for this one purpose, but rather if a bunch of you were already using Slack for other things and would enjoy this additional means for communication on that platform.

If you would be interested in joining a Teaching in Higher Ed Slack channel, let me know either in the comments, below, or by getting in touch through a private message.

[reminder]What emerging tools are you experimenting with, or considering giving a try in the next few months?[reminder]

Help me help you

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My apologies to those of you who prefer a bit more sophisticated reference to the movie Jerry Maguire… I'm coming off of more than a week with a nasty virus and may not be able to manage much more than this.

At 1:15 in the clip, Jerry says, “Help me, help you.”

That's what I'm asking you for today…

I've been airing Teaching in Higher Ed podcasts weekly since June 2014.

As I start thinking about summer of 2016, I wonder if I should keep going with the same pattern that I have been on, or perhaps modify my approach a bit during those months.

Help me, help you

Please consider getting in touch through the comments section, below, or if you receive this via email, you can just reply with answers to any of the following questions:

  1. How could Teaching in Higher Ed best support your professional development over the summer?
  2. How regularly will you be listening to podcasts over the summer?
  3. What have been 1-2 of the episodes that we have aired so far that have changed your teaching in some way and how did they impact that change?
  4. What's one area in your teaching or personal productivity that you are struggling with right now?

[reminder]Thank you for considering providing input as I consider how to approach summertime with Teaching in Higher Ed. [/reminder]

I know that many of you teach year round and appreciate hearing from you, as well, about your listening habits and episodes that have transformed  your teaching… 

For when you need a break from your Spring break

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FOR WHEN YOU NEED A

It is Spring break at my university, so it is the absolute perfect time to be sick (meant to be read in a voice dripping with sarcasm).

Instead of focusing my writing this week on approaches to help us become more effective teachers or tools to enhance our productivity, I've got some recommendations for those of you who might be looking for a break from all that.

Books

Savvy, by Ingrid Law – Sean Michael Morris recommended this book back on episode #087. It is a delightful book for middle-age kids (and adults who love a captivating story). I'm so glad to know there's more to the story than just this first book.

Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream, by Joshua Davis – My colleague recommended this book and I knew I would enjoy it just from the title. It reminded me a lot of the hope offered in the book The Boy who Harnessed the Wind. Such a great adventure in learning and justice.

Videos

We, the Economy – 20 short films you can't afford to miss – I found these videos while on a bit of a Twitter exploration. Morgan Spurlock is just one of the many talented directors who contributed to these films.

Television

The Mindy Project – I've also been enjoying binge-watching The Mindy Project on Hulu. Her narcissism is fun to watch and we can tell that deep down beneath, she really does care.

TV: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – While I have yet to find any students who watch The Mindy Project, many of them are regular viewers of John Oliver's show on HBO. Technically, most of them don't watch it on HBO and they don't watch the entire show. YouTube has the clips of his 19-minute monologues, including his recent dive into the encryption debate going on  between Apple and the FBI.

That's it for now.

My next work-related book is going to be James Lang's latest book – Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning. He's on the Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast this Thursday, so keep your ears on your podcast player. It's a good one!