Category Archives: Technology

Flipped Classroom Blogs & Articles

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Below are some great resources about flipped classrooms and how to integrate this into your current teaching practices. If you have found any additional resources you would like to share, please, let us know!

Avoid These Five Rookie Mistakes When Flipping Your Class

How to Encourage Your Students to Actually DO the Pre-Class Work

Three Ways to Hold Students Accountable for Pre-Class Work

You Don’t Have to be a Technology Guru to FLIP Your Classroom: An ‘Unplugged’ Flipped Strategy

For additional articles visit the Flip it Blog.

Meet Keedra Smith

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Keedra_Profile

Over the course of the next several weeks, we will be profiling a prominent member of the Teaching & Learning Center Staff. This week Keedra Smith, an Academic Technology Consultant for the TLC, took time out of her busy schedule to answer a couple of questions.

TLC: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Keedra Smith: I was born and raised here in Memphis, TN. I attended Hamilton High School, home of the Mighty Wildcats. After graduating from high school, I attended Middle Tennessee State University where I received my Bachelors degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Computer Information Systems.
I am very family oriented and my family and I are very close.  I am the proud mother of a 7 year old son, whom I adore.  He has the key to my heart.

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TurningPoint Cloud Upgrade

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To all Current and Potential Users of TurningPoint Technologies (clicker technology). 

Action is required. 

During the week of June 27th to July 1st, UTHSC podia was updated to TurningPoint Cloud. Information Technology Systems (ITS) also replaced receivers and updated the podium computers with Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 2016.

Faculty and Students must be ready to use TurningPoint Cloud prior to the first day of class.  The Teaching & Learning Center (TLC) will provide training, tutorials, an up-to-date website, ongoing communication and support in the use of TurningPoint Cloud.

Continue reading →

Laptops and Digital Devices in the Classroom….Yes or No?

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Should students be allowed to use laptops or other digital devices in the classroom? This is certainly a topic that has strong opinions on each side of the issue. Studies and research have been conducted in order to evaluate the effects of allowing laptops and digital devices into the classroom. There have been numerous articles written about the subject. We have included links below to a few articles and posts that take stances on both sides of the issue.

What are your thoughts? Are you in favor of allowing students to bring laptops or other devices into the classroom? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

Articles:

Research on In-Class Use of Laptops and Other Devices:; Effects on Students’ Learning and Attention – From The Teaching Center Journal
http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/Journal/Reviews/Pages/Research-In-Class-Devices.aspx#.VA4AFUiNUhF

Rethinking My Cell Phone / Computer Policy – From Inside Higher Ed
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/rethinking-my-cell-phonecomputer-policy

Wireless in the Classroom – From Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/wireless/

The Case for Banning Laptops in the Classroom – From The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-case-for-banning-laptops-in-the-classroom

Best Practices for Laptops in the Classroom – From The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/best-practices-for-laptops-in-the-classroom/39064

Why I’m Asking You Not to Use Laptops – From The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2014/08/25/why-im-asking-you-not-to-use-laptops/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

Medical Schools Embrace Benefits of Tablets, Mobile Devices; Create New Ways of Learning – From the Association of American Medical Colleges
https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/december2013/363858/mobile-devices.html

 

Twitter 101: What is it, and what can I do with it?

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Links and Resources for May 16, 2014 Twitter 101 Session

Twitter and PLN Resources:

Using Twitter in Health Science Education:

twitter-bird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image obtained from: http://pixabay.com/es/twitter-tweet-ave-gracioso-lindo-117595/

Using Mobile Devices to Increase Productivity

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Kristy Conger of the UTHSC Educational Technology team led today’s Mobile User Group (MUG) that was focused on using mobile devices to increase productivity. Highlights from the session are included below. Click MUG Notes_Feb2013 to view detailed notes from the session.

SlideShark – is a free app that can be used to connect your phone via bluetooth to an iPad that’s connected to a projection device such that you can control (advance) slides from your phone while you move about the room.

Trevor Sweatman uses an app where he can highlight on his mobile device and have it appear on projection screens. See the MUG Notes Feb 2013 link above for info on that app.

