This semester, students in my course ARC 231: Interiors of Connecticut College, were tasked with working collaboratively and to find ways to effectively and efficiently share their progress with one another. From my initial course planning and development, I knew that this would be a challenge, especially considering that for the first two projects in the course, the class…
Category: Productivity
Teaching with Tomatoes
Despite lingering snow on the ground, spring has officially begun. And that means tomatoes! Not the luscious red garden staple, but the productivity technique! The Pomodoro Technique is a proven and highly favored productivity aid. It helps to focus, avoid distractions, and get things done in short bursts. As explained on Lifehacker.com, The Pomodoro Technique was invented in…
The Wonder of Wunderlist
The past month has taken a toll. Between snow days, an extended conference (snow related of course), an ill-timed but much needed vacation, and illness, keeping on top of everything has been a struggle. Enter Wunderlist. Wunderlist is a cloud-based list-making application and I found it especially helpful last month to stay on track despite all the…
Use Evernote to Create a Clean pdf of Your Moodle Syllabus
This semester, I followed Anthony Graesch’s advice and moved my syllabus entirely online. For all the reasons he outlined in his post, the shift from a paper-and-Moodle syllabus to a Moodle-only syllabus has been successful, and I’ll continue to do this in all of my classes in the future. However, this week I encountered a problem: how…
5 Tech Tools for Spring 2015
Welcome back! For this semester we are working on an exciting new tool, have a great lineup of workshops, and, notably, preparing for the early opening of Shain Library! To stay updated on everything ed tech at Connecticut College, sign up to receive emails when we add a new post by clicking “Follow” on the…
Advising Week Tip: Use Google Calendar Appointment Slots
Because it is advising week, and because I had a request (thanks, Emily Morash!), this post is all about automating the process of setting up meeting times with students. I’m using the Appointment Slots feature in Google Calendar that is available to anyone with Google Apps for Education. Appointment slots allow you to create periods…
The Printer Ate My Homework: Turning Assignments in Online
Are students claiming printer problems as an excuse for late assignments? Collecting papers and other written assignments online through Moodle can be an efficient and effective way of avoiding that problem. Not only do students avoid printing, and the associated financial and environmental costs, but collecting assignments online can provide benefits and efficiencies for the…
Save Time! Using Canned Responses in Gmail
Do you find yourself typing the same email response over and over again? Use a canned response! Simply, canned responses allow you to write text one time, save it and insert it over and over within Gmail. Canned responses are very easy to set up and use, take a look! Enable canned responses in your…
Presenting Syllabi and Course Assignments as Pages in Moodle
The semester approaches, and I can’t help but tinker with the design of my courses. I know better than to reinvent the wheel, and much good advice has been proffered with respect to the first rule of productivity: don’t fix what’s already working. Nevertheless, my inner (and somewhat pathological) perfectionist compels me to tweak. For…
Digitally Record Comments on Student Projects for Faster and More Focused Feedback
Karen Gonzalez Rice, Assistant Professor of Art History and Technology Fellow, talks about her use of recording audio feedback on student work. To help solve the ongoing challenging of providing timely and detailed feedback to students, Karen started recording her comments and emailing them to students. You can hear about Karen’s process and the overwhelmingly…