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Tips for Selecting Digital Teaching Tools
This resource will help you identify tools to facilitate learning in your course online. We recommend choosing UC tools based on flexibility, accessibility, and familiarity. Try to select tools you have experience with or those which require a low amount of time in preparing vs another tool.
The following list is divided into categories based on pedagogical use. In each category, resources and a description are given for the tool and tools are ordered from the lowest to the highest technical experience required.
Communication with Students
| Technology | Resources | Description | Tech Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC Email / Outlook | Email is the primary form of communication with students and others at the university. | Beginner | |
| Announcements in Canvas | How to post a Canvas Announcement Posting an Announcement in Canvas (Video Tutorital) | Announcements are used to post important information, such as upcoming due dates and clarifications to the course site. Can also simultaneously send email to student’s inbox and/or a push notification to a student’s phone. *Note: Students control their own notification settings within Canvas. By default, when a student’s Canvas account is created, Announcements are sent automatically to a student's email. |
Beginner |
| Canvas Inbox |
The Canvas Inbox (clip from the “Tour of Canvas” video tutorial) |
The Canvas Inbox allows you to send messages to one, several, or all the students enrolled in a course that you are teaching. You can also choose to send messages to TAs, co-Teachers, and course observers. *Note: Students control their own notification settings within Canvas. Students can select to have messages in their Canvas Inbox also sent to their Outlook email and/or a push notification sent to a phone. |
Beginner to Intermediate |
| OneDrive | Used for file sharing and collaborative editing of documents including Word, Excel, PowerPoint OneNote, and Forms. | Intermediate |
Recorded Lectures and Review Sessions
| Technology | Resources | Description | Tech Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
Narrated PowerPoint |
Narrated PowerPoint presentations allow for audio to be added to slides. Narrated PowerPoint presentations can be uploaded into Canvas or OneDrive for students to download and view offline. |
Beginner |
|
Kaltura Capture |
Getting Started with Kaltura Capture Keep Teaching - Kaltura Basics (Video Tutorial) Adding Kaltura Videos to your Canvas Course (Video Tutorial) (check how your students are interacting with your videos) |
Kaltura is used to pre-record videos and screencasts. Media can be created using Kaltura Capture and uploaded to Kaltura. Media created in another program can also be uploaded to Kaltura.
You can access all your Kaltura videos through the My Media link in any of your Canvas courses. |
Intermediate |
Live Lectures, Group Meetings, and Office Hours
| Technology | Resources | Description | Tech Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| WebEx | Webex Quick Start Guide, Hosting a Meeting Webex Landing, Access, and Getting Started Keep Teaching Webex Basics (video) WebEx Participant Guide (a great resource to send your students or colleagues) |
WebEx is used to host live online meetings. Webex can be used to do live lectures, group or class meetings, online office hours, and collaborative group work. *Note: The cap on faculty and student hosted rooms is 1000 participants as of 3/13/2020. *Note: If you only need audio or audio and screensharing, ask everyone to turn off their video to increase call quality. Alternatively, a faculty member may turn on their video and all students can turn off their video to increase call quality. *Note: If you have not used WebEx in 6 months, please submit an IT@UC ticket to reactivate your account. |
Beginner |
| Microsoft Teams |
Microsoft Teams, Part 1: The Basics (video) Microsoft Teams, Part 2: Class Teams (video) Overview of Teams and Channels in Microsoft Teams (video) Chat and Share Files in Microsoft Teams Start a Video Meeting in Microsoft Teams using Meet Now (video) Teaching Online with Microsoft Teams - CET&L Workshop Recording |
Teams is a digital collaboration tool that can be used for chat-based discussions, live video meetings, and file sharing. Microsoft Teams can be used to provide virtual office hours, student discussion and collaboration, live lectures, review sessions, or live student presentations. We recommend using Canvas for assignments, quizzes, and grades. Microsoft Teams compliments Canvas by providing tools for collaboration and communication. *Note: Class Teams have been created for all Summer 2020 courses. Faculty need to activate their Class Team in Microsoft Teams to grant students access. *Note: Video meetings are limited to 250 participants. |
Intermediate |
| Conferences in Canvas | Conferences is a video conferencing tool built into Canvas. Conferences can be used to do live lectures, group or class meetings with breakout rooms, and online office hours. *Note: Increased demand has caused performance issues in Conferences. We recommend extensively testing Conferences before hosting a live online session. |
Intermediate | |
| TurningPoint Personal Response System (PRS) | Getting Started with TurningPoint PC |
TurningPoint allows students to engage in live polling during a synchronous online lecture by using the mobile app. Posing questions using a Personal Response System, like TurningPoint, elicits an active response from every student, and may elicit greater participation in subsequent discussions. *Students need to purchase a Turning Technologies license but can use a license for multiple courses during a semester. |
Intermediate |
Assignments and Assessments
| Technology | Resource | Description | Tech Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discussion Boards |
Creating a Discussion in your course Create a Canvas Discussion Board (Video) Create a Discussion in Canvas (Video Tutorial) |
Discussion boards can be used to generate asynchronous class discussions with peer feedback and student collaboration. | Beginner |
| Assignments | Assignments in Canvas allows for online submission of text or a variety of file types as well as simplified online grading using SpeedGrader. | Beginner | |
| Tests & Quizzes | Create a Canvas Quiz (Select Classic Quiz |
Quizzes in Canvas allows for online quizzes and tests with multiple question types such as short answer and multiple choice. For Online Proctoring: Contact your Dean or Associate Dean and let them know you need online proctoring. An IT@UC representative will be in contact with you shortly thereafter. |
Beginner to Intermediate |
| Kaltura Video Quiz | Kaltura Interactive Quiz Guide Integrating Kaltura Video Quizzes into Canvas Kaltura Student Quiz Guide (a good resource to send to your students) |
Kaltura Video Quizzes allow you to turn your Kaltura videos and pre-recorded lectures into low-stakes quizzes with immediate feedback. *Note: We recommend scheduling a one on one consultation with a member of CET&L to discuss Kaltura Video Quizzes – click here to schedule a consultation |
Intermediate to Expert |
CET&L Virtual Workshop Recordings
If you were unable to attend a virtual workshop, or would like to review the workshop, you can access our workshop recordings on our Recorded CET&L Workshops webpage. All virtual workshops recordings are captioned.
Next Steps
As you continue to prepare to teach, partner with your department, college, or university peers to test the tools you would like to use. For example, try hosting a WebEx meeting or initiating a discussion through email. If something doesn’t work or proves to be too cumbersome, pare down or try something different. Remember—simplicity is one of the keys to success.
Sharing technology resources with your students helps them navigate tools they may be unfamiliar with or use features that are new to them. Consider creating a Technology Resources Module in your Canvas course as a place for students to reference if they have questions.
Support Resources:
Canvas Help 24/7 – Live chat, phone (855) 745-4414
Building Your Canvas Course from Scratch – Video Series