Utilizing Design Thinking and Technology to Foster Collaboration and Critical Thinking: Part I.

Markus and I often hear instructors talk about the challenges of fostering collaboration and critical thinking, especially when using technology. Therefore, a few years ago, we started to explore Design Thinking and how the Design Thinking model could be effectively used to support teaching data analytics and help students develop an analytical mindset. 

Part I of this blog topic will focus on Design Thinking and the technology used to help students learn data analytics. Part II of the Design Thinking topic, presented in March, will expand upon how Design Thinking can use various technologies to support any learning environment.

So, let’s start by discussing what Design Thinking is and how it works. Design Thinking is a human-centered, creative problem-solving methodology that helps users address various real-world problems by discovering innovative solutions. Design Thinking helps students understand the importance of defining the actual issues rather than just problem symptoms. It provides students with the power of collaborative problem-solving and helps them learn through failure on the way to success. Additionally, Design Thinking helps develop collaboration and creativity skills, which are valuable in assisting students in developing an analytical mindset. 

Design Thinking and data analytics work well together since both involve understanding the end-users needs, defining a problem, problem-solving through trial and error, analyzing data to identify solutions, and communicating recommendations or results. Since Design Thinking and data analytics both require students to develop an analytical mindset, they are a natural fit. Incorporating Design Thinking with Data Analytics reduces student reliance on memorization or rote learning. Instead, it helps learners develop flexibility, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and empathy skills. All of which are essential skills for the workplace. 

The Design Thinking Model is comprised of five stages. (1) Empathize, (2) Define, (3) Ideate, (4) Prototype, and (5) Test. 

The Empathize Phase connects the students to the end-users’ or stakeholders’ needs. Ideally, students can work with community partners on real-world projects, or they could work with simulated case studies. In the Empathize Phase, collaborative software (i.e., Zoom, Teams, etc.) can connect students with each other and with community partners. This discovery stage is where users of the model start researching and understanding the challenges stakeholders face and consider their needs. The goal of the Empathize Phase is to answer the following question: “What are the stakeholders trying to solve?”

The Define Phase is where students identify the problem. This phase is one of the most challenging phases of the Design Thinking process for students. Too often, students define a symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself. Students quickly learn that if they define the wrong problem, they will spend time looking for the wrong solutions. Design Thinking helps students focus on the importance of identifying the real issues in order to appropriately suggest solutions.

The next phase is the Ideate Phase. During this phase of Design Thinking, brainstorming occurs. Students think about various approaches to solve the defined problems. They need to generate as many ideas as possible and not eliminate anything at this point. By the end of this phase, students can start narrowing down their ideas into options that can be acted on. Technology like Evernote, OneNote, Padlet, Trello, Popplet are great tools for students to use during this phase. These tools can help students collaborate during brainstorming and as they narrow down their ideas to the best solution.

Step four in the Design Thinking process is the Prototype Phase. For organizations looking at products or services, this phase creates something. For student projects, this phase is where ideas get converted into real solutions. During this phase, students also start to understand that they can learn by failure on the way to success. 

The final phase in Design Thinking is the Test Phase. The Test Phase allows students to check their work and determine the effectiveness of their proposed solutions. During this phase, bringing in outside reviewers can be helpful. When students work with a community partner, the community partner will act as the outside reviewer. Data analytics technology tools utilized during the Test Phase can be Tableau, PowerBI, Excel, or other analytical software that creates visualizations. This phase of Design Thinking lets students test their ideas and get feedback from others. Students also use reflection at this stage as they decide what’s next.  

To read more about what Markus and I are doing with the Design Thinking Model and Data Analytics, click on the following link to the AICPA Extra Credit article, A road map for learning data analytics, Models can help faculty teach – and students grasp – this important subject. (Meyer, C., 2021) https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/newsletters/extra-credit/road-map-learning-data-analytics.html

Our March 2023 blog will be Part II of this series. We will introduce more technologies to use with various learning activities and each phase of the Design Thinking process.

