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Category: Pedagogical Tidbits

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Published on 1 Comment on Social Media Tools for Teaching and Learning

by Janice Florent

Social media has evolved into more than a simple tool to stay in touch with friends or to share vacation pictures. Educators are finding interesting ways to use social media in their teaching and learning. Benefits to using social media in teaching and learning include putting concepts into context, keeping course content up-to-date, and fostering a sense of community both in and out of the classroom.

Facebook and Twitter may be ubiquitous, but there are many other social media tools out there that can enhance teaching and learning.

Facebook and Twitter are social media tools that are familiar to most people. Here are a few other social media tools that are being used in education:

You can read more about how three educators are using these social media tools in the Campus Technology article, 6 Alternative Social Media Tools for Teaching and Learning.

Published on Leave a comment on Avoid Death by PowerPoint

by Janice Florent

Nowadays more classrooms (virtual and face-to-face) have the ability to project and share a variety of computer-based materials. One of the most common methods of sharing information with students is to use PowerPoint presentations. Although PowerPoint can be a powerful teaching tool, it has been soundly criticized for producing boring presentations, full of endless content that fails to show context and relationships between ideas. This tendency of PowerPoint obviously works against what professors should strive for: stimulating students to connect ideas and engage in critical thinking.

I came across these tips in an Atomic Learning blog post that may help to resuscitate PowerPoint presentations:

  • Mix up your media – don’t rely solely on text or clipart, consider other media types (e.g. photos, video clips, music)
  • Use eye-catching graphics/software - an impactful visual experience can be created when you use eye-catching software and graphics
  • Send content ahead of time - consider "flipping" your presentation
  • Intersperse content with discussion, group exercises, and reflection time

If these tips have piqued your interest, you can read more in the article, 6 Ways to Avoid Death by PowerPoint.

Published on Leave a comment on Maximize In-Class Time by Moving Student Presentations Online

by Janice Florent

Virtual student presentations allow students to research scholarly literature related to course content, present their findings, and receive peer feedback; all outside of class time.

Virtual presentations are an option that allows for quality student presentations and does not take up too much valuable in-class time. Of course, virtual presentations may not work for all situations, but it is an option you should consider if you have student presentations and want to find a way to maximize in-class time.

Stephanie Smith Budhai, PhD, assistant professor of education at Neumann University, explains the benefits of virtual presentations and lists four steps to implementing virtual presentations in your classes. You can read more in her article Maximize In-Class Time by Moving Student Presentations Online.

Published on Leave a comment on Plickers

by Janice Florent

Are you looking for a simple solution to be able to do in-class polling of your students? Try Plickers.

image - plickers logo

Plickers is a powerfully simple tool that lets educators collect real-time formative assessment data for free, without the need for student clicker devices. Just give each student a “paper clicker” and use your smartphone (or iPad) to scan the cards (paper clickers) to do instant checks-for-understanding and impromptu polls. Students respond to your poll questions by rotating their cards to indicate their A, B, C, or D answer. You scan the room with your mobile device to capture the student responses. The results are displayed on your mobile device and can optionally be displayed on your computer in a “Live View” through your Plickers account.

Does this sound interesting to you? If so, you can get more information at plickers.com.

Also, check out my How To Use Student Response System (Clickers) Effectively blog post to get information on how best to use clickers for student engagement.

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Published on 1 Comment on How To Use Student Response System (Clickers) Effectively

by Janice Florent

Do you want to know more about just how to use clickers to best help your students learn? This short video shares best practices in clicker use, including tips on writing clicker questions and getting students to talk about them, the finer points of running a class discussion about a question, and how long to allow for this process.

Additionally, the Science Education Initiative at the University of Colorado has a number of clicker resources you may find helpful.

Published on Leave a comment on When Not to Use Technology

by Janice Florent

Most of us know better than to use technology for technology’s sake...Using technology for practical purpose, and not for the sake of using technology, must be the clear objective.

