Category: technology

What I learned from 9 hours of online training (beyond the online training content)

On By Tanya NoelIn higher ed, online, science, teaching & learning, technologyLeave a comment
Computer showing video conferencingOur Dean arranged for three days of Faculty of Science-specific workshops this week to help with preparing for our completely online Fall term courses. It’s great to have upper administration support for our teaching (also from CTL , OOL & ITS), and given the turnout and discussions that happened each day, there was clearly a lot of interest. We had the chance to discuss and learn about many tools, key considerations (pedagogical and technological), and express some worries/concerns that many of us have about our upcoming virtual term.
Additionally, we got to experience online learning from a student perspective in an intense way – we had three days of workshops, each with a three hour session in MS Teams or Adobe Collaborate Ultra. I had already some participant experience in the oCUBE Virtual UnConference, webinars, and online MSc defenses over the past few weeks, but this was particularly intense in terms of the amount of content covered, and the time spent in virtual meeting systems. So, in no particular order, here are things I learned (or had reinforced) this week:

Continue reading “What I learned from 9 hours of online training (beyond the online training content)” →

Biology online/open-book exams, Part 2: time for reflection & discussion

On By Tanya NoelIn acadmic integrity, assessment, higher ed, more questions than answers, pandemic, teaching & learning, technologyLeave a comment

In a previous post, I shared some tips on making online open-book tests. Those were mostly practical points, pulled together quickly after COVID-19 abruptly pushed us online. Originally, I anticipated writing a second post going more in depth about some of the challenges, practical and ethical, of online testing in large courses, particularly survey courses in biology (and other disciplines) that tend to be content-heavy. (It’s drafted, and a VERY LONG READ …) Instead, I’ll just mention my concerns at the broadest level … and why I’ll likely revisit the details later.

Continue reading “Biology online/open-book exams, Part 2: time for reflection & discussion” →

Biology online/open-book exams, Part 1: general tips/considerations & examples

On By Tanya NoelIn assessment, higher ed, pandemic, teaching & learning, technologyLeave a comment

With COVID-19 shifting us all online, and as someone who has taught online (fully and partially), I have had a number of colleagues approach me with questions and ask advice. Though I don’t consider myself an “expert”, on online teaching, I can (and want to) share what I do know, and my own experiences, and I’m going to try to do that here.
Continue reading “Biology online/open-book exams, Part 1: general tips/considerations & examples” →

UPDATED: 1st Pandemic book club meeting: Costa’s “99 Tips for Creating & Sustaining Educational Videos”

On By Tanya NoelIn book club, teaching & learning, technologyLeave a comment

Results from the Doodle poll for a book club day/time to start discussing the newly published (and incredibly timely) book: “99 Tips for Creating & Sustaining Educational Videos”: the most popular time was Mon. May 4, 2-3 PM (Eastern Time).

I’ve set up a Microsoft Teams meeting (and hope it will work for this). Teams is available for download on computer, phone, iPad: https://teams.microsoft.com/downloads . You can also  access it through a  browser: https://teams.microsoft.com/

Need the book?

It can be purchased:

– directly from Stylus, the publisher. The paperback and ePub versions are both on sale right now (along with other online ed books). Note that prices are in USD: https://styluspub.presswarehouse.com/landing/onlinelearning2020 (Outside the US, it will likely take some additional time to get the paperback.)

It’s a really new book, and Chapters/Indigo and Amazon don’t have the hard copy yet, but eBooks are available:

Kobo has the ePub format: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/99-tips-for-creating-simple-and-sustainable-educational-videos (If buying in Canada, this is a few $ cheaper than the Stylus ePub, given the current exchange rate).

The Kindle version is available:
In Canada – CDN$: https://www.amazon.ca/Creating-Simple-Sustainable-Educational-Videos-ebook/dp/B086VW87QH/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=karen+costa&qid=1587391775&sr=8-1
US: https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Simple-Sustainable-Educational-Videos-ebook-dp-B086VW87QH/dp/B086VW87QH/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

I’m looking forward to seeing/meeting other folks interested in this book (and making educational videos)!

