Instructional Technology
An almost infetesimal amount of tools are available for use during instruction, but effective teaching with technology requires an intentional integration of tools with best teaching practices and strategic alignment with learning outcomes. This integration deepens and enhances the learning process.
The best instructional technology tools address logistical challenges in the classroom, offer new ways to engage students, encourage collaboration, enable deeper interaction with course content, and create accessibility opportunities for all.
Browse for an instructional tool below that could enhance your course, and try it out! Check back often for added tutorials, or contact the PWSC IDT team for one-on-one assistance.
Tech to Create Course Materials
- Screencast-O-Matic
Screencast-O-Matic is an easy-to-use video and screen recording web application that enables faculty to capture themselves and/or what is being displayed on their computer screen, along with accompanying audio. The tool comes with full editing functionality (including editable closed captioning). Once created, videos can easily be accessed by students via a shared link or uploaded file.
Prince William Sound College faculty have free Pro accounts available. Please contact the IDT team for access to our institutional account and downloading instructions. (Curious what features the Pro account gives, as opposed to the standard free account? See our handy comparison sheet!)
- Kaltura CaptureThe Kaltura Capture desktop recorder enables easy recording in class, at home, or on-the-go with automated publishing and interactive viewing within Blackboard. You can automatically capture video, audio, and screen alone or in sync. Kaltura Capture can input two visual recording sources (screen or camera), and one audio recording source. Kaltura is easily integrated into Blackboard.
- Google SlidesCreate, edit, collaborate, and present a slidedeck from a cloud-based presentation software. Access at slides.google.com (use UA credentials to log in).
- Microsoft PowerpointCreate, edit, and present a slidedeck from Microsoft's premier presentation software. Cloud-based online version is accessible through Office 365 at www.office.com (Use UA credentials to log in). A desktop version of the software can also be downloaded through the UA Office 365 portal.
- PreziUse animation features like motion, zoom, and spatial relationships to bring your presentation-based lectures to life at https://prezi.com/education
- EmazeRedesign your PowerPoint lectures to create interactive, animated presentations at https://www.emaze.com/education/
- VoiceThread
Voicethread is an online platform that allows faculty to put digital media such as images, videos, and documents at the center of an asynchronous conversation. VoiceThread allows students to contribute to discussions using a keyboard, microphone, web cam, telephone, or uploaded audio file. This tool can help students feel a greater sense of being part of a community, be more aware of the faculty role in their learning experience, and engage more actively with instructional content and their peers.
PWSC instructors can create Voicethreads at uaa.voicethread.com, or within Blackboard.
For further information, please see the voicethread tutorials published by the University of Southeast Alaska's Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching and the UAS Sitka campus. Also, consult the University of Alaska Anchorage Teaching Academy's article Using VoiceThread to Increase Student Engagement and Community.
- SlidesCarnival
Find free Powerpoint templates and Google Slides themes for your presentations. Includes additional graphics that match color theme of slides at https://www.slidescarnival.com/
- PowerPoint Translate (Live Speech-to-Text Captioning)
Microsoft Presentation Translator is an add-in that provides real-time closed captioning for live or recorded Powerpoint presentations. Subtitles can be shown in the presenter’s language (to support accessibility scenarios) or in any of 60+ supported languages. Custom speech recognition improves the accuracy of subtitles that include discipline-specific vocabulary terms by learning from slide content.
Presentation Translator also allows the audience to use their own devices to follow, in their preferred language, what the presenter says. Content is available in both translated real-time audio or text. Learn more about the free desktop too and mobile app at Microsoft's Translator product page.
To learn more about how this tool is used in university settings, view the following videos published by Microsoft Research.
Live captions created with Presentation Translator are not stored or saved, unless the presenter records the screen while presenting live. In this case, captions would not be editable.
