Gustavus Blogs

Author: kchamber

  • Mugshot Activity

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    kchamber

    Need an activity for the first day of class? For larger classes, I like to organize students into groups of 5 and make sure that at least one person in each group has a phone that they are willing to use to take pictures and send those pictures to me (never a problem). Students then engage in a…

  • Create a shortcut for Gustavus profile searches

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    kchamber

    When a new student or colleague emails me, I like put a name with a face, so I search for them on the Gustavus website and navigate to their Profile page. If you find yourself doing this frequently too, you can speed up the process by creating a keyboard shortcut for a restricted search that…

  • Testing accommodations for students in Moodle 2.5

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    kchamber

    Previously, when Gustavus was using Moodle 1.9, I mentioned that testing accommodations could be made for students by creating a new group for those that requested extra time on quizzes or exams. Now that we are using Moodle 2.5, making accommodations has gotten easier. Instructors can use a quiz’s “User Overrides” option to setup up different…

  • Tweetle while you work

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    kchamber

    “Tweetle while you work” is the Teachers Talking Technology session this coming Tuesday, March 19th. Join us for a discussion of different uses of Twitter in academic life. The session will feature panelists Sean Cobb, who uses Twitter to establish more connections with other film scholars, and Kristian Peterson, who uses Twitter to continue course…

  • The impact of MOOCs on Gustavus

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    kchamber

    Join us for Teachers Talking Technology this upcoming Tuesday, February 19th, to discuss the impact of MOOCs on Gustavus. We will have table discussions about the role online courses and MOOCs in higher education and how(if) they will change the Gustavus academic program. You can find links to recent articles on the topic at http://bit.ly/gustavusMOOC. Program…

  • Class Schedule Generator

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    kchamber

    This afternoon I was working on updating my class schedules for the Spring 2013 semester and wondered if others across campus were doing the same. Many things went through my mind during this time, but the 2 most relevant were (1) why are we all doing the same task when one person could figure out…

  • How to view helpline tickets

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    kchamber

    Whenever you contact the GTS helpline (x6111 or helpline@gustavus.edu), a ticket is created in their support suite. You can check to see who has been assigned your ticket and followup on its status by visiting support.gac.edu. When you visit this website, you will be asked to enter your Gustavus username (omit @gustavus.edu) and password.  …

  • Teacher Behaviors Checklist for Improving Teaching

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    kchamber

    Sometimes it’s difficult to know what actions to take in response to scores on student evaluations of teaching. For example, if you receive low scores on “How well do you think the instructor accomplished (is accomplishing) the objectives of the course?,” what exactly do you change for next semester? The Teacher Behaviors Checklist (TBC) attempts…

  • Technology for Guest Speakers in Classes

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    kchamber

    During the Fall semester I included more guest speakers in my classes–a children’s museum consultant, a speech pathologist, a midwife, a school social worker, a city employee, a book publisher, and a toy maker. Some of the speakers were local, while others kindly volunteered to drive down from the Twin Cities. However, sometimes the guest…

  • Google Forms for Class Waiting Lists

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    kchamber

    Sometimes classes fill up during registration. In the past, I have gotten emails from students asking me to place them on a waiting list. However, these emails don’t always contain information that can be helpful for tracking the requests and establishing priority (e.g., their full name, their graduation class, and their reason for taking the…