This spring, we ran our first faculty success stories about tech-driven approaches instructors tried during the pandemic, and hope to keep in the future. Here are the latest installments in the series:
- Meghan Porter: How do you manage the sheer volume of email for classes with hundreds of students?
- Christine Rassel: How do you provide meaningful feedback and insightful evaluations at a distance?
- Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology (JoTLT) special issue
Have a story to share? Email us a short explanation of your tech-driven approach: ReachLT@iu.edu.
Intermediate Inorganic Chemistry (200 student lecture course)
Intermediate Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory (100 student corresponding lab)
Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory (upper level lab with 6-12 students)
How many times have you heard, "Well, this might be a stupid question, but..."? If students were already starting their questions like that, it made Meghan Porter think about how many questions they simply didn't ask at all because they were too self-conscious. That was her driving force in starting to use InScribe Q&A Community, a crowd-sourcing platform that moves questions from one-on-one and small group spaces to community spaces, and it became even more important once everything went online.
When you're talking about hundreds of students, the emails get overwhelming. Though many have to do with things you've already posted, you still have to reply. Students like InScribe because it's much faster than email, and they can search and get help on their timeline. I like it for providing assistance outside of what I would consider normal hours.
Student feedback underscores this point: "I never felt like I had a question that I couldn't get help for, especially with this as an option." "I liked that the professor could endorse answers and answer directly in real time. Usually in person classes you have to wait until the next lecture to ask a question or send an email." "I could see questions that other students asked that I would have never thought of -- I hope that more classes implement it even when we go back to in person."
One student also called out a benefit that Dr. Porter came to see as crucial: "Having an extra place to ask questions and get more information/connection with other students was really helpful in students feeling less isolated." Even in person before the pandemic, Dr. Porter sought to build community in large classes. But, as one of her colleagues pointed out, group chats – her students’ usual communications – are naturally exclusive.
"Not all 200 people are going to be in that group chat. And if you don't know somebody in the class, you might not get an invitation. So I really try to promote InScribe as a community for everyone, and establish from the beginning that the main goal of this is to build community and help everyone's learning."
In some ways, Porter also finds that it helps students build confidence that they are actually able to help each other, especially with content questions. It's low stakes and anonymous -- they're not answering for a quiz or points, and they don't have to worry about messing up something. However, she definitely makes sure to use the endorse feature, so students know she has seen the answer and thinks it is good. Occasionally, she'll provide a quick clarification, but her posts don't have to be as long or in depth since she is not starting from scratch with her answer.
Anonymous posting, which is optional but highly recommended by Porter, has been key to students being willing to both post and answer each other's questions. Porter notes that even when you allow students to post anonymously, you can still see who they are in case a discussion wasn't respectful or if students have questions specific to her feedback. (She hasn't had issues, but she creates a class contract at the outset to set a tone of respect and trust.)
Tips for other instructors:
- Welcome: "I create a page that welcomes students to InScribe and explains what we're using it for, why we're using it, and our goals for using it. Then I have a Quick Check in Canvas on what is and what is not appropriate to post on it and how we will be using it in our course."
- Simplicity: "If you can keep all communication in one platform, that's easier. Because options for setting email preferences were initially limited, I ended up using Canvas announcements for some items. Students can now choose to receive email alerts for moderator announcements, so this fall I'll switch to doing everything in InScribe. It gets them into the habit of checking, and it keeps all communication in one searchable place."
- Expectations: "Unless it's a question only I can answer, I won't jump in until a student has replied to another student. I don't want it to become just a different way of emailing where they are still waiting for me to respond. I got the idea from Dr. Anne Zhang (Dept. of Psychology and Brain Sciences), and I spell it out in my syllabus so students know what to expect."
- Organization: "I make a tag for each course topic, for course logistics, and for "Professor Porter says" (in case students are worried about missing something from me). And I have a separate tag for weekly announcements, which include everything we did in a week and what's coming up next. Making them a tagged topic gives students a chance to reply with questions -- and, after each quiz, it gives me a place to go over common misconceptions, so it's all contained. I tag content by exam too, so if they search "Exam 1" then content that comes up."
- Analytics: InScribe also has the added benefit of built-in analytics for gauging student engagement. After a quiz retake frustratingly full of the same mistakes, Porter posted a reminder, "Don't forget, we post common misconceptions by question for every quiz. On the last one, only 40 of 200 of you looked at it before the retake."
