EDU720 Week 9 Choosing Technology for Online Learning

Posted byahdoveyPosted inUncategorized

Summary & Learning Outcomes

Last week, we began to focus on the design of fully online learning environments.

You did the following learning activities:

  • Shared and discussed your practitioner perspectives on key things to consider when designing online curriculum;
  • Engaged with information about designing and creating online learning activities;
  • Created, shared and discussed your initial draft ideas for a fully online course;
  • Reflected on your learning for your CRJ;
  • Explored Week 9: Digital Resources and, if possible, attended the weekly webinar.

This week, we will focus on choosing technology to support learning activities in fully online learning environments.

First, you will share and bring together your knowledge as individuals of a range of different technologies that can be used to support online learning. You will engage with information and guidance to help you evaluate and choose different appropriate technologies to support online learning. Then you will investigate and evaluate the potential of an online tool, that is currently unfamiliar to you, for supporting online learning; and share and discuss your findings with your colleagues. Finally, there are the usual weekly opportunities to reflect on your learning, explore further reading and attend the webinar.

By the end of the learning activities for Week 9, you should be able to:

  • Build and consolidate your knowledge of a range of possible tools that could be available to you to support student learning activities, for a fully online course;
  • Critically evaluate the potential value of different tools for supporting students to do different online learning activities, to achieve a range of different learning outcomes;
  • Make critically informed choices about what and how technology should be used in online curriculum, especially in relation to your own teaching contexts;
  • Critically reflect on what and how you have learned this week, identifying potential implications for you and your colleagues’ current and future practice of developing flexible learning environments, in your local teaching contexts.

Please share a list of five tools you can think of – or find out about – that could be useful to help students do online learning activities.

Before you do this, quickly check through the discussion forum, so you can try to come up with tools that haven’t already been shared by others. (Top tip: So perhaps try to get in quick and engage with the discussion forum early this week, rather than later 😉 )

With each of the five tools in your list, briefly state:

  • Name of the tool / technology;
  • What type of online learning activity it could be used for;
  • How you found out about this tool;
  • Whether you have previously used this tool yourself or not, to support student learning or for some another function;
  • A URL link to any further information about this tool.

Provide a brief outline and explanation of your answers to the above question (150 words). Post this to the discussion forum.

Comment on two fellow students’ posts, sharing any reflections that are prompted by their outlines and explanations. Search entries or author Filtre replies by unread     Write a reply… Reply to Week 9: Forum – What online learning tools do you know about?

Alex Bailey

25 Jul 2020 25 Jul at 9:24

Miro – that describes itself as an on-line white board for visual communication looks like a beneficial tool for my photography lecture applications – I don’t know this app very well yet at the moment, it was introduced to me by Harriett on our PGCHE during a webinar some weeks ago, I have spent some time exploring and it looks very functional and user friendly. I am interested to hear if any of my peers have much knowledge / experience of this app and how they got on, any tips? 

https://miro.com/app/dashboard (Links to an external site.)

Menti – this application allows interactive participation by a 3rd during a lecture or talk. I came across it when attending a presentation by Falmouth employability network. It allowed for inspiration words to be generated on a slide within the presentation. I thought it was a brilliant way to keep the audience engaged and involved whilst listening to the talk or lecture.

https://www.mentimeter.com (Links to an external site.)

Wix.com – Offers very intuitive interactive web site interfaces that can be used for educational applications. I have only recently started looking at the potential of Wix’s classroom platforms so don’t have a particular opinion, other than they are very intuitive and a bug free environment, but it does take a while to get your head around the design features. Good support available on line and free entry basic package allows you to evaluate if it might work for you.

https://www.wix.com (Links to an external site.)

Google Classroom – Very new to me, Plymouth College of Art use as their on-line classroom, I haven’t done much with it yet, other than a few group video critiques’. Seemed very stable and worked well. I know David Paton on this PGCHE course used it as a guest lecturer and he was pretty impressed I think? Said it performed well when incorporating examples films on his lecture.   

https://classroom.google.com/h (Links to an external site.) Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

Hello Alex,

Interesting choice. I have tried mentimeter before, but I noticed that majority of its function are to be paid for, unlike kahoot, hence why I stopped using it.

Do you know if that has changed? Just curious 🙂 Reply Reply to comment

  • Hi Stanley  The entry point package is free, they say their ethos is to support education, hence why a free package to kick off. No doubt one soon will get caught in having to pay for functionality, which is the normal scenario with most apps. To be honest the fact that Falmouth uses was a very good endorsement for me. I will check out Kahoot. Thanks. Alex  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Katie Welch

Katie Welch

29 Jul 2020 29 Jul at 11:45

My husband uses Miro all the time with his clients…he loves it and finds it really flexible. I’ve not used it myself, but I’ve watched him present with it and it does seem intuitive. Clients don’t seem to struggle with it either.  Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Anna Dovey

Anna Dovey

29 Jul 2020 29 Jul at 23:23

  • That’s an intersting and useful list Alex, thank you! I’d heard of Menti but not used it; am curious about Google classrooms as I’m hearing more about it. Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Stanley Mbelu

Stanley Mbelu

28 Jul 2020 28 Jul at 13:43

When talking about tool that would be useful to students for online learning activities, there are quite a few of them.

  • Name of the tool / technology;

When it comes to a session that would have the necessary resources where a student can stay and conduct all learning activity, without leaving the space, I’d recommend Microsoft Team. Students can use the Notebook, poly, excel, word, ppt or forms for quizzes, and they can be able to access any work that the teacher might have uploaded, and can also submit an assessment through the same platform.

https://www.microsoft.com/en/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software (Links to an external site.)

  • What type of online learning activity it could be used for;

Having being making use of Kahoot for mot of my learning activities, I believe that it will be very useful for the students, as majority of its options are free and easy to use.  https://create.kahoot.it/auth/login (Links to an external site.)

  • How you found out about this tool;#

While kahoot was introduced to me by a colleague, Microsoft team is a teaching tool used by my current place of teaching.

  • Whether you have previously used this tool yourself or not, to support student learning or for some another function;

I am currently using Microsoft team to teach, and have been making use of Kahoot for a while. Reply Reply to comment

Stan, 

We use Teams on campus but I do not find it user friendly. There are too many steps to learn for a quick response and use. I have found that all my students and teachers have migrated to Zoom and I believe it because its the easiest to use and free.  Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

Collapse Sub discussion Suzanne Strudwick

Suzanne Strudwick

28 Jul 2020 28 Jul at 16:12

Learning tools that I use or have investigated:

Anchor (Links to an external site.) – Podcast maker.  I created a free account and post very easily. You do not need any other equipment other than your iPhone or Android. There is a very detailed FAQ site  (Links to an external site.)

V1 Sport Golf (Links to an external site.) Swing Analyser –  This app is specifically for golf, baseball, softball or any sport where the physical movement is analysed. I use this in my teaching. Students can upload and send me raw swings filmed from their iPhones, I can then upload to the app, analyse the movement and swing then send back my analysis with either text or voice over. The cost is $59 per month so its not cheap but worthwhile for this type of instruction.  

YouTube Studio  –  (Links to an external site.)

I use visual media a lot, YouTube has a huge collection of resources for learners which is very easy to access. When I create a video, this platform is easy to upload (15-Minutes is max if you don’t verify account). Your learners can access the link from any web browser so an excellent format to post lessons.

