Get Your Students Hired
John I just last term did online final exams and it worked great it graded and posted there grade the moment they submited there test.
Just maybe two years ago, the college I teach for began using an LMS and encouraged all instructors to use it to keep grades and communicate with students. I admit, I was hesitant at first, but did start using it, and although it IS very time consuming for the teachers, it's very student friendly. They are able to see just exactly what their grades are for every subject and what they've missed or need to complete requirements. If they miss classes, assignments & due dates are posted....I really think it helps both teachers and students keep on track. Might be more computer time involved for teachers, but definitely fewer excuses from students!
Gleb,
Compatibility really depends on the type of file you are sharing. Personally, with text documents I share both a copy of the Word document and a PDF copy so the text is "locked in", having issues with reformatting margins, etc. in the past when opened on various devices. For sharing audio files, I stick with .wav files and video, Quicktime MPEG 4-h.264. In my experience, the video standard changes every few years- this latest standard has been far more successful across platforms than many older codecs. Ensuring the latest plug-ins/drivers have been installed on the device is also crucial.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
I believe this could alleviate the issue of lost documents or software compatibility. Classroom time can be better utilized.
What would be a good method for ensuring compatibility between MS and iOS platforms, including various release versions in each pertinent software.
I usually accept both. But after reading this thread, it makes more sense to have them upload the document. It saves on paper on both ends. My office cubicle is swamped with paper assignment submissions and graded papers which need to be returned to the student. I'm definitely going to incorporate this into my current curriculum.
Rick,
You may want to try Google Drive. It offers 15 gigs of storage for free, which should be enough storage for several hours of audio. You can upgrade to 100 gigs for about $5 a month.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
This can be dynamic and foster a greater interest in a topic. Once students understand how the topic effects them and they learn its value, the more quickly the students enjoy their learning.
Dave Back
Exton, PA
Having students upload items to a content area is a great means of keeping it all in one place and not have to worry about hanging on to this and that. However, problem I have is audio sessions can be huge and it all adds up quickly. By the end of the term the "space" (where-ever that may be) is full and I still have to hang on to it somehow for a while. So eventually I would have to back it up on my own time and store it somewhere. I still use the "old fashioned" burn it to a CD OR DVD-ROM. May be a dated means of handing in an assignment, but it really works best for such a high volume amount of data over the course of the term.
In my classes, I utilize TurnItIn for paper assignment, and I also utilize Engrade for handing out assignment and grading. These two products have save me countless hours of class room time. Now instead of spending time in class to collect homework and other assignment. I just need to check my in box.
I have my students upload their assignments but midnight the day before class. This allows me time to look at the assignments and grade them before presentations are made.
Mark,
I find many students still prefer to keep hand-written notes, so I do provide copies of my PowerPoint presentations, copied in a three slides per page format which generates lines to the left of each slide for note taking. This in addition to pdf copies on the class portal, ensures the students have the class notes for future reference.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
I'm on the fence about having students read their handouts as PDF's only from here on out (in the classes where there's a computer lab) or still require them to collect and present their paper copies to me to prove that they're at least keeping them (for an organizational "sketchbook" grade). It would save paper, but I suppose there's still no perfect way to prove that they've actually read them. :)
At least in the more advanced classes where Photoshop artwork is created along with artwork that the students scan on the school's copier (which doubles as a good color scanner), they can rename, reformat, and then drop it off in my class Inbox on a server. This is such a timesaver!
The only problem is when they do or complete work off-site they take bad phone photos, and make attachments to a school email site, and I have to process the attachments myself, and wait a few days to drop them off to the school's server. There's no way to combine the on-site and off-site locations together, there's no portal. Synching up both can be a hassle.
In addition to saving time and reducing paper use, it allows the instructor to better track student participation without having to shuffle through assignments turned in physically. It also holds the student to a higher standard through time-stamping posts; the instructor can easily track whose assignments are turned in "on-time".
Collecting documents via a document mangement system also provides an additional great tool in the fact that submissions are time stamped. This eliminates any argument as to whether assignments were submitted on time, and puts that responsibility on the student.
Jeff
Beside saving paper, uploading a class document (homework, presentation e.c.t) will make the grading easier, since the work will be presented in an orderly and clean way.
Bethanne,
I utilize document management apps for each of the classes I teach and find them extremely useful when it comes time to collect work and grade.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
This seems to me would be so much more time efficient. It seems it would free up time to devote to other learning tasks. Plus it seems it would help the instructor organizationally. All documents located in one area, without the potential for loss.
Another thing to always consider is how often and how reliably the site is backed up and what to do when that backup fails. The 'cloud' is just a cute name for a off-site data storage center that must be backed up, protected against viruses, and staffed 24x7x365.
This is a good idea, but I agree wastes paper. Why not have a USB flashdrive instead? Then your students can download the powerpoint and have it at there disposal? It worked in my class quite nicely.
Megan