Porter does note that in smaller classes like her six-person upper division class, InScribe doesn't take off in the same way. They already know each other, plus they see her regularly. But for large classes, it's beneficial for streamlining information, getting students out of the confines of email and group chats, and building connections. "I have a topic for whatever students are involved in to build community beyond the classroom, so we get to know each other better and not everything has to be serious. People can post about their clubs, activities, hobbies, interests ... or, you know, lighten things up a bit by sharing pictures of their pets or funny memes."
Implementation Resources
- Sample syllabus language:
Communication Expectations
This term we will be using InScribe (Q&A community) for all class discussion and Q&A. This system is designed to get you the help and/or answers you seek as fast and efficiently and possible from classmates, the AIs, and myself. Rather than emailing questions to the teaching team, we ask you to post your questions to this community.
- How to use InScribe (for students)
This resource details the instructor and student practices for Inscribe for Meghan Porter's N331 course. You can easily import this Canvas Page and corresponding Quiz into one of your courses and customize it as you wish.
Courses in medical imaging technology (both anatomy and pathology)
Chris Rassel has always provided feedback at a distance, as she isn't physically present in clinic with the students whose work she is evaluating. That distance means she is constantly on the lookout for ways to create connections and be more collaborative. As even labs moved online during the pandemic, that sense of community became even more important: She didn't want to lose the discussions and interaction that are so central to student learning and skills development.
With VoiceThread, Rassel and her students can create, share, and comment on images, PowerPoint slides, videos, audio files, documents, and PDFs. This approach works well for students with varied learning styles, who prefer to learn from audio or video – and, admittedly, want something more conversational like social media. Over time, they gain a much clearer sense of how imaging should look, and as one student noted, really come to "enjoy looking at other students’ images and involving [everyone] in critiquing online."
Rassel's ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between assessing image quality and improving students' abilities to create high quality images. Most issues come down to things such as are they recognizing image artifacts? What are the technical settings? Where is the focus? How could the images be improved?
Each week, Rassel now has two or three students submit images they've taken, and share anonymously as a VoiceThread so other students can assess those images. She has a rubric set up, requiring students to give a minute or more of voice comments and use the writing tool for additional suggestions. Commenters don't know who submitted the images (so they're more forthright with their critiques), and they can only hear each other's responses after the assignment is due.
Learn how to build from meaningful student introduction videos to image critiques in VoiceThread using the Tech Recipes here.
I'm using alternative assessments and moving away from the "read this/test that" model to provide more meaningful feedback. Anytime I can go more of an activity route rather than a homework or quiz route, it makes things more interactive, and students are more engaged.
In addition to following the same rubric she established for her students, particularly labeling with the writing tool and circling noteworthy features, Rassel inserts questions into her (asynchronous) VoiceThread lectures. Students respond, she reacts to their comments, and it ultimately simulates the give-and-take of class discussion. She can also add links to videos and other resources related to the topic at hand.
Rassel, admittedly, would love for students to listen to other students' comments as well, but it's a bit of a catch-22: If they can hear other comments prior to their own, they basically all say the same things. But if they have to make their own comments first, they don't go back and listen to other comments. Her solution has been to draw attention to certain comments during grading, encouraging them to go back and listen to the comments about what they missed.
Tips for other instructors:
- Post how-to videos for the first week of class: "I have a Getting Started module with all the technologies, with different how-to videos related to them. And I do a walk-through process as well."
- Include questions in text boxes or the VoiceThread lecture itself, requiring students to leave a response: "Participation is a big part of my students' grades, so I use the questions to prove that they're actually listening to and engaging with the lectures."
- Have your rubric attached to the assignment before you set the VoiceThread: "If you don't, it won't let you add the rubric after. I've had to start over a few times as a result."
- Take advantage of VoiceThread classes: "The hardest thing for me was setup, so I had to watch a couple of their how-to videos and make some notes. And I also use that in my course to help students set up their accounts and that kind of thing."
Moving forward, Rassel and colleagues are incorporating CN Post as another core learning technology. Instead of having students write papers, they can use CN Post's social media features to have them engage with other students around issues focused on civic engagement or diversity. Basically, they summarize an article or thought piece, then moderate a class discussion around it based on three thought-provoking, open-ended questions they've devised. The process helps challenge everyone's assumptions and draw out other viewpoints.
Rassel has also started having students work together to develop their own study guide with definitions of terms and related imaging characteristics. Her initial, end-of-semester attempt at the study guide didn't give students enough time, so she plans to use a Google Doc or Pressbook in the future to build something they can work on throughout the semester. In the long run, it could be helpful for them as future professionals too, especially with certain pathologies and diagnoses based on a patient's indications.