2023 Teaching and Learning Toolbox

2021 Year End Review

With COVID-19 still hanging around, many of us are ready for 2021 to end and we look forward to a healthy 2022.  At this time of year, we feel that it is a great opportunity to reflect upon the fantastic technology tools and topics that we explored throughout 2021.  A great resolution for 2022 is to integrate at least one new tool into your classroom environment.

Wakelet (Collaboration) – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/01/

Microsoft Clipping Tool – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/02/

Ziplet (Student Feedback)– https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/03/

Zoom Classroom Lecture Recordings – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/04/

Soundtrap (Podcasting & Collaboration) – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/05/

Teaching in Hyflex and Blended Learning Environments  – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/06/

Canva (Collaboration) – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/07/

Let’s Get Ready for the New Academic Year – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/08/

CountThings (Image Recognition & Machine Learning) – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/09/

Chrome Extensions (Momentum, Kami, InsertLearning, Google Keep, Just Read) – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/

Google Lens – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2021/11/30/

We look forward to exploring more teaching and learning technology tools throughout 2022.

© 2021 Teaching and Learning Toolbox

Enhancing Learning and Productivity with Google Lens!

Google Lens is a free AI-Powered app that utilizes a smartphone camera with machine learning to identify and explain objects to users.  The Google Lens app is available for both Android and iOS devices.  While Google Lens has been around since 2017, the technology continues to evolve.  Essentially, Google Lens has gotten “smarter” over time.  Not only can Google Lens identify images, but it can also easily search, copy, and translate text.  For ELS students, the real-time translation feature can be beneficial.  Students snap a Google Lens picture of the desired text and utilize the Google Translate plug-in to complete the translation instantly.  Google Lens can also identify people, text, math equations, animals, landmarks, products, etc.  Sometimes Google Lens provides resources for further learning exploration, and other times, it gives the answers.

Some key Google Lens features that can benefit both students and instructors include:

Text Selection/Search Tool: This feature allows students to use Google Lens to take pictures and highlight text for later use on their phone or computer, using the “Copy to Computer” command.

Google Lens can capture any text, whether it is on a piece of paper, in a book, on a whiteboard, or website.  Once the text is copied to a smartphone, the information can then be pasted in external sources such as Google Docs, notes, email, or a chatbox.

Today, many students use their smartphones rather than computers for schoolwork.  Therefore, the text and search features enhance the phone’s usefulness.  Google Lens is also useful for quick lookup activities, such as defining unfamiliar words or technical jargon.  Finally, for other students who prefer audio rather than visual learning, Google Lens makes it easy for students to listen to any captured text.  

Homework Assistant Tool:  Students can use Google Lens as a homework assistant.  Students simply scan the question(s), and the app provides resources and/or answers.  For STEM courses, Google Lens combined with Socratic by Google typically includes step-by-step instructions that lead to the final answers. 

Using technology as a homework assistant can be either good or bad.  For students who use Google Lens as a homework assistant, the technology can help get them “unstuck,” which can be particularly helpful as students are learning a topic.  Using Google Lens in this manner keeps students moving forward in their learning process. 

However, a downside of Google Lens is the increased ability to cheat.  Using Google Lens, students can easily take a picture of an exam question to locate the answer.  Before writing this blog, sample questions were used with Google Lens.  The results indicated that publisher-created questions as well as recycled instructor-created questions often quickly located the correct answer.  With this type of technology, students who cheat no longer must enter a question into the search bar and then sort through resources for potential answers.  Instead, they can simply snap a picture of the question, and Google Lens will rapidly search the Internet for the solution.  Since Google Lens uses machine learning, it can sort through millions of sources quickly, and as our tests found rather effectively.  

Productivity Tool:  Google Lens can help students and instructors stay organized.  Information captured by a Lens image can be sent directly to an electronic calendar.  This Google Lens feature can be beneficial for students who struggle with due dates.  Google Lens can also be a helpful tool for instructors attending conferences or networking events.  Information collected with Google Lens (i.e., scan images, texts, bar codes, and QR codes) can be immediately transferred to a file for future reference or follow-up.

