Category Archives: For Instructors

TED Tips – Issue 13: 2018 NMC Horizon Report — Challenges

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2018 NMC Horizon Report Challenges

The New Media Consortium recently published its annual Horizon Report. The report “identifies and describes the higher education trends, challenges, and developments in educational technology likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry.” This week’s TED Tips is part two of a three part series exploring the Horizon Report. This week focuses on the significant challenges impeding technology adoption in Higher Education. The purpose of this blog is not to offer or propose possible solutions, but to report the challenges.

These challenges were identified because of their potential implications for policy, leadership, and practice. The challenges identified are likely to impede the adoption of technologies if left unsolved. They vary in scope and complexity. The Horizon report defines solvable challenges as “those we understand and know how to solve”; difficult challenges as “well understood but for solutions remain elusive”; and wicked challenges as “the most difficult…complex even to define, and thus required additional data and insights before solutions will be possible.”

Solvable Challenges:  Those that we understand and know how to solve.

Authentic Learning Experiences

Authentic learning experiences connect students to real world problems and immerse learners in environments where they can gain high practical, lifelong skills.  The challenge identified by the Horizon Report relates to the increased demand for students with skills directly applicable to the workplace and the perception that graduates may not have the skills needed. 

Possible solutions identified include vocation training, apprenticeships, and course projects situated in the community.  Job shadowing programs and project based learning through startups have become more common.  Colleges and universities have the opportunity to expand beyond their traditional roles.  They could provide instruction for more adults making mid-career pivots retraining from one industry to another.  Community colleges may offer a model to help provide access to apprenticeships and more direct industry experience.  “Learning by Doing” is a key tenant of programs like the LEAP initiative that reflect changes in this area.  Rethinking courses and programs to increase authentic learning opportunities seems something that is already underway at Whitewater especially as it applies to being “even better together” and the restructuring of UW-Whitewater and UW-Rock County.

Improving Digital Literacy

Technology has become essential to success in the workplace.  Are institutions of higher learning creating digitally literate students?   Digital literacy, however, is not strictly technical proficiency and competency.  Digital literacy also includes skills like:

  • netiquette
  • digital citizenship
  • understanding digital rights and responsibilities
  • articulating the boundaries between our personal, private lives and are more public persona. 

Solutions exist to help prepare students for digital literacy, for example, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland has developed a self-paced course, “23 Things for Digital Knowledge.”  These types of skills could become more integrated into existing curriculum.

Society is wrestling with some of these challenges too.  Consider the implications and fallout of the recent Facebook data “scandal”.  The use of social media and online consumerism has created buffets of data; various advertising and agencies are hungry to sample those delicious data items.  This creates additional ethical challenges and potential conflicts of interest.  There are implications for policy and leadership as drivers from other areas (like the need to track attendance) often lead to possible technical solutions that could potentially clash with student privacy concerns.   

Difficult Challenges:   Those that we understand but for which solutions are elusive.

Advancing Digital Equity

Another area that poses challenges to higher education is ensuring digital equity and opportunities for all students.  While MANY students use devices like smart phones and laptops, not all students have access to technology devices or can afford high-speed data.  While technology needs have expanded, the creation of formal policies to ensure equal access have often not kept pace. 

Adapting Organizational Designs to the Future of Work

Do the organizational structures of colleges and universities align with the practices of the 21st century workplace?  Do traditional educational models prepare students for success? Colleges and universities are finding new ways to integrate faculty from distance and interdisciplinary programs.  Technology creates new teaching and learning methods. More flexible degree paths and credentialing options provide new paths and opportunities for schools to offer new forms of stackable degrees and graduate programs.  There are possible consequences to the new models:  over two thirds of faculty members are now non-tenure, with half working part-time, often in teaching roles at several institutions.  In addition to changes in teaching roles, other services and programs may need to be re-evaluated.   What does do student services, which include financial aid programs, academic advising, and work-study programs look like?

