Teaching in Higher Ed

edtech

My vote for the top 10 tools for learning

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Jane Hart has invited our participation in the 2015 Top 100 Tools for Learning. If you want to have your say, you can submit your top list here.

top100

Top 10 Tools for Learning

Here are my thoughts on the ten most important tools in learning (not in any particular order):

Twitter

From time-to-time, I'll have friends threaten to stop using Facebook, as they just no longer see value in it. I don't hear those same threats from those who are using Twitter and have a strong personal learning network (#PLN) established for themselves. Twitter offers a constant stream of news and information that is most relevant to me (primarily on the professional front, with some personal in there, as well).

PollEverywhere

The PollEverywhere service provides an excellent way to both gather real-time input from students, as well as assess their understanding. I like how many ways there are for students to engage (tablet, phone, text/SMS).

Remind

This video has all the reasons why I love using Remind to keep in touch with my students.

GoAnimate

GoAnimate provides an easy way to build animated videos. You choose a background, add characters and other objects, and include text and/or audio. The video on Remind, above, was created using GoAnnimate4Schools.

Attendance2

This app does just what the title implies (takes attendance), but does a whole lot more. My favorite feature is the ability to call randomly on a student who is marked present for a given class session. Attendance2 helps me avoid calling on the same people, without realizing it.

Planbook

I like to ensure that each class session is somehow connected to my course learning outcomes. Planbook helps me organize all my handouts, PowerPoints, and links in one, central place. Plus, you can have it publish that information on a free site for your students to access, so they have information on what they may have missed, or for additional reinforcement of their learning in your classes.

Adobe Captivate

The two best products to use to create interactive, SCORM-compliant eLearning courses are Articulate's eLearning Suite and Adobe Captivate. The reason that Captivate has made my list and not Articulate is purely because Captivate is available on both the Mac and the PC.

SnagIt

Camtasia's SnagIt is also available on the Mac and PC and is the best screen shot tool I've ever used. I also spoke at the beginning of the Mac Power Users episode #240 about how I use SnagIt for screencasting feedback during the grading process.

LiveScribe Smart Pens

I've had a love/hate relationship with LiveScribe smart pens. On one hand, it is incredible that you can record what you're saying/hearing/writing and have it all be in sync with each other when you go to play it back. It's also a great method for creating what I refer to as micro-lectures. The biggest downside, though, has been that they've changed their playback methods so many times over the years. Currently, a user has to play them back by dragging a PDF to a website, to enable playback (or play it via an app, but that doesn't work as well for sharing). If only MP4 was offered as an alternative publishing method; I would be “sold” for good.

Overcast

The tool that contributes more to my learning than any other these days is Overcast, which is one of many podcast “catchers”/players. One thing I like about Overcast is the smart speed function, that skips over pauses in the recordings, but doesn't leave the speakers sounding like Alvin and the Chipmunks.

 

New tools page added

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I added a new page to the Teaching in Higher Ed site. My hope is that the tools page is constantly changing, as I have new productivity or educational technology tools that I add into the mix.

In the meantime, check out the newly-added tools page.

[reminder]What are some of the essential tools that you use in your teaching or personal productivity?[/reminder]

Testing out a new communication tool

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As anyone who has been listening to the podcast or reading this blog for a while knows, I'm a big fan of Remind for keeping in touch with students.

One of its strong points is that it is almost entirely a one-way communication channel from you to your students, with the exception of those students who have downloaded the Remind App and who respond with a thumbs up, or a question mark.

COMMUNICATION

I was so inspired by Bethany Usher in episode 27 to get my students doing some research and/or service learning projects.

I decided that my business ethics students are a good group to try something new out with this semester, since they are juniors and seniors and I know almost all of them from prior classes. However, having a good communication tool is paramount for something like this.

While we are still using Remind for messages that only need to come from me, we have decided to try out Slack.

What is Slack?

Slack is a cloud-based tool that is aspiring to take the place of email and keeps communication all in one place.

slack1It is somewhat like a chat board, but easily lets you attach files, include images, and categorize your talk around what they call channels. If you want to hear how a sandwich company uses Slack, you can check out their promotional video.