To get started or try Google Lens, download the app from your smartphone’s app store, or you can find the Google Lens icon on your Google Photos and Google Search Bar.  You can also find the download instructions at https://lens.google/.

©2021 Teaching and Learning Toolbox

Increase Your Efficiency in the Classroom with Chrome Browser Extensions

With Chrome’s market dominance, many of us use the Chrome browser on a daily basis.  To improve your productivity and efficiency within your classroom environment, Cathy and I suggest exploring a few of the many Chrome extensions.  We recommend starting with the following innovative extensions: 

• Momentum –

Momentum is a free extension that can help add focus to your day.  Join over 10 million users who are utilizing Momentum as an all-in-one productivity tool.  Momentum sends friendly reminders of your important tasks, links, daily focus, and more.  Momentum will help you start and end each day focused on the task at hand.

• Kami –

Kami is the world’s number one digital classroom tool with complete assignment workflow.  Kami allows you to annotate and transform any document into an interactive learning space.  You and your students can collaborate in real-time through live annotations, video and audio recordings, drawings, and more.  Kami provides tools to support many learning styles, helps increase student engagement, and helps improve learning outcomes.  Teachers can spend more time with their students and less time on grading.  Kami allows you to provide feedback, grade, and push student work straight from your preferred LMS, including Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, and Microsoft Teams.

• InsertLearning –

InsertLearning allows educators to insert instructional content on any web page, which can save teachers and students time while helping keep students engaged.  Instructors have access to insert questions, sticky notes, discussions, and videos directly into any website.  When students go to that website, they can respond to those questions and discussions, see the videos, and take their own notes.  Also, InsertLearning has a feature that will allow students to engage each other in real-time.  Use InsertLearning to turn any website into an interactive learning experience.

• Google Keep –

Google Keep is a free, simple, and effective productivity and collaboration tool for both students and instructors.  If you want to be more organized, productive, and collaborative, Google Keep captures your notes and ideas, provides a collaborative sharing resource, and offers a great To Do List feature.  See our Google Keep (March 2019) Tip of the Month for more information.

• Just Read –

Just Read is a feature-packed and customizable reader view app.  With Just Read, you can reformat cluttered websites into cleaner, easy-to-read documents.  Just Read allows you to easily eliminate advertisements, popups, comments, and other web clutter when you pull content from web pages.  The finished product is a simplified, clean, and readable document that can be distributed to students.

To learn more about the many “free” Chrome extensions, click  https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions

© 2021 Teaching and Learning Toolbox

CountThings: Bringing Image Recognition and Machine Learning to the Accounting Classroom

If you are looking for a free way to introduce students to how image recognition and machine learning can easily complete routine tasks, such as counting inventory, the CountThings app is just the tool. CountThings is a real-world tool used in various industries to simplify counting large quantities of items such as metal products, tubes, logs, lumber, pharmaceuticals, medical vials, livestock, animals, wildlife, and more. While the CountThings paid version is quite expensive, they do offer a free test version and provide sample templates that students can use to experience the app’s benefits. 

The free, demonstrator templates include Xs on white paper, coins, lines on notebook paper, and keyboard keys. All of these templates are normally easy for students to work with and access both in and out of the classroom.  I tend to use the coins template as it is easy for students to relate to counting coins and the time saved by automating coin counting.

To get started, students can download the CountThings app to their iOS, Android, Samsung, or Windows smart devices. Once the app download is complete, students can continue as a “guest” to utilize the free trial. Using the CountThings app is as simple as 1-2-3!

Step 1:  From the app, students select “Take New Photo” or “Use an Existing Photo”. Then students select the appropriate counting template. For example, if students are counting coins, they would select the “coin template”.

Step 2:  Students then click “Count”.

Step 3:  Finally, students review the count and take a screenshot, or they can select “Save”.

If you don’t want to use coins, have the students try the Xs on white paper, notebook lines, or keyboard keys counting template. All of these work the same way. Occasionally, the app will give students an inaccurate count, but if students repeat the process with a new picture, the inaccurate count is normally resolved.  

