by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies How do you annotate your texts? How do you think your students annotate their texts? Among the likely answers to the former include writing marginalia and underlining with a pen or pencil. Some may answer the latter the same way. In any case, the typical method for doing close reading
Category: Integrating Technology
Digital English! Active Learning with WordPress
by Duncan M. Yoon, Department of English I was fortunate enough to present at the CIT Faculty Technology Showcase this past February. My presentation was on how I build WordPress websites for my literature classes as a digital hub for course materials, reading schedule, close reading blog posts, and discussion threads. Students really enjoy having
Frame.io for Peer Review of Digital Video Projects
by Nathan Dains, Telecommunication & Film, C&IS Frame.io is a web-based platform that features integration with leading video editing software. Benefits of using Frame.io include fast, simple hosting of media to be used in projects, and the ability to upload versions of projects for comparison and commentary from “collaborators,” in this case, the instructor and
Voyant Tools for Basic Text Analysis
by Jessica Porter, Office of Educational Technology (eTech) Whether you teach literature, history, or another text-heavy course, your students may benefit from the use of digital tools that enable them to dig deeper into a text and visualize its patterns and trends. Voyant Tools offers a suite of web-based tools that allow you to upload texts and perform basic text mining functions. The most popular item in the
Let’s Get Digital, Digital (Humanities)! Part One
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies The Alabama Digital Humanities Center (ADHC) opened in 2010. At the beginning of my second year at UA, I just now discovered the ADHC and its amazing home in Gorgas Library Room 109A . I arranged for a consultation with Emma Wilson yesterday. We enjoyed a vibrant discussion about
Power-Using and Hacking Blackboard
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies Do you use Blackboard in your course? I do. Here’s why: I think it’s easier for me, as well as the students, to have a simple, one-stop place to find and do everything related to a course outside of class. Now beginning my second year of teaching at UA, I find
How We Made a Course with Complex Symbols Accessible
by Torin Alter, Department of Philosophy In December of 2013, Marion Stevens, assistive technology specialist at the Office of Disability Services, contacted me about a Tree Mabry, a blind student who was close to finishing his undergraduate degree and needed to satisfy the core mathematics requirement. His major, communications, did not require advanced mathematics, and
An Inside Look at Online Teaching at UA
The Teaching Hub recently got the chance to interview everyone who teaches online courses for UA’s Department of Religious Studies. Thanks to help from the FRC, we gathered together across hundreds of miles with Blackboard Collaborate. In 25 minutes we discussed everything from the unique context of teaching online to what it takes to teach
Pros and Cons of Teaching with Twitter
by Jessica Porter, Office of Educational Technology (eTech) Twitter is a good tool for promoting student participation, but like any social platform, it has its benefits and limitations. This post aims to help you decide whether Twitter is the right social technology for your course. Pros Asynchronous: Twitter allows students to interact with the learning community whenever
Something’s in the Way: Struggling Students in Large Courses
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies Since it is almost Thanksgiving, many students will be leaving UA for home, where they will inevitably be asked, “So, how are things going?” Here is a short story about a student who dropped by my office this term: Last week, a distraught student stopped by my office