- Google Slides (Live Speech-to-Text Captioning)
When presenting with Google Slides, click the
CC
button in the lower left corner or press theCtrl
orCMD
+Shift
+C
shortcut to enable closed captioning. The device microphone will pick up everything the speaker says and add it as closed captioning on the bottom of the presentation.Google Slides closed captioning currently only supports spoken English, using Google Chrome on a Mac or PC for now, and captions aren't stored at the moment. Presenters can, however, record the screen while presenting then save the finished video with your captions recorded as well.
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Subtitling Add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint (Recorded Captioning)
The Subtitling Add-In for Microsoft PowerPoint (STAMP) helps Microsoft PowerPoint 2019, 2016, 2013 and 2010 users add closed captions to the video and audio files included in their presentations, which boosts their impact for those with hearing disabilities.
STAMP creates editable closed captioning files saved in a .vtt format. To learn more about use and find installation instructions, visit Microsoft Support's article on STAMP.
- Youtube (Recorded Captioning)
YouTube automatically generates captions for most videos at upload. These machine-generated captions are rarely if ever fully accurate. However, if their accuracy is decent and captions can be corrected with only a few minor updates, the easiest way to do so directly in YouTube.
Explore the following links for tutorials and instructions.
- Video Captions and Transcripts (University of Minnesota)
Overview of the benefits and video tutorials on the YouTube process (3 methods) - Upload Videos
- Use Automatic Captioning
- Using YouTube Automatic Captions Feature (tutorial w/screen captures)
- Edit or Remove Captions
- Add your own subtitles & closed captions
- Tips for creating a transcript file
- Video Captions and Transcripts (University of Minnesota)
- Amara (Recorded Captioning)Amara enables you to caption and subtitle any video for free. For larger subtitling projects the platform makes it easy to manage teams of translators. https://amara.org/en/
Interdisciplinary Collections
- Digital Public Library of AmericaDPLA partners with libraries and other cultural heritage institutions across the nation to provide free, digital access to materials.
- Library of CongressThe US Library of Congress provides large collection of materials and collections that can be used in the classroom.
- National ArchivesThe US National Archives provides large collection of materials that can be used in the classroom.
- Creative Commons
Creative Commons works with the organizations that are leaders in the content and knowledge sharing movement. Over 1.1 billions works have been shared across areas like arts & culture, open access, educational resources and OER, open data, legal, open science, policy & advocacy, and technology.
- HathiTrust
HathiTrust is a large digital repository created as a collaborative effort from Google Books, Internet Archive, and a number of cultural heritage institutions.
- PBS Learning MediaPBS Learning Media gives access thousands of free, innovative, standards-aligned and curriculum-targeted digital resources.
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Subject Area Specific (under construction)
- Literature
- WritingGrammar
- Math
- Science
Biology
Geology
Astronomy
- Center for Astronomy Education: The Center for Astronomy Education, funded by NASA and housed at the University of Arizon'as Steward Observatory, is devoted to improving teaching and learning in general education, college-level Earth, Astronomy and Space Science (Astro 101) by conducting fundamental research on student beliefs and reasoning difficulties related to astronomy, and instructor implementation difficulties related to teaching astronomy. They use the results of our research to inform the development of research-validated curriculum and assessment materials for use in the Astro 101 classroom.
- HubbleSite: Hubble Site is the official web page of the Hubble Space Telescope, published by the Space Telescope Institute.
Botony
- Smithsonian Botany Collection: Offers access to over 1.7 million specimen records, including over 113,000 type specimens with images.
Science History
- Science History Institute: Browse collections of rare books, modern books and articles, objects, photographs, oral histories, and additional archives.
- Social Studies
History
Government
Alaska Native Culture
- Fine Arts
Art
Music
Drama
Film
- Technology
Tech to Check for Learning
- Peardeck Add-On
Pear Deck is a interactive technology tool to transform your presentation slides into opportunities for formative assessment and active learning. Functioning as an add-on to Google Slides, you can add various types of questions to any of your existing slides! This tool offers a way for instructors to gain real-time feedback on student understanding during a live lecture, whether it be face-to-face or a digital classroom over video-conferencing.
