Author Archives: Danielle Powell

Student Collaboration and Group Work

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Create opportunities for your students to work with together. Your students can collaborate with each other in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class.

As you consider your options, check with your students about their access to technology. Do they have access to a computer at home or do they only have a mobile device (tablet or mobile phone)? Do they have fast, reliable internet at home or are they on a slower connection or data plan? This information will help you as you plan for which tools and workflows will work best for your course.

myLesley Groups

myLesley Groups provide a private space for students to work together that only they and the instructor can access. Groups may collaborate using group discussions, blogs, wikis, Collaborate sessions, and file exchange. 

Online Collaboration

Create opportunities for your students to work with together. Your students can collaborate with each other in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class.

  • Online documents: Let your students use tools such as Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive to create, edit, share, and collaborate on online documents. Microsoft Office 365 is available to all Lesley University faculty, staff, and students. It includes online versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and many other apps.
  • VoiceThread: Use VoiceThread to create and collaborate on online presentations. Students can have discussions around images or presentations. They can create their own VoiceThread presentations and share them with you or the whole class.

Help and Resources

Online Tutorials

The IT/eLIS Support Site provides resources and tutorials for all Lesley-supported technology, including myLesley, Kaltura Media, VoiceThread, Collaborate Ultra, Microsoft Teams, and more. Not finding what you’re looking for? Put in a support ticket for more information or to set up a training. 

Hoonuit (formerly Atomic Learning) features hundreds of self-paced video tutorials for popular software, online tools, tech integration, and more. Log in to Hoonuit with your myLesley username and password.

Request a Training

Do you have questions or don’t know where to start? Reach out to eLIS and set up an appointment to learn more. eLIS staff are available to meet with you in person in University Hall, online, or on the phone. 

Distribute Course Materials and Readings

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Uploading content to your myLesley course is not only useful for emergency preparations, but also a convenient place to store your course content so that you and your students can easily access them throughout the term.

As you consider your options, check with your students about their access to technology. Do they have access to a computer at home or do they only have a mobile device (tablet or mobile phone)? Do they have fast, reliable internet at home or are they on a slower connection or data plan? This information will help you as you plan for which tools and workflows will work best for your course.

Documents and Readings

Easily link to existing content or upload documents directly into your myLesley course. As a best practice, do not download content from another site and upload it into myLesley as it may violate copyright. As a best practice, link to content whenever possible.

Lecture and Presentations

Do you typically share presentations with your students? Create your PowerPoint and take it into an online tool to add your narration and share it with your students.

Video Content and Tutorials

Do you typically show videos in your course? If your video or a similar video exists online, embed it in your course or post a link if an embed code is not available. Need training or tutorial videos to replace or enhance your lecture? Many great resources already exist online.

Not finding a video that meets your needs? Use Kaltura Capture to create your own online tutorial or demonstrate a process.

Help and Resources

Online Tutorials

The IT/eLIS Support Site provides resources and tutorials for all Lesley-supported technology, including myLesley, Kaltura Media, VoiceThread, Collaborate Ultra, Microsoft Teams, and more. Not finding what you’re looking for? Put in a support ticket for more information or to set up a training. 

Hoonuit (formerly Atomic Learning) features hundreds of self-paced video tutorials for popular software, online tools, tech integration, and more. Log in to Hoonuit with your myLesley username and password.

Request a Training

Do you have questions or don’t know where to start? Reach out to eLIS and set up an appointment to learn more. eLIS staff are available to meet with you in person in University Hall, online, or on the phone. 

Upcoming eLIS Workshops

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Join eLearning & Instructional Support for a series of workshops to help support faculty transitioning to online learning. Please note that all workshops have been moved to an online format.

Check back frequently as we will be updating this page with additional trainings and office hours.

UPDATE: View workshop recordings on our YouTube playlist.

What Can I Do Right Now?

Prior to the workshops, we recommend doing the following:

  • Post your syllabus in myLesley. Make sure that you include your contact information.
  • Reach out to your students and let them know the best way to contact you. Do you prefer phone or email? Do you regularly hold office hours?
  • Let your students know how you will communicate with them during the transition to online learning. Will you email them? Post an Announcement in myLesley?
  • Check with your students about their access to technology. Do they have access to a computer at home or do they only have a mobile device (tablet or mobile phone)? Do they have fast, reliable internet at home or are they on a slower connection or data plan? This information will help you as you plan for which tools and workflows will work best for your course.
  • Look through your syllabus and begin thinking about what types of content and assignments you have and what questions come up. What kind of content is easy to post or distribute in myLesley (readings, videos) and what kind of content will require some planning (discussions, assignments, lecture)?

Workshop Schedule

Communicating with your Students

Tuesday, March 17 12-1 PM
Join online via Collaborate Ultra for Communicating with Your Students

Communication is key in any course, but especially in times of emergency. How do you keep communication flowing? What are some strategies for fostering collaboration outside of the classroom? In this workshop we’ll explore some ideas and strategies for communicating with students and replicating classroom discussions in an online environment.

Assignments and Feedback 

Wednesday, March 18 12-1 PM
Join online via Collaborate Ultra for Assignments and Feedback

How do you collect student work without having to transport stacks or paper or clogging up your inbox? What are some effective ways to provide feedback to your students? In this workshop we’ll discuss how to securely collect different types of assignments, provide feedback to your students, and assign grades within myLesley.

Online meetings 

Thursday, March 19 12-1 PM 
Join online via Collaborate Ultra for Online Meetings

What are some best practices for meeting online? What do you and your students need to know before conducting an online meeting? In this workshop we’ll explore Collaborate Ultra and discuss use cases and best practices for conducting online meetings.