Wicked challenges:  Those that are complex even to define, much less address

Economic and Political Pressures

While we have already identified some of the changes to staffing and programs, other economic and political pressures pose bigger, more complex challenges.  Several institutions, both for-profit and nonprofit, have closed recently.  Others have faced consolidations and mergers.  The Horizon report does not forecast an end to higher education.  However, other trends affecting higher education like changes in enrollments policy, tuition discounting, and funding through research pathways have forced all models to come under scrutiny.  There are opportunities.  As was identified in the authentic learning challenge, industry is looking to higher education to provide different types of education.  Foundations are looking to new community models and partnerships.   Can individual institutions adapt nimbly enough to meet these challenges?

Rethinking the Role of Educators

Not only is the future of higher education institutions in question, the role of faculty is changing.  New models of stackable graduate school degrees, competency based programs, online micro credentialing, and flexible learning paths have forced institutions to rethink the role of educator.  With an increase in the use and demand of technology, faculty need to be more tech savvy.  Many programs are becoming much more student-focused; as such, there is more demand for faculty that are facilitators and guides.  The role and expectations of tenure track instruction is changing.

The 2018 Higher Education Horizon Report provides a look into the future. It is a rich place to explore ideas connected to the themes of Technology, Education and Design. These glances can inform our thinking now, guide our planning, and inspire our journey.

– Ted Witt
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

RESOURCES:

2018 NMC Horizon Report
Citation: Samantha Adams Becker, Malcolm Brown, Eden Dahlstrom, Annie Davis, Kristi DePaul, Veronica Diaz, and Jeffrey Pomerantz. NMC Horizon Report: 2018 Higher Education Edition. Louisville, CO: EDUCAUSE, 2018.
https://library.educause.edu/resources/2018/8/2018-nmc-horizon-report
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

UW-Whitewater/UW-Rock County Restructuring
UW-Whitewater LEAP program

University of Edinburgh, “23 Things for Digital Knowledge”: http://www.23things.ed.ac.uk/

New “Competitions” Feature Available in Poll Everywhere

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Looking for some competition? This month Poll Everywhere released a new “Competitions” feature that allows you to create questions for a trivia-like activity.

Students can compete live in class to earn points based on getting correct answers, as well as how quickly they answer. The feature includes a Leaderboard that updates with each round.

If you are interested in learning more about the “Competitions” feature in Poll Everywhere, Poll Everywhere has released a
short Webinar that introduces and explains the feature. 

If you need any help setting up Poll Everywhere, please feel free to contact the Learning Technology Center. 

Registration Open: Winterim 2019 Online/Blended Teaching Institute

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Winterim 2019 Online/Blended Teaching Institute

The UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) is pleased to announce that registration is open for the Winterim 2019 Online/Blended Teaching Institute. Due to popular request, the Online and Blended Teaching Institute will take place in an accelerated format during the 2019 Winterim term. The Online and Blended Teaching Institute is a series of interactive workshops focusing on best practices for teaching online and blended courses. By the conclusion of the institute, participants will develop a course module utilizing best practices for online/blended teaching.  To apply, click here.  The URL for registration is available at the bottom of this post.

Dates for the 2019 Winterim Online and Blended Institute:
    January 4: Face-to-Face meeting, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
    January 11: Face-to Face meeting, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
    January 18: Online using WebEx, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
    Submission of final Institute content February 1st

Objectives:

  1. Develop a unit/module utilizing best practices in online/blended course design.
  2. Demonstrate technological proficiency useful in facilitating online/blended courses.
  3. Apply methods to facilitate assessment and evaluation.
  4. Illustrate approaches to building community online.
  5. Develop strategies for effective time management.

For any additional information or questions, please contact the LTC.

Learning Technology Center
(262) 472-1004
ltc@uww.edu

http://uwwhitewater.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3f0THo4dRBWqqm9

 

Webex Teams Unscheduled Outage *Update*

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As of 7:45 AM this morning, Webex Teams is still not fully restored. Cisco is continuing to work to address the issues that caused the outage. At this time, the LTC still does not have an estimated time for when services will be restored. 

For more information, you can monitor the outage directly from Cisco’s website, or reach out to the Learning Technology Center.