CountThings Coin Count Template Results

Because CountThings is a tool used in various industries, there are a few brief case studies available on their website that you could use for class discussions. Some other topics I’ve used for discussion include (1) the benefits and cost savings of image recognition and machine learning for inventory management, and (2) the accuracy or inaccuracy of this type of technology and why the template selection might affect the count.

CountThings is a simple and effective way to introduce accounting students to the real-world benefits of image recognition and machine learning applications. If you would like to try the CountThings app, download the app from your smart device’s app store.  To learn more about this technology and its real-world uses go to the CountThings website. Happy counting!

© 2021 Teaching and Learning Toolbox

Let’s Get Ready for the New Academic Year!

At this time of year, we as educators begin to organize ourselves and make plans for the upcoming semester.  The COVID-19 pandemic forced many educators to utilize technology to deliver quality education.    This a great time to reflect on what worked well in a virtual environment and utilize technology that can help organize yourself and your classroom for the upcoming year.   Where should you start?  Cathy and I think that this is the perfect time to share how we stay organized and to recap some of our favorite and most useful technology tools.

To maintain easy access to our documents from anywhere or any device, Cathy and I utilize Dropbox for document cloud storage.  In addition, Dropbox allows us to easily share documents with anyone.  Other cloud storage services that we recommend are Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, and Apple iCloud.

In addition, a great note taking app is a must have for increasing productivity.  Both Notability and Evernote are tools that we utilize on a weekly basis.  Additional note taking tools that we recommend are GoodNotes, Google Keep, Notion, Microsoft OneNote, and Apple Notes.

Furthermore, Cathy and I utilize technology to convert our typical classroom into an interactive whiteboard environment.  Doceri allows our hand held devices to project images through the classroom overhead projector and to record our lectures.  Zoom has also become a great presentation tool for Cathy and myself.  Additional whiteboard and/or lecture capture technology that we recommend are Explain Everything, Educreations, ShowMe, Notability, Splashtop, Jamboard, Stormboard, Camtasia, Tegrity, Snagit, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Whiteboard.

To increase student engagement in the classroom environment, Cathy and I utilize several polling and gamification technologies.  Poll Everywhere, Kahoot, Piazza, Sli.do, Socrative, Ziplet, Peergrade, and Mertimeter are a few of our favorite polling options.  These  student engagement technologies work great for on campus or online learning environments.

Cathy and I integrate many group team activities into our course curriculums.  Some of the technologies that we use to support the group workflow and grading are:  Canva, Soundtrap, Mural, GoSoapBox, Google Keep, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.  Another technology option to consider for team communication is Group Me.

If you are looking for technologies to introduce data analytics into your curriculum, Tableau and PowerBI are very user friendly tools.  In addition, Cathy and I describe how we introduce data analytics into our curriculum and our approach was published in an August 2020 article.

Finally, Cathy and I try to utilize technology to engage our students outside of our classroom lectures.  Some effective technology tools that we use to accomplish student engagement are: Wakelet, Kahoot Challenge, Flipgrid, Google Slides, and Recap.

We hope that you take this opportunity to discover at least one technology that can help you become more organized throughout the upcoming year.  We recommend checking with your institution to see if they currently provide any of these technologies at little or no cost to faculty.  Many technologies provide similar benefits; therefore, we identified several tools within each organizational category listed above.  We suggest utilizing tools that compliment your teaching style and that can be acquired for the least amount of resources.  Good luck and have a great academic year.

© 2021 Teaching and Learning Toolbox

Bring More Collaboration, Creativity, and Engagement to Your Course with Canva

“You can’t use up creativity.  The more you use, the more you have.”
~Maya Angelou~

Since the shift toward remote learning, Markus and I have been asked numerous times about ideas and tools to bring more collaboration, critical thinking (creativity), and engagement to courses.  This month we are sharing Canva, a technology tool that allows students to creatively collaborate, and instructors to create appealing course materials that support engagement. Canva for Education provides numerous free resources for instructors and students, such as images, fonts, graphics, videos, animations, and visualization and educational templates.  Canva also provides students with a dedicated and safe workspace to share, review, edit, and comment in real-time. For instructors, Canva helps enhance the visual design of your course to create a more engaging learning environment.

