Center for Teaching and Learning Blog

Month: November 2023

CTL Technical Workshop: Getting Started with iClicker Cloud

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Thursday, January 4, 2024 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Location: Library Room 244

The Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) will host a technical workshop Thursday, January 4, 2024, to introduce instructors to iClicker Cloud software.

iClicker Cloud helps instructors engage with their students in the classroom by asking polling questions that can promote discussion, identify areas of confusion and generate questions. Michigan Tech has a campus site license for iClicker Cloud, so instructors can use this tool at no additional cost to their students.

In this CTL technical workshop, we’ll review how to get started using iClicker Cloud in your classroom. We’ll review how to set up your instructor account, iClicker Groups, make custom course settings to meet your needs, and integrate the course with your Canvas course. 

Register for the workshop — make plans to join us Thursday, January 4, 2024, from 2-3 p.m.

The workshop will be held in Library 244.

Contact the CTL at elearning@mtu.edu with any questions about this workshop or using iClicker Cloud in your class.

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CTL Technical Workshop: Canvas Grading and Gradebook

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Thursday, January 11, 2024 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Location: Library Room 244

Do you have questions about how the Canvas gradebook works? Do you need help grading assignments in SpeedGrader and posting them in the gradebook? Making sure your students have accurate and updated grades in Canvas is important. The Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) will be hosting a technical workshop on Canvas grading and gradebook practices.

We’ll cover some of the common pinch points that instructors encounter, including the use of assignment groups for grade weighting, setting up a grading scheme that matches your syllabus, using grade posting policies and attaching grading rubrics to your assignments.

Register to attend the CTL Technical Workshop: Canvas Grading and Gradebook at 1 p.m. on January 11, 2024.

The workshop will be held in Library 244.

Contact the CTL at elearning@mtu.edu for more information.

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Quality Matters: A Tool for Assessing Course Quality

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As online courses become increasingly popular, it’s important to ensure that they are designed with quality in mind. That’s where Quality Matters (QM) comes in. QM is a tool and process used to assess the quality of a course. It’s helpful to consider these types of recommendations when designing and developing courses.

What is Quality Matters?

Quality Matters began with a small group of colleagues in the MarylandOnline, Inc. (MOL) consortium trying to solve a common problem among institutions: how do we measure and guarantee the quality of a course? The developers of a set of instructional guidance felt the same and even named it, “Quality Matters”. QM is a nonprofit organization comprised of dedicated staff from all over the United States who work together virtually to support everyone’s quality assurance goals.

How does Quality Matters work?

QM is built on a rubric of course design standards and a replicable peer-review process that can:

  • Train and empower faculty to evaluate courses against these standards
  • Provide guidance for improving the quality of courses
  • Certify the quality of online and blended college courses across institutions

The seventh edition QM Rubric is a set of 8 general standards and 44 specific standards used to evaluate the design of online and blended courses. The Rubric is complete with annotations that explain the application of the standards and the relationship among them. A scoring system and set of online tools facilitate the evaluation by a team of reviewers. The eight general standards are:

  • Course overview and introduction
  • Learning objectives
  • Assessment and measurement
  • Instructional materials
  • Learning activities and learner interaction
  • Course technology
  • Learner support
  • Accessibility and usability

Why should you use Quality Matters?

QM provides a framework for designing, reviewing, and revising online courses to ensure that they meet research-supported standards of quality. By using QM, you can:

  • Ensure that your course meets the needs of your students
  • Provide flexible scheduling options
  • Offer courses everywhere because geography would no longer be a constraint for enrollment
  • Ensure course quality for your students, regardless of where the course originated
  • Create quality online courses that are equivalent to traditional face-to-face courses
  • Improve student learning outcomes

Conclusion

Quality Matters is an essential tool for online faculty who want to ensure that their courses are designed with quality in mind. By using QM, you can create quality online courses that meet research-based standards of quality and improve student learning outcomes. If you are interested in learning more about QM, visit QM website or contact online@mtu.edu to schedule a meeting with us at CTL.

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CTL Services and Points of Interest

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CTL Services

Ever wonder how the Center for Teaching and Learning can support your instructional needs? We are here with support for any questions you may have about Canvas, Huskycast, Gradescope, Turnitin, Zoom, or iClicker. Already familiar with these but would like to take a deeper dive into some of these technologies or maybe you have never used these and would like to give them a try in your classroom, we would be happy to provide some one-to-one training! Feel free to drop by during our walk-in hours from 10-noon and 1-4pm Monday through Friday. We can also provide in-person consultations in classrooms for classroom teaching technologies. No time to stop by the CTL? Be sure to check out our online resources that can be found on our site in our Teaching and Learning Knowledge Base, Canvas Instructor Guides, and the Getting Started With Canvas sections. 

Are you interested in taking a deeper dive into a specific instructional topic? We also have a periodical library available for checkout covering a wide range of topics! Feel free to stop in anytime and review the collection.

Points of Interest

iClicker Cloud – Reminding you that iClicker Classic is being retired at the end of 2023 and iClicker Cloud will be the only supported polling software. The student experience will not change and students can still use either physical iClicker remotes or the mobile/web app. iClicker hardware – student remotes, instructor remotes, and bases – as well as the student mobile app will continue to be supported in iClicker Cloud. Visit the Center for Teaching and Learning’s iClicker resource page to get started using iClicker and for more information on transitioning to iClicker Cloud visit iClicker’s online resource page.

iClicker Groups (Beta) – iClicker Groups is now available in Beta, a new method of engaging your students with polling: promote discussion, open new lines of communication, and encourage collaboration. Utilizing this part of the iClicker suite divides your participants in groups to work on building a consensus for your polling. You can find the instructor guide at iClicker Groups (Beta). If you have any questions or would like to know more, visit the iClicker Groups Instructor FAQ or contact us at the Center for Teaching and Learning for more information.

Feel free to contact us at 7-3000 or email us at elearning@mtu.edu.

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