T(4) Teaching and Technology Tips and Tricks
You asked…We answered! Your TLT team has created a new weekly email series – Teaching and Technology Tips and Tricks, or “T(4)” for short. These emails will provide tips and tricks for enhancing your teaching and technology use.
August 20, 2024: Introducing T(4) from TLT!
You asked…We answered! Your TLT team has created a new weekly email series – Teaching and Technology Tips and Tricks, or “T(4)” for short. These emails will provide tips and tricks for enhancing your teaching and technology use. Upcoming topics include using sandbox courses, D2L Brightspace updates, writing alternative text (alt text) for images, upcoming conferences, and more.
Our first tip? Check out the WSU Technology Knowledge Base! Use this site for quick guides on using D2L Brightspace, Zoom, Mediaspace, Microsoft 365, and much more. Encourage your students to use this site before going to Tech Support or the Digital Learning Commons.
August 27, 20204: Sandboxes Courses
Sandbox courses are course shells where you can play and get messy. A “sandbox” course (sometimes referred to as a "development" shell) can be used for a variety of purposes. To create your own sandbox, use the Request Help widget at the bottom of your Brightspace homepage.
Possible Purposes of Sandbox Courses
- Prepare for an upcoming course
- Collaborate with a colleague
- Development of a non-credit course
- Tenure and promotion submissions
Advantages of Sandbox Courses
Sandbox courses function like official courses. However, sandbox courses are never purged, are not associated with a specific semester, and do not contain student data. Instructors can copy components in and out of their sandbox courses. Colleagues can be added to facilitate collaboration.
September 3, 2024: D2L Brightspace Updates
As we begin the new semester, let us share what D2L Brightspace has been up to over the summer. In July, Aurea Osgood attended the annual D2L Fusion conference (in Toronto). The big announcement was the merger of D2L and H5P. The MinnState crowd is very excited. We will learn more about this excellent partnership soon.
This summer, D2L Brightspace also released20 some new features. The biggest of these is the Automatic Zero feature allowing a score of zero (0) to be automatically applied to unsubmitted student activities after the due date passes.
Applying the Automatic Zero feature eliminates the need for instructors to set missing or late submissions to zero manually. Additionally, students receive a more accurate view of their grade calculations for individual activities and the overall course. Supported submissions only include file and text-based assignments, quizzes, and LTI tools. These activities must have grade associations.
Automatic Zero applies to both individual and group assignments and respects any exemptions and release conditions set for an activity. Automatic Zero is triggered within one minute of the due date and is based on local time zones for both instructors and students. The feature follows the same rules as existing due dates.
The Automatic Zero setting appears in the Grades Settings; and can be toggled on in each course. When Automatic Zero is applied to a student’s activity, a zero (0) score with a dashed underline appears. Hovering over or focusing on the score displays a tooltip showing the system automatically applied it.
Another update is the Advanced Assessment Workflow which allows multiple evaluators to evaluate a single assignment submission. This may be useful for team-taught courses.
September 10, 2024: WeTeach and WeTeach Booster
TLT is pleased to offer both WeTeach and WeTeach Booster courses to all employees this fall. The next WeTeach and WeTeach Booster course will begin on Monday, September 30.
WeTeach is a 5-week course open to anyone interested in designing high-quality online learning experiences as part of a fully-online, hybrid, or mixed-format course. Topics in WeTeach include course design, student motivation and learning, interaction and engagement, academic integrity, grading, and accessibility.
WeTeach Booster is a 3-week course open to those who have completed WeTeach and want a refresher and more advanced conversations about pedagogy. Topics in the Booster include advanced interactions and RSI, inclusive pedagogy, AI, and quality assurance.
All participants receive a complimentary copy of Online Teaching at its Best: Merging Instructional Design with Teaching and Learning Research (Nilson & Goodson, 2021). Other options are available for those who already own this book.
September 17, 2024: D2L Brightspace Updates
D2L Brightspace is introducing a new quiz evaluation experience starting Thursday, September 19. This includes 3 major improvements.
First, this new evaluation experience mirrors assignments and discussions (student work on the left, overall feedback on the right). You can move between students seamlessly using the arrows in the top right corner, as you can with assignment and discussion grading. You can easily toggle between attempts (1). You can filter by “pending evaluation” and “retaken questions only” (2). On the left side of the screen, you can scroll through individual questions (3). On the right side, you can provide overall feedback – the attempt grade updates as individual questions are graded (4). Matching, multiple short answers, arithmetic, and significant figure questions are not supported in the new experience.
Second, written response questions will display a word count below the response.
Third, rubrics can now be attached to written response questions and used when grading an attempt. Rubrics can be added when creating the question. Students will be able to see the blank rubric while completing the quiz (if the rubric is set as visible when creating) and the completed rubric when viewing the quiz feedback.
This new experience is optional and can be turned on/off by individual instructors. However, we expect this option to be temporary and the new experience will be made permanent.
September 24, 2024: ReadSpeaker
ReadSpeaker is a text-to-speech (TTS) tool available in D2L Brightspace.
With ReadSpeaker, users can listen to content, discussion posts, quizzes, and assignments. ReadSpeaker offers a lifelike voice, more than 35 languages, the ability to slow down or speed up reading, and text magnifying. Students can also download audio files (.mp3) to listen to later.
Research shows that listening while reading improves comprehension and retention, as well as confidence and motivation for all students.
October 1, 2024: Accessibility Checker
Before you send, upload, or save…ensure your documents, files, and emails are accessible.
The Accessibility Checker is available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. From the Review tab, select Check Accessibility. In the Accessibility pane, review and address any issues. For details on errors, warnings, and tips, check out the support guide from Microsoft.
Do you have an idea for a tip or trick? Send it to TLT!
For more information, contact TLT by email (tlt@winona.edu), Zoom, phone (457-5240, option 3), or in person (Maxwell and Library).