While Canva is ideal for enhancing online learning, it also works well with in-person, hybrid, or hyflex course delivery methods.  Canva activities can be shared through your LMS or through applications such as Microsoft Teams. Canva allow students to work together whether viewing, editing, or sharing feedback.  Canva’s real-time functionality will enable students the flexibility to work synchronously or asynchronously as needed.  Canva also helps students stay connected and engage in any course. 

For remote learning, instructors can create a lesson with voiceover, then share it as a video link in their LMS or by email.  Students can also create videos or record themselves speaking in an assignment or project.  Every student in the course has a voice using Canva, whether submitting original work or providing feedback for classmates.

There are numerous ways to use Canva, and it is adaptable for every type of course. The following are just a few ideas that Markus and I would like to share:

• Design Thinking: Are you looking for a way to implement and manage design thinking projects?  Canva allows students to collaborate on design thinking activities and then provide their insights in an infographic.
• Portfolios: Canva is a great tool to help students create learning portfolios, reflect on their learning or store information to create a resume or CV.
• Student Learning Plans: Student learning plans can help students become more aware and engaged in learning.  With Canva, students can set personal course goals, create self-study guides, plus highlight newly discovered interests from the topics covered in their course(s). In addition, asingle student or group of students can use Canva to share their portfolios, allowing for peer-to-peer feedback, which improves the learning process.
• Group Projects:  Canva makes group projects more appealing.  Groups of ten (10) can be created for free. A Canva group makes it easier for group members to create, share, comment, and revise projects. Students can also engage by liking a group member’s work when no other feedback is required.   
• Visualizations: Canva allows students to create text-or-image-based graphics, which can often illustrate formulas or problems found in accounting, mathematics, statistics, and the sciences better. For students who find quantitative subjects challenging to grasp, adding a creative, visual aspect to the activity can help these students more easily “connect the dots”. Canva alsooffers various templates that help students turn numbers into visuals that are easier to understand.
• Reflections: Markus and I both provide students with opportunities to reflect in our courses.  Use Canva to perform a quick reflection, similar to a one-minute paper, or to create a more in-depth reflective course examination.
• Pre-Class Activities: Encourage students to be prepared by visually summarizing a chapter or topic in Canva before class.  Remind (November 2015) or LMS Announcements help reinforce when the Pre-Class Activity is due so it gets completed.
• Data Analytics: Charts and graphs help to demystify numbers.  You can add data analytics visualization to any course using Canva’s easy-to-use, fill-in-the-blank, visualization templates.  Canva is also a great way to have students explore visualization in a user-friendly environment before moving to more sophisticated visualization tools.
• Flashcards: Create flashcards using Canva that can be used on a device or printed for additional practice.
• Resumes: Resume creation is made easy with Canva. Students pick a layout and enter their data. Canva formats the document, selects the font, and suggests a suitable design.
• Signatures: Many documents previously submitted in person prior to remote learning now require electronic signatures.  Teach students how to create their electronic signature using Canva.

For instructors, consider using Canva to create engaging and interactive presentations and assignments. Canva provides a wide range of assignment templates, including writing prompts, journal entries, book review designs, and word problems. In addition, create eye-appealing calendars, schedules, and anchor charts to help students stay on track during the course. Canva also lets you link created graphics to a webpage, in order to make the graphic interactive.  Simply, download your file as a PDF or webpage rather than as an image. QR codes can be added to any design to make it easier for students to access web content.

Canva is entirely COPPA and FERPA compliant, ensuring your student’s privacy and safety. Canva is also easy to use, and to get started.  Just send your students an invitation link through your LMS or email. Feeling a bit tech challenged?  There are numerous resources available to help you explore Canva as you look for new and exciting ways you can utilize this tool in your course(s).

