Pedagogy Pointer: a quick guide to something new
Google Apps, Pedagogy, Presentation

Pecha Kucha to Promote Focused and Concise Presentations

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Pecha Kucha is a presentation style that consists of only 20 slides with only 20 seconds to discuss each slide.  This results in a total presentation of exactly 6 minutes and 40 seconds.  The slides are set to automatically advance requiring the speaker to prepare and practice, as there is no option to go back or skip ahead.  This style also requires the presenter to concise and brief and pull out the most cogent points to present.

Pecha Kucha is also a very visual presentation style. It is based on single powerful images and very little, if any, text on the slides. The presenter must know the topic well in order to select the most powerful images to represent each point which is another benefit of this style.

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BENEFITS OF USING PECHA KUCHA PRESENTATIONS IN CLASS

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  1. Presentations are under 7 minutes which allows you to do more in less time.
  2. Students must learn how to pick out the most important points from their topic and deliver it in a way that others can understand.
  3. Students must learn to illustrate their topic and points using high-impact images and very little text.

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LEARN HOW TO CREATE PECHA KUCHA IN DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS

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Assessment, Best Practices, Presentation

Make Your VoiceThreads Play Like a Video

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Did you know that you can configure your VoiceThreads to auto-advance so they play more like a video than a slide show?

Here’s How:

  1. Go into VoiceThread (VT) and mouse over one of your VTs and click EDIT.
  2. In the upper right corner, click on the OPTIONS gear icon and choose PLAYBACK SETTINGS.
  3. Check the box next to AUTOMATICALLY ADVANCE TO THE NEXT SLIDE AFTER _____ SECONDS.
  4. Type a 1 in the box before Seconds.
  5. Click SAVE.

NOTE: if you want all of your future VTs to auto play, click SAVE AS DEFAULT before clicking SAVE.

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Now when your students view the VoiceThread it will automatically advance to the next slide without them clicking on the Next Slide button.

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online teaching tips
Best Practices, discussion

Online Teaching Tip: Determine how your students can comment in VoiceThread

Did you know that you can direct the students to comment in a certain medium in VoiceThread (VT)?  Say, for instance, you only want them to do video comments, but inevitably you have those students who ignore in the instructions and only type their comments.  Well, here’s how to prevent that.

  1. In VoiceThread, go to either Create (to create a new VT from scratch) or Edit (to change an existing VT).
  2. Click on the Options Gear icon in the upper right corner and choose Playback Settings.
  3. From the three tabs at the top, choose Playback Options.
  4. On the right you will see Allowed Comment Methods.
  5. From here, check ONLY the options you want to be available to your students when they comment.
  6. Click Save.
    Screenshot of the Comment options with all options checked

 

 

 

 

 

Now when you or your students comment in your VoiceThread, they only see what you allowed in these settings.

Screenshot of a VT with only the video recording option showing

 

Sound + Images = VoiceThread
1-1-1, Faculty Technology Institute, Web 2.0

Faculty Guest Post: Incorporating VoiceThread into Hybrid and Flipped Classes

Today’s Faculty Guest Post is from Glen Riecken, Visiting Professor of Marketing.  Glen attended TLT’s 2015 Faculty Technology Institute.  In this post, he reflects on the process of incorporating VoiceThread into his MKTG 302 (Marketing Concepts) courses.


I am writing this blog post based on my experience incorporating VoiceThread into my MKTG 302 classes over the past two semesters.  My use of VoiceThread resulted from a confluence of three events: attendance at TLT’s 2015 Faculty Technology Institute where I was first exposed to VoiceThread, preparation to initially teach a hybrid express course at the North campus in Fall 2015, and a nagging desire to create a flipped classroom experience in my live classes. The hybrid course required more online so I needed a way to deliver content in that medium. Having read more and more about the idea of a flipped classroom, I began to see its advantages, especially in generating greater student class engagement in all my classes. When I was exposed to VoiceThread at the TLT FTI, it struck me as an ideal tool to assist in accomplishing my goals.

Here I will briefly discuss VoiceThread, how I use it and some pros and cons from my perspective.

VoiceThread (VT)

VT is a content delivery and blogging tool, allowing people to communicate through both visual and audio modes in a dynamic and asynchronous fashion. This makes it ideal for creating an interactive environment naturally capturing today’s student immersion in instantaneous interpersonal communication tools.   After posting an initial message, others are invited to comment on it. They may answer questions, ask questions or post comments in text, voice, images or video formats.  