EdPuzzle.com (Links to an external site.) – This is a tool for tracking online lessons posted to your LMS – After creating a lesson, the app tracks who opens the lesson, helps you to assess the students, creates voice-overs etc. This is a free app but with different levels of subscription for more add ons. What is great about this app is the ability to add a LIVE classroom, students can access your lesson live, either f2f or distance learning and a mixture of both in this new environment. 

Evernote (Links to an external site.) – I use this application a lot with my students, we can share documents, add files and communicate. The application has a free or subscription fee depending on the level of engagement. Easily accessible from any environment. Evernote has been around for a long time but is still one of my favourites.

 Great website (Links to an external site.) for all online resources – Wabisabi Learning  Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

Anchor looks interesting. Will check that out.

And V1 Sport Golf looks AMAZING. I’m awful at golf, and this could tell me exactly HOW bad! I can see how this would be really useful for you. 

Loads of good ones there, Suzanne, thanks for sharing.  Reply Reply to comment (1 likes) Collapse Sub discussion Alex Bailey

Alex Bailey

29 Jul 2020 29 Jul at 18:57

  • Thanks Suzanne – Some very useful apps there in particular for me EdPuzzle looks interesting for my context of teaching so does Evernote and Wabisabi – thats helpful ‘go-to’ for info. Thanks  Alex  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Katie Welch

Katie Welch

29 Jul 2020 29 Jul at 11:52

Hello!

Padlet https://padlet.com/features (Links to an external site.)

Touted as productivity software, to help you organize. Our team are looking at using it more for what would have been our studio sessions, as a means for students to share their processes and executions, akin to our usual ‘sticking it up on the wall’. A virtual wall, then. I’m really in the early stages of finding my way around this, but my colleagues started using it earlier this year and the students responded well to it. The pro package is paid for, but our school has a subscription, so that’s worth asking the powers-that-be about. 

Trello https://trello.com/ (Links to an external site.)

A workflow management platform. Very useful for group projects where delivery is split up. Set up a group, and add tasks to it, when they’re done, move them along. Very easy to see what needs to still be done. Good commenting functions etc. Anyone can edit. Notifications could be better. Integrates nicely with…

Slack https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/features (Links to an external site.)

A communications platform that integrates with Trello. We use this for the PTA where conversations can get a bit tangenty. Create channels and keep conversations separate. Useful for enormous projects.  I think we’ll probably be pushing students towards Teams for this kind of experience, but I don’t find Teams very intuitive, so it’s good to have another option. 

Screencast-o-matic  https://screencast-o-matic.com/ (Links to an external site.)

For recording video presentations. This is what we were using last year, but, again, I think we’re pushing onto Streams on Teams, to try and keep it in one place. 

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/ (Links to an external site.)

Our students only seem to get on board with this in their 3rd year. It’s so much better than it used to be, though, and the social aspect is really creatively buoyant, so I think it’s worth getting involved as early as possible. Building a network has never been so easy, as long as they’re doing it considerately.  Reply Reply to comment

We used Slack at ACM, but with Asana for managing projects. I didn’t find it the most intuitive to get to grips with personally.  I’d heard of Padlet but not used it; likewise Screencast. Ones to have a look at. Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Suzanne Strudwick

Suzanne Strudwick

30 Jul 2020 30 Jul at 14:54

  • Hi Katie,  Thanks for your list, I am most interested in Screencast-0-matic.com looking through the info on the site, I would use it best with my learners adapting video, sharing videos and creating video presentations with swing adjustments. The learners would benefit from not having to download any extra apps to view swing videos that I may share in the V1 Golf app I am using at the moment. The versatility of sending a link and web-based video is very attractive to me.  Thanks for sharing Suzanne  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Toby Carr

Toby Carr

29 Jul 2020 29 Jul at 12:52

Hi all, my experience is fairly limited in terms of online tools but summed up as follows: 

Learning Space – This is the main platform we use with our undergrad students.  Our use currently is fairly limited to providing course content, briefing, module structure and digital hand in’s. It is linked to Turn-it-in and so will scan written text for % original context etc, helpful as a first check.  It also has forum, quiz, peer to peer feedback and MCQ functionality which we plan to use more in the next Study Block. I have also used Blackboard and Moodle in previous roles. 

http://etsupport.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/4000125264-accessing-learning-space (Links to an external site.)

MS Teams – I am sick of the sight of this, mainly because I seem to spend all my time on in at the moment. I do find it useful for quick messages and chats between groups when working remotely but the limited functionality (in the version we are using) in terms of breakout spaces makes it hard to run a seminar of more than a few people.  We use it for 1:1 and group tutorials as well as the feedback and discussion elements of a project review session (work reviewed offline by peers and guests in advance) I used it for the previous assignment to set up a series of activities.  Students have commented (as I find too) that it can be difficult to find things in conversation threads etc. I like the way it will link directly to MS Stream so recording content and sessions is really easy and no issues with creating content then uploading large files.

https://www.compete366.com/blog-posts/microsoft-teams-what-is-it-and-should-we-be-using-it/ (Links to an external site.)

OneNote – We have started to use this alongside Teams for collaborative project working.  It’s like an endless blank sheet of paper (works best in the desktop app rather than directly through Teams) It can be good for asynchronous collaborative design exercises and peer<>peer or student<>tutor feedback. Colleagues on the sustainable product design course use it extensively and have had positive feedback from students.  It’s a bit like Evernote. 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/onenote/digital-note-taking-app?ms.url=onenotecom&rtc=1 (Links to an external site.)

Zoom – Everyone knows it now. The breakout rooms work well, has speaker and gallery view and isn’t limited to a 3×3 grid as our version of teams currently is. I like to be able to see people in the smaller group sessions if they are comfortable sharing the camera.  It makes it a bit more like a normal conversation. 

https://zoom.us/ (Links to an external site.)

WordPress – I am using this currently for my CRJ. I find it OK and useful to have lots of templates but some of the set up was a little clunky. Lots of our students use it for their own learning journals. I recently had to ask a few to resubmit as they had set it up incorrectly with no access.  I also keep a blog on squarespace which I find easier to use although I pay a subscription for that. 

https://wordpress.com (Links to an external site.) Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

  • Hi i feel the same as you, I have limited experience, which has obviously this year been enormously enhanced due to current covid-19 restrictions in class and thus need for online resources. Zoom – useful but limitations in time of signing up/time for session MS teams- useful for meetings but engagement can be varied WordPress – used for CRJ, I too have had difficulties sorting the access, but hope to sort this soon e-learning for health – https://e-lfh.org.uk, (Links to an external site.) really useful teaching resource but no interaction with students skills for health – https://skillsforhealth.org.uk (Links to an external site.) as above, no interaction facility with students but really useful for setting pre course activities/learning and useful for flipped class approach     Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Anna Dovey

Anna Dovey

29 Jul 2020 29 Jul at 23:22

  • Name of the tool / technology;
  • What type of online learning activity it could be used for;
  • How you found out about this tool;
  • Whether you have previously used this tool yourself or not, to support student learning or for some another function;
  • A URL link to any further information about this tool.

