Teachers Talking Technology

Category: Software

  • Resources and inspiration

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    kchamber

    As you prepare for your Spring courses, if you ask yourself, “I wonder if there is a web application that can do X,” then be sure to check out this list of education-related resources. Also, if you need some inspiration, take a break and view some of these lectures. Update: Shortly after publishing this post,…

  • Predictions for 2010

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    kchamber

    As 2010 begins, those interested in instruction and technology have been making their predictions for what the year may bring.  They are not always in agreement. Google Wave is already set to become a very popular tool this year. Wave languishes in techie backwaters.

  • Share folders in google docs

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    kchamber

    Collaboration just got a little easier with Google Docs for the Gustavus domain.  Previously, if you were doing committee work and wanted to share documents with colleagues, you had to upload the file and invite them to share that particular document or spreadsheet.  Now you can share a folder with colleagues and the files within…

  • Custom “From” address in gmail

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    kchamber

    Having your Gustavus email automatically forward to a Gmail account can sometimes cause confusion with students and colleagues (“Which email should I use to contact you?”), or in some cases, since the email is coming from outside the Gustavus domain, it may get caught in a colleague’s spam filter.   However, in the “Accounts &…

  • Learning technology podcasts

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    kchamber

    Joshua Kim at Inside Higher Ed is starting a list of podcasts that are useful to those interested in learning technology.  From his list, the one that caught my eye was Tech Therapy from the Chronicle of Higher Education with podcasts such as, “How To Start Talking About Green IT” and “Why Not Outsource E-Mail,”…

  • Using google docs for knowledge surveys

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    kchamber

    A couple weeks ago, I posted about using the Form function in Google Docs to conduct surveys and collect data from students and colleagues, and last semester, the Kendall Center brought in Karl Wirth from Macalester to give a workshop on using Knowledge Surveys to help students assess their learning.  Being into mashups, Sean has…

  • Preventing sleep using caffeine

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    kchamber

    You might be demonstrating how to do video editing in Final Cut Pro or showing students how to collaborate on a word processing document using Google Docs.  You stop to answer a few questions, look up, and the screen saver has started or the computer has even gone to sleep.  Previously, I left myself reminders…

  • Videos from instructional services

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    kchamber

    I wanted to highlight that in a comment on an earlier post, Joyce mentioned that Instructional Services “started creating mini instructional videos last year on some of the basics of Moodle and plan on expanding them, as well as including other topics. They can be found at http://instructionalservices.blog.gustavus.edu/2009/05/07/new-from-instructional-services-mini-instructional-videos/.” So far, they have instructions for uploading…

  • Realtime collaboration with EtherPad

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    kchamber

    Colleagues working at different schools writing a conference abstract together or students living in different residence halls working on a group project are just two examples of times when real-time online collaboration is helpful. Google Docs can serve this purpose, but you should also consider using EtherPad.  Unlike Google Docs, EtherPad doesn’t require account creation;…

  • Collecting data using forms

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    by

    kchamber

    Throughout the semester, it is sometimes useful to survey your students’ knowledge or familiarity with a particular subject.  For example, you could find out about their familiarity with Excel or see how frequently they have used the PsychInfo database at the library.  You can do this by visiting your Gustavus Google account (if you have…