Webex Teams Unscheduled Outage

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The Learning Technology Center has been made aware of an unscheduled Cisco Webex Teams service outage today (9/25) that appears to be impacting all users. As of 10:15 AM this morning, the service outage had been impacting users across the UW-Whitewater campus for an indefinite period of time (possibly as early as Monday 9/24 evening). Cisco is working to restore services, but we do not currently have an estimated time in which services will be fully restored. LTC staff will continue to monitor the situation, and provide updates as they come.

For more information, you can monitor the outage directly from Cisco’s website, or reach out to the Learning Technology Center.

TED tips – Issue 12: Poll Everywhere

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Poll Everywhere can be used to engage students on many devices

Last week I looked at a couple of communication tips. This week I want to focus on another specific tool that is available for use like a clicker for student engagement: Poll Everywhere. I also want to share the story of how one of our instructors Lori Trimble, from the social work department has used Poll Everywhere in her class! Finally, there are a couple of training opportunities if you are interested in learning more about Poll Everywhere to see how you could adapt it for your own use.

Poll Everywhere is an interactive tool adopted for use on the UW-Whitewater campus. It allows you to create poll questions and prompts, which students can respond to in “real-time” through mobile apps, text messages, or the Poll Everywhere website. You can then display the responses live to the class, and incorporate what you find out into class discussions and group activities.

One way to use Poll Everywhere would be to use an open-ended question to kick off a group discussion with a colorful word cloud. Another way is collect live, anonymous results by an audience who can participate via a website or mobile device. Responses can appear live, in real-time, directly in PowerPoint presentations. The most recent update has introduced live competitions! Have you ever encountered interactive pub trivia or other trivia contests with live leaderboards? Now you can build that into your class with your content using Poll Everywhere.

One of the great things about it is that you engage your classroom without any clunky and easy-to-forget hardware. You can use a device most people have at all times — a mobile phone. You can also ask students to use their phones, tablets, or laptops to respond to polls that you present. The results appear live on the display. You can use this tool to quiz your class, discuss the results, and use that insight to guide the classroom discussions.

I took some time to interview Lori Trimble of the Social Work Department. Lori joined the Social Work department as the Academic Department Associate (ADA) in January 2017.

I asked Lori what challenges she was facing in the classroom and what she was using to solve them. One of the tools she talked about was Webex Teams – but the other one was Poll Everywhere.

Lori: I was teaching New Student Seminar, with brand new freshmen. I broke them into small groups and that created lively conversations and discussions…but as soon as I combined a conversation to a full class: “CRICKETS!” There had to be a better way to keep the conversations flowing.

Ted: What did you try? What did you do to get additional engagement?

Lori: I started using Poll Everywhere. Specifically, using open-ended questions to encourage engagement. Since the lesson was on engagement, this seemed a good way to get ideas flowing.

Ted: How did it work? Did you incentivize it at all?

Lori: It worked great! While I was a bit nervous that with an open-ended question, I might get a smart aleck response, people started providing answers to the questions right away. It was clear once one student shared an idea others reacted similarly. It was a great way to get engagement; specifically some people not brave enough to raise their hand, this gives students a great way to participate without fear because their answers appear anonymously on the screen.

After class – I was able to generate a user report because I limited my polls to registered users. I wanted to award participation points to students for joining in the conversation. This provided a way to get students involved, and I was able to record their activity.

Ted: Why do you think this was a valuable tool to use? How effective was it?

Lori: It was VERY easy for students to use, and the platform for creating polls is very user friendly. I asked them to bring a phone or laptop, and they did. I wanted to get students engaged – Poll Everywhere helped prompt the discussion; I facilitated it. Students were very excited to use the discussions in this way.

Ted: Did you encounter any challenges or barriers to using it?

Lori: There were a couple of hiccups. I did not realize being logged in for the first question didn’t necessarily mean I was logged in for subsequent questions. Texting responses did not work as smoothly as I hoped with registered users – but overall it was very intuitive.

I want to thank Lori for sharing some of her experiences using Poll Everywhere in the classroom! If you are interested in exploring more about how to get started using Poll Everywhere there are a couple of upcoming information sessions. The sign-up links are below in resources (please note you will need to log in with your UWW credentials to register).