Our class now has the two channels that Slack sets up by default (#general and #random) and I also set up a channel for them to begin brainstorming their research and service learning projects.

Once a group determines what their project is going to be, I set up a channel for the group. That way, students only have to be engaged in conversations that are relevant to their work in the class, but I can check in to monitor their progress and make suggestions along the way.

Another powerful aspect of Slack is its ability to integrate with other services many of us use. I've already set it up with Dropbox and that's working seamlessly.

A couple of the students in the class are going to be planning our ethics competition event for the end of the semester. They will be using Slack for chats, but the project management piece will be taken care of by the online project planning site Asana, which fortunately integrates with Slack, too.

Besides my business ethics class, I also have my teaching assistant on both Slack and Asana. She says she likes how Slack organizes our messages by channel (as opposed to if we just texted to each other). I especially like how I can track when stuff gets done, through the Asana integration.

[reminder]Are you trying out any new communication tools this semester?[/reminder]

Find the right reference manager

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Anyone who has worked with a lengthy document knows how essential a reference manager can be in your research and writing process.

I decided a couple of years ago to begin requiring the use of a references manager in most of my upper division courses. This past year, I decided to include my introduction to business course in those same requirements, though there were plenty of times throughout the semester when I questioned whether or not the headaches were worth the payoff.

I'm going to describe three potential ways to get your students using some type of reference manager, or at least a tool to help them cite their sources more effectively.

The order I'll present the tools in will be from least to most robust, in terms of overall features.

Google Docs Research Tool

researchtool

The research tool from Google allows you to bring up a search bar on the right-hand side of your Google doc and then insert a footnote in various formats to reference the source.

I was unable to locate any way to do proper APA citations, after searching under each option on the tool and in consulting their help files on the Google research tool.

Pros

  • Many students use Google docs in their writing, and it is built right-in to the word processor
  • It is easy to use and gets students thinking about supporting their writing with research, since it is so present on the screen as they are working
  • There is also an image search built-in that allows for the search to be refined to only those images that can be used legally

Cons

  • There doesn't appear to be a way to cite in APA format within the main body text (only footnotes available)
  • No way of saving, tagging, or adding notes to research (seems to have been built under the assumption that the research phase and the writing phase will take place at the same time)
  • It is built in to Google docs, which is nowhere near as feature-rich of a Word Processor as Microsoft Word

Another related option

addinsAs I was digging around in Google docs for this post, I saw that there is a free EasyBib add-in that gives another way of creating a bibliography in a Google doc.

However, to do in-text citations and truly manage your sources, you need to pay for the service, which starts at around $4/month.

RefMe app

refme

While students certainly are big into using Google docs, they are even more into going mobile.

The RefMe app allows users to search for and save references in a variety of styles (the app states over 6,000 syltes are available to use).

Once you have searched for and saved a list of references, you can export it in the following ways on the mobile app:

The RefMe website allows for exporting to Microsoft Word and other formats beyond what the mobile app offers.

Pros

  • Built from the ground up to be mobile-friendly
  • App is intuitive and simple
  • Syncing between the app and the website is seamless
  • Build individual citations (including optional page numbers) and copy/paste into whatever Word Processor you are using

Cons

  • No ability to cite within text and then build a list of references off of what has been cited in a document
  • No tagging or adding notes to sources
  • Are over 6,000 citation styles really enough for the average user? (kidding…)

 Zotero

zoterodemo

Let me start by letting the cat out of the bag. Zotero is my tool of choice as a researcher. It is also, reluctantly, still the tool I require my students to use (from undergraduates up to doctoral students).

If you want a short demo that shows the power of what Zotero can do, check this one out I made a few years ago.

I found that the demo wasn't quite enough to get my students going, so I made this Zotero video series that walks you through how to get up and running.

