by Nathan Loewen, Faculty Technology Liaison & Department of Religious Studies Someone responded to the survey for Last Week’s Teaching in 2020 with a comment about the Discord app. It turns out plenty of people use Discord for teaching and learning (Several teachers in France and Quebec are adopting Discord). Here are the experiences of
Tag: communication
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
This Professor Likes CATs (classroom assessment techniques)
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies I am going to write about measuring teaching effectiveness. There is a lot of buzz about metrics in higher education media, but not until the mind-meld app is released for iOS will teachers know what their students are thinking. One of the challenges of teaching a large-enrollment course is to
Mistakes Were Made. What Next?
by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies I felt a little bit like John Lindsay this morning. I put a quiz on Blackboard, and, as he said in one of his 1969 campaign ads, “some mistakes were made.” When the student emails started trickling in, I started to have a Lindsay moment. In reality, this is
Providing Feedback in Large Courses
In a large course with limited TA assistance, it may seem impossible to offer students meaningful feedback on their progress. In this post, faculty members describe how they use office hours, technology, and TAs to provide appropriate feedback in their large courses. Office Hours Kim Caldwell: Some students come to my office truly wanting to learn how to learn, and we have great
Managing Communication in Online Courses
by Alecia Chatham, Department of Modern Languages and Classics I communicate with all students via e-mail and Blackboard announcements. I upload all information, handouts, and useful links to Blackboard for all of my courses. Another great way to use online resources for any type of course is by creating a place for students to check