Next week we return to the 2018 Horizon Report and look at the Challenges facing technology and higher education.

Ted Witt
–Teaching, Learning, and Technology Consultant

Resources:
Upcoming Poll Everywhere Information Session:
Wednesday September 26th, 2018 at 3:00 PM in McGraw 19A
Friday October 5th, 2018 at 10:00 am in McGraw 19A

Poll Everywhere “Live interactive audience participation” https://www.polleverywhere.com/

Upcoming Poll Everywhere Scheduled Maintenance

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Poll Everywhere is scheduled for maintenance on Saturday, September 22nd and Saturday, October 6th beginning at 10:00 pm. You may experience issues accessing Poll Everywhere during these times.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.

Fall 2018 Update from the Learning Technology Center

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From left to right: Andrew Cole (Learning Technology Specialist), Sarah Klingman-Cole (Technology Promotion & Adoption Specialist), Shane Degen (LMS Administrator), Nicole Weber (Director of Learning Technology), Ted Witt (Teaching, Learning and Technology Consultant), Aaron Axelsen (Operations Manager).

The UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) is here and ready to help you! Our team of experts have a wide range of skills to tackle all of your instructional course-related needs.

Canvas Transition

For nearly a year now, teams across the UW-System have been working on getting the new Learning Management System (LMS) ready for faculty and students. We are proud to announce that approximately 45% of LMS enabled courses at UW-Whitewater are already being offered in Canvas. With 24/7/365 Technical Support, a self-paced Instructor Training course, a self-paced Canvas Student Training course, and Peer Mentors for Instructors, there are various support options available to assist with the transition. Spring 2019 will be the last semester Desire2Learn is available for courses.  We encourage everyone to start exploring Canvas, ask questions, and attend trainings!

Here are a couple of the most frequently asked questions so far this semester.

  • Why can’t I change the course navigation?   How can students find my discussions?
    Some aspects of the canvas course, such as the home page and certain navigation items, have been locked in place by UW-System, and they cannot be changed.  This was done by UW-System to maintain a consistent student experience between courses at all UW institutions.

    The navigation tools that cannot be added to the course navigation are: Discussions, People, Pages, Files, Quizzes and Modules. The ability to modify the default course homepage has also been locked to always display the 3 latest news items, and the course modules.

    As a best practice, we recommend creating links in the Modules area directly to items such as Discussions and Quizzes which cannot be added to the course navigation.

    For more information on how this was decided, UW-System has posted the following Course Template Design document.

  • Why students can’t find my course?  Why can’t I message my students?
    When courses are created in Canvas, by default they are unpublished.  While the course is unpublished, you can add content and get it setup for the semester.  The course must be published before students can access the material.  You also must publish the course before you are able to send a message to the students.

Helpful Links

24/7/365 Support

Canvas has a robust technical support service that includes 24 / 7 / 365 toll-free hotline and live online chat interactions.  Please use this for all Canvas Questions.

Canvas Workshops

Whether you are already in Canvas or looking to make the move from D2L to Canvas this Spring, the LTC will be offering Fall Workshops that you may be interested in. Hands-On Introduction sessions will cover basic functions of the core tools. Deep Dives focusing on specific tools can help you in your current courses, and Construction Zones can help you transfer courses for the future. Given everyone’s tight schedules, we are also pleased to provide open lab time after the Construction Zones, where anyone can come in and work while support is present.

View the Workshop schedule and signup now at: http://go.uww.edu/ltc-workshop-signup

LEARN-LTC Workshops

How can you get more done but not spend a lot more time doing it? The LTC/LEARN Center collaborative series for the 2018-2019 year will focus on improving your teaching practice and student learning without adding to your workload.