"I'm always trying to come up with different things to be more interesting and less daunting. And I'm trying to build experience beyond just, for instance, knowing what the disease pathology is. I want them to think about different age groups and what symptoms a patient might have. By having them do it in a more collaborative way, they pick up on different things and draw those connections."
The Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology (JoTLT) published a special issue on transitioning teaching to remote and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors of the issue's 41 articles present international perspectives and describe adaptations across a wide variety of disciplines.
Here is a selection of contributions from IU faculty and administrators, along with a short list of others that might be of interest. We've intentionally focused on authors who describe specific changes/strategies that they plan to keep beyond the pandemic.
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31566/36101
Clark Barwick, IU Bloomington
Abstract: This essay details the process of transitioning an in-person, undergraduate honors seminar on the global coffee trade to an online course as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the course’s demand for physical proximity, specific challenges emerged involving course design and active learning. This essay considers the problem-solving process and ultimate strategies for remotely teaching, discussing, and experiencing the global coffee trade. Specifically, this essay examines how YouTube and Zoom became important pedagogical tools for reimagining experiential learning and creating meaningful human connections.
Keywords: coffee, coronavirus disease, COVID-19, online teaching, honors seminar, YouTube, Zoom
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31410/36107
Viola Ardeni, University of California, Davis
Sarah Dallavalle, University of Chicago
Karolina Serafin, IU Bloomington
Abstract: In times when the humanities at large have suffered reductions in enrollments, the ability to build student communities has been seminal to the survival of many departments. Building student communities for language departments in particular includes planning conversation hours, movie nights, and cultural events aimed at attracting students and raising retention rates. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced departments across the country to modify not only their course formats but also the events offered outside of the regular teaching schedule. In this article, we discuss the shift that the Italian Language Program at IU Bloomington decided to apply to our community-building activities during and after the transition from in-person to an online mode of instruction.
To translate several events planned for the rest of the spring 2020 semester into an online environment, we had to resort to the extensive use of social media, such as Instagram and Facebook. Moreover, it was necessary to find creative ways to completely rethink our outreach efforts while still being relevant. Through a tight collaboration among language instructors, we invented and implemented a series of new activities (such as online bingo and cooking lessons) as well as translated those that were crucial for our program to exist and thrive into an online environment. A karaoke project that was originally intended to be the highlight of the academic year presented the greatest challenge in organization and modification; and yet, with creativity and an open-minded attitude, we managed to successfully finish the project with high student participation.
Keywords: Italian, community building, karaoke, social media, intercultural competence, online instruction
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31565/36124
Anu Muhonen, University of Toronto
Elisa Räsänen, IU Bloomington
Abstract: We investigated practices and emerging themes in a Finnish-as-a-foreign-language course virtual chat that took place between two Finnish language classes in two North American universities. Because of the unforeseen COVID-19 outbreak in spring 2020, both universities were suddenly required to move all instruction online to prevent the spread of the virus through physical distancing. We describe and analyze differences in the class chat from before the pandemic to after the transition to remote learning. The main focus is on the COVID-19-related themes and topics the participants shared during the associated lockdown. In addition, we examine what kinds of collaborative activities are created while chatting outside the classroom.
Keywords: chatting, collaboration, foreign language learning, remote learning, blended learning
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31412/36131
Jared Law-Penrose, IU Southeast
Abstract: The rapid spread of COVID-19 has radically reshaped the human resource (HR) management policies and practices in organizations of all sizes across the country. Additionally, COVID-19 has had a major impact on the way in which faculty members teach our classes. In this case study, I discuss the way in which I responded to these changes in the courses I teach related to HR. I start with a description of the way in which COVID-19 has impacted not only the course content, but also the pedagogical approach I use to engage students across my classes. I describe my attempt to foster trust despite the uncertainty associated with individual experiences related to COVID-19. I also explain the process for rapidly transitioning to a virtual classroom setting. I describe how I combined courses for instructional purposes and the way in which I pivoted the curriculum for each course. Specifically, I created time-relevant podcasts for students to use across different courses while maintaining distinct learning outcomes for each course. A sample podcast will be provided upon request for those interested.
Keywords: podcast, COVID-19, uncertainty, engagement, non-traditional students
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31107/36135
Cheryl Moore-Beyioku, IU Kokomo
Abstract: The need to quickly transition from face-to-face teaching using engaging, content-based activities to a new, online platform in just two weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary to try to migrate familiar activities that the students enjoyed into a virtual classroom. The activity that proved to be the most successful in maintaining a sense of community, engaging students, and reviewing content was playing Quizlet Live while in BreakoutRooms in Zoom.