Whether you want to utilize Design Thinking, incorporate Data Analytics, enhance project-based collaboration in your course, or create more engaging lectures and activities, Canva provides you the tools you need.  To explore what Canva for Education offers or set up your account, go to https://www.canva.com/education/.   You can also check out a brief summary about Canva for Education in the following video: https://youtu.be/3Axs47FT1-s

©2021 Teaching and Learning Toolbox

Teaching in HyFlex and Blended Learning Environments

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many educators, including Cathy and myself, into teaching in virtual learning environments.  Since the goal was to keep students and faculty safe from COVID-19, some us were introduced to new teaching models.

First, we need to define our teaching and learning models (NOTE: Some schools use different terms for these models).

LVL: Live Virtual Lecture

Hybrid: Students watch/prepare outside of class and then have a live component

Blended: (Live-Combined) On-campus in class students and LVL

HyFlex: Blended + Asynchronous option

NOTE: In a prior Teaching and Learning Toolbox Tip of the Monthpost we discussed several organization tips to aid in delivering a quality virtual lecture. https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2020/06/

In this post, we want to address the complexities and challenges of teaching in a HyFlex learning environment.  In any learning model, but especially the HyFlex model, we need to address the following items:

^{Image created by Amanda White – University of Technology Sydney – Australia}

Similar to the Blended learning model, one of the biggest challenges in HyFlex is managing the people (students) in the live classroom and in the LVL.  How are LVL students allowed to ask questions?  Instructors need to decide if LVL students will use the chat feature, raise their hand and be called upon, or just unmute themselves and ask their question.  There is often a delay in questions from the LVL students while they type in chat or by the time that it takes for an instructor to see a virtual hand raised.  The interactions with the LVL students, many times will disrupt the flow of the class.  Some instructors have found that subdividing their classroom into separate in-person student question and LVL student question periods help with their classroom organization.  Furthermore, it is vital that the faculty teaching in Blended and HyFlex learning models receive appropriate training to teach in these models.  Training is required for both pedagogy and for the technology used in the course delivery.

Many times, having the appropriate technology and understanding of how to effectively use it can be the biggest challenge for instructors.  The pandemic forced institutions to quickly change course delivery models mid-semester.  Many students, faculty, and schools did not have the appropriate technology to support the new learning models.  At some institutions, students and faculty were loaned equipment and resources to accommodate the new classroom environment.  In several situations, the loaned equipment was too old or too scarce to provide a successful transition for the students and faculty.  Many individuals were forced to purchase new equipment themselves to adjust and assist with this new style of learning.

In the HyFlex learning environment, classrooms need to be equipped with multiple cameras, multiple microphones, innovative computer stations, and maybe even a document camera.  The biggest challenge in the HyFlex delivery is managing the equipment and technology.  Many times, the instructor feels more like a movie producer instead of a teacher.  Managing the LVL and in-class students, while producing an asynchronous recording can be difficult to achieve.  Furthermore, the school may have significant firewalls that prevent access to certain material to the LVL students.  I encountered issues with trying to show a short video in class.  The LVL and asynchronous recording could only receive the audio feed, since the video feed was blocked by a firewall.  Most of the time, I brought my own laptop to the classroom to avoid similar issues.  The best option is if the instructor has a separate person (teaching or graduate assistant) to run the equipment and technology while the instructor concentrates on teaching.  Cathy and I do not have this option, therefore, we have asked in-person students to monitor the chat for questions.  Furthermore, pausing and restarting your asynchronous recordings can be an additional challenge.  Cathy and I try not to have extensive recorded idle time when students are working on in-class exercises.  In addition, many times we will pause the recording when students ask questions.  In our experience, students ask questions more freely when they know that they are not being recorded.  After we answer the live student questions, we will restart the video recording and summarize the question and answer portion of the course.  We have received positive feedback from our in-class students because the recorded summaries help them with their notetaking.

Unfortunately, we have found that Institutional Workload Policy regarding HyFlex is not consistent.  Many schools will count a HyFlex course as one course load and other schools recognize the complexity of teaching this model, and will consider it as two or three course loads.  The HyFlex model is a tremendous amount of work and when institutions treat it the same as a normal in-class lecture course load, it can be unfair to the instructor.  The size of the class section and the level of support from the school can further complicate teaching in this learning model.  We encourage everyone to fully understand the challenges in teaching in the HyFlex classroom model, including how you will be compensated, before starting this endeavor.      