Access Voicethread through OAKS homepage
Access VT through the OAKS homepage.

College of Charleston faculty and students receive free accounts with full accessibility to VT’s many features. It is easy to learn and use. Tutorials are available through TLT, VT and YouTube.

VT is cloud based so works in almost every environment as long as one has access and a device (including mobile) that has Adobe flash. Course homepages have a VT link established and a single click will navigate to VT content for that course. It is fully integrated into OAKS. In the content module in OAKS, I have an outline for each section of the course and, as part of the outline, also provide a direct link to each chapter’s VT. I know it’s redundant, but students will be students.

Creating VT Lectures

I use PowerPoint® (PPT) in my class lectures and had already built a set of slides for each chapter in the text. The first task was to import a slide show into VT. I learned immediately that VT and PPT do not like each other.   The secret I learned (thanks to Jessica Smith) was to first save the PPT in pdf format. Once that was done, I assumed the imported file was ready to go. However, another impediment for me was that animations are lost. I use animations to bring in various slide elements sequentially as I discuss them in class; students are more likely to pay attention rather than trying to read an entire slide when I am still talking about the first bullet point.   There is, as far as I know, no way around that with VT and this, to me, is a drawback to VT. Similarly, my occasional odd sound effects in some of my slides do not transfer.

VT is more accommodating with Word® but I have noticed that sometimes the formatting is changed a bit. The editing features of VT do not seem to allow an easy fix. After some trial and error, I found that making changes in the Word document itself and then uploading again will often, but not always, produce the format I wanted but this seems like an excessive waste of time. Now, for the few Word documents I use, I don’t worry with the format differences.

 

Voicethread Example
An example VT slide with text comment.

 

Initially I began recording using the built in camera and microphone on my desktop but soon found the quality of sound was not great and I didn’t like having me show in a little box on the screen, visible to all.   An option in VT is to not have the visual box of you show so that part was easily solved. A venture to an electronics store and $30 produced a nifty headset with dropdown mic (mine is a Logitech®) that works great. Incidentally, I chose a corded set since several reviews I read beforehand suggested that cordless sets don’t have the same sound quality. Now I was set to go! By the way, in my last set of instructor evaluations, one student commented that I have a “radio voice” (which I guess is a good thing and goes along with my face which is also ideally suited for radio).

A recording session involves opening slides one at a time and talking about the key points you wish to make. If desired, audio and visual clips may be added (say a YouTube video) as can annotations. For example, in a self-introduction VT, I superimposed a set of dotted lines on a map to illustrate my moves from living in the frozen Canadian prairie to the warm climate of Charleston.

After recording each slide the sound may be reviewed. A drawback, though, is that if a particular piece of sound needs revamping, the whole slide must be re-recorded. Otherwise, the slide may be edited in various ways. Additional slides may be inserted at any time. For example, a good practice is to have a break about every 15 minutes or so. So, after recording a slide show, I can see how long the entire thing is (I shoot for for about 30 minutes) as well as each slide.   After adding the length of slides until about 15 minutes and determining a natural break point as close to that as possible, I then insert a “Break in the Action” slide. In these slides I suggest the students relax for a moment to have a bathroom break or have a beverage or take the pooch for a stroll or (not being a cat person) to put the cat outside and lock the door.

VT has a number of options that allow for customization. One pertains to slide advancement. By default, slides are set to advance automatically every 4 seconds but that is easily changed to any desired length or the automatic advance may be turned off which is what I do. Student feedback indicates this is a desired feature, allowing students to go through the slides at their own pace and replay a slide if they wish. They also may stop the presentation at any point and pick it back up later.

Although I have a standard title page in my PPT lectures, another VT option is to add cover art so that each chapter could begin with a picture, for instance, that would match the content. The cover may also be other types of files.   So far I have resisted temptation to put links to cat videos as covers for the “Break in the Action” slides. Since I teach marketing I could make a chapter about pricing have a cover slide with various monetary symbols.

Another feature worth noting is that the audience for the VT creation can be made public (open to anyone with a VT account) or restricted to a particular audience. I ensure that my lectures are shared with my classes but are not generally publically available. I don’t need any more hate mail from cat lovers.