  • Session #1 – Thursday, September 20
    12:30pm – 1:45pm in UC 259A (lunch provided)
    “Efficient and Effective Communication Strategies”
    Presenters: Ted Witt, LTC, and Heather Pelzel, Biological Sciences and LEARN Center
  • Session #2 – Thursday, October 18
    12:30pm – 1:45pm in UC 259A (lunch provided)
    “Best practices on providing effective feedback using low-tech and high-tech options”
  • Session #3 – Tuesday, November 27
    12:30pm – 1:45pm in UC 259A (lunch provided)
    “Using groups to engage students and maximize your class time”

Register at http://signup.uww.edu

What’s new with Webex Meetings

If you have recently logged into your Webex Meetings account you may have noticed a brand new layout to the home screen! Webex Meetings’ new dashboard is set up to help you easily find the features you would like to use. Meetings are now more video-centric, with simplified controls and a larger screen for the video or content you share. UWW students now have the same meeting capabilities as all staff members! To check out more information about the updates to Webex Meetings go to https://collaborationhelp.cisco.com/article/en-us/nvby0ee.

What’s new with Webex Teams

This past summer, Cisco Spark changed its name to Cisco Webex Teams! With the name change comes further integration with Webex Meetings. Webex Teams has also changed its color scheme to help users better differentiate between spaces, teams, and messaging. Another change is that now all UWW users can record their video conference and save it to their Webex Meetings account. For a refresher on how to get started using Webex Teams check out the Webex Teams Reference guide on our services page https://www.uww.edu/icit/services/webex-teams#tab_TrainingDocumentation.

Have you met Ted?

As the Teaching Learning and Technology Consultant, I am a champion for the sound and effective use of technology to support teaching and learning. I support online and blended faculty development efforts; active learning; and utilizing pedagogically sound uses of technology to promote student success and enhance engagement. I administer the Quality Matters standards.  I write the weekly TED tips (Technology Education Design) blog post. 

Catch up on what you missed now! http://blogs.uww.edu/instructional/tag/ted-tips/

Have you met Lauren?

Lauren is a Graduate Assistant for the LTC and will be working primarily on emerging technology projects and research projects. She is also a Graduate Student in the School Psychology Program.

Weekly Email Updates

Did you know that you can get a weekly email update about what’s going on in the LTC? Every Monday morning, you’ll get an email that contains a summary of the latest items from our blog. To signup for these updates, just fill out the form below!


Turning Point 8

Over the summer, we upgraded to Turning Point 8 – which is the latest release.  Turning Point 8 has only been integrated with Canvas, and will not work with Desire2Learn. All Turning Point usage for the Fall 2018 semester should be done in Canvas. 

With Turning Point 8 and Canvas, the course roster sync has been greatly improved – and now happens on a nightly basis!  You will need to Publish your course before you can sync the course roster.

The full list of updates are available below.

http://blogs.uww.edu/instructional/2018/08/29/turning-point-updates-for-instructors-fall-2018/


Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere is a new tool on the UW-Whitewater campus this fall. It allows you to collect “real-time” feedback from your students on prompts that you create. You can display results to the polls live in class. Options include open and close-ended polls, and advanced features including competitions (like trivia) and word clouds. If you think you might be interested in using Poll Everywhere but aren’t sure where to get started, consider attending one of the LTC’s information sessions this fall:

GooseChase

GooseChase is an easy way to organize and run point-based scavenger hunts for your class or event.

You can Mix and Match Mission Types!

  • Photo & Video: Student’s will have to submit a photo or record a video to complete a mission. All done right from the students mobile device.
  • Text: Submit a simple text response. Great for riddles, puzzles and surveys.
  • GPS: Utilizing the GPS on the mobile device, students will need to physically visit places to check-in to complete the mission.

In order to get started, just create an account using your @uww.edu email address. Make sure that your password IS NOT THE SAME as your Net-ID.

Additional tutorials and guides are available at: https://spaces.uww.edu/x/TAd5

Welcome Matt Vick!

One of the LTC’s current initiatives is exploring adaptive learning. During the 2018-2019 academic year, Dr. Matt Vick is working with the LTC team to facilitate and evaluate adaptive learning projects. Over the summer of 2018, Matt piloted adaptive learning in his own course using the platform “Realizeit,” and he is now working with other instructors to use the platform in their courses. Matt earned his Ph.D. in Urban Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and is currently the Interim Associate Dean of the UW-Whitewater School of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education. 