Cathy and I cannot stress enough that being organized and consistent is essential to successfully teaching in the HyFlex learning model.  Students require consistent structure and they do not react well when the rules get changed throughout the semester.  Also, keeping the students engaged can be an issue.  To increase engagement, we use polling questions and breakout rooms in our virtual learning environments.  Students appear to enjoy the flexibility of the HyFlex learning model.  But, be prepared for students switching modes of delivery during the semester within the HyFlex environment.  Some institutions require students to stay in the same mode of delivery throughout the entire semester, but many schools allow students to choose their mode of delivery on a weekly basis.  With COVID-19, I had students that were forced to switch delivery modes due to quarantine requirements.  Luckily, the HyFlex model allowed the students to fully participate and successfully complete the course during their quarantine period. 

© 2021 Teaching and Learning Toolbox

Soundtrap –A Cloud-Based Application and Podcasting Tool to Create 21st Century Student Creativity and Collaboration Skills

As we have learned over the last year, providing students alternative ways to creatively collaborate in a remote environment is essential.  The cloud-based application Soundtrap is a digital audio workstation (DAW) that provides students and instructors with an alternative remote collaboration option. Soundtrap also supports the development of student critical thinking and creativity skills.  These skills are important for 21^st-century learners to practice as they prepare for the future workforce. 

Soundtrap started in the Spotify community as a cloud-based recording studio to create and collaborate on music. However, Soundtrap also provides a platform for students to collaborate on course audio projects, such as podcasts or virtual presentations.

There are numerous ways to incorporate Soundtrap into any course.

• Interviews:  Students can interview professionals about their careers, classmates about various topics, such as internship experiences, or explore with alumni – life after graduation.
• Job Seeking Support: Students can record a mock interview and receive instructor feedback.
• Presentations:  Students can record, practice, and critique presentations, add audio to a presentation or use the platform to debate differing viewpoints.
• Project-Based Learning (PBL):  Users can add audio to PBL activities and provide classmates the opportunity to give peer-review feedback.
• Portfolios: Students can capture their work and share it with future employers
• Assessment: An excellent tool for incorporating alternative assessments, especially for students who prefer to be heard but not seen.
• Study Tool: A study tool students can use to read, record, and reflect on what they have learned.
• Knowledge Sharing:  Students can create an instructional resource that can be shared with classmates to enhance understanding or discussions.
• Soundtrap also works well with Waklet (January 2021).  Students can create a Walklet account to organize their Soundtrap project(s).

Instructors may also find Soundtrap useful. Teachers who flip their classrooms can record tutorials that students can listen to asynchronously.  The recordings not only provide students flexibility but also allows them to rewind and repeat as needed.  Instructors can also use Soundtrap to facilitate learning conversations in an asynchronous environment by recording and broadcasting group discussions.

Soundtrap can be integrated with most major LMS systems or shared through Microsoft Teams or Google Classroom applications. Instructors can also share Soundtrap with a URL link.

Soundtrap is easy to use and start using.  All that is required is access to a computer and headset.  Students can enroll themselves in Soundtrap with either an instructor-provided class code or URL link. If students elect to set up a Soundtrap group, they can; then invite the teacher to their group.

Instructors can also import students into Soundtrap from a CSV file. A temporary password can then be emailed to students to modify after their first log-in attempt. Soundtrap also lets instructors invite other teachers or industry professionals to groups.  This is an excellent way for these individuals to be involved in interview or mentoring activities. For instructors who want to control who can collaborate, Soundtrap permissions provide this option.

To get started in Soundtrap, simply enter the studio, and start recording. You do not have to worry about being perfect. Soundtrap has a simple editing feature, which converts the audio to text. This lets you edit your recording like you were editing a Word document.

Best of all, Soundtrap has a free version that works well for short-term projects, especially if students set up their groups and invite the instructor to join the group. Low-cost paid versions are also available under Soundtrap for Education.