Blackboard Workshops

Blackboard will be hosting a series of online workshops aimed at helping faculty quickly transition to online learning. Topics include Teaching Online (Blackboard basics) and Teaching a Virtual Class (Collaborate). Daytime and evening hours are available. Register today: Accelerate Your Transition to Remote Instruction. 

eLIS Office Hours

Unable to attend one of our workshops but want to learn more? Join us for online office hours using Collaborate Ultra.

To join office hours, please go to https://tinyurl.com/ElisOfficeHours

Monday, March 16 9AM – 1PM
Tuesday, March 17 10AM – 11AM and 2PM – 4PM
Wednesday, March 18 10AM – 11:30AM and 2PM – 3PM
Thursday, March 19 10AM – 11AM
Friday, March 20 10AM – 12PM and 2PM – 4PM

More dates to be announced as needs arise.

Invite a Guest Speaker into Your Classroom Via a Web Meeting

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Would you like to invite a guest speaker to come talk to your face-to-face class? Maybe your guest speaker lives in another city or another state or even another country. Not to worry – you can invite them to speak to your class remotely using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra!

Collaborate Ultra is integrated into your myLesley course. But your guest speaker does not need to be enrolled in your course in order to join the session. Instead, you will create a session (or use your existing course room) and send them a guest link. At the appointed time, your guest speaker will click on the link and join your session. You can project your session using your laptop and the existing classroom technology. Your guest speaker will be up on the screen and able to interact with your class.

Sounds great! How do I begin?

Before you begin, check the the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra system Requirements and Accessibility to make sure that your system is compatible. For the best experience, use the Chrome browser.

Once you have determined that you are using a supported browser and your system is compatible, either create a new Collaborate Ultra session or use your existing Collaborate Course Room.

Once your session has been created (or you decide to use your existing Course Room), click on your session to open the settings.

  • Check the box to allow guest access,
  • change the guest role to presenter or moderator, and
  • copy the guest link.
Collaborate Ultra session information detailing guest access information
Collaborate Ultra session information

Paste the guest link into an email and send the email to your guest speaker. You should also include a link to the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra system Requirements and Accessibility. This will help your guest speaker make sure that their system is compatible. If your guest speaker has never used Collaborate Ultra before, send along Conducting Your Collaborate Ultra Sessionto help them familiarize themselves with the tool.

Do I need any special equipment?

For the most part, the technology available in your classroom should be sufficient. We recommend connecting to the wired Lesley network via the ethernet cable in your classroom. This will make for a smoother experience.

If you plan to have a Q&A session you may want to reserve the ClearOne Chat 160 microphone. You can reserve this equipment online using WebCheckout. If you do not need or want the microphone you can simply have your students ask questions and you can repeat the questions to the guest speaker.

Does my guest speaker need any special equipment?

Your guest speaker will need a webcam, speakers, and a microphone. If they are in a quiet location, the speakers and microphone built in to their computer will suffice. If they are in a noisier location we recommend that they use a headset. There is no need for a fancy headset – the earbuds that come with most cell phones will suffice.

Your guest speaker will also want to ensure that they are using a strong internet connection. If possible, they should plug in to a wired connection. If they cannot use a wired connection they should use a strong, reliable wi-fi connection.

I’m in my classroom on the day of the session. What now?

To begin, plug your laptop into the classroom projection system. If you are connecting via VGA, be sure to also connect the audio cable. If you are using an external microphone, plug that in to your computer.

Next, plug the ethernet cable into your laptop and connect to the Lesley network. Once you are connected, navigate to myLesley and launch your Collaborate Ultra session.

Once the session launches, check your audio and video settings to make sure they are working correctly. If you are using an external microphone, make sure the microphone is selected.

How does my guest speaker join the session?

Your guest speaker will click the link you sent and join the session. Once the session launches, they should check their audio and video settings to make sure they are working correctly. If they are using an external microphone, make sure the microphone is selected.

We’re both in the session. Now what?

Once you are both in the session, your guest speaker can turn on the webcam and the microphone and begin to speak. If they are sharing any content, they can either upload a file or presentation or they may share their screen. More information may be found here: Conducting Your Collaborate Ultra Session.

Common Accessibility Issues: Untagged PDFs

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What are some of the most common accessibility issues? What makes them problematic? And how can you fix them? In this series of blog posts we will address the most common accessibility issues that we have seen on campus and provide instructions and guidance for fixing them.

What are tagged PDFs?

A tagged PDF provides a hidden structured, textual representation of the PDF content. Tagging allows screen readers to understand your file’s reading order, where headings fall, and which objects in the document are tables, images, footnotes, etc.

What makes untagged PDFs problematic?

When a PDF is untagged it is difficult for those using assistive technology to understand the content.

How do I tag my PDF?

In order to ensure that your PDF is tagged properly, it is helpful to build your file in an accessible format before converting to PDF.

If you are creating PDFs from Microsoft Office applications (ex Word, PowerPoint):

  • Use the most recent version of Microsoft Office. Older versions of Word or PowerPoint will not create a tagged PDF. Need the latest versions? Go to Downloading Microsoft Office 365 for information.
  • Before converting your file to PDF, run the Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker. It may not catch everything, but it will pick up glaring issues and walk you through fixing them.
  • Do not print to PDF. Printing to PDF will not create an accessible, tagged PDF. Instead, save your file as a tagged PDF and ensure that it is formatted for accessibility. Go to Create Accessible PDFs for more information.

If you are building your PDF directly in Adobe Acrobat be sure to check out Adobe’s accessibility resources:

Need Assistance?

If you need assistance making your content accessible, reach out to elis@lesley.edu. You may also check out the following resources: