Center for Teaching and Learning Blog

Month: August 2021

Starting the semester!

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Image courtesy of Pexel.com ( Tiachard Kuntanom)

With the start of another semester underway, you are probably busy getting your courses set up in Canvas, recording your introductory video in Panopto-Huskycast or figuring out how best to incorporate iClicker, Turnitin or Gradescope into your courses. Has it been some time since you used these tools?… (or maybe you never have!) and you have several questions about set up. Well, you are in luck, this blog post will link you with some great previous posts and resources to get you back up to speed on the educational technology supported by Michigan Tech.

I would like to begin by referencing a great blog post we did (not that long ago) where we compiled all the support resources for EdTech Tools into one table. Check it out! It should save you some time searching around for answers to those questions that you only seem to ask yourself at the start of each semester.

Michigan Tech Basic Teaching Tools Course

Are you new to teaching or in need of a refresher on the basics of Canvas, Panopto-Huskycast or Zoom? Curious to find out more about iClicker, Turnitin or Respondus Lockdown Browser? The CTL recently launched a new self-paced course intended to strengthen your knowledge of the three most frequently used blended course delivery tools (Canvas, Panopto-Huskycast and Zoom) along with several other tools we support. You can self-enroll in the course with this link to the Michigan Tech Basic Teaching Tools Course. You are welcome to work through only the modules that interest you or the entire course! The CTL is also offering a 30 min. consultation at the end of the course to follow up with a course facilitator on any additional questions you may have.

Moving beyond the basics

Are you already savvy in Canvas, iClicker or Huskycast and want to know if there are any unique new features that have recently been added? Great news from Canvas for instructors who would like to be able to hand back an assignment to a student and allow them to revise their work and resubmit. The feature is known as Submission Reassignment and it basically allows the instructor to reassign an assignment (with a due date) back to an individual student and ask them to redo their submission. Our blog post this past spring entitled, “Speedgraders latest feature!” outlines the details.

Are you using iClicker and wish you could take it beyond the classroom? Be sure to check out this blog post on the Assignment feature in iClicker.

If you are busy using Panopto-Huskycast to record great videos within your classroom, office or lab setting for your students, I would recommend you check out our post about the Three Huskycast features you should know about. There are some great details in this post on how to set up a video assignment or embedded quizzes.

Reach out to us!

If you still have some unanswered questions about the EdTech tools that Michigan Tech supports, feel free to reach out to us at elearning@mtu.edu or 487-3000. Have a great semester!

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September

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Center for Teaching and Learning bring back the Coffee Chat, Thursday September 16, 2021 at 4:00 PM

Student Mental Health continues to be a significant concern to front-line instructors.   The new My SSP  (student support program) app is just one of many excellent resources to help instructors help students stay well and address mental health concerns.  In this coffee chat, we’ll review these resources, then apply them to a variety of common student mental health situations.   Those planning to attend (remotely or in person) are asked to register and to watch the above-linked video prior to the event. . (Video duration: ~20 minutes) 

This event can be attended via zoom or in person. Please register here and indicate how you will be attending.

CTL Instructional Award: Innovative or Out of Class Teaching: Smitha Rao, Thursday September 23, 2021 at 3:45 PM

The CTL recognizes, from those nominated via the Deans’ Teaching Showcase, instructors who make contributions in large class teaching, out of class or innovative teaching, and curriculum development or assessment. This year, Smitha Rao, Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering, has been selected to receive the CTL instructional Award for Innovative or Out of Class Teaching. The abstract for her presentation, entitled “Reaching out to Student Researchers: An ‘old’ mentor’s journey” is below. Following her presentation, Smitha will be recognized formally. We hope you can join us for this event! To register, click here.

ABSTRACT: As a newly minted faculty, the harshest reality I had to face was that the students saw me as a “mentor.” (I soon learned this was code for “old”!) I found that I had to remind myself (repeatedly) that my undergraduate students had only recently completed high school. Not only was I not a peer, but the age gap seemed to grow (sigh!) and become a huge problem. How would I reach across this chasm? In this presentation, I’ll explore the solutions I have found. To seek common ground, I work to challenge student curiosity, engage them through opportunities in the lab and encourage them to take ownership of their work. I will share things I have tried and ideas I have learned as I work with graduate and undergraduate researchers. I hope the presentation stimulates dialog so we can all continue to learn and grow and rely on these combined experiences as we engage with more students.

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