1. I’m not sure if this counts, but… Canvas – Virtual Learning Environment.  At ACM we used Canvas (as clearly Falmouth does) as our VLE. This allows the creation of online / flipped classrooms and hosts most supporting material with options for quizzes, forums etc. as we’ve all experienced. I created both a Library module and my Study Skills course on Canvas; I used it to lay out the course and share slides after sessions. I’ve heard from other tutors that Canvas is more user friendly than Moodle – I’d be curious to know what your experiences have been?

https://www.instructure.com/canvas/en-gb (Links to an external site.)

2. Kahoot! – create your own online quizzes. I found out about this via a First Aid course I did – the tutor used it at the end to test knowledge. I’ve used it in Harvard Referencing to test knowledge and the students loved it.

https://kahoot.com/ (Links to an external site.)

3. Zoom; Like Teams – an online communication and info sharing video thingy. My fantastic ex-manager (Head of Digital Education) chose it over Teams and Canvas’s Big Blue Button as she’d determined it offered most flexibility and was easiest to use. However Teams does beat it for security, so it depends what you want to use it for. I’ve used it to deliver Library training sessions to staff and students (including the last assessment), take part in group meetings and family catch-ups during lockdown. NOTE: if you record a video in Zoom it automatically records a separate audio file for you – which could save signficant time in making both a video and podcast if so desired. You can also download and select your own virtual background, so you can shoose something stimulating / appropriate to the subject you are presenting on.

https://zoom.us/ (Links to an external site.)

4. Youtube. I’ve embeded videos from Youtube into slides to vary media and improve student engagement and through this course I’ve discovered how ridiculously easy it is to load up videos yourself. This could be used for studnets to load up and share videos, but again I’d research how secure it is first. I believe there’s a separate section specifically for educational videos?

https://www.youtube.com/?gl=GB&hl=en-GB (Links to an external site.)

5. Google Scholar / Google Books? Great research resources. Best used in combination with Kopernio / UnPayWall (free Chrome add-ons) to help identify free resources. Can be used to encourage students to research around their subject areas?

https://scholar.google.co.uk/ (Links to an external site.)

https://kopernio.com/ (Links to an external site.)

https://unpaywall.org/ (Links to an external site.)

I think I’ve duplicated some others, so I’ll chuck some more in;

6. Text to speech / speech to text tools. MS & G-Suite have their own built-in versions now; there are also free Chrome add-ons. These are particuarly useful for students with SpLD’s, e.g. dyslexia. I’ve shown a number of students how to use these and had one student crying on my shoulder with relief. These can help students read online information and e-books, e-articles etc.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/education/products/learning-tools/default.aspx (Links to an external site.) for MS version.

7. TED-Ed – educational videos along the TED talk lines. I’ve not used them myself… (oops – I’ ve just discovered their ‘Mysteries of the Vernacluar’ series. That’s a research rabbit hole I’ll disappear down later…)

https://ed.ted.com/series Reply Reply to comment

Hi Anna,

The ‘text to speech’ tool is brilliant, I have not considered that. Very thoughtful. Ditto the research resources, could have missed those easily. 

Mia Reply Reply to comment (1 likes) Collapse Sub discussion Michael Berthaume

Michael Berthaume

4 Aug 2020 4 Aug at 7:20

I’m a huge fan of TEDTalks but had not thought about their educational videos… will have to give them a look! Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

    • Hi Michael  Check out Sir Ken Robison on Ted – 65m views – he talks about how education needs to change for the 21st century and how we are stuck in a failure regime based on education principles established during the industrial revolution – totally fascinating and very entertaining. Alex  Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

Collapse Sub discussion Mia Tedjosaputro

Mia Tedjosaputro

30 Jul 2020 30 Jul at 9:48

I enjoyed compiling a list of these resources and have a look at their reviews, I am always keen to try new software- thank you guys.

Here are software I have explored, although some of them are pretty generic like a video editing tool. The local university I work part time at does not have a dedicated VLE so in February I had to create my own environment using my personal website, link to the module I created and developed is here (Links to an external site.). And in China, most of online resources are blocked, which has been my frustrations for years. Although my international students have a workaround it, I needed to be conscious at least the website is accessible. Not the best but it made me try different ways.

1. Wechat.

It is the Chinese version of WhatsApp, with a whole load of functionality  (including online payment) and mini programs connected to other apps. But I mainly used the group chat to disseminate information (weekly links of materials and discussions), sending reminders, sending feedbacks etc.  I was sceptical at first using a social media instead of emails, but it was a great tool. Fast response for sure, and works well using the desktop version.

2. Adobe Acrobat DC

This had came about when I tried to avoid making video lecture, due to the size limit I can upload in my website. Occasionally, this works an alternative for embedding audio to the pdf- hence very lightweight.

3. Disqus  (Links to an external site.)

I installed this widget on my website and this was how students discuss using prompted questions/ input reading or other materials. Attendance was taken from this weekly engagement.

4. Videoscribe (Links to an external site.)

Great for making podcasts. I like the sketchy look, make the materials less serious and approachable.

5. Survey Monkey

Online survey for peer assessment and module evaluation form, the paid version allows us to download data for future use. 

6. Adobe Premiere Pro

Video editing software for podcasts

7. Audacity (Links to an external site.)

An open source audio editor for podcast making and editing

8. Microsoft HoloLens 2 (Links to an external site.)

I am exploring HoloLens 2 for my research in mixed reality (and computational bamboo architecture), and this will be a great tool in the future for online learning. We can work with 3D in distant location, virtual meetings will be improved with the quick access of the hologram. In future micro architecture building workshop hopefully I will be able to utilise them, am still getting the hang of it. 

Apart from that, I used Zoom, YouTube and Instagram (for case studies). Reply Reply to comment

  • I suddenly had a thought of Flipgrid.com, my husband seemed to be spending a lot of time on reviewing students’ uploaded videos. They did summaries based on input texts usually, and got to do peer observation too. Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Safia Shahid

Safia Shahid

30 Jul 2020 30 Jul at 16:00

Dear all,

The ones I can think of that have already been mentioned:

1) Zoom

2) Microsoft Teams

3) Youtube

Tools that have not been mentioned so far:

4) Vimeo. It’s great for uploading lectures for students to access and listen to. I currently use this tool for supporting student learning. There is a live event feature too although I have yet to use it.  URL: https://vimeo.com (Links to an external site.)

5) Adobe Connect which I believe is different to Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Acrobat DC already mentioned. I have never used this tool but I know someone who does to deliver live lectures. URL: https://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html (Links to an external site.) Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Harriet Beesley

Harriet Beesley

2 Aug 2020 2 Aug at 20:01

Well I’m very late to this! But I enjoyed reading through these and listening to people’s thoughts in the webinar. 

The course I tutor on uses Padlet to create Ideas Walls, where students and tutors can share links, videos, images and comment on each other’s ideas. It is a bit ugly, but I am yet to find an online resource that isn’t! Plus it isn’t as ugly as Trello, which is my worst nightmare. I have inherited the use of this, so I’m not sure if this is what I would have picked.

I liked Dario’s recommendation of Miro as an alternative, but I feel that has the potential to become messy when used by larger (or overly enthusiastic) cohorts, especially when they are all working on different projects.

No one has mentioned Canvas! Does that count?? It is quite cumbersome but I think that anything that needs to facilitate so many different needs and users is going to have to be that way. 