Evernote – a note-taking app. Can type in text to create notes on mobile device or desktop device. Can insert audio to notes. Can insert images as well as files into Evernote. Can geotag notes. FERPA & HIPAA materials should not go into Evernote, even if password-protected. Can have a free account or pay for a premium account. Can tag notes with keywords or places. Can copy information from websites directly into Evernote with browser plugin (web clipper).

Penultimate – allows handwritten notes. Has joined forces with Evernote. Can search handwritten text. A note can contain written text as well as images.

PaperPort Notes – originally called Noterize. Can import files and annotate/edit them with highlighting or notes. Can use speech to text recognition. Can be taking written notes and start recording audio – and when you start listening to the recording it takes you to the place in your notes where you were taking notes at the same time you turned on the audio recording. Can share notes – via Google Docs, Evernote, or Dropbox (can import notes FROM those locations to PaperPort Notes or export TO those locations). Can password-protect documents.

On the iTunes Store:

Other tips:

  • Use folders to organize apps.
  • For websites you use a lot, make the website  an icon for your mobile device screen.
  • Put the items you use most in the bar at the bottom of the screen.
  • Close out apps that you’re not using.

Apps that others use a lot:

Can use CoursEval and SurveyMonkey for survey completion on iDevices.

Changing Perspective: Using Student Voices to Advance Learning Technology

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At today’s Friday Focus on e-Learning, we took a moment to reflect on the 2012 ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology. This is a replay of a Feb. 2012 session from the EDUCAUSE Learning Institute (ELI) conference, of which UTHSC was a virtual participant.

Since 2004, ECAR has surveyed undergraduate students annually about technology in higher education. In 2012, ECAR collaborated with 195 institutions to collect responses from more than 100,000 students about their technology experiences. The findings are distilled into the broad thematic message for institutions and educators to balance strategic innovation with solid delivery of basic institutional services and pedagogical practices and to know students well enough to understand which innovations they value the most.

Access a wealth of information about the 2012 and prior years’ ECAR Study reports here.

Various bits & pieces:

  • 74% of students say they’ve taken a course with one or more online components
  • 16% of students say they skip classes when course lectures are available online
  • 54% of students say they are more actively involved in courses that use technology
  • 55% of students say they wish their instructors used more simulations/educational games
  • 57% of students wish instructors would use more online open educational resources
  • 86% of students own laptops
  • 62% of students own smartphones
  • 33% of students own desktops
  • 15% of students own tablets
  • 12% of students own e-Readers

Important to do from a mobile device:

  • 66% access course website or syllabi
  • 64% using course or learning management systems

Platforms students are using:

  • 77% laptops; 20% macs
  • 44% iphone, 46% Android
  • 57% iPad

75% of students say that technology helps them achieve their academic outcomes

importance of various devices to academic success (the top 3):

  • laptop 85%
  • printer 84%
  • thumb drive 68%

Percentage of students who use the resources now as compared to 2010:

  • 7x as many students using e-portfolios
  • 5x as many students use web-based citation/bib tools
  • 3x as many students used e-books

Technology literacy isn’t innate

  • 66% of students surveyed in the US say they agree/strongly agree they’re prepared to use technology upon entering college/university
  • 64% say it’s very/extremely important to be trained
  • most students say that they get info from instructors on how to use technology

57% of students say they like to keep academic and social lives separate

53% of students say to use F2F interaction more

Key Findings for 2012

See the report for a full list key messages, findings, and supporting data.

  • Blended-learning environments are the norm; students say that these environments best support how they learn and best engage them.
  • Students want to access academic progress information and course material via their mobile devices, and institutions deliver.
  • Technology training and skill development for students is more important than new, more, or “better” technology.
  • Students use social networks for interacting with friends more than for academic communication.

ECAR Recommends these Actionable Results

See the 2012 report for a full list of actionable results.

