Category

Smeal Academy Sessions

Engaging Students Through Assessment


Link to Session Slides

Engaging Students Through Assessment (A session designed as a collaboration between Teaching and Learning with Technology and eLDIG): How can you engage your students through online assessments (both formative and summative)? This August 19, 2020 session covered the changes can you make to your assessments to take advantage of the affordances of the online environment. Topics include setting expectations for online assessments, managing student stress levels, determining the most effective delivery method in your teaching context, adapting both formative and summative assessments from in-person to online formats, and alternatives to online exams.

Session Resources

Virtual Whiteboarding with iPads

Session PowerPoint Slides

Using iPads as Whiteboards in Remote Learning:
This July 22, 2020 session, led by Mark DeLuca, explored strategies and best practices for using iPads as whiteboards when leading remote classes via Zoom.

Whiteboarding Solutions by Level of Difficulty:

  1. Low-tech: Use a drawing pad and hold it up to the screen.
  2. Mid-tech: You can use the Zoom Whiteboard for simple things.
  3. High-tech: For more complex things (equations, formulas) you could use a touchscreen PC, or a tablet (iPad or Android). You then log into the same Zoom room on both your computer and touchscreen devices and share your screen on the touchscreen device when needed.

If you have an iOS device, Zoom has additional ways to share your screen.

Whiteboarding with an Android Tablet

General How-to’s

Penn State ITLD Capturing Instructional Content with Video

Capturing Instructional Content with Video (PSU IT Learning & Development) Video
PSU IT Learning and Development (companion website to above video)
This 23-minute video covers how to capture live video in an in-person class, live video when you are teaching remotely, and pre-recorded video for asynchronous delivery. Topics include:

  • Compare Recording Options for Capturing Instructional Content
  • Set Up Your Recording Space
  • Choose Your Tool
  • Record, Prepare, and Share Your Content

Not interested in the whole thing? There are “jump” links that let you go only to the information you seek! Or check out the companion website.

Zoom Whiteboard Guide

UCSF’s Zoom Guide for Facilitators Using Whiteboard Options

Additional Tools and Resources

Jamboard is a collaborative whiteboard available in our Penn State Google Education Suite


Duke University Tools for using screen annotation and handwriting

DIY Document Camera

 

O365 Features

Link to Session PowerPoint

Office 365 isn’t just Office Suite

This session, led by Jessie Sorensen on July 8, 2020, discussed how participants can get the most out of your Office 365 subscription with a deep dive into some new features from Microsoft.

Strategies and Tools for Live​ and Pre-Recorded Videos


Session PowerPoint Slides

Strategies and Tools for Live and Pre-recorded Course Videos

Are you pre-recording your lectures for Fall, but aren’t sure where to begin? Do you have questions about Zoom settings for teaching and learning? Are you curious about best practices for sharing your recordings? This July 15 session led by Ian Nalepa and Renee Ford focused on tips and strategies for recording, hosting, and sharing recordings from an instructor’s perspective.

 

Resources

Keeping It Real: Strategies and Challenges of Working Remotely

This page shares some takeaways from our April 30, 2020 session concerning strategies and challenges of working remotely.

Challenges Shared

  • It’s hard not having the informal opportunity for chatting that the Business Building affords – every interaction has to be “formal” and handled via email, etc.
  • Zoom is not efficient for being an administrator (you have to send an email and wait for a response, then schedule a formal meeting vs. walking down the hall or talking to a student in person)
  • The Inbox is now flooded, as is the number of Zoom meetings.
  • We’re trying to balance more than just work. There are conflicting priorities (work, family, having to homeschool, do childcare while trying to get work done)
  • Work is “always there.”
  • Feeling like you need to “prove” that you’re working and be “on” all the time.
  • Feeling quarantine guilt: Why have I not been able to make time to _______?
  • Self-care
  • Feeling isolated and disconnected
  • Feeling disorganized or scattered
  • Steep learning curve due to learning new tech or do things differently.
  • Not having the same equipment at home as at work
  • Not having an ideal workspace at home
  • Managing interruptions

Strategies Shared

Staying Healthy:

  • Keep a small set of dumbbells next to the desk.
  • Keep a list of exercises. Every time you get up, move down the list to another set of exercises. Hack: You can move a paperclip down the list to keep track of what you have done.
  • Order food from places like Misfits Market to eat more healthy fruits and veggies.
  • Weather permitting, walk for an hour every day in the late afternoon. It’s a great way to clear your head from the pressures of work.
  • Walk during meetings where you will only be listening.
  • Schedule walking phone meetings, walking while talking. Set them up as a “walk & talk” with the other person.

Work-Life Balance and Efficiency Hacks:

  • For some, this means setting segregated hours for different “facets” of life. For others, it may mean being more flexible – maybe taking breaks during the day to do what you need/want to do and return to work later.
  • It’s important to be kind to ourselves, take care of ourselves, and not feel guilty.
    We are fortunate to have leadership that is supportive and flexible
  • There are differences between faculty and staff expectations for seat time that play into these feelings as well
  • Start the day with a plan (Franklin-Covey kind of list: A, B, C-level items).
  • ‘Job in a Box’: Keep all of your work materials in a box. At the end of the day, put your work in the box and put it away to transition to home time.
  • Schedule breaks deliberately on your calendar so that meetings do not get scheduled.
  • It’s OK to take vacation time! And make it an actual vacation day.
  • Set up rules in your Outlook email to combat the increased emails.
  • Bundle activities together – emails, calls, etc.
  • Consider putting some headphones/earbuds in and listen to some music while working.
  • If an email comes in with ‘unsubscribe’, it goes into a separate box that you can check just once per day

Social Connections

  • Schedule non-business check-in meetings just to chat with colleagues.
  • Use Teams, Slack, or other instant messaging to have conversations with colleagues.
  • Reach out to colleagues to see if they are ok. You can send Kudoboards to encourage folks or Smeal Pawsitive Notes to spread a little cheer.
  • Check out the Smeal Community in Microsoft Teams to stay connected to colleagues and share ideas.

Tools Shared and Discussed

  • Use a Microsoft Surface or tablet with a stylus and the Zoom whiteboard to replace the function of the whiteboard in the classroom.
  • Buy or DIY an inexpensive computer stand to allow for standing while working (especially during meetings). That allows for more movement during the day. This adjustable laptop stand was being used by one of our attendees.
  • Purchase Bluetooth headphones for meetings that you are just listening/receiving information – so you can walk while listening.
  • Use Microsoft To-Do to track tasks.
  • We discussed several ways groups can use Teams. Check out ITLD’s Teams Learning Path for more information.

Articles and Links

Just for Fun

Virtual Bingo created by the eLDIG team for your entertainment

Videos to Make You Laugh