Using VT

Students are asked to listen to the VT lectures prior to class discussion. Requiring this makes the acquisition of much of the content up to them, providing more class time for discussions and exercises and moving me towards more of a flipped classroom. Students are not passive listeners to the lectures (other than when they undoubtedly nod off). One feature of VT allows them to “doodle” by making temporary marks on the slides; they might, for instance, circle something to highlight it. These doodles last only a short time so the slides are not inundated with multiple doodles.

Voicethread Direct Reply
Example comment on a VT that others can respond to.

During the lectures I often ask questions, encouraging students to respond. This interactive feature is probably one of the biggest advantages of using VT. Students may respond directly in a number of ways. The responses I have received so far have been text but VT has several other options including microphone, webcam, phone, and audio-file upload. I seem to get a lot more written comments than I do verbal ones in a live class setting. Comments may also be directed at other students’ comments so that an interactive environment is created. Although I have not used this feature, it is possible to require that comments be moderated first so that any inappropriate ones may be filtered out. So far there has been no issue so I continue to labor under the assumption that college students are sufficiently mature to know not to make offensive comments in such a forum.

A second big advantage of VT is that the interactive element allows students to collaborate on projects.   In my MKTG 302 classes I do some group activity but so far have not required students to use VT in this regard although I plan to start in the Fall 2016 semester. I have been using the OAKS “Group” feature but now think that VT will be an easier forum for both students and me.   For example, one assignment I use now and then is to have groups of 5 -6 students discuss a topic such as whether the attitudes of men and women towards shopping is changing. In VT it will be easier to quickly see comments and participation rather than the more convoluted method in OAKS.

One last feature that I would like to use in VT is integration with the grade part of OAKS. VT is capable of making the integration but I do not know if CofC allows grades to be imported from VT. I use a publisher website for a number of assignments in the class and until very recently CofC would not permit the grade integration feature to work. If it is permissible, I will start using the grade integration feature this fall. [Note from TLT: this is a new feature in VoiceThread that we are currently exploring. If we are able to offer this feature, we will inform the campus community]

Student Feedback

Student feedback from using VT has been very positive. Students like the flexibility of choosing when to listen to the lectures. They also like their availability for study purposes. Some report liking the ability to listen at their own pace and being able to go back and listen to chosen slides again if needed. A few students indicate they like the comment feature where then can post comments rather than verbalizing them in class. And some, inexplicably, enjoy my cat comments.

Dear TLT
Dear TLT, Web 2.0

Dear TLT: How do I Capture a Long Distance Recording of a Guest Speaker?

Dear TLT,

I would like my colleague, in Ohio, to speak to my class about his research on wormholes. Unfortunately, he’s not very tech savvy. Is there a way to record him without him having to use a computer or camcorder–perhaps over the phone? Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Professor Richard “Dick” Solomon
Physics

Dear Professor Solomon,

Welcome to CofC! Rumor has it that you and your family traveled a great distance to join us 🙂 To record your colleague, over the phone, we recommend VoiceThread–a web-based, content delivery application that allows users to assemble and narrate media-rich presentations that can be easily shared with others. What sets VoiceThread apart, from other online content delivery tools, is that it permits viewers to comment on the content being shared–perfect for confirming understanding and encouraging discussion. And, not only do we have a site license for faculty and students, but VoiceThread is also integrated into OAKS.

To get started, view our detailed tutorial and contact your colleague to arrange a date and time to record him, preferably on his office landline. Next, Create a new VoiceThread presentation–be sure to add a Title and upload an image via Add Media (e.g., a wormhole). To initiate the call, Edit the VoiceThread and click on Comment. Open the commenting options (above the timeline) and click on Phone Comment (see image below).

Enter your colleague’s ten-digit phone number and click Call Me (see image below). VoiceThread will call him, within thirty seconds, and invite him to comment. When your colleague hangs up, his comments will be processed and automatically added to the slide.

Add a few discussion slides/prompts after your colleague’s comments and share the VoiceThread with your students.

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

Have a question for Dear TLT?  

Submit the following form to see it featured on our blog: http://goo.gl/n1N2tq.

Professor Solomon is from what late 90’s television series? The first faculty member to email tlt@cofc.edu, with the correct answer, will receive a TLT (BPA-free) water bottle!

Voicethread Commenting Features
Collaboration, instructional technology, TLT, Web 2.0

New VoiceThread Commenting Features

If you haven’t explored VoiceThread since last semester, you will be pleased to learn about the tool’s three new commenting features.  Direct replies and threaded conversations make interaction more interactive and dynamic, while private replies allow participants to engage one another more discreetly.