Keywords: online teaching, gaming, pandemic, student participation, active learning, learner engagement, collaboration, educational technology, Distance Education
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31236/36138
Tatiana Kolovou, IU Bloomington
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic threw a curve ball into everyone’s spring teaching schedule. But for those of us who were a week away from taking their students overseas, it was a game changer. How do you create make-up material for one and a half credit hours while staying true to the course objective of “understanding another culture through immersion and interaction?” My course (Business Culture of Greece) is a three-credit hour course which includes an in-classroom eight week component, followed by a weeklong trip in Athens during spring break. Faculty will discover how to incorporate activities that inform and engage students even when they cannot travel. Ideas shared can apply to domestic travel and are irrelevant to country-specific content.
This submission includes a list of activities faculty can use to replicate in-country experiences designed to meet learning outcomes -- activities such as expert question and answer discussions that normally occur face to face; meetings with local students of the same age to discuss current topics; watching a native language film and debriefing with a film expert; and a final presentation of their course project to their local business client that occurred on Zoom. Preparation discussion questions, student highlight quotes, and lessons learned will be used to help faculty plan for future courses.
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Balancing Grace
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31399/36097
Courtney J.W. Fecske, IU Bloomington Keywords: remote learning, pandemic, transition, equity, pedagogy -
Teaching Techniques to Facilitate Time Management in Remote and Online Teaching
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31370/36115
Sarah Heath and Beau Shine, IU Kokomo Keywords: online instruction; time management; asynchronous teaching; chunking; micro-learning -
Rolling the Die, Learning to Teach
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31259/36117
Shelly Scott-Harmon, IU Bloomington Keywords: online teaching, student feedback, collaboration, asynchronous instruction, synchronous instruction, hybrid learning -
Making Revision Stick Online: Adapting Cowriting Strategies for Digital Engagement
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31406/36119
Kelly Hanson, University of Michigan
Miranda Rodak, IU Bloomington Keywords: learning environments, active learning, online teaching, student writing, collaborative writing, collaboration, team projects, pedagogy -
Dialogue in Online Learning Spaces: How Transitioning to Online Learning During a Pandemic Impacts Classroom Dialogue and Inclusivity
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31383/36121
Alexander Sousa, IU Southeast Keywords: online learning, dialogue, inclusivity, COVID-19 -
Leveraging a Course Quality Checklist to Improve Online Courses
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/jotlt/article/view/31253/36137
Hitesh Kathuria and David Becker, IU East Keywords: online course design, checklist, quality assurance, just-in-time resource, template
Reflecting on what we've learned over the past year.
It's been 15 months since the pandemic forced thousands of IU faculty statewide to quickly transition to teaching online. Similarly, those of us in professional development had to quickly figure out the best ways to provide needed support—as well as determine what other types of resources would be needed in assisting faculty with this transition.
As we look forward to a fall semester that will have our campuses once again filled with students, faculty, and staff, the IU teaching and learning centers have been working with faculty to determine the types of professional development opportunities and resources that will be most beneficial as the university returns to more normal operations. We've also been trying to help with figuring out which tools and techniques to keep from the last couple of semesters of teaching completely in the online environment.
At IUPUI, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) has worked with their faculty liaisons to determine what specific types of professional development and resources are needed to support faculty as they begin the transition back for the fall 2021 semester. Based on those conversations, the need for resources that faculty could quickly review on specific teaching or technology topics rose to the top of the list. This led the CTL staff to create the Quick Video Guides on Teaching and Technology resource that provides short video segments on a variety of teaching and technology topics. Thank you to all the teaching centers across IU, who contributed content from their webinars and other resources to help develop the guides.
The majority of the Quick Video Guides are in the 5-10 minute range and cover topics like Assessment of Student Learning, Canvas Modules & Assignments, Kaltura, and more. New videos are being added on a regular basis, as this new resource provides a way for faculty to quickly find a topic they are interested in and get the support they need. This resource is available to all faculty on all IU campuses, and the CTL is always open to suggestions on other topics of interest that can be created as a Quick Video Guide.
At IU Bloomington, the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) has sponsored faculty panels in STEM disciplines to explore what new teaching approaches instructors plan to carry back to their on-campus classes this fall. That program, along with a broad invitation to instructors to share what they are keeping for fall, has led to a video series that launched mid-June in the CITL blog.