Cerego

Cerego is an adaptive learning technology that is being piloted by UW-Whitewater for the 2018-2019 academic year. Instructors can use Cerego to actively engage and assess their students’ learning throughout the course of the semester. It is intended to comprise between 7 and 10% of a course. With Cerego you can create content for students to access and work through at their individual learning level. Knowledge is tested through the use of multiple choice and true/false questions, flashcards, fill-in-the-blank passages, and interactive figures. Cerego determines what an individual student needs to study based on correct and incorrect responses and then notifies students when they should return to Cerego so that learning is distributed over time.

Need more information? Visit this link: http://blogs.uww.edu/instructional/2018/09/06/spring-2019-adaptive-learning-project-call-for-participants/

Active Learning

Active learning classrooms feature moveable tables and chairs, individual whiteboards, screen sharing technology, multiple monitors for easy content viewing, interactive whiteboards, and other technologies. Active learning spaces continue to increase on campus. The newly redesigned Heide 105 opens this fall as part of a team from College of Letters and Science with collaboration from ICIT, facilities, and campus planning with support from the Provost’s Office Classroom Redesign Initiative.

Having spaces conducive to active learning helps, but the Learning Technology Center (LTC) also supports instructors in exploring active learning pedagogies and the technologies that best support them. The LTC launched the Active Learning Academy in the summer of 2018. Instructors learned how to leverage pedagogy, technology, and space to create deep learning experiences for their students.

Interested in learning more about active learning pedagogy and leveraging technology for active learning? Contact us today!

Don’t forget to Visit Us

Are you still with us? If so – great, you made it to the end! Be sure to stop by the LTC throughout the semester to visit. As a reminder, we are located in McGraw Hall, Suite 120 and are available between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM weekdays. We can also be reached at ltc@uww.edu or 262.472.1004. We’ll always be willing to help, and have plenty of treats on hand for your sweet tooth. Have a great semester!

TED Tips – Issue 11: Communication Tips

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Balance

As we settle into the start of the term, it is great to see people on campus, observe the bustle and scramble between classes, and listen to the conversations of students studying hard! There is an excitement and energy unmatched at the beginning of a semester!

As I observe, I start to pick up threads of some common conversations: “What do I have to do for this assignment? Where do I go? Is it on the quiz?” Many of these questions could be answered if communicate clearly, listen, and use some tools to aid our efforts. Clear communications are built into most parts of successful teaching and learning and start from a clear statement of learning objectives to a well-written syllabus, to good directions for homework. We strive to provide lectures and content that insightful and informative to help our students to succeed. This week I want to share two tips related to communication: reinforcing active listening and using technology. I will provide information on two supported technology tools that communication: Webex Teams (formerly Spark) and blogging. Finally, I will invite you to attend an upcoming workshop on September 20 entitled “Efficient and Effective Communication Strategies” co-sponsored by the LEARN Center and the LTC.

Reinforce active listening

What challenges are our students facing? Active listening can help us to understand those challenges so we can provide guidance. Active listening is a valuable skill that asks a listener to make a conscious effort to understand what people are really saying. It requires a listener concentrate, understand, respond, and remember what is said. Active listening helps foster relationships built on trust, respect, and honesty.

The Center for Creative Leadership’s Michael Hoppe identified six steps that enhance active listening.

  1. Pay Attention – Allow time for the other person to think and speak.
  2. Withhold Judgment – be open to new ideas, new perspectives, and new possibilities.
  3. Reflect – Paraphrase key point to get on the same page.
  4. Clarify – Use open-ended and clarifying questions to draw people into the conversation.
  5. Summarize – Confirm a sense of mutual understanding.
  6. Share – After understanding the others perspective, you can incorporate your own ideas, feelings, and suggestions.

Active listening can be used in the classroom as a method to gauge students understanding of the subject, what they think they need to do for an assignment, and whether or not they believe something is on a quiz! Taking the time to listen helps us to craft better communications that meets students’ needs.

Use technology

My second tip this week is to use technology to engage our students and colleagues in (hopefully) active listening. I want to highlight two technologies that the University of Wisconsin Whitewater supports: Webex Teams and Blogging.