Direct Replies

Owners and editors of VoiceThreads are able to insert comments directly after someone else’s comment on a slide.  For example, students can reply directly to the feedback left by their classmates or questions asked by their instructor.  To do this, click on the direct reply icon inside a person’s comment window (it looks like an arrow).  Your reply will display directly beneath the original comment, but bumped in slightly.
Voicethread Direct Reply

Threaded Discussions

The threaded discussions feature makes VoiceThread more similar to an online discussion board, with comments branching off an original comment.  This helps to keep robust back-and-forth conversations more organized.

Voicethread Threaded Comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To use this feature, you must enable it in Playback Settings.

Voicethread Playback Settings

Voicethread Enable Threaded Commenting

Threaded comments are represented by a round identity image (as opposed to the usual square shape).  To start a new threaded conversation, click on the threaded comment button inside a person’s comment window.

Voicethread Create a New Thread

Threaded discussions would be particularly useful if you’d like to encourage multiple students to engage one another about a VoiceThread’s content.  In contrast, a direct reply is a dialog between two people (though the interaction can be seen by anyone who has access to the VoiceThread).  This would be best for asking a single question or offering praise.

Private Replies

The private reply feature allows you to start a private, two-way conversation with someone who has commented on a VoiceThread.  Private comments are represented by a round identity image with a padlock icon.  To start a new private conversation or add to an existing one, click on the private reply button inside a person’s comment window.

Voicethread Private Reply

The private reply option could be especially useful if an instructor would like to include an assessment in a VoiceThread.  For example, an instructor could leave a comment asking the students to reply to a question.  To prevent the students from seeing one another’s responses, the instructor could request students use the private reply option.  That would permit only the instructor to see the students’ comments and would allow him/her to respond directly to each student.

Let us know what you think about these new commenting features.  We’d love to hear your ideas!

Voicethread Universal Design
Accessibility

VoiceThread is now more accessible than ever

VoiceThread is an easy way to create everything from student presentations to course lectures….

Universal View

This view is readable by computerized screen readers used by those with sight issues. This view is also navigable using only the keyboard (no mouse needed) so it’s more accessible to those with physical issues. The Universal View is also perfect for faculty who want to capture a snapshot of all the text comments for a slide in VoiceThread.

comparison of standard view and universal view

Captioning

VoiceThread now also allows for captions of not only the videos you upload but your audio and video comments as well.  As with all media players that allow captioning VoiceThread can DISPLAY a closed captions file but it cannot CREATE a closed captioned file.  That has to be done using a third party app such as Movie Captioner (site license owned by CofC) or YouTube.

Captioning Comments:

You can caption both audio and video (webcam) comments.

Step 1:  Create the caption file and save it to your computer as one of the following: .DFXP, .SRT, .SAMI, .SCC, .SBV

Step 2:  Start playing the comment.

Step 3:  Click on the CC button at the bottom of the comment, next to the trash icon.

Step 4:  Select the caption file you created earlier.

Step 5:  Click OK.

Captioning Video:

You can also caption the video that you upload or record into the main VoiceThread content window.

Step 1:  Create the caption file and save it to your computer as one of the following: .DFXP, .SRT, .SAMI, .SCC, .SBV

Step 2:  Navigate to the slide that contains the video.

Step 3:  Hover your mouse over the video icon on the left side of the page.

Step 4:  Click on the CC button in the top-right corner of the VoiceThread window.

Step 5:  Click “Add captions”.

Step 6:  Select your caption file.

Step 7:  Click “OK”.

 

VoiceThread is continuing in their efforts toward universal accessibility however the roadblock remains the creation of the caption file.  Check back in the next few weeks as we hope to have a tutorial on the easiest way to create captions for VoiceThread comments and content.

 

 

Dear TLT
Best Practices, Dear TLT, TLT

Dear TLT: Can I Embed a VoiceThread Lecture in OAKS Content?

Dear TLT,

Is it possible to embed a VoiceThread lecture in OAKS content? I know my students access VoiceThread via the Multimedia Resources widget, to make comments, but what if my lecture is view only?

Sincerely,

Professor C. Connors
Genetic Biology

[hr]

Dear Professor Connors,

Great question! Yes, you can. To embed view-only VoiceThread lectures in OAKS content, follow these eight steps:

1.  Log into OAKS and open your course homepage. Click Access VoiceThread for this Course under the Multimedia Resources widget (on the right).