Pros

  • Cite sources throughout a document and then press one button; it auto-creates a list of references from everything that was cited in the document
  • Once set up, easy to use and fast
  • Powerful organization, including tagging, notes and robust search
  • Simple to add citations while in the midst of research, with the press of one button on your browser
  • Group collaboration is powerful and easy, once Zotero gets set up and groups are formed using their website

Cons

  • No intuitive mobile app (there are some that developers have created, but they are cumbersome and not anywhere near as easy as RefMe)
  • The multiple steps it takes to get set up using Zotero allow room for mistakes to be made and/or for students to perceive that they won't be able to make it work
  • The variables involved in individual student's computer and application systems makes for quite a headache in terms of creating instructions for them to follow, as well as in troubleshooting any issues they have

Despite the cons listed above, over 95% of the time that students have trouble with Zotero, it is because they didn't follow the directions and not because of anything that is wrong with the tool, itself.

That being said, Zotero is not for the faint at heart and for those who aren't up for digging in to help when students experience difficulties with it.

I wish I could find a references manager that was as powerful as Zotero, but didn't require all the steps it takes to set up and also had a good mobile app.

Perhaps there's something out there, but I just haven't found it yet.

[reminder]What is your preferred references manager? What are its pros and cons?[/reminder]

Creating micro lectures for blended or online courses

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I recently wrote a post for the Mac Power Users about my top ed tech tools. In the comments, someone asked a question about how I create pencasts with my LiveScribe SmartPen. I thought I would broaden the question a bit and share about how I create micro lectures, with pencasts being just one of the ways that task can be accomplished.

pencastdrawingMicro lectures for blended or online courses

Whenever we move to an online environment, we must be aware that our learners' attention spans will be shorter. While in a classroom environment, we might think about having a 50 minute lecture (though the hope is that we are actually not ever lecturing for more than 7-10 minutes without some kind of test for understanding or engagement, even in the classroom).

Online, that same 50 minutes might be broken down to five micro lectures with some means of assessment or reinforcement in between.

When I create micro lectures, my goal is twofold:

  • Keep them short, ideally less than ten minutes
  • Make them visual, with some memorable diagram that the students will “see” in their minds when they go to take the exam

Pencasts

The term, pencast, denotes that audio can be heard (like a podcast), only you can also see accompanying sketches and notes that are in sync with the spoken audio. I encourage you to check out some of the examples on the LiveScribe website to get a flavor of how they work.

LiveScribe Smart Pens

I have owned every version of LiveScribe smart pen since they were first launched. I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with them.

pencastsample1Advantages

On one hand, it is incredibly convenient to record a pencast. You need the special notebook paper that is recognized by the smartpen and you need your smartpen. For the most advanced model of their smartpen, you also need to have an app running on your iphone/ipad to capture the audio (it uses the microphone on your phone, instead of having an internal microphone, like some of the earlier models).

I've regularly asked the students who earned an A in my courses what tools they found most helpful in their learning and pencasts come out on top every time.

I haven't ever come across a student in my ten years of teaching who has been taught about visual note-taking in school before, so it takes some time to get them thinking in this way. By watching the pencasts, I am effectively educating them both about the topic being taught, but also about how to take concepts and capture them visually.

Wesley Fryer, who blogs for a K-12 audience, has an extensive set of resources for visual note taking that are applicable to higher ed, too.

Disadvantages

The biggest disadvantage for LiveScribe pencasts has been that they have not been reliable in terms of playback/sharing methods.

Early on, they started by having playback occur via their proprietary system. It was not a reliable way for students to view them, because it was so highly dependent on what browser they used and what version of their browser they were on.

Then, they shifted to having the pencasts play from within Evernote. The same challenges persisted.

With their latest pen, they have PDF as the means for sharing pencasts, only the non-static part of the PDF can only be played/accessed either by using the website they have set up to play them for users, or via their mobile app.

It is hard to figure out why they haven't gone over to a more reliable sharing method, after all the time they have been at it.

Yet, I still keep buying smart pens, so they must be doing something right.

Other options

In answer to the commenter's question, I'm not sure if Notability has some of the same sharing limitations as LiveScribe, as I haven't had a lot of experience using it.

However, I have heard great things about the share-ability of the Explain Everything App.  Its output options include: save to camera roll (on your iPad), save to ouTube, and a bunch of other sharing options. Here's Stephanie Castle explaining how to use Explain Everything in the classroom.

If you want to stay away from hand-drawn micro lectures and want to use other options, Wesley Fryer has a host of tools to create micro lectures in other formats to explore.