Here are a few suggestions from a post by Saga Briggs, at informED, for when NOT to use technology:

  • When it undermines deep learning
  • When it undermines basic learning
  • When it decreases interaction
  • When it reduces the chance of failure
  • When you don’t have time to integrate it
  • When it doesn’t support connecting and sharing

You can read more about this in Saga's post When Not to Use Technology: 15 Things That Should Stay Simple in Education.

Published on Leave a comment on Digital Distractions in the Classroom

by Janice Florent

Technology in education is great, distraction is not...Digital technology in the classroom is here to stay, whether it’s provided directly by the school or used surreptitiously by students on the sly. The question is not, "Should we allow digital devices in the classroom?", it’s "Now that they’re here, how can we prevent digital devices from becoming a distraction?"

A post by Leah Anne Levy, at Edudemic, suggests the following tips for dealing with digital distractions in the classroom:

  • Destroy the multitasking myth
  • Rethink smartphones bans
  • Write how they read
  • Use their unique distraction styles to spark learning
  • Don’t post everything online
  • Create opportunities for curiosity outside the digital space
  • Teach grit

You can read more about this in Leah's post 7 Ways to Deal with Digital Distractions in the Classroom.

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Published on 1 Comment on How to Effectively Use YouTube in eLearning

by Janice Florent

Christopher Pappas, MBA, M.Ed., discusses various ways you can use YouTube to create collaborative and powerful eLearning courses. He writes,

YouTube can be an invaluable learning tool that eLearning professionals can use to make their eLearning courses more interactive, fun, and informative. In fact, it has the power to transform a potentially dull or complicated subject matter into an overall exciting and engaging eLearning experience. The key to tapping into the power of YouTube is to know how to effectively integrate it into your eLearning strategy.

You can read more in his article, 8 Tips to Effectively Use YouTube in eLearning.

Additionally, you can find more information about using videos in your courses at the following links:

Published on Leave a comment on Plan for Potential Classroom Disruptions

by Janice Florent

Course delivery is vulnerable to unplanned events. Potential interruptions to class activities include but are not limited to natural disasters, widespread illness, acts of violence, planned or unexpected construction-related closures, severe weather conditions, and medical emergencies. Whatever the event, an instructional continuity plan will help you to be ready to continue teaching with minimal interruption.

As you begin preparing for Spring 2015, consider developing an instructional continuity plan for your courses.

For those who missed our workshop and for those who want to learn more about instructional continuity you will find a link to the PowerPoint presentation above. Also, please visit our Instructional Continuity web page, where you will find planning guides, resources, and a recording of the workshop presentation.

Do you have a plan? If so, we would like to hear about it. If you had a classroom disruption and found a way for students to continue to make progress in your course, we encourage you to share it with your colleagues. Please email a brief description of what you did along with your reflections on how it worked for you, and we will post it to our Instructional Continuity web page.

Published on Leave a comment on New York Times Webinar

by Karen Nichols:  I'm posting this message for anyone who may be interested.

Hello,

Please join me, Emily Ryan, Education Manager with The New York Times, for a brief demonstration of the various academic resources from NYTimes.com on Thursday, November 20th at 10AM PST / 1PM EST.

Learn About:

Academic resources inside NYTimes.com that will support your courses
Examples of how others have incorporated NYTimes.com into their curriculum
Special programs for core curriculum instruction and the study of leadership

Please feel free to register in advance and add this event to your calendar.

Click or copy/paste this link into your web browser: http://clearslide.com/v/k9u38s

To join the webinar on November 20th at 10AM PST/ 1PM EST simply click on the link below and dial into the toll-free conference line noted below.

Presentation Link:

clearslide.com/emilyryan

Dial in:
United States: (888) 419-5364
Conference Access Code: 3977-6248

I look forward to seeing you online.

Regards,
Emily Ryan
Education Manager

The New York Times
Sold by PCF, Inc.
(201) 560-2564