Online Courses: Where to Start?

Where are you "on the map" of teaching online?

Helen and I have identified some key points on such a map:

We both started by created web-enhanced courses. In other words, we began to use online resources to supplement a course. Then, as we developed confidence and skills, we were able to replace some "seat time" with online activities. If we had to miss a face-to-face class session in order to attend a conference or for other reasons, we were able to still hold class. Eventually, we made a course officially hybrid - which means the university can schedule the classroom for other uses when we have slated class meetings to be fully online (while retaining certain days as face-to-face). Flipped and blended courses continue this hybridized element. Finally, teaching a fully online course requires knowledge of synchronous and asynchronous elements and the capacity to decide which to use when.

Where are you on this map? Have you created a web-enhanced course? Have you flipped your classroom? Are you looking to teach a fully online class or perhaps you have already done so? In preparation for our last Just-in-Time session (Tuesday, 4/28 @ 1:00pm in KPlz 175), think about what you would like learn/gain from a discussion about online teaching.

We will demonstrate a template on Moodle, showcase some screenshots from your colleague's online courses, and show our own work teaching online.

You might like to consider taking a MOOC about teaching online with Moodle. It begins on May 1st: http://www.wiziq.com/teachblog/moodle-mooc-6

Lastly, here is some great advice about "humanizing online teaching."

Different Approaches to Using Moodle

We had a great session today, sharing different approaches to using Moodle (the learning management system used at UMD).

Brian Gute, Rachel Breckenridge, and Char Harkins each walked us through a "show and tell" of a course or two that they have designed on Moodle and are currently teaching.

Brian's "tab view" method of setting up his course was a big hit.

Rachel showed us the value of keeping hidden links and materials from previous iterations of a course.

Char showed the interface with Turnitin and how robust the feedback mechanisms are in that interface.

Here are the examples of student work that Char shared as she discussed her Chapter Project assignment: http://www.d.umn.edu/hper/majors/exercise_science/chapterproject.html.  (These are public links through which students are sharing their work.)

If you are new to Moodle, here is a video to help you get started: http://www.lynda.com/Moodle-tutorials/Moodle-26-Essential-Training/163093-2.html.

Remember that you can get help learning more about Moodle from our academic technologists at UMD, simply by emailing at-itss@d.umn.edu.

____________
Post amended on 4/16/15 to include some inspiration!
Laure Charleux from the Georgraphy Department recently presented her work on gamifying a class in Moodle.  Here is her video demonstrating the game she created to teach statistics for students in the GIS major: https://youtu.be/SuSlF2G_rSU
Here is Laure's presentation from last week on Game Dynamics in Moodle.

Creating Google Hangout with Custom URL

For this week's Just-in-Time series we shared how to create a Google Hangout with a Custom URL. In this blog we provide 2 resources to guide you:

1. How to set up a Google Hangout with customized URL: This is a written, step-by-step guide with screenshots showing you what to do at each step
   
   OR
   
2. Watch the video below that show you step by step what to do:

Learning the Ropes on Google Calendar

These are some resources we will share in our session today.

UMD has recently started a subscription with Lynda.com (go to lynda.umn.edu and log in with your x.500 and password). There are some amazing resources there on just about everything technical.

 Once you log in, search "Google Calendar" and you will find a fabulously organized tutorial on different aspects of the Calendar called "Google Calendar Essential Training with Jess Stratton."  You can select the specific issue you want more information on. Everything is included from how to get started using the Calendar to creating and responding to invitation, to sharing calendars, to going mobile.

Also, Helen made this fun video demonstrating how to make an appointment with a colleague on Google Calendar:
http://youtu.be/-yG0cIx4M4w

As with all of our just-in-time topics, remember to approach the Calendar - whether or not to use it, how you want to use it, with whom you'd like to share, etc. - with utmost intentionality.  It's your tool; use it to bring ease into your daily work life, not to create further stress.

Organizing Google Drive

Organizing Google Drive

Just-in-Time Session February 10, 2015

Here are the basics for creating, working with, and sharing a Google Document: "Overview of Google Drive Basics" by Helen Mongan-Rallis.

Once you have created and worked with some Google Docs (as well as receiving them from students and colleagues), you may find that your Google Drive is looking a little confusing and/or messy.  Here is a helpful tutorial video on three different ways to organize files on Google Drive.

