Category Archives: snowdays

Collect Assignments and Provide Feedback

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Collect student assignments and provide feedback online all without cluttering up your inbox.

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.

  • Online Discussions: Create and facilitate online discussions using the myLesley Discussion Board. You may use the Discussion Board to replace or enhance classroom discussions in a digital format. The discussion board is also a great tool for peer review. Students can post their work to the discussion and receive feedback from their fellow classmates.
  • Blogs and Journals: Use the myLesley Blogs or Journals tool to have your students create articles or editorial, review their readings or reflect on assignments and progress on coursework. Blogs can be shared with the entire class allowing students to view and comment. Journals are a private space between you and the individual student. It’s a great place for reflection and private feedback from the instructor.
  • Assignments: Use the myLesley Assignment tool to post, collect, and grade papers or other written assignments all within your myLesley course.
  • Presentations: Use VoiceThread to create and collaborate on online presentations. Students can create individual or group presentations to share with class and receive feedback.
  • Tests: Create a test to assess student comprehension. myLesley supports a large number of test formats including multiple choice, essay, short answer, calculated numeric, and more, all which may be taken online. Create a full mid-term exam or a series of smaller knowledge checks to ensure everyone is mastering the content or to discover gaps.

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. 

Communicate With Your Students

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Keep communications flowing even when you’re not in the classroom. Communicate in real time or whenever it’s convenient for each person.

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.

Synchronous Communication

Synchronous communication methods allow you to communicate with your students in real time. This type of communication is great in order to give your students information, answer questions, conduct online office hours, or hold a virtual meeting.

Please note that some methods of synchronous communication will require a strong internet connection. If your students do not have access to fast, reliable internet, then you may wish to use a low tech or asynchronous option.

  • Phone: Communicate with your students one-on-one with a simple phone call. If you want to speak with multiple students at once, set up a conference call using a free tool like FreeConferenceCall. This is a great low tech way of ensuring that everyone is able to participate.
  • Instant Messaging or Video Chat: Use instant messaging or video chat to communicate one-on-one or in small groups using a tool such as Microsoft Teams. Please note that Teams will require you and your students to install the Teams app. If you will be sharing video, you and your students will need a strong, reliable internet connection. Download the Teams mobile app to stay in touch from wherever and whenever you need to.
  • Online Meeting or Webinar: Create an online meeting or webinar using Microsoft Teams or Blackboard Collaborate Ultra to conduct live meetings, present information, or share your screen. If you will be sharing video or your screen, you and your students will need a strong, reliable internet connection.

Asynchronous Communication

Asynchronous communication methods allow you to communicate with your students when it’s convenient. You and your students may read and respond within a few minutes or a few days. When using this type of communication method, let your students know your expectations for responding. Is there a deadline? Do you expect a response within a few hours or within a few days?

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.

Collaborate and Get Work Done with Office 365 Groups

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Do you have a team project or group assignment? Need to coordinate information and documents with other people? Not always in the same place at the same time?

Office 365 Groups was designed for collaboration. It’s available within Office 365 right alongside your Lesley email, your calendar and OneDrive. Create an Office 365 group and provide your team with a shared email inbox, calendar, space to share documents and a OneNote notebook. It’s a great place to work out project plans, collaborate on documents and make sure everyone is in the loop.

Get started using Office 365 groups by logging into Office 365 at http://lesley.edu/email and watch these Atomic Learning video tutorials for quick how to information.