As an alternative to Zoom, we use Whereby as a video conferencing platform. The benefit is that you can set a personalised room that you simply use each time, rather than having a different random generated url  each time like Zoom. It is aesthetically a little nicer on the eye, but it doesn’t seem as easily integrated with other platforms (such as Slack).  Reply Reply to comment

  • I had not heard of Whereby before! I found coming late to this useful, as we are trying to use standardized technologies across all modules this semester coming up (to make it easier for the students) and this has all helped! Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Dario Faniglione

Dario Faniglione

3 Aug 2020 3 Aug at 7:28

TUTOR ADDITION 
Hello everyone,

Many thanks for sharing the technology tools which can be somewhat used un a fully online learning environment.

As you know, the list of possibilities is huge and, given the recent events and the sudden necessity to implement online learning and teaching in a multitude of teaching contexts, the offer is growing.

To capture your contributions and to add what participants of previous iterations of this module have shared, I have created a document, which you can download for future reference.
The collectively generated Google document can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q7N-3seaC3SlFyWNAjKe4u_aEKGmTbXm/edit (Links to an external site.)

As mentioned, from March 2020 the attention to quickly find ways to deliver existing courses in an online learning environment has created a sudden interest in tools and resources to help with these challenging tasks. 

SEDALinks to an external site. (Staff and Educational Development Association), an established organisation which is active in supporting the professional development of staff in education, has been at the forefront in supporting institutions throughout these challenging times and has promoted a nation-wide effort to compile a list of resources and tool for the emergency move to online learning. I am sharing this here, as it might be useful to some of you.
Just bear in mind that this document has developed over a few months, though the contribution of a large number of FE and HE practitioners, so it’s quite overwhelming. There is no need to engage with this document at this stage as part of the PGCHE, but it might be a good idea to keep it handy if you are planning on designing/reviewing your online learning and teaching implementation in the coming weeks.

Please find the SEDA document here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/192oI8w5GfsV7gSHa3uDrTH9EQy9c4L1VTW7pYliexkU/edit#heading=h.tptgfsgjhz4u (Links to an external site.)

Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Michael Berthaume

Michael Berthaume

4 Aug 2020 4 Aug at 7:35

I’ve come to this a bit late, so most of the things I would have thought of have already been brought up explanation point but I’ve had a nice time reading through other peoples descriptions and making a list of all the apps and programmes people out there use 🙂

Moodle – this is one that we use a lot at my University that no one has mentioned. It is more or less like Canvas and a paid subscription, so it depends on what your university has! https://moodle.org/ (Links to an external site.)

PowerPoint – I am surprised I didn’t see this on anyone’s list … I use PowerPoint to make presentations, and sometimes use the record function to speak over them as I flip through the slides so that way I create video podcasts for the students. these can then be uploaded onto YouTube or a similar web-based tube channel

Word – Again, a simple one call but I use my software it all the time to create summary documents for my students for them to study off of. As an engineer, we have to provide them with many mathematical problems as well, and so I used the equation functions to create mathematical problems for them, and then provide them with solution manuals as word or PDF documents afterwards.

Panopto ­– I have not used this programme yet, but I know it is installed in our classrooms for us to record lectures as we’re giving them. We can then upload those lectures onto sites like Moodle or canvas. From what I understand, the quality of videos is not as high as if you were to make a video podcast, but if you were giving a live lecture and wanted to record it for students to view in the future, it’s a way of doing this for them and not doubling your work. https://www.panopto.com/ (Links to an external site.)

WhatsApp – Mia touched on this with Wechat, but it could be a good way of talking with students. Personally, I don’t want students to have my number, but it could work 😊 https://www.whatsapp.com/ (Links to an external site.) Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Dejan Levi

Dejan Levi

7 Aug 2020 7 Aug at 10:49

Very late to this as I’m just catching up after a couple of weeks away from the course! Here are a few tools we use a lot on MA Writing for Script and Screen:

Whereby (Links to an external site.) – As mentioned already, this is great for videoconferencing with students. We use it for 1:1s (but it can handle up to 4 participants). Main advantage is that there’s no need for students to register/have accounts etc. They just click the link and the meeting happens in a browser window. Very easy and ensures smooth-running tutorials most of the time.

Celtx (Links to an external site.) – This is specific to our subject, but Celtx is great as an online creative suite which offers students a free trial period. They often use the script drafting tool for their first assignments before eventually committing to a purchase (usually Final Draft) for subsequent projects. Celtx is great though for anyone doing any sort of film/video/games production related course. 

Youtube (Links to an external site.) – Already mentioned, but thought I’d highlight our use for it – mainly to handle uploads of student presentations (e.g. short 3-minute project pitch videos). We then encourage them to post links/embed these videos in Canvas but – since they’re hosted on YouTube – we don’t encounter the storage limit issues that come from uploading vids directly into Canvas. Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Joel Ferguson

Joel Ferguson

8 Aug 2020 8 Aug at 11:27

Hello

If you can’t/don’t want to pay for screen recording software but still would like something that is able to make prefessional looking videos take a look at:

Open Broadcast Software (Links to an external site.) which is a free software that has a lot of functionality.

If you like the idea of digital sticky notes that you can share with others try out:

Google Keep (Links to an external site.) which is a free digital sticky note website that will work with your other Google offerings

If you are a Google fan (I might be a google fan… who knows) but also want to Blog you can try out:

Google Blogger (Links to an external site.) which is Googles blogging platform. It has recently been updated and is rather user friendly now.

I hope these are helpful! Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Angela Coskey

Angela Coskey

9 Aug 2020 9 Aug at 4:51

  • https://www.uberconference.com/ (Links to an external site.) Here’s a nice app which I found on the Bing search engine. It’s free up to 10 participants for now.   You can use it in the same way you use Zoom which means you can teach through it but it does not have break away groups like the Big Blue Button which is unfortunate. You can record but I haven’t tried it yet. It has a nice song when you go into the room, a nice touch if you’re a bit stressed. Below is a list of their features. Oh, and sign up is super simple, just add your name, email and password and you go straight in. If you’ve previously used Zoom it’s very easy to use. 
    • Up to 10 Participants
    • PINs Required
    • Phone and VoIP audio
    • Number of Participants
    • Maximum Conference Duration
    • Unlimited conferences
    • Screen Sharing
    • Call Recording
    • HD Quality Audio
    • Mobile Apps
    • HD Video
    • Custom Call-In-Number (US and CAN)
    • Analytics
    • International Access (Over 50 Countries)
    • Dial Out to Add Guests to a Call
    • Upload Custom Hold Music
    • Toll-Free Number ($30/mo for yearly or $35/mo for monthly)
    • Team Management Portal
    • Voice Intelligence
    • It seems to have all of the same features that Zoom has and has a nice welcoming song while you wait for others to join.
    • You don’t have to access this app via google or chrome.
    Reply Reply to comment

Selecting tools for online learning can be quite an art. The most important thing to keep in mind, is that the tools must be appropriate for the learning activity and learning outcome you have in mind – often, it is not a good idea to choose one for the sake of using it (unless, of course, your learning outcome was, for example, to investigate to what extent this tool has a useful application for X, Y or Z).

When asked by a teaching and learning practitioner to show how to use a particular tool, most learning technologists would first explore why they wanted to use it by asking questions like: What learning outcome do you want your students to achieve, and through what learning activity? How will this tool add to achieving this learning outcome? Who are the learners? etc.

