Monthly Archives: December 2015

12 Days of Learning: VoiceThread Doodler

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Atomic Learning has created the 12 Days of Learning, a series of articles designed to kick off resolutions to keep learning in the new year. We thought this was a great idea and have decided borrow (shamelessly steal) it and do our own. For our Day 4 post, let’s look at VoiceThread and the Doodler tool.

The Doodler tool in VoiceThread allows you to annotate your image or slide in VoiceThread using your mouse (or finger if you’re using a mobile device) to draw on the presentation area. It’s as if you had a pointer to direct the viewer’s attention to a specific area of the slide. All doodles will play back in time to your recorded voice so you can describe the detail you’re highlighting. Use the Doodler to annotate charts and images, sketch out a diagram or show someone how to solve a tricky math problem just as if you were with them in person. However, they can play it back as often as they need to in VoiceThread.

View the short overview video about the Doodler tool in VoiceThread below and access VoiceThread’s documentation for more information.

12 Days of Learning: Assignments

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Atomic Learning has created the 12 Days of Learning, a series of articles designed to kick off resolutions to keep learning in the new year. We thought this was a great idea and have decided borrow (shamelessly steal) it and do our own. For Day 3 of our series, learn how to collect, grade and return student assignments in myLesley.

Tired of searching through your email to find the assignments your students sent? Can’t find where you filed the graded version of their final paper? The Assignment tool in myLesley will allow your students to submit their coursework to a digital dropbox-style space. You can then view, provide feedback and return the graded assignment. myLesley will keep a record in the course of when the student submitted the file, your annotations and feedback, the grade and when you returned the graded assignment to them. Your students can access their feedback at any time by returning to the myLesley course site.

Learn more about how to use this powerful tool by viewing the tutorials below. assessments menu

Create an assignment 

Grade an assignment

 

12 Days of Learning: View and Sort Discussion Threads

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Atomic Learning has created the 12 Days of Learning, a series of articles designed to kick off resolutions to keep learning in the new year. We thought this was a great idea and have decided borrow (shamelessly steal) it and do our own. For Day 2, we will look at how to sort and view discussion threads in myLesley.


The Discussion Board in myLesley (Blackboard) is one of the most used tools. It’s a great way to replicate or continue the classroom discussion online, but do you really know all the tricks to easily navigate, view and sort posts? View this short Atomic Learning video to learn how and increase you myLesley Discussion Board skills. Enter your myLesley username and password when prompted to view.

discussion thread

12 Days of Learning: One Drive

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Atomic Learning has created the 12 Days of Learning, a series of articles designed to kick off resolutions to keep learning in the new year. We thought this was a great idea and have decided borrow (shamelessly steal) it and do our own. Over the next 12 days we will have links to a series of tutorials aimed at increasing your elearning skills.

Let’s kick off our 12 Days of Learning with a quick look at OneDrive. OneDrive allows you to create and share Word, Excel and Powerpoint files online. You can also upload other types of documents such as images or media files to store or share with your colleagues. You can access OneDrive by logging into the web version of your Lesley email at http://lesley.edu/email.

To learn more about using OneDrive, check out these Atomic Learning tutorials. Enter your myLesley username and password when prompted.

OneDrive

 

 

Instructional Continuity – Moving Content Online

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The early months of 2015 saw record-breaking snowfall in the Boston area, causing wide-spread school closings. What do you do when you need to cancel class or the university is closed for inclement weather or a flu outbreak? How do you ensure that your students don’t fall behind?

In this second post in our Instructional Continuity series, we’ll explore some ideas and strategies faculty have used for moving content online.

Uploading Content to myLesley
As you plan ahead for the possibility of storm closings, you may want to think about moving some of your content online. Uploading content online is not only useful for storm preparations, but also a convenient place to store your course content so that you and your students can access it easily throughout the term.

I added content to the course in My Lesley each week for the 3 weeks when class was canceled.  Each week I did something different including: a short voice recording of me explaining a concept from one of the assigned readings, short written lecture type post on the class topic for the week, and, for one week, I posted a selection of media on the topic and asked students to review one (a report, 2 videos, a list of websites, article) in lieu of class meeting.
Jennifer Hart
Expressive Therapies GSAS

Upload your syllabus to myLesley. Think about including some information in your syllabus about how class will be handled in the case of illness or emergency cancellations.

Do you typically hand out readings or email documents to your students? Upload your documents to myLesley. Does the content already exist online? Link to it from your course.

Do you show PowerPoint presentations in class? Upload copies of your presentations to myLesley. Looking to bring your presentation to the next level? Use VoiceThread to add voice or video narration.

Looking to step up the technology a bit? Use Kaltura to create a webcam recording to introduce a new topic, explain a concept from the readings, or provide additional information about an assignment.

Moving Assignments Online
As in face-to-face instruction, online assignments take many different forms.

I put my class assignments online.  Students were held accountable for reading through discussion board questions and assignments.  In addition, class discussions were translated to journal assignments or discussion boards.
Joshua Baldwin
Social Sciences

Do you regularly have your students participate in class discussions? Try using the myLesley Discussion Board to replace or enhance classroom discussion.

Do your regularly have your students reflect on their readings or assignments? Try using the myLesley Blogs or Journals.

Do your students need to turn in papers or other written assignments? Try using the myLesley Assignment tool. You can post, collect, and grade the assignment all from within myLesley.

Looking for more ideas? Visit Planning for Instructional Continuity for guidelines on creating an emergency plan for your course. And stay tuned for next week’s Instructional Continuity blog post. To view all posts in this series, go to https://www.lesleyelis.com/elisblog/category/snowdays