Regarding accessibility and compliance, Soundtrap is accessible on any browser and from various devices.  Soundtrap is also guaranteed COPPA, GDPR, and FERPA compliant, which provides students with a safe and secure environment for creative collaboration.

Finally, Soundtrap can be downloaded as an MP3.  The MP3 files allow users to store on their computer, import into an LMS or share on YouTube.

To learn more about Soundtrap for Education or to set up an account, go to https://www.soundtrap.com/edu/#.

©2021 Teaching and Learning Toolbox

Using Zoom for Classroom Lecture Recordings

During 2020, many educators, including Cathy and myself, were displaced from our campus classrooms due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Most of us were required to quickly adopt technologies and create virtual learning environments.  As we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel and the possibility of returning to pre-pandemic classroom environments, we would like to reflect on some improved lecture recording practices utilizing Zoom.  

For several years, Cathy and I have used Doceri  https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2019/10/ as an affordable classroom lecture recording technology tool.  We both have been avid users of the Doceri software while utilizing our Apple I-Pads and Microsoft Surface Pros when we lecture in our classrooms.  Throughout the pandemic, Cathy and I began experimenting with Zoom to record our lectures for students to view on their own time. 

Before someone begins recording classroom lectures, we encourage them to view the following two prior Teaching and Learning Toolbox “Tip of the Month” posts.  In the first post, we discuss many organizational tips to aid in delivering a quality video lecture.  The second post addresses the basic Zoom safety and security functions.

1- Improve Your Virtual Meetings & Classroom Presentations – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2020/06/

2 – Zoom – https://teachingandlearningtoolbox.wordpress.com/2020/04/

In addition, we always recommend using the most current version of Zoom. This will insure that you are using the most secure version and that you have access to all updated features.

Now, let’s examine the steps to using Zoom to record a lecture.

• After you start your Zoom meeting, you will need to test and make sure that your microphone and video are working properly.  The microphone Mute and Start Video buttons are available in the bottom information bar on the far left side.

• If you want to record a PowerPoint presentation or other documents, you will need to click the Share button located in the bottom information bar.  You need to have the document that you want to share open on your desktop.  You will have the opportunity to choose the document to display during the lecture after you select the Share button.

• To begin recording your lecture, click the More button at the top of the Zoom window.

• Choose the Record on this Computer option from the drop-down menu. NOTE: If you did not share your screen, the Record/Pause/Stop Recording buttons will be located in the bottom Zoom information bar.

• You have the option to Pause Recording or Stop Recording throughout the lecture.  Cathy and I utilize the Pause Recording function to avoid extensive idle time when students are working on group exercises or if there are sensitive subject matters being discussed.  Many times we will un-pause the recording and then summarize the discussion that just took place in the live classroom environment. NOTE: Pausing the recording and then resuming the recording will result in one video recording.  Stopping a recording and then starting a recording will result in multiple videos.  Every time that a recording is stopped, it completely ends that video recording.

• When you are finished recording, click on the More button and then choose End from the drop down menu. NOTE: If you did not share your screen, the End button will be located in the bottom Zoom information bar.

• After you select End, you will need to select End Meeting for All.

• Your recordings will automatically begin converting to .mp4 formatted videos.

• Zoom automatically saves your recorded lecture files in a folder named Zoom within your computer’s Documents area.  This location should automatically open when the recordings are finished processing.  In addition, the files will be sorted by recording date.  We suggest renaming the video files before you post them into your Learning Management System.

Additional Note: Cathy and I Share documents in Zoom and mark on them utilizing our I-Pads and Surface Pro’s pencils.  These marked up documents are captured within our classroom session recordings.  Furthermore, Cathy and I upload our .mp4 Zoom recordings into our YouTube channels as unlisted videos and then we share the YouTube link in our Learning Management Systems.  This allows our students to view the videos outside of our Learning Management System, resulting in less buffering issues and increased compatibility with our student’s mobile devices.

Do you need more help using Zoom?  We suggest checking out these great Zoom created video tutorials:  https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials?_ga=2.47859235.520390637.1586184035-254639170.1585840704

To learn more about Zoom and to set up your free account, click https://zoom.us/.

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