Knowing and choosing which technology to use for your online teaching, can be difficult and sometimes overwhelming. The following sections will help guide you to make better decisions.

Well, there’s a learning point right there; I don’t like Simon’s slouched pose in the video above. The body language doesn’t come across well to me (and then we’re touching on the ladder of inference which segues nicely into psychology – do we learn better from those we like? Does liking your teacher inspire greater motivation? That’s something we really can’t alter too much due to student’s past experiences – you may look like a bully in their primary school, you may have the same name as a relative they hate…).

Video – I like ‘pedagogy before technology’. Yes. The importance of providing technical support – yes BUT – we must not waste time teaching them how to use software that will only be used at that institution, for that course. Software that is used in their chosen field – absolutely, and arguably more important. So where possible save our and their valuable time and use software that they are either likely to be already familiar with or that is very user friendly (provided obvs. it provides the functionality required). Which the video pretty much goes on to say… 😀 FIT FOR PURPOSE. Ideally this would require that departments communicate to ensure that where possible, they use the same software (this could also offer a cost saving in licenses). How likely that is to happen in a large Uni is another matter…

‘Students value technology when it adds to their learning’.

Note; how many of the guys in the videos have books behind them!! (clearly filmed in the Library in some cases). This has been observed with many online video calls on the TV at the mo’ – experts, politicians etc. – books. Sooo, that implies they think (at least) that books may suggest something positive about them.

That reminds me – a plea to all academics to keep reading lists SHORT. That IT one from Falmouth that was x4 A4 pages long… for one module…??!

Different mindsets when using online for learning vs. entertainment – yes, Yet we are frequently told to keep them ‘engaged’ which often verges on entertainment, and using the same tools e.g. Youtube. Are we ‘blending’ entertainment and teaching? Then that book on gaming suggests that gaming can teach people a lot (look at that chap recently on BBC who won the chance to race an F1 car – his dream since 4 – via simulated racing as he couldn’t afford to take the karting any further).

  • Why using that tool
  • How it will benefit them
  • What the outcome will be.

Essentially, sell it to them. Encourage students to showcase the tools they are thinking of using and how.

Internet for online works because ((well, I’d say because it’s the only tech that can support the *best* version of distance learning. OU was doing it decades ago via tapes, videos, TV programmes, posted notes etc. My Mum did an OU degree back in the 80’s – they even sent her an early BBC computer for her research…)). They say because it’s*not* a special educational tool – it’s already a part of our daily lives. ((more’s the pity)). Now, define what I mean by the ‘best’ – most accessible, cheapest and fastest method that supports a variety of media.

Success Factors and Barriers in Choosing Technology for Online Learning

Once you have considered the questions about the tool’s appropriateness for a particular learning activity, please review the following table by Littlejohn (2004), which lists success factors and barriers for effective tool selection:

Success factors for effective use of toolsBarriers
Easy to use
Cheap
Recommended or used by peers
Support provided in the form of a workshop or one-to-one mentoring Closely linked to user needs and requirements
Obvious benefits
Provides a solution to a problem
Integrates with existing tools and resources Interesting or fun Support by a vendor Open source		Expensive
Difficult to obtain
Complicated to use
Doesn’t link with existing systems
Too many functions or too much information
Risk of systems breaking down
Increased risk where the tools become mission critical
Functionality which does not obviously map to existing practice

The Littlejohn (2004) table was part of the Design for Learning themeLinks to an external site. of the JISC e-Learning Pedagogy strand. You can also visit the home pageLinks to an external site. to find out more about JISC.

Littlejohn, A. 2004. Success factors and barriers to effective use of tools in e-learning courses. In The Effectiveness of Resources, Tools and Support Services used by Practitioners in Designing and Delivering E-Learning Activities: Final Report. UK: JISC.

So, pretty much everything I’d already said!! ((I wonder if having 2 generations of teachers before me helps; I suspect it’s more to do with the 2 generations of engineers…))

To help you shape and prioritise your choices about which technology to use, keep firmly in mind both:

  1. the practical constraints within which you have to work;
  2. your awareness of where some of the greatest potential value and benefits can come from online learning.

“Online learning has the potential to integrate independence (asynchronous online communication) with interaction (connectivity). The potential of this type of learning is to merge verbal and written discourse, unconstrained by time and space. It is not the issue of access to information but the connection to others that can really distinguish online learning from both conventional face-to-face and distance education. When choosing technologies to use for a fully online course and for online learning design in general, it is worth remembering that it can be a mistake to try to integrate new communication technologies into passive educational approaches.

Early providers of online education, such as the Open University, offered online courses whose core element was the use of computer-mediated conferencing to support and facilitate structured, moderated, asynchronous, text-based discussion between participants, including learners, teachers and subject matter experts. One of the main driving forces that underlay these early developments was the conviction that computer-mediated conferencing, when appropriately structured, can be a powerful support for peer exchange and collaborative learning. The asynchronous and retrievable nature of contributions, combined with the fact that the tutor – even though playing a key role as a discussion moderator – cannot control turn-taking in the same way as in a face-to-face situation, are features conducive to this:

“Collaborative knowledge construction environments enable all members of a class or learning group… to contribute their interpretation. It is important for advance knowledge acquisition that learners realise that there exist multiple interpretations for every event or object. Those interpretations may be dissonant or consonant, but they reflect the natural complexity that defines most advanced knowledge domains. Collaborative environments enable learners to identify and reconcile those multiple perspectives in order to solve problems” (Jonassen et al, 1993, p. 240).

The ability to bring together different people’s perspectives on a particular topic – without time or place constraints, and in a context conducive to reflection and discussion – was seen by early online learning designers as perhaps the most important aspect of online education. Structured and purposeful online discussion, feedback and negotiation, leading to deep-level understanding and advanced knowledge construction in a collaborative environment, is a crucial aspect of online courses. The design and support of tasks, activities and environment for collaborative learning and peer exchange, requires fundamental re-thinking of pedagogical models, and of teaching and assessment strategies. It certainly requires the tutor to play a major role in initiating, shaping, weaving and concluding the online group activities built into the course (something we are going to focus more heavily on in Week 11).

As you will be aware from your learning from the last module, for some years there has been a trend towards models of learning where the learners are more actively engaged in constructing meaning from experience. This PGCHE course is based on the social constructivist perspective, which seeks to integrate the individual’s cognitive and social environments, while attaching critical importance to the social negotiation of meaning supported by collaborative construction of knowledge. Learning is seen a situated social practice. I think most of you will already have experience of what is being claimed here, and its value, from your experience as PGCHE students (eg from discussion forums, micro-teach activity, etc).

A key value of online learning can be its capacity to support public communication and personal thinking, in the quest to construct meaning and confirm knowledge.    

Of course it always depends on the context of the course design, but given these claims about what can be the greatest value of online learning: if when designing a course you need to sensibly limit the number of tools you are going to use and need to choose between two technologies – for example, 1) a technology which seems to encourage more passive individual learning, versus 2) a technology that encourages more connectivity, interaction and collaborative co-construction of knowledge – then to get the best learning potential out of the tool and of online learning, perhaps in that kind of situation, it could be best to go for option 2?

Have a think about this, and whether it is changing your perspective on online learning design.”