  • Look to emerging or established leaders (other institutions, other countries, other industries) for strategies to deliver instruction and curricular content to tablets and smartphones. Learn from their exemplary strategies for IT support and security with student devices as well as planning, funding, deploying, and managing instructional technologies, services, and support.
  • Prioritize the development of mobile-friendly resources and activities that students say are important: access to course websites and syllabi, course and learning management systems, and academic progress reports (i.e., grades).
  • Bridge the gap between the technologies that have seen the greatest growth (e-portfolios, e-books/e-textbooks, and web-based citation/bibliographic tools) and students’ attitudes about their importance. Focus training/skill-building opportunities for students, professional development opportunities for faculty, and support service opportunities on these emerging technologies.
  • Use e-mail and the course and learning management system for formal communication with students. Experiment with text messaging and instant messaging/online chatting, and don’t focus efforts on using social networks and telephone conversations to interact with students.

Next Generation Learning: What is it? And will it work?

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Today’s Friday Focus on e-Learning is a replay of the 2013 EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) session from 2/5/13. Dr. Barbara Means, Director of the Center for Technology in Learning @ SRI, an educational psychologist, is the presenter.

What is NGL?

  • NGL better prepares students for a world that values and rewards deeper learning, collaboration, skilled communication, self-management, the ability to work across disciplines, and innovation practices.
  • NGL meets each student where s/he is and provides content, pedagogy, & access opportunities to meet individual needs.
  • NGL capitalizes on affordance of technology for learning.
  • NGL collects detailed data about the process of learning that can be used to diagnose student needs, and provide feedback to the instructional developer.

Challenge areas:

  1. Deeper learning – richly interactive technologies that increase student engagement and learning of conceptual content and 21st century skills. Example: U of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s U-Pace – self-paced intro psych course; mastery based, shorter modules & end of module quizzes; timely & tailored feedback.
  2. Blended learning – combinations of online and teacher-led instruction to improve learning, increase completion, and lower costs. Example: Cal State U Northridge – redesigned gateway math course as hybrid alternative to conventional college algebra.
  3. Open Core Courseware – high-quality, modular, openly licensed course-ware for developmental, gateway, & high-enrollment core courses. Example: Cerritos College’s Project Kaleidoscope – 12 different OER courses implemented on 9 campuses.
  4. Learning Analytics – software for collection, analysis, & real-time use of learning data by students, instructors, & advisors to improve student success. Example: Marist College’s Open Academic Analytics Initiative.

What was learned:

  • Most Wave 1 innovations didn’t really have evidence of effectiveness before the grants began.
  • Many technology components weren’t completely developed before the grants started.
  • The most commonly reported difficulties were technology problems followed by student resistance. Students often didn’t have comfort being in charge of their learning.

Broader implications of the data:

  • There are campus impediments to a fast start.
  • Many faculty volunteer to try out new learning technologies and they typically respond more positively to innovations.
  • There are few online and blended learning initiatives set up to collect rigorous evidence of the innovation’s impact on students.

Barriers to collecting rigorous evidence:

  • Campus policies or IRBs may prohibit assigning students to courses with significant online components at random.
  • Some campus research offices weren’t willing to release student-level data.
  • Different instructors often don’t want to administer the same assessment.
  • Valid, reliable assessments weren’t readily available for many of the projects’ learning objectives.

U-Pace project Outcomes:

  • compared 230 students in U-Pace psychology to 334 students in conventional psychology course
  • positive effects on % of students earning an A or B (ES = +.96) and course completion (ES = +.35)

Cal State Univ Northridge outcomes:

  • compared 4,479 who took the hybrid course to 1,825 students from past courses
  • again, large positive effect sizes

The presenter went on to describe MOOCs and how the features of those course delivery models fit with or vary across different platforms.

Want to hear all of this session yourself while you’re at your own computer? Let Cindy Russell know and you can obtain the login to watch it at your place and time.

 

Try AudioBoo for quick audio

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AudioBoo is a free tool that allows you to easily record and share audio. AudioBoo recordings can be created and shared from your computer or smartphone and can even be embedded into announcements that are posted within a Blackboard course.

For more information on this and other Web 2.0 teaching and learning tools, e-mail kconger@uthsc.edu or call Kristy at 901-448-1518.