Homepage_-_10_3_ChrisMeshanko

2.  Hover over the VoiceThread that you want to embed and click Share.

3.  Click on the Basic tab and select Embed.

4.  Uncheck the Comment box, leaving and allow anyone to: View checked. Click Copy Embed Code.

5. Go back to OAKS, open Contentand select a module to store your lecture. Click Create a File.

6.  Enter a Title to name the file and click on the Insert Stuff icon.

7.  Click Enter Embed Code. Paste the embed code from VoiceThread and click Next.

8.  Make sure your VoiceThread displays properly and click Insert. Click Publish and exit.

Please contact your instructional technologist, if you have additional questions or concerns, and check out our upcoming training sessions at http://tlt.eventbrite.com.

Best regards,

TLT

 

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Best Practices, TLT

Preparing for the Unexpected

On Tuesday, the College of Charleston experienced a safety and communication crisis when a bomb threat was made.  Classes in six buildings were officially cancelled and many faculty, staff, and students were prohibited from accessing their offices, classrooms, and dorms until 5:00PM.  This unexpected disruption caused many professors to lose valuable class time.

As the daughter of a Boy Scout and a Girl Scout myself, I try to live by the mantra: be prepared.  As an instructional technologist, I’ve learned ways to use technology to “prepare for the worst” and want to share that knowledge so you will be ready for the next interruption, closure, or disaster.

1.  Think ahead.  Before the semester begins, decide how you will manage if classes are cancelled.  According to instructional technologist, Kaitlin Woodlief, “your best preparation is to learn the tools now before you’re put into a situation where you have to use them.”  This doesn’t mean you must become an expert on Adobe Captivate to make professional-quality video lectures.  Instead, familiarize yourself with one tool so you feel comfortable enough producing something simple that will transmit content.

VoiceThread iconGiven Tuesday’s events, I had to figure out a way to prevent my students from getting too far behind.  I uploaded the Powerpoint I intended to use in class into Voicethread and narrated my slides using already created lecture notes.  I didn’t need to create new content; I just had to put that content into a different format.  And because I had already familiarized myself with Voicethread, the process was simple.  There are numerous tools that will allow you to deliver content online in case of a College closure or class cancellation, including Kaltura, Jing, Screencast-O-Matic, EdPuzzle, and Google Drive.  Of course, TLT has you covered with workshops that focus on online content delivery!  Browse tlt.eventbrite.com for those sessions.

2.  Include a syllabus policy.  As you prepare your classes, craft a policy that establishes expectations and procedures in case an emergency occurs.  For example, Penn State encourages faculty to include the following language in their syllabi:

In the event of a campus closure, course requirements, classes, deadlines and grading schemes are subject to changes that may include alternative delivery methods, alternative methods of interaction with the instructor, class materials, and/or classmates, a revised attendance policy, and a revised semester calendar and/or grading scheme. Information about course changes will be communicated through [e-mail, etc….]

3.  Determine communication protocols.  If an emergency closes the College or you have to cancel class at the last-minute, how will you communicate with your students?  There are numerous options, including email and posting a notification in the OAKS News tool.  This semester, I’m using both Twitter and Celly to communicate with students.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve found students don’t routinely read their emails, so I decided to meet them where they are and use text messaging and social media.

Screen Shot 2015-02-13 at 4.58.07 PMThe numerous ways I use Twitter in the classroom is a blog post for another day, but on Tuesday, I tweeted numerous times to inform students that the Cougar Alert was not a test, that they needed to pay attention to their email, and that class was cancelled.  I also used Celly to communicate the same information.  Celly provides a way to send SMS text messages without exchanging phone numbers (you can also use the mobile app or website if you don’t text).  I’ve found students to be much more responsive to these text messages than email.

For more serious emergencies, when campus is closed for a longer period of time, you may want to communicate with your students synchronously.  Skype and Google Hangouts provide simple and free options for hosting virtual, synchronous meetings.  The OAKS Discussion tool can also be used for conversation and collaboration.

As my colleague Chris Meshanko says, while we always hope for the best, we must plan for the worst.  Anticipating disruptions and making plans can prevent students and faculty from losing valuable contact hours.  Most importantly, let students know within the first two weeks of classes what your expectations are if classes are cancelled due to an emergency.  And as always, TLT can assist you in choosing the right tools for keeping your class on track.