Pandemic time higher ed book club

On By Tanya NoelIn academia, book club, collaboration, higher ed, pandemic, teaching & learning, technologyLeave a comment

Cat with educational booksHaving bought a few higher education related books just before or after The Great Shift to Remote, I found myself seeking some motivation to actually dig into them. I thought a little social interaction (and accountability) might be helpful, and I floated out a tweet asking if others might be interested in discussing a couple of these: Karen Costa‘s “99 Tips for Creating Simple and Sustainable Educational Videos” (at the time of writing on sale with some other online learning books) and Kevin Gannon‘s “Radical Hope: a Teaching Manifesto”. I was thrilled to see how many people responded!

Continue reading “Pandemic time higher ed book club” →

Ancillary fee anxiety

On By Tanya NoelIn academia, biology, higher ed, microbiology, money, more questions than answers, teaching & learning, technology6 Comments

AnxietyCat Ancillary
Anxiety cat is anxious about ancillary fees

I had originally planned to write (and actually wrote a draft of) a post to explore my questions and concerns about asking students to pay for access to a web-based classroom response system (WBCRS henceforth), like Lecture Tools (now integrated into Echo 360), Top Hat, or Learning Catalytics. My major concern? These tools are basically ways to teach huge classes better, to bring in the interactivity and communication aspects difficult to achieve in the large class setting – kind of a “large class tax” on students. (I’ve used Lecture Tools for several terms – see my previous posts here, here, and here.)

 

I’d hoped to gain some clarity,  maybe spark some conversation with colleagues about the issues relating to using a WBCRS at a cost to students. As part of my thinking, I considered some of the other ancillary items we routinely ask students to purchase (i.e., not usually included in their tuition, but required for a course). I was originally thinking that a teaching tool is really different from a required textbook, dissection kit, safety glasses, or a lab coat. Now I’m not only concerned about the ethics/fairness of asking students to purchase licenses for a WBCRS, but also requiring textbooks and disposable lab coats! Continue reading “Ancillary fee anxiety” →

Want to encourage people to live-tweet your event?

On By Tanya NoelIn conferences, technologyLeave a comment

Portion of #MiMicrobe Twitter feed
Portion of #MiMicrobe Twitter feed

If you follow me on Twitter, you are probably well aware that I typically live-tweet conferences. (You can always filter out the hashtag if you get overwhelmed by the tweets!) I find it useful to go through the exercise of distilling important/interesting points, have an instant electronic record of my notes, and if I’m lucky, a tweet will spark discussions with other conference attendees or other people on Twitter.

Some conferences prohibit live-tweeting, but others encourage it.  (If in doubt, ask the conference organizers, or the conference presenter.) For conferences promoting live-tweeting, some have good uptake, and you’ll see several live-tweeters sharing different perspectives, and/or notes from different concurrent sessions. (Check out the #MiMicrobe twitter feed for an example.) Other times, there may be one or two lone tweeters … and it gets lonely being one of them!

If you do want to encourage conference participants to here are some tips I’d suggest for conference/meeting organizers to consider:

  1. Choose your hashtag carefully. It should not be too long (eating into that 140-character limit), and hopefully easy to remember. A more tricky thing is to avoid choosing a hashtag that is being used by another event. If you have to choose a hashtag some time before your event, it may not be possible to discover who else will use the same hashtag. In general, avoid hashtags that are too generic. If you are going to use the year in your hashtag (e.g., #myconf2016), a Twitter search on #myconf2015 might be a good idea.
  2. Recruit a few live-tweeters BEFORE your event. Having even a couple of individuals live-tweeting an event can encourage other people to join the conversation. These people should be familiar with Twitter ahead of the event – it’s tough to learn how to use a new tool AND live-tweet coherently.
  3. If there are sessions that take questions from the audience, consider allowing people to submit questions via Twitter. This will likely mean that you’ll need a volunteer to monitor the Twitter feed to pass along the questions, but may encourage people to ask questions who might be reluctant to go to the microphone. This could also open the discussion to people following the conference in other locations.
  4. Keep a “leaderboard” of your “top-live-tweeters” and show/share this throughout the meeting*. Gamification FTW! (There are tools that make this easy – e.g., https://www.hashtracking.com/ .)
  5. On your conference website, put a link to your hashtag on Twitter.
  6. Discuss social media with the conference presenters ahead of time, so that they can let the audience know if they prefer NOT to have their session (or portions of it) tweeted/shared beyond the event.

