What's happening in the world of FASE EdTech this month? The 2023/2024 Lecture Capture Program is up and running, Quercus tickets have slowed a little bit, and we're wrapping up work on the last of the modules for Exploration, Studies, Resources & Reserves (ESRR). We hope to share a module produced for that course in our next newsletter!
Our Tech Tip this month is flat out amazing - if you're using any classroom response tool (CRT) right now (e.g., Mentimeter, Top Hat, Kahoot!), we strongly encourage you to check out a new feature in PowerPoint that lets you embed MS Form right into your slidedeck. Is PowerPoint now a CRT? Signs point to yes!
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WATCH TIP
1. Watch the recording of U of T's Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth & Reconciliation Commemoration
Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The University of Toronto commemorated this day of recognition with remarks from Alexandra Gillespie (Vice-President & Principal, University of Toronto Mississauga) and Rose Patten (Chancellor, University of Toronto) in The Great Hall at Hart House. David Kim (Warden, Hart House) hosted the commemoration.
Following those remarks, Grant Hurley,(Canadiana Librarian, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library), Mikayla Redden (Information Services & Instruction Librarian, New College Library), and Desmond Wong (Outreach Librarian, OISE Library) engaged in a panel discussion on preserving Indigenous history at the University of Toronto Libraries. |
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STAFF TIP
2. Note an issue when embedding Stream videos into Quercus
We'd like to call special attention to the latest Faculty Question of the week: "Why can't my students open an MS Stream video I embedded on a Quercus page?" Our response includes a suggested work around for the issue. In brief (there are step-by-step instructions if you visit the full blog), we suggest that you either instead use MyMedia or also share a direct link to the video (along with your embed code).
Why is this happening? One of the differences between Stream Classic and Stream on SharePoint is the way that the embed code works. In Stream Classic, the embed code reflected the share permissions set for the video. However, in Stream on SharePoint, the embed code simply generates the ability to display the video - it does not grant viewers permission to view it.
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QUICK TECH TIP
Insert a form or quiz into PowerPoint
Many instructors are interested in using a Student Response Systems (SRS)) (also known as a classroom response system (CRS)) to solicit real-time feedback from students. Usually, we'd direct them to Mentimeter, but a new feature from PowerPoint is changing the CRT game. Here's a really quick and easy way to use MS Forms and PowerPoint to create different types of questions that are embedded right into your PowerPoint presentation. ( Thanks to Obadiah George for this tip!)
How to pose a question to your class in real time using MS Forms and PowerPoint
After opening your PowerPoint file:
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Navigate from the Home menu to the Insert menu.
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Select on Forms.
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Using the list on the right of your display, choose to create a new form, create a new quiz, or embed an existing form or quiz.
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Select the option to "Present for interactive meetings"
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Size the form (and add any instructions)
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Direct students to scan the QR code or visit the website to respond
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CONTENT CAPTURING TIP
3. Go behind-the-scenes in the making of the EdTech Workshop 2023 Program (using Articulate Rise)
 For this year's EdTech Workshop 2023: CTRL +Shift, the ETO Team created a responsive, user-friendly, and interactive Attendee Guide. We always strive to provide our EdTech Workshop guests an information package that curates the information on our website into a neat summary of the most important things to know and do for a great workshop experience. To achieve this goal, we built the attendee package using Articulate Rise, a platform with a responsive design, user-friendly interface, and with a variety of options for interactive elements.
Find out how we used an e-learning authoring tool to build the EdTech Workshop 2023 Attendee Guide: A Digital Experience for an Analog Event.
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NEW STAFF TIP
4. Meet the ETO's 2023/2024 Work Study Students
We're pumped to announce that three Work Study students are joining the ETO team for the 2023/2024 Work Study Program. They'll be helping us migrate to a new website, capture lectures, and analyze data collected during observations of an active learning classroom.
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QUERCUS TIP
Faculty Questions of the Week
Each week we answer a real question that we've received about Quercus and other Academic Toolbox tools, keeping the questions timely and relevant to you. You can select on the question to read the full inquiry and response or see all previous faculty questions of the week.
Read the Faculty Questions of the Week
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 Why can't my students open an MS Stream video I embedded on a Quercus page? (September 28, 2023) | In the past (with Stream Classic), I just set the permissions on the video, copied the embed code, and pasted into the HTML editor in the Quercus page. Now, students can’t open the video. |
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 Why can't I access the 'Submit For Student" option in Quercus? (September 21, 2023) | I’m trying to submit an assignment on behalf of a student. I found this Canvas Instructor guide that says I should be able to do this. Why can't I see this option in Quercus? |
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MS Stream (Classic) retirement postponed!
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"JUST CLICK ME" TIPS
Worthwhile clicks from the Web
Looking for something to read/watch/listen to? Each month we round up things that we've interacted with that we think are worth sharing:
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Higher Ed's Ruinous Resistance to Change. The Chronicle of Higher Education | The topic of our conversation was the relationship between the two focal points of her work: scholarship and teaching. She’d been digging into the subject with some energy and, after careful examination of both internal evidence like teaching evaluations and external studies with larger data sets, had concluded that in fact there was no positive correlation between traditional measures of research productivity and effectiveness in the classroom. (This conclusion has been confirmed many times since.)
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Opinion: As students return to campus, Higher Ed must build on what we learned during the pandemic. The Hechinger Report | During the pandemic, leaders and support teams built new relationships, compared notes with others across the country and developed new partnerships within their campuses. Two years after the burst of energetic innovation and unexpected discovery, my biggest frustration is that most colleges and universities, including my own, are turning their backs on all we learned.
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Americans value good teaching. Do colleges? The Chronicle of Higher Education | Look past the hype, and troubling details appear. The vast majority of professors at most colleges received almost no training in graduate school on how to be effective teachers. Once hired, they quickly learn that their teaching is rarely examined, or rewarded.
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Should instructional videos include a talking head? The Science of Learning | Some argue that their presence is an unnecessary source of extraneous cognitive load while others claim that talking heads can enhance teacher presence, especially in asynchronous online courses.
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Curious about the photos in the banner?
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This month's banner images are a few photos taken during the past month:
Row 01: Left: Touring Gatlinburg, Tennessee (Irina Belaya)
Row 01: Right: Winnie in Hostas (Allison Van Beek)
Row 02: Left: Horses outside King City (James Zhan)
Row 02: Right: Ferris Wheel Fun (Inga Breede)
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