“It is important for advance knowledge acquisition that learners realise that there exist multiple interpretations for every event or object.” People have to be TOLD this? Ok, 2 degrees in Ancient History gives me an advantage here but really, the inability to understand, tolerate and even at times accept different viewpoints is a major issue in the modern world (and typically a strongly masculine trait, I note). Mutter…

‘Weaving’ keeps coming up as a term. I still don’t know what they mean by this (I’ve an idea but not sure). Ok, researched it; “Weaving names the moments in classroom lessons when explicit connections are made—by teacher or students—across one or another dimension of knowledge. Usually, weavings connect something that is already familiar with new curriculum content. Virtually all theories of school learning stress the importance of such connections …” https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-8/cazden-on-pedagogical-weaving

Which is what I do when I link stuff to Ancient History…

Based on what I said earlier, no, it doesn’t change my views on online learning at all as I already held that belief. Do NOT put technological barriers up for student; technology is there to facilitate learning, having to learn technology first is a barrier.

Activity intro

So far, you have considered the different types of technology and tools out there that can be potentially used to support online learning activities in HE (and appreciated the vast selection). You have also looked at the range of different things to consider when evaluating whether a particular tool is appropriate and useful – or not.

For this week’s Challenge Activity, we want you to take the opportunity to find, explore and evaluate a specific online tool and its potential to support online learning activities in your own teaching context in HE.

This should be a tool that you are not currently very familiar with, in terms of using it to support student learning (although of course you may already have some familiarity with using it for other personal and professional purposes. Alternatively, you can revisit your PGCHE colleagues’ lists in the earlier discussion forum, to find a tool that sounds interesting enough to explore further).

For example, it might be a tool that you have little experience with, but have heard others talk about it as potentially useful. You can explore and experience it more fully by (for example) researching about it, downloading and playing around with it, exploring its different functions and possibilities, etc.

This is all with a view to exploring a previously unfamiliar tool in a practical hands-on way, then to evaluating how it could be potentially useful to support learning activities and learning outcomes for your own students, in your own teaching context.

Enquire / Reflect / Produce

We would like you to:

  1. Find and choose a specific tool that could be used to facilitate an online learning activity, as part of a fully online course. This should be a tool that you are not already familiar with for the purpose of supporting student learning.
  2. Find out more information about the tool eg Internet research.
  3. Gain access to / download the tool. (If you are not able to do so, then choose another tool to explore.)
  4. Explore using the tool and what it can do and could be used for. In other words, play around with it. If you need more help, there are always useful resources, for example under the tool’s ‘Help’ section, official website, YouTube, fellow colleagues etc.
  5. Evaluate the tool and its potential usefulness and appropriateness for different online learning activities that you might want students in your teaching context to do (especially for a fully online course / programme of study).
  6. Make notes of your thoughts from this exploration and evaluation of the tool.

Evaluating the Tool

In your evaluation of the tool, apply your learning from this week and the previous weeks (the most immediate example being the range of factors to consider from the previous page). However, make sure you also consider and make notes on the following:

  • At least one specific learning activity that this tool could be used to support, in your teaching context.
  • At least one specific learning outcome that the tool and learning activity could help your students to achieve.
  • How the tool helps students to achieve those learning outcome and activities.
  • The context in which this tool will be used e.g. course, subject area, institution.
  • The characteristics of the learners who would be using the tool.
  • The appropriateness, advantages and disadvantages of this tool, for using it for your purpose(s) in your teaching context.
  • How you could address the potential disadvantages of this tool (eg through the way you use it or help students to use it), so you can maximise its value.
  • How appropriate and useful this tool could potentially be (or not) and why, for your draft online course design ideas that you created, shared and discussed last week, Week 8.

 You will be sharing your ideas and thoughts in the discussion forum on the next page.

Evaluating Sway

I chose MS SWAY because a Librarian at Falmouth had commented that they were using it to create packages for students that were distinct from academic’s work, and it allowed academics to load up the packages easily to VLE if Library staff did not have edit access. I was going to have a look at it anyway so I thought this could be the ideal opportunity. Being MS based it’s clearly easily available, part of a suite that many institutions should have access to. It facilitates creation of “Create visually striking newsletters, presentations and documentation in minutes”, you can easily add other media to it from anywhere, quickly change the style and it’s responsive (adapts to different device screens).

Evaluating the Tool

In your evaluation of the tool, apply your learning from this week and the previous weeks (the most immediate example being the range of factors to consider from the previous page). However, make sure you also consider and make notes on the following:

  • At least one specific learning activity that this tool could be used to support, in your teaching context. ((creating course materials using a range of media for students. Students could also use it to create professional documentation for authentic assignments, e.g. business cases or sales pitches)) It’s in use by businesses: “M&S – To date, we use Sway to develop employee training resources for Office 365, but we can see so many other ways of using it across our business groups”.Steven Collier
  • At least one specific learning outcome that the tool and learning activity could help your students to achieve. ((how to access Library resources specific to their subject))
  • How the tool helps students to achieve those learning outcome and activities. ((by offering a professional, clear and easy to use guide))
  • The context in which this tool will be used e.g. course, subject area, institution. ((any institution, any course, any subject))
  • The characteristics of the learners who would be using the tool. ((by including a variety of media, students from a wide range of abilities could use it, BUT videos would have to be clearly signposted for dyslexic students as there’s a strong temptation to make it text heavy. There’s an ‘accessibility view’ which is handy))
  • The appropriateness, advantages and disadvantages of this tool, for using it for your purpose(s) in your teaching context. ((without using it ‘in anger’ and no student feedback it’s hard to say. However yes, I can see the temptation would be to use it to deliver text-heavy information))
  • How you could address the potential disadvantages of this tool (eg through the way you use it or help students to use it), so you can maximise its value. ((integrate as much multi-media as possible AND be aware of possible situations when you might end up duplicating work e.g. slides. Could this be used instead of slides? NO))
  • How appropriate and useful this tool could potentially be (or not) and why, for your draft online course design ideas that you created, shared and discussed last week, Week 8. ((this could be really useful for presenting information that is also shared online via the VLE where you have NOT already made slides?))
  • Interactivity – you can add interactivity to Sway;

A Form allows you to add Quiz or Questioner to your Sway, directly engage with your audience and track their responses.

A Stack group lets your viewers click through a set of images one at a time.

A Comparison group puts two images side by side joined by a splitter control that viewers can drag left or right to see more/less of an image.

A Slideshow group arranges a set of images so that viewers can click through the set one at a time by using arrows at the left and right margin of each image. It also displays a gallery of thumbnail-sized images below the featured image.

 You will be sharing your ideas and thoughts in the discussion forum on the next page.

Alex Bailey

28 Jul 2020 28 Jul at 11:11

Please find attached an audio evaluation of an interactive presentation app called Mentimeter here is a link to their web site: https://www.mentimeter.com/ (Links to an external site.) 

A PDF transcript of the evaluation is also attached.Audio Player02:2003:41

  • 2.00x
  • 1.50x
  • 1.25x
  • 1.00x
  • 0.75x
  • 0.50x

Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume. Minimise embedded content Mentimeter MP3 Transcript Alex Bailey-1.pdf Reply Reply to comment

Thanks for your review, Alex. This is so cool. I love that you can get comments float across the screen as they’re coming in. It gets me thinking about a quiet cohort I had in recent years, who seemed so self conscious about offering critique of their peers. This could help nudge them out of that mind-set – once they see that all comments are useful in different ways, that they’ll not be taken in the wrong way, and even for them to just see their thought out there, it should build confidence. I’d probably start to phase that kind of activity out over the course of the module, once they’ve built the skill up, if I felt they could cope without it. 