This "What Will You Keep for Fall?" series highlights faculty members in short videos, sharing what challenges they encountered during remote teaching, the approaches they took to solve those problems, and how they see these innovations transitioning back to on-campus teaching in the fall. Topics include online office hours, more frequent low-stakes assessments, and approaches to build class community and sense of belonging. Through this series, the CITL hopes to both support faculty preparations for the fall semester and celebrate the outstanding work our community did over the past year to encourage student success.
Through these resources, all of which are available to faculty on all IU campuses, the teaching centers are working to support our transition back to campus, and to help us all envision how the future of teaching and learning at IU can look even brighter than ever. New resources will also soon be available via the updated Teaching.IU website (currently under development).
Best,
Randy & Greg
This webinar series will give you quick introductions to the online courses available at no cost through IU Expand. In 30 to 60 minutes, you'll get examples of what to expect from a course and learn how to enroll.
- July 29: Getting started with Adobe Rush
- August 3: Microsoft Teams at IU: Basic collaboration and project management tools
- August 5: Getting started with Microsoft Planner
- August 10: Getting started with inclusive design in documents
- August 12: Google at IU: File organization and basic collaboration
Explore courses and register online.
Access recordings of previous webinars.
Learn how to create course content, from eye-catching graphics to narrated video.
This session will cover the basic functions and interface of Adobe Spark, and we'll discuss applications for both your use in creating content for your courses as well as ideas for incorporating Spark digital story assignments into your curriculum. We'll also discuss steps needed to make sure your graphics and videos created in Spark are accessible when using them in other tools like Canvas.
Learn how to use modules to organize your Canvas course.
Well-organized Canvas modules provide an effective checklist for both instructors and students to ensure all content is being covered. This webinar, offered by the IU campus teaching and learning centers, will provide a basic understanding of how to set up a Canvas course using Modules to organize your assignments, discussions, files, and more.
Learn how to use your smartphone, computer, and Premiere Rush to create course videos.
This session will cover the basics of using Premiere Rush and will provide examples and ideas about how Premiere Rush can be useful in your teaching. We'll also discuss steps needed to make sure videos you create are accessible to all learners. Premiere Rush can also be used to edit other video, such as screen captures or video lectures, and students have access to it, so they can use it for creative projects you might assign.
Learn about strategies and tools for collaborative projects.
Successful group projects require thought about group formation, the establishment of group norms, and access to the tools and strategies that groups need to be successful. In this webinar, participants will learn about and share strategies for creating, supporting, and evaluating effective and equitable group assignments. We will also discuss tools that can simplify various aspects of collaborative projects for both students and instructors.
Learn how to import some or all of your content from a previous course.
You have your shiny new Canvas courses for fall semester, but you don't want to start from scratch! Learn how make Canvas do the bulk of the work for you. We'll also talk about important things that you need to check and do after importing and before giving students access to the course.
In addition, we'll cover some basic beginning-of-the-semester tasks to get your class started on a welcoming note and help make the rest of the semester easier for both you and your students.
Save the date, and submit proposals between now and September 13.
Proposals are now being accepted for this year’s ATLT Symposium. The Symposium will be held Friday, November 5, 2021 on Zoom. All presentations will be virtual.
There are two presentation formats available:
- A 15-minute "What Did You Learn" session where presenters share one important thing they learned about teaching and learning with technology during the COVID-19 pandemic that other IU instructors would find helpful or enlightening
- A 40-minute Concurrent Session where presenters share their innovative work with existing or emerging instructional technologies and their pedagogical applications
Registration will open in August. For more information and to submit a proposal, visit the ATLT website.
"Fungus full of psychedelic drugs could cause Indiana Brood X cicadas' butts to fall off" (The Indianapolis Star)
"A fungus is pushing cicada sex into hyperdrive and leaving them dismembered" (NPR)
Students need information literacy skills more than ever, when even legitimate news items read like satirical headlines aimed at drawing clicks. The IU Libraries' Information Literacy Online Toolkit is a great starting place for instructors looking to help their students assess potential sources and be better informed. Jane Mason and Meg Meiman of IU Libraries developed the Toolkit in 2018 to help instructors at all IU campuses introduce students to evaluating and analyzing information they find online.
The Toolkit "is designed to start the conversation about information literacy," says Mason. It focuses on important concepts like credibility, reliability, authenticity, and authority. Available on the IU Libraries website, the Toolkit provides instructors with a way to introduce these principles into their courses through modules and video tutorials that integrate seamlessly into Canvas. Faculty can select the content they find most valuable for their students, and import it directly into their Canvas course.