This video (“Organizing Your Google Drive”) begins with a different approach - searching first, rather than necessarily using folders.

For general questions, here is Google's own help page for Google Drive.

Lastly, we will demonstrate some examples of using Google Docs and the Drive for collaboration, particularly in the classroom.

Again, we encourage you to bring intentionality to your use of technology. What do you want to get from your use of the Google Drive? Let's find the easiest and fastest way to accomplish this.

Flipped Classroom Community of Practice Series started this week

In response to the interest across campus in using a flipped classroom approach to teaching, we put out calls for faculty who would like to participate in a flipped classroom community of practice (FCCoP) cohort series of sessions. Within a few days of sending out the call our cohort was fully enrolled (27 members) with a waiting list! This week was our first of 6 sessions.  Participants introduced themselves, shared any experiences they have had to date in using a flipped classroom approach, and suggested topics they would like to address in future sessions.

We have created a closed Moodle site to serve as a learning space where our FCCoP group can ask questions of each other, share work in progress, and access resources. To accompany the site we also created a shared Flipped Classroom Google Doc where the group can post resources. Unlike the closed Moodle site, this Google document is open to anyone at UMD to access, both to learn about and to contribute resources on flipped classrooms. So please check it out and share resources that you have found helpful!

Automatically archiving emails once you have replied to them

At our Just-in-time session last week there was a question about how to automatically archive an email once you have replied to it. Here are the steps to show you how to do this:

1. Go to your gmail settings (you get there by selecting "settings" from the cog wheel that appears on the right hand side of your gmail inbox):
   
2. Under the "general" tab in your gmail settings, scroll down to the section on "Send and Archive." Select the option to "Show Send and Archive button in reply."
   
   
3. When you reply to an email, the blue "Send +" button will be at the bottom of the reply text box. Once you have typed your response, instead of clicking the "send" button, you can choose the "Send+" and the email to which you replied will automatically be archived in your gmail archive. This removes it from your inbox, but keeps it (in your archive) so that you can access it later should you need to refer to it. You can find it by searching for it by keyword in the email, subject line or by the email address of the sender.
   (Note: if you don't want to archive the message, then just click on "Send" rather than "Send+")
   
   

[Helen posted this blog post on her personal Tech Tips for Teachers blog, but she re-posted it here as this addresses a specific question raised in our Just-in-Time session]

Managing Email

We have gathered some useful and compelling resources for you in your efforts to better manage the increasing deluge of daily emails.

Remember to approach email with intentionality: what do you want? (Well, it's unlikely you will receive fewer emails, but what else?)

Helen and I definitely don't consider ourselves experts in this area of organizational management magic, but these are some resources that we have found immensely helpful.  Please use the comments to tell us what you like about these resources and what would help you continue to feel supported in the area of managing email. Thanks for engaging.


Video of Bruce Reeves, ITSS Interim Manager, discussing how he manages email.

"Managing Email with Gmail" training video.  Here are the basics.

6 Tips for Managing your Gmail, and Retaining your Sanity
by Gina Mariko Rosales, blogger from the Art of Hustle blog and Leadership Recruiting Coordinator at Google.

For perspective, Gina is also a dancer and "a self-proclaimed efficiency nerd." Going beyond the basics, these tips include archiving and filtering, but also how to set up multiple inboxes and search your emails effectively.


Last, but not least, remember that our email at UMD is in fact Gmail; this means it is a Google product and Google has devoted many useful pages to all the different facets you might be interested in using in your email interface.  All you have to do is Google search as you would for other purposes.  I recently searched "how to use tasks in Gmail" and got to this very useful page. Just using the "tasks" function has already shortened and made my Inbox more productive.  Just one example.

Share your examples of what you have tried in the comments below.

Technology-Enhanced Learning Opportunities for Spring Semester 2015

Welcome back for Spring 2015! Ready to further explore technology-enhanced learning (TEL)?  

Your TEL faculty fellows, Mitra Emad & Helen Mongan-Rallis, have planned two different types of learning opportunities for you this semester: a cohort style of sessions we’ll call the Flipped Classroom Community of Practice (FCCoP) and then a series of stand-alone Just-in-Time sessions. See details on these below.