Webex Teams

Webex Teams is specifically a communication tool. It is an application that facilitates collaboration. Webex Teams supports group messaging, video meetings, file sharing and white boarding. Webex Teams supports group messaging and creates a secured environment for communications. Messages can be read and responded to right away, or flagged for follow up later. Andrew Cole facilitates a three part bootcamp this fall in McGraw 19A on Wednesday afternoons in October (10/10, 10/17, 10/24) from 3:00 pm to 3:45 pm. The first session on October 10 introduces Cisco Webex Teams and explains why instructors and students might benefit from incorporating it. It is encouraged, but not required, to attend all three sessions.

Blogging

The second tool I want to explore this week is one that I have personally started to use as part of writing TED Tips: blogging. Whitewater supports WordPress and has blogs available for instructional, departmental, student organizations or clubs, and personal use. Setting up your own blog site for classroom use, could be a good way to encourage communications. Share class updates on a blog. By sharing the link to your blog, students and parents can sign up for the update notifications and stay informed throughout the year. You can also create assignments or activities that support your learning objectives by having students create and post blog posts and submit the link to you. More information can be found in the Resources section at the end of this post.

Upcoming Workshop on Communications

Finally, I want to invite folks to attend the first of the LEARN Center/LTC Workshop Series of the year. The theme of the 2018-2019 year is “Back to Basics to Balance Workload”. The first workshop is this coming Thursday, September 20 from 12:30 to 1:45pm in the UC 259A. Lunch is provided! Heather Pelzel from Biological Science and the LEARN Center will be presenting with me.

The theme for the workshop is “Efficient and Effective Communication Strategies.” Strategies to communicate with students while also making good use of your available time will be provided. Good interactions start with setting expectations. Setting boundaries for appropriate times, methods, and places for communications is important; we’ll share some examples. We will discuss considerations and options to do this in the syllabus, as well as in the classroom or online learning spaces. Specifically, we will look at how to identify early indications that your students are struggling and then determine if, when, and how to intervene can play a large role in student retention and success.

Resources:

Back to Basics to Balance Workload Learn Center/LTC Workshop series
Thursday, September 20: “Efficient and Effective Communication Strategies”
12:30-1:45 p.m., Lunch Included
University Center, Room 259A
Register by September 14. If you have any questions about this workshop or for late registrations, please contact Sally Lange at learn@uww.edu or 262-472-5242

Upcoming Back to Basics to Balance Workload Sessions:

October 18: Best Practices on Providing Effective Feedback Using Low-Tech and High-Tech options
November 27: Using Groups to Engage Students and Maximize Your Class Time

Webex Teams Bootcamp
Wednesday, October 10, 2018: Why Should I Use Webex Teams?
 Registration Link: http://my.uww.edu/signup/Registration/Details/15660

 Webex Teams (Formerly Spark) https://www.uww.edu/icit/services/webex-teams

WordPress Blog Information: https://www.uww.edu/icit/services/blogs

Making Discussions Visible in Canvas

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Canvas and Desire2Learn (D2L) share much of the same functionality, but with the move to Canvas there might be confusion about some of the details about how to get the desired results for your courses.  One of the most common questions we are seeing is about how students will access Online Discussions inside the course.  While the advice below was prompted by the questions about Discussions, the same is true for Quizzes and Assignments.

In D2L there was a dedicated “Discussions” button that could be added to the navigation bar.  In Canvas, this same button exists, but it is only available to Instructors for building purposes.  There are two ways to make sure students can access your discussions; place the Discussions in Modules, or make them Graded.

The best way to make sure students can find discussions is to place them in your Modules in the most appropriate location.  Most courses are separated into units, and the discussion can be placed into the appropriate unit for when the Discussion starts.  Other instructors may create a separate unit just for ongoing discussions that are meant to cross multiple units.

It is also worth knowing that all items that are worth points will be visible to students in the Assignments area.  This includes quizzes and discussions.  While we would encourage you to include those items in your Modules, they will also be added to Assignments for you automatically.

If you have additional questions about Canvas please reach out to 24/7/365 support by going to http://uww.edu/canvas.