- Preview materials in the Toolkit by:
- Enrolling in the course, or
- Accessing the Toolkit directly via Canvas Commons (You may need to log in to Canvas first.)
- Then you can import, use, and adapt Toolkit for your Canvas courses.
Adam Smith is a senior lecturer in the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior at IU and used the Information Literacy Online Toolkit extensively in his Spring 2020 class, Introduction to Animal Behavior. This course, new to Smith, was a general education course with around 75 students, mostly non-majors and freshmen. He said that, as a biology professor, he is used to reading and evaluating scholarly articles. His students, however, have significantly less experience. Smith used several of the modules from the Toolkit to gauge students' ability to find and decipher quality information.
Smith said that even if professors don't plan on integrating the modules into their Canvas courses, the Toolkit can be helpful in developing class curricula. "Even just browsing the toolkit as a professor and looking at the materials that are there helped me think about the things that students might not know. Everyone should review it to see what issues freshmen might have when developing any exercise that involves students finding information."
Students have reported other valuable new skills beyond determining credible information: sifting through databases to find information; combining credible resources and blending them into an argument; and the importance of using information in a credible way.
I learned the importance of fully explaining why I chose each source and the reasoning behind why the information is valuable to my research. I always assumed it was just the content of the source that was most important, but this [Toolkit] module helped me realize that the reasons behind my desire for that information have the potential to add another layer to my analysis.
Students need to have a baseline of information literacy as they move through college, said Smith, and the Toolkit was successful at ensuring that in his course. Smith is grateful for the Toolkit and the librarian support he received through the IU Bloomington Libraries Information Literacy Grant program, which he learned about through the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at IU Bloomington. The program provides a stipend and pairs an instructor with a librarian who can help them use the Toolkit, develop exercises, and implement the modules in the most useful and beneficial way possible.
IU Bloomington Libraries plans to restart the Information Literacy Grant program in spring 2022. The announcement typically goes out the semester before the grant period. Interested instructors should look for a call for applications this fall. They can also express their interest in advance of the callout through libinstr@iu.edu or their preferred librarian. The grants are awarded to instructor/librarian teams, so interested professors will need to team up with a librarian.
Ultimately, if your students want to find out if cicadas' butts are really falling off, and decipher other cryptic online information, this Toolkit will help them develop the critical thinking skills to decipher fact from fiction. And those are skills everyone needs these days.
The UITS Assistive Technology and Accessibility Centers (ATAC) help the IU community use technology to provide equal access and an inclusive environment. When students with disabilities request an accommodation, ATAC specialists are available to advise instructors on their course content, alternative media formats, and other potential learning tools like software and hardware.
Some instructors have taken a proactive approach and asked ATAC to consult on their course design from the outset to create more accessible courses for all their students, not solely those who request accommodations. Below ATAC consultants and collaborators share four examples of how these consultations work, along with resources you might find useful in your own courses.
Knowing that all students are able to complete a laboratory experience is very important to me. I want to make sure that all students, regardless of their learning needs, are able to enroll in my course.
Turn on Ally in your Canvas course
Ally, a Canvas plug-in powered by Blackboard, will help instructors ensure their content is more accessible for all students. Once activated, Ally will generate alternative formats for students to download, give instructors an accessibility score for their content, and provide tips on improving the accessibility of the Canvas course.
Beginning August 1, instructors can submit a request to have Ally turned on for their Canvas course using this opt-in form. To learn more about how Ally can help make course content more accessible, check out the Ally Instructor Quick-start guide and Ally Student Guide.
Questions? Contact the Assistive Technology and Accessibility Centers at atac@iu.edu or (812) 856-4112.
- Instructor: Terri Hardy, adjunct instructor of sociology at IU East
- Consultant: John Ault, accessibility analyst at ATAC
- Focus: PowerPoints, Word docs, video, and Canvas pages
- Instructor: Deb Jaworski, lecturer in mathematics at IU Kokomo
- Consultant: Destin Hubble, accessibility analyst at ATAC
- Focus: Presenting math in Canvas, assessments, and videos
- Departmental leads: Janna Hitzeman-Crampton, learning technology specialist, and Heather Waye Arle, instructional designer, Office of eSocial Work Education and Practice
- Consultant: Sarah Herpst, accessibility analyst at ATAC
- Focus: Building accessible courses from the start
- Instructor: Gina Londino-Smolar, Senior Lecturer, Forensic & Investigative Sciences; Faculty Fellow, Teaching and Learning Technologies
- eLearning Design and Services (eDS) collaborators: Carrie Hansel, Maggie Ricci, and Caitlin Malone
- ATAC collaborators: Chris Goodbeer, Destin Hubble, and Michael Mace
- Focus: Everything from 3D renderings to 360-degree tours to tactile graphics
Want to learn more about creating accessible content? For starters, be sure to check out 7 core practices that benefit all students. And for guidance on a range of content types, from instructional materials to social media, visit Accessibility.IU.
