Month: April 2016

Have you read?

Today is Reading Day and have you been reading this blog?  Well if you haven’t take a few minutes and glance at the various topics, perhaps there is something that catches your eye? Spring semester is just about over, hopefully it was a successful one! For some of you summer semester is right around the corner.  

Take some time to reflect on what went well these past semesters and if not perhaps it is time to try something new.  Contact OET for help in developing, learning, creating something different.  There is a whole world of technology out there! 

The OET calendar is wide open with the end of the semester and no more classes being recorded.  Consultations, course development, training, pick your flavor and pick your time!  Just send out a request!  Maybe you want to try desktop recording?


I am stealing from Rutgers Office of Instructional & Research Technology

But it says it all! From https://oirt.rutgers.edu/end-of-semester-tips-for-instructors-using-lmss-learning-management-systems/

There is a lot for instructors to keep track of at the end of the semester.  Here are some tips on how to avoid some of the common problems we see instructors run into at the end of the semester:

  1. Get your Gradebook in order.
    If you have any questions about setting up your gradebook, setting up extra credit, or excluding some items for specific students, it is much easier to get help now than it will be during the rush period at the end of the semester.
  2. Make sure your Final Exams are setup with the settings that are the least likely to cause issues.
    The Internet is a wonderful thing that still fails on a regular basis. With the right settings, you can make sure that a small connection issue doesn’t cause you or your students major headaches.
  3. Make sure all assignments are setup correctly and clearly so students can submit their work.
    Which tool(s) are you using for assignments? Did you want to have SafeAssign review the paper? Make sure you have the settings correct!
  4. Are you planning on allowing some or all students to make up missed work?
    Many tools can all be set up to allow a student to take them after the due date, or even retake them in some cases, but each tool requires specific settings to allow this to happen.
  5. Preparing for a summer course? Want to reuse some of the material from your spring or earlier course?
    There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel every semester. Reuse your best material by duplicating an existing site.

So since systems were down, what do you do?

I had another post for this week’s blog but since WordPress was one of the system unavailable yesterday it gave me time to think about what to do when you can’t get your “stuff’!

The usual advice is to save everything to your PirateDrive for easy access but that may not have helped yesterday as neither Blackboard nor PirateDrives were available.  It is always good practice to have your course content files in two locations.  Printed content could be used with the Document Camera in the classroom.

One system that was working was Mediasite!  You may say but students could not access the recordings because Blackboard was down but you can send presentation links by accessing your recording via My Mediasite.  Alternatively if you were recording every semester you may have been able to rerelease content from a previous semester.

Want to explore other alternatives?  Contact OET.

 

So why Tweet?

Or why not?  I will admit I have not embraced this technology but I am exploring it’s use in higher ed and have found some articles which tempt me to continue in this endeavor.  If you use “tweets” as part of your class or were thinking of incorporating them into class let me know and we can explore together.

Some articles which may help you get started:

10 Twitter Tips for Higher Education | University Business Magazine

Tweeting alternative to Discussion Board

Tweeting in Higher Education: Best Practices | EDUCAUSE