* People often assume that the person tapping away on their laptop or on their phone during a presentation is doing something unrelated to the event at hand. Not so for live-tweeters! They are very much engaged in the presentation. (No need for the stink-eye!) A shout out to live-tweeters can encourage them, and maybe make other people aware that there is a wider conversation going on.

What other suggestions do you have to support/encourage live-tweeting?

Tips from Tanya: Some points for students about technology in the classroom

On By Tanya NoelIn teaching & learning, technology4 Comments

I wrote this for my students (after Tamara Kelly and I facilitated a session on student devices in the classroom at the Western Conference on Science Education 2015) and am sharing it here, in hopes it may be of interest/use to others! Please note that my classroom policies about device use are specific to the courses I currently teach.

Almost everyone has a smartphone, laptop, tablet, or combination of these devices with them during their waking hours (and beyond, in some cases). There is huge potential for distraction using these devices – which is fine if you’re waiting in a long, boring line or on the bus, but can be problematic in the classroom*.

While a few profs ban these devices in their classes, I’m taking a different approach. In much of the world, including most work-places, these devices aren’t banned, and people are expected to be able to manage work/life and various distractions. That being said, I can understand why some instructors have different policies for their own classes.

Some of our in-class activities will make use of online resources, so I’ll encourage you to use them, if you wish to do so.  I’ll be using LectureTools, which allows me to ask you questions that you can answer on your device … and for you to ask me questions in the system (without raising your hand).

If you don’t want to use a device in our class, that’s fine! One way to avoid distraction is to keep these devices out of sight (and hearing), and I’m happy to support those who take this approach. There will be alternative activities for students who don’t use the in-class system.

If you do want to use your device(s) in class, there are some things to be aware of:

Continue reading “Tips from Tanya: Some points for students about technology in the classroom” →

BYOD … or bring me your questions! It’s all good.

On By Tanya NoelIn assessment, evidence-based teaching, teaching & learning, technology1 Comment

"The times they are a'changing" by brett jordan is licensed under CC BY.
Not an unusual view when you stand at the front of a lecture hall. Image credit: “The times they are a’changing” by brett jordan is licensed under CC BY. https://www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/1472187414/

About a year ago, I switched from using clickers in my classes to a web-based classroom response system (CRS) – Lecture Tools – where students bring their own internet-enabled devices (BYOD), as I’ve mentioned here before. After three terms, I am generally happy with the system as a replacement for clickers, and I’ll likely talk more about that later.

This is a rather rambly account of something small I tried that worked out. I’m hoping that it might be of use/interest to other folks (or, at least, maybe some of the references will be). Oh, and it has a bit of my philosophy on class attendance. (I’m sure you were curious!) Continue reading “BYOD … or bring me your questions! It’s all good.” →

BYOD and classroom web response systems – my intersession experience

On By Tanya NoelIn higher ed, teaching & learning, technology4 Comments

Lecture ToolsI recently finished teaching an intersession introductory microbiology course. It was a relatively small class (at least, for me) – just over 50 students – and it was a blended, flipped class. (I may post more about the flipping/blending later.) For the in-person classes, I used a couple of Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) web-based classroom interaction systems: Lecture Tools and Learning Catalytics. (In previous offerings of the course, I used clickers.)  In this post, I’ll refer to these types of systems as WRS (Web Response Systems). We had access to both systems (at no cost to the students*), and used Lecture Tools regularly.

As I discussed in an earlier post, I had hoped I could use this experience to help me make decisions about moving away from clickers to a WRS. The fact that I met my students in class for only three hours once a week for six weeks was perhaps not the best way to gather a lot of data, but it was nice to try out new technology in a smaller class. Here are some of the things I observed/learned: Continue reading “BYOD and classroom web response systems – my intersession experience” →