Does it integrate with Keynote/Evernote or anything, do you know?  Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

  • Hi Katie Yes, exactly ideal for generating interaction from a quiet cohort. I don’t know if integrates with Keynote / Evernote as early daze for me with this one. To be honest with all these apps, same as technology over the years, I am generally led by others, for example if Falmouth are using then it is almost certainly well tried and tested as they seem to pretty much at the cutting edge with education interaction and technology. Alex  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Nick Raven

Nick Raven

31 Jul 2020 31 Jul at 16:28

Hey Alex, I really enjoyed your evaluation. How did you embed it into your post?! Is the file hosted elsewhere or is it hosted in Canvas?

I’ve likewise experienced this kind of thing done in the past but in a much less integrated way – the presenter used a live Twitter feed to interact with the 100+ participants in terms of asking questions, getting answers and getting audience questions and responding to them live. It was incredibly performative and the level of multitasking was incredible. This approach with Mentimeter seems more achievable (for the less performative presenter) and relevant! It would definitely impact the engagement of an activity. Reply Reply to comment

  • Hi Nick and thanks  I recorded the audio as an MP3 file at a relatively small format so the file size was about 1.3mb – and then I found the right tab in this Canvas HTML editor which is the audio arrow 4th from the left above. As usual you then find the file on your computer and upload. Hope that helps  Alex  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Suzanne Strudwick

Suzanne Strudwick

Yesterday 9 Aug at 21:51

  • HI Alex,  This is a really good description and presentation of Mentimeter. This App is totally new to me so I was very interested to see how I might integrate into my own practice. Like you, I definitely can see some usefulness in the flexibility, adaptability of the App in how it engages with the participants. The ability to save the data produced from the interactions is very intriguing for research and hypothesis based on interactions and engagement of the content with learners. This could be extremely valuable when looking for ways to improve the course content and delivery.    Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Suzanne Strudwick

Suzanne Strudwick

28 Jul 2020 28 Jul at 17:54

Click link for podcast description of VoiceThread.com 

https://d3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net/staging/2020-6-28/93825805-44100-2-7b064b246d1b.m4a (Links to an external site.)

My chosen media platform is voicethread.com (Links to an external site.) this link will send you to the website. I have also attached my podcast using Anchor.com as the platform to create a podcast which is above. 

This link will take you to one of my own lessons created to teach Reflective Practice in Coaching Education.  (Links to an external site.) Reply Reply to comment

Hey Suzanne, this is very well presented – your podcast is really engaging; I think you’ve got a podcast voice! Voice Thread sounds great and would be a really beneficial tool for online teaching and learning. I think the aspects you highlight would be really valuable for creating engaging content and especially moderating that engagement with assessment tools. It will definitely be worth considering for the presentations I will be creating. Nice! Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Alex Bailey

Alex Bailey

Tuesday 4 Aug at 7:51

Lovely Podcast Suzanne – thanks I’m sold on that one. 

Alex  Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Michael Berthaume

Michael Berthaume

Tuesday 4 Aug at 11:12

  • that was a really great description Suzanne, and I really enjoyed listening to your podcast! I had just assumed it was a software for creating podcasts and nothing more, but will check it out now 🙂  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Toby Carr

Toby Carr

31 Jul 2020 31 Jul at 12:16

Hi All, 

Here is a link to my thoughts on a test of Trello.  It seems like it could be a good tool for us to create a platform for collaborative design exercises in small groups.  

Link to the video here https://youtu.be/HGFbUMqbThk (Links to an external site.)

and pdf of my notes attached PGCHE_Trello_TC.pdf Reply Reply to comment (1 likes)

Hey Toby, I think this is really insightful and I really like the informal and very tactile approach with the use of video recording. I think this sort of democratisation of media, with personal touches, can really support engagement from different types of learners. I, on the other hand, went really formal!! Nevermind! I think personally, having done Trello as well, it could play a supportive role but will perhaps may never compete with the behemoth that is MS Teams… Reply Reply to comment (2 likes)

  • Hi Nick – agree very insightful and a relaxed informal but very informative approach from Toby. Thanks Toby Alex  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Mia Tedjosaputro

Mia Tedjosaputro

2 Aug 2020 2 Aug at 15:33

Hi Toby, 

I have used Trello before during my PhD as a tool to capture my work-in-progress but my supervisors did not seem to follow up on it so after a couple of years I stopped. The interface seemed to have changed, however the tools look identical. 

I absolutely agree on the collaborative points. I looked for collaboration tool when I looked for Trello, and was torn between Trello or Asana. You are also on point with regards to letting students to structure their learning journey.

Mia  Reply Reply to comment (2 likes) Collapse Sub discussion Michael Berthaume

Michael Berthaume

Tuesday 4 Aug at 11:16

Hi Tony, I liked how you drew the use of the software to more specific attributes and LOs in your course. The tangibility of the results helps for seeing how I could directly use it in my teaching 🙂  Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Suzanne Strudwick

Suzanne Strudwick

Yesterday 9 Aug at 21:12

  • HI Toby Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Trello. I have been meaning to look into this App for a while but just haven’t had the time. Your description was excellent, well described with clear information and delivery. I can learn from your ease of delivery, i tend to get a bit slow and deliberate which can be more of a strain to listen too. I need to learn to talk more freely and natural.  I can definitely see how useful this app will be for the collaboration in discussions with sharing options with files etc. The look does seem a bit childish and does not have the professional design you would expect. But as you say and demonstrate, once you enter into the guts of the software, it does become more refined. I’m not sure I would use this in my own practice, I need the video imbedded options to share and have meaningful discussions with my learners, I can see how this App would be useful to some practices.  thanks for the excellent review.   Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Nick Raven

Nick Raven

31 Jul 2020 31 Jul at 16:35

Here’s another (audio podcast) evaluation of Trello! And a transcript.

Although, typically, I’m struggling with the technology! Can you embed audio into Canvas? Do you need to host it somewhere else? I’ve uploaded it to Dropbox and provided the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/poduh31rl5hf5ej/Nick%20Raven%20Trello%20Online%20Tool%20Evaluation.m4a?dl=0 (Links to an external site.)

Transcript is attached.Nick Raven Trello Online Tool Evaluation-1.docx Reply Reply to comment

  • Hi Nick – Yes a much more formal approach than Toby’s nonetheless very informative and not quite so long. Useful thanks  Alex  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Mia Tedjosaputro

Mia Tedjosaputro

2 Aug 2020 2 Aug at 15:21

Play media comment. –> My thoughts on Padlet. Apology if the review was sounded very unstructured. Just wanted to keep it quick and dirty. Below is the notes of what I talked about.

The way I explored Padlet was through: 1) watching online reviews in YouTube and 2) giving it a go, utilising the free 3 boards option. I tried to mimic my Week 4 of my own module just to give a bit of context.

My trial padlet: https://padlet.com/miaardiati/zatmt49hiatm1gou (Links to an external site.)

Week 4 material: https://miatedjosaputro.com/2020/03/17/week-4-welcome/ (Links to an external site.)