A 2015 study with Johns Hopkins University and the NYC Department of Education found the following: 65% of students agreed that Pear Deck helped them understand class material better, and 61% of students reported that it increased their interest in class material (Pear Deck, 2018).
Using the content of your presentation, you can ask students any of the following types of questions in Pear Deck:
- Multiple choice - functions like an instant poll of your class
- Numerical response - showing the results on a number line
- Open-ended - allow students to answer questions in their own words
- Draggable & drawable - students can label and draw right on their devices
You can choose from the extensive library of template slides to get your students actively involved with your lesson. For a quick how-to guide, check out the following video.
For asynchronous distance education classes, instructors can enable Student-Paced Mode. This allows students to join any presentation session independently and work through lecture slides at their own pace, on their own time! Learn more about Student-Paced mode at the Pear Deck Knowledge Base.
For individual assistance with this tool, contact the PWSC IDT team to schedule a private in-person tutorial.
- EdPuzzle
EdPuzzle is a free assessment-centered tool that allows teachers and students to create interactive online videos by embedding either open-ended or multiple-choice questions, audio notes, audio tracks, or comments on a video. Edpuzzle interactive videos can be made with videos from a number of websites, including YouTube, TED, Vimeo, and National Geographic.They can also be inserted into instructor-created lecture videos.
EDpuzzle allows instructors to track, monitor, and grade student engagement with the videos created. Common analytics include percent of video watched, grade on quiz questions, and when video was last viewed.
View tutorial videos at Edpuzzle's Youtube channel.
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Qualtrics
UAA provides unlimited surveys and responses to all UAA MAU campuses students, staff, and faculty. UAA uses the Qualtrics Research Suite to provide its survey tool.
To access Qualtrics, you can login in at https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/surveys.cshtml with your UAA Username and password.
- Google Forms
Google Forms is a free online tool from Google which allows users to create forms, surveys, and quizzes as well as to collaboratively edit and share the forms with other people. Educators can use Google forms to assess their students at the beginning of the class and gauge pre-existing knowledge. Furthermore, Google forms can be used to give feedback to and receive feedback from students. Similarly, students can use Google forms to collect data for their research projects.
- Poll EverywherePoll Everywhere is an online service allows a teacher to engage instantly with their students via quick, simple polls & challenges. The questions created are administered by either visiting a mobile website, or through texting & twitter. Teachers are able to customize questions & question format to engage learners in a variety of ways.
- SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey is an easy-to-use tool for creating online surveys and collecting and analyzing the resulting data. A free account is available; however, it is limited to 10 questions and 100 responses per survey. Various paid subscription plans allow unlimited number of questions and responses. Results may be analyzed and exported in different formats, including graphical representations.
To learn how to create a survey in SurveyMonkey, see their How to Create a Survey tutorial.
- Kahoot
Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that uses multiple-choice questions to engage learners. It has added a new game called 'Jumble' which requires player to order answers rather than just select the best answer. Players (learners) either individually or in teams of 2-4, answer questions using their own devices.
This is another tool which is currently very popular in K-12 education but was originally intended for higher education classrooms. Kahoot was co-created by Dr. Alf Inge Wang, a professor in Game-based Learning at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Learn more from Dr. Wang about how to engage higher education students with Kahoot in this 2020 webinar:
Kahoot is often played in live, synchronous classrooms. However, it can also be utilized in distance education! To discover how to play Kahoot over video conference or assign asynchronous student-paced games, check out Kahoot's Distance Learning site at https://kahoot.com/schools/distance-learning/ or review their Distance Learning Starter Guide.
- SocrativeSocrative is a student engagement app that allows instructors to connect inside or outside of the classroom. Via a series of educational exercises and games, instructors can efficiently review, assess & educate students via smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Teachers login through their device and select an activity which controls the flow of questions and games.
- Quizizz
Quizizz is a free multiplayer class quiz game that works on all devices with a browser. Instructors can create or search for quizizz that meet course or unit objectives. Live mode can be used in class, and homework mode can be used by students independently and asynchronously from any device. Students can also play solo games with other users