From a professor's perspective: Stop spending so much time trying to find time.
It can be tiring sending emails back and forth with students or colleagues trying to find a mutually agreeable meeting time. When people ask me to let them know when I'm available for a meeting, the info I send them is often quickly out of date by the time they send the meeting invite. And though I have scheduled office hours for students, most student meetings occur outside of those set hours. I needed an easier way to plan meetings.
With the university's migration of all faculty and staff email to Exchange Online last spring, two tools are available now that solve my problems and allow me to more efficiently and effectively manage meetings: Microsoft Bookings and FindTime.
These tools are especially useful if you use Outlook at IU to manage your calendar (as I do), though they can be used even if you do not.
With Microsoft Bookings, you can create a self-service sign-up page where students or others can select time slots for meetings -- and when a meeting is made through Bookings, it is added automatically to your Outlook calendar. Unlike the Scheduler tool in Canvas, Bookings syncs with your Outlook calendar, so that times when you're busy won't be presented as options to those using the Bookings sign-up page.
In Bookings, you can specify certain times you want people to be able to book, and you can set the available durations of those meetings. You can also set it up with required lead time, preventing those using Bookings from setting up a last-minute appointment with you.
You might have used the Outlook Scheduling Assistant to see people's free/busy times when inviting other faculty and staff to meetings. But that only works for those who can use Exchange Online at IU (including faculty, staff and a few other groups). So, Bookings can be especially useful to provide a window into your availability for those who cannot use Exchange Online at IU, such as most students or those external to the university.
Bookings was made for businesses, so some of the settings might seem a little awkward in an academic environment when first setting up a booking calendar. Follow the instructions in this IU Knowledge Base article to learn more about Bookings and how it can be useful to faculty work at IU.
We're all used to filling out meeting polls. Though some use third-party meeting polls, at IU, we now have an easy-to-use tool from Microsoft that integrates with our Outlook calendars—Microsoft FindTime.
It functions like other meeting poll services, but with some additional features because of its native integration with Outlook calendars: When you're choosing date/time options to present in the meeting poll, FindTime will suggest times when you and other IU Outlook calendar users are available.
To use FindTime, you will first need to install it as an Add-In. Follow these instructions from Microsoft on how to do so. You can add it to Outlook for the web or add it to Outlook on your desktop.
You can create a new meeting poll from new email messages by clicking on the "New Meeting Poll" button when writing a message. You'll also see a "Reply with Meeting Poll" button when viewing messages, which will create a reply-all message with a link to a new meeting poll.
To access FindTime when using Outlook for the web, click on the three dots underneath the text formatting toolbar.
Setting up the poll is pretty intuitive, but referencing these instructions from Microsoft might help as you create your first meeting poll using FindTime. Once the poll is created, there will be a link in your email for recipients to click and vote for their preferred options.
This spring, advertising students in Bill Schwab's portfolio workshop competed for an Adobe Stock campaign to showcase their work on IU campuses across the state. (If you haven't heard, IU faculty, students and staff now have access to Adobe Stock, including more than 200 million photos, graphics, and illustrations.)
Advertisement for Adobe Stock at IU. The headline, "Start here. End here." is on the top of the page with an informational paragraph below it, all against a beach background and a computer screen.
Advertisement for Adobe Stock at IU. The slogan, Looks Matter, is in neon lettering at the top with a long-eared dog with big eyes and a small snout underneath.
The plan was for Adobe to choose one campaign, but both teams ultimately won out in the end: The judges found it impossible to choose between them. This fall, IU will feature the students' work across a range of communication channels to raise awareness about Adobe at IU. In the meantime, this video highlights the competition and the approaches the two teams took.