From online reviews:

https://youtu.be/UkBnwPqaIjA (Links to an external site.)

Collecting ideas in different types of files

Customisable look

https://youtu.be/OPkq5q8nRbM (Links to an external site.)

Creating padlets

Inviting students

Moderating discussions

https://youtu.be/pi49odbvuIg (Links to an external site.)

10 classrooms use of Padlet:

Brainstorming (collaboration)

Surveys and voting (reaction functions)

Announcements

Book reviews and discussions

Topic summary

Greeting cards and thank you

Graphics organiser

Photo contest

Collaborative posters

Portfolios

Potential use with regards to LOs:

  • In theoretical classes
  • Important concepts and terminology
  • Case studies/ design precedents
  • Collaboration on the micro architecture project
  • Facilitating discussions during guest lecture
  • Work in progress of the group assignment (collecting ideas, etc)
  • Might not work for: software skills, studio crit, big files?

In my own context:

(+) Advantages:

Smaller chunks of information

Collaborative e-board

Brainstorming

Can be linked to other platform such as Google Classroom

IT support with examples of use and online reviews from users

(-) Disadvantages:

Might not be able to map all activities but surely an important tool

Depending on university’s IT support

Need a separate account

From the list of success factors and barriers, Littlejohn (2004):

Obvious benefits are the collaborative aspect of it

Does it provide a solution to a problem?

Fun for sure

Anything similar? I think Miro does similar things

Useful link to Padlet, providing examples of padlets: https://padlet.com/gallery/tips (Links to an external site.) Reply Reply to comment

Hi Mia

Thanks for an extremely thorough evaluation of Padlet – I definitely feel well informed about this app after engaging with your post.

Alex  Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Suzanne Strudwick

Suzanne Strudwick

Yesterday 9 Aug at 21:30

  • Hi Mia thank you for your very thorough investigation into the App Padlet. You have shared a very well prepared description of how you have used this App and also how it can support your learners with LO’s and collaboration. After listening to your description of Padlet, and reading the description, I am inquisitive to try this App with my learners. I like the fact that I can imbed video, files, discussions, podcasts into one area and have several boards on the interface. The sharing looks very user friendly with a sharing link.  My learners benefit from small pieces of information at a time, the chunking and breaking up larger learning blocks appeals to me in how learners access the information.  Thanks Mia for a very good investigation and description.  Reply Reply to comment

Collapse Sub discussion Dario Faniglione

Dario Faniglione

3 Aug 2020 3 Aug at 7:44

TUTOR SUMMARY
Hello everyone,

Thanks for contributing your evaluations to this discussion.

Given the vast choice (see Forum 1 of week 9), the process of vetting through a considered evaluation of what’s best suited in our context is a critical process.

As discussed in our webinar on Friday, some of the key points and consideration to help with this, and that you might want o keep in mind when making these choices relate to:

1. Is the tool/technology supported by your institution? If it is, you know that you and your learners have someone to help with this implementation and with any issues that might arise. If not, you will have to factor in extra time for supporting your learners and/or you might need to seek help within the institution (learning technology teams generally), to try and embed you choice more widely across the programme or department.

2. Similarly, if the tool needs user/learner login, can an existing institutional login can be used? If the tool is integrated within the VLE or uses the institutional email for access, you won’t need to worry about learners’ access

3. If an institutionally-supported tool has limitations that you have identified, have you thought about overcoming these limitations before adopting a third-party tool? While this process might take some trial and error, it might save precious time and effort in future.

It’s good to see that everyone that has contributed is onboard with the general principle of keeping in mind that technology is “just a tool and not an end”, and ultimately what really matters is designing constructively aligned learning activities and sessions, which support your learners to gain confidence and competence in working towards the assessment tasks, therefore meeting the module learning outcomes. Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Michael Berthaume

Michael Berthaume

Tuesday 4 Aug at 11:50

Please find attached my evaluation of MiroWeek 9 investigating Miro.mp3 Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Dejan Levi

Dejan Levi

Friday 7 Aug at 11:38

I also reviewed https://voicethread.com/ (Links to an external site.)

It seems to be a tool for facilitating interactive synchronous and asynchronous discussion around multi-media resources. Users can highlight frames of a video, add comments (text, audio, video etc). 

This seems a really useful one for our subject area (scriptwriting for screen media). In online group webinars we often use short films as resources to facilitate discussion around best practice – and the ability to interact with that resource in more direct and visual ways would be a massive help. 

So for example, if a student wants to refer to a particular scene in making a point about visual storytelling, they can directly highlight the parts of the image/video they are referring to. This would greatly boost immersion and engagement in these webinar discussions. As a tutor, I could also interact with the image in more diverse ways, hopefully giving me more tools to explain concepts being discussed and how they’re evident in the examples we’re studying.

The tool also raises the possibility of an asynchronous webinar, in which students add their voice comments to the multimedia resource in question at a time that suits them. This would certainly help with the time-zones issue we tend to face whereby not all students can attend webinars live – and the catch up option is a non-interactive one. Here, all students could have an interactive discussion around the week’s viewing.

I do have some reservations around implementation which I’d need to do more research on before considering using it on a live course:

– Does Falmouth University support it/have licenses?

– How does integration work with webinar tools? Would all students need to log in to voicethread separately? How simple/complex is this process?

– Can we upload any video content to it? How easy is it to ‘plug in’ videos hosted on Youtube or Vimeo?

In terms of our cohorts on WSS (MA Writing for Script and Screen), some are quite tech-phobic and have rather low IT ability, so I’d also want to check out the user interface in more detail before deploying it, just to make sure it won’t terrify some of the students off! Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Harriet Beesley

Harriet Beesley

12:59 10 Aug at 12:59

Late to the party, but here’s my review of Miro!

https://beesleyferguson.wixsite.com/pgche/post/week-9-miro-review (Links to an external site.) Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Joel Ferguson

Joel Ferguson

14:23 10 Aug at 14:23

Hello everyone. I reviewed:

https://aggie.io (Links to an external site.) which is a collaborative drawing tool. It’s browser based and appears to somewhat similar to the other digital drawing offerings (adobe suite) and it is free.

Here is my evaluation: (Links to an external site.)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e-dbkh-V2E0RYzK2BPxIExR4m8W3oCzq/view?usp=sharing (Links to an external site.) Reply Reply to comment Collapse Sub discussion Anna Dovey

Anna Dovey

15:47 10 Aug at 15:47

Here’s my online evaluation of MS Sway, a bit late!

I struggled with this one as I couldn’t decide which one to review – I didn’t want to review an obvious one like Zoom, so I ended up going with MS Sway which I know Falmouth University Library staff use and had intended to have a look at.

It’s at https://sway.office.com/my (Links to an external site.) and it’s free to access.audio_only.m4a Reply Reply to comment

Rachel Butt

Tuesday 11 Aug at 12:51

I looked at Moodle

I chose this as i have never used it before. I think it could be adapted for most industries/subjects, however I would still need to have an element of f2f in some modules when assessing a students physical nursing skills.  For the purpose of my online learning module as discussed in week 8, I believe this would definitely work well. I like the interactive features and the ability to get an idea of the students input, comments and be able to support the as a result f these. Moodle.m4a Reply Reply to comment

((BBC article of Indian school taking learning outside BECAUSE not all their students were online. Limits.))

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