Flipped Classroom Community of Practice (FCCoP)

Join with a cohort of colleagues from across campus to learn together and exchange ideas about Flipping your Classroom. (In a flipped classroom, “students gain first exposure to new material outside the class, usually via reading and/or lecture/videos, and then use class time to do the harder work of assimilating that knowledge, perhaps through problem-solving or debate” (see more at Flipping the Classroom from Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching and Learning). You will receive a separate email with more information on this FCCoP and an invitation to sign up to be a part of this Community of Practice.

Mark your calendars: In order for you to be able to join the FCCoP group, we ask that you commit to attending at least four of the 6 sessions. There will be six meetings of the group, on the following Tuesdays from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. in KPlz 175:

Feb 3

Feb 17

March 3

March 24

April 7

April 21

Just-in-Time Series

Come to these sessions to learn and share your experiences with an aspect of technology-enhanced learning, just in time to use it in class, to make a positive change in your daily work flow, or just to learn something new.  

Mark your calendars: For the Just-in-Time Series, we will meet on the following Tuesdays, 1:00 - 2:00pm in KPlz 175:

• Jan. 27: Managing Email
• Feb. 10: Organizing Google Drive
• Feb. 24: Learning the ropes on Google Calendar
• March 10: Teaching using Google Hangout
• March 31: Putting an hour/a module/a lesson online
• April 14: Different approaches to setting up a course on Moodle
• April 28: Online courses: where to start

Formats for these sessions will include small panel discussions, lightning talks, guest speakers, and fishbowls. We also plan to offer each session over Google Hangout (for up to 15 people), so that you can join from off campus (or even from your office).

Note: We will be maintaining a Teaching and Learning with Technology blog throughout the semester with information about the different sessions and links to resources used with each session. The blog also shows links to resources used in our Technology Enhanced Learning series from last semester.

Please contact Mitra (memad@d.umn.edu) or Helen (hrallis@d.umn.edu) with your questions.

Summary of details from UMD TETL series from Fall 2014

Beginning spring semester 2015 we (Mitra Emad and Helen Mongan-Rallis) will be using this blog to provide information about our TETL (Technology Enhanced Teaching & Learning) events for the semester. In this entry here we provide an overview of last semester's events along with links to resources that were shared at these sessions.

Fall 2014 Technology Enhanced Teaching & Learning series

Google Drive as a Collaborative Tool

• Presenters: Mitra Emad and Helen Mongan-Rallis. Wednesday 9/10, repeated Thursday 9/18.
• See Google Drive as a Collaborative Tool (COP 9-10-14) which is a Google doc created for this session providing guidelines and links to resources on using Google tools for teaching and learning

Devices in the Classroom: When & How?

• Featured guest speaker Dana Lindaman from Foreign Languages & Literatures. Thursday 10/2 3:00-4:00pm
• Featured guest speaker Jeanine Weekes Schroer from the Philosophy Department. Wednesday 9/24 3:00-4:00pm (see video recording of this session)
• See Google Presentation on Devices in the Classroom, which includes:
• a video of interviews with UMD faculty sharing their perspectives on using devices in the classroom (video created by Mitra Emad)
• links to a variety of resources providing different perspectives on using devices in the classroom

Googling It: Helping Students & Ourselves Figure out What is Any Good

• Featured guest speaker Jill Jenson, Faculty Liaison for Writing & Learning, UMD Writer's Workshop Wednesday 10/8 & Thursday 10/16
• See Resources from sessions on "Googling It: Helping students and Ourselves Figure Out What is Any Good" (this document, created by Jill Jensen, includes a wealth of annotated resources)

Curation: Using Online Tools to Keep Track of Everything.

• Featured guest speaker Abram Anders, assistant professor of business communication in LSBE. Thursday, 10/30  & Wednesday, 11/5 (See video recording of the 10/30 session)

So now what? Looking ahead to planning your Spring courses, f2f, online, hybrid courses and web-enhanced courses

• Presenters: Mitra Emad and Helen Mongan-Rallis. Thursday 11/13 & Wednesday 11/19

Flipping Out Over the Flipped Classroom?

• ELI (Educause Learning Initiative) special online webinar workshop (in addition to regular CoP sessions). Monday, December 1st, 2014. See details on Educause site.