Adobe has been a long-term partner with Indiana University and along the way we've always looked for new and important and unique ways that we can bring these tools to our students. As of November of 2020 Indiana University is a Creative Campus Pro Campus. What that did is that added Adobe Stock to the contract for all faculty, staff, and students. I was looking for a project that was meaty and interesting and compelling that my students could dive into so voila there we are the wonderful Adobe Stock project came to be. Good afternoon. Welcome to our final presentation on how to be exceptional with Adobe Stock at Indiana University. I think Indiana is probably the most innovative school that we do work with. They're always trying to get faculty and students involved. There's a bit more of an added incentive when they feel like they have people on the other end who are actually looking at their work, evaluating the work, giving them responses, um, that goes beyond the classroom. I love to see how excited they are about this. We thought that the best way to advertise to other students would be to focus on how Adobe, specifically Adobe Stock, makes you exceptional and helps you figure out how you can stand out. We took an approach where we tried to find, like, a key insight as to what do all these students relate to? [video clip: presenter speaking: “This one goes from an image being pixelated to [inaudible] beautiful Adobe Stock image at full resolution.”] and I think that's definitely pushed our campaign forward. [video clip: presenter speaking: “…and then the next one, we took the concept of um you know like a picture's worth a thousand words so we have a long description, transitions to the actual picture of the ocean.”] We were completely blown away um at the student work, um, the the tick-tock videos, the social media ads, the billboards, the artwork, the signage, what they were able to do with stock was incredible. What astounded me about this partnership with the media school and their students was the creative, unique ways that the students provided us with how to build a campaign for students the campaign was so creative and so different and unique and it extended our thoughts beyond what we normally do for promotions of of any type of campaign. What I’d really like the students to take away from this is is a sense of that they've had an authentic experience. They've got some sense of what it actually feels like to be an advertising professional versus a professional college student. This is probably the first time that in an advertising class at least for me that we've had a lot of direction from the client. It's nice to have some guidelines and it's nice to make a client happy. You don't really know what the advertising industry is going to be like when you actually walk into it so having this real experience, getting to work with Adobe and really having this team where you make this great campaign has given me the chance to see what it's going to be like in my future. It's just been incredible the work that the students have done. Just just innovation. I can't wait to see when we create the future. They were able to participate and get feedback from the leading professionals in the field on a variety of topics around social media, marketing, and and they actually were able to take that feedback and make their projects even stronger. That's the type of real world connections we want to create for our students at Indiana University.That's what I hope that they feel like they've achieved in this course, that they're ready, that they realize what they realize they have acquired some skills, and they have a sense of what they have ahead of them, and they feel like they have the confidence now to achieve those next set of goals.
Keep an eye out for the students’ work, coming to IU communication channels this fall. And be sure to check out Adobe Stock in the meantime!
Want to know how accessible your course is? Turn on Ally.
Ally, a Canvas plug-in powered by Blackboard, will help instructors ensure their content is more accessible. Once activated, Ally will generate alternative formats, and provide an accessibility score along with tips on improving.
360 degrees of summer fun
IU Kokomo's Cherie Dodd worked with DEPI's Todd Kirk and Jeannette Lehr to create an in depth look at 360 degree cameras and their potential uses in teaching. All workshop content is now available via a self-enroll Canvas course.
The Story of My Life in Stories
Acting Associate VP of Learning Technologies Julie Johnston and Google Design experts judged IU's first exclusive Adobe Creative Jam, naming Kelley's Spandita Sahoo the winner for The Story of My Life in Stories.
Mosaic releases five-year report highlighting impacts since October 2015
Originally launched to support faculty teaching in active learning classrooms, the Mosaic Initiative has successfully extended this support through the Fellows program, leading research, and international recognition.
IUPUI Collaboration Theatre wins European honors for best classroom space
For the second year in a row, IU has earned international recognition for its innovative use of technology in learning spaces. Inspired by classical amphitheater design, the Collaboration Theatre fosters collaboration and conversation.
LT's help with rapid online transition featured in EDUCAUSE 2021 Horizons Report
"Among the finest examples of these [portals/hubs] was Indiana University's faculty-facing Keep Teaching and its companion student-facing Keep Learning…, [whose] structure and content were borrowed by dozens of colleges and universities across the US and abroad."
IU names new associate vice president for Learning Technologies
Jay Gladden will join the Office of the Vice President for IT after serving in academic leadership roles at IUPUI.
Getting Started with IT Training webinars give you a quick introduction to online courses available at no cost through IU Expand. In just 30–90 minutes you'll see examples of what to expect from the course and learn how to enroll.
These webinars include introductions to productivity tools—like spreadsheets and word processing—as well as creating media using the Adobe Creative Cloud. Find a current schedule in Happenings, or check out recordings of previous webinars.
Ultimately, the two most focused and timely information sources are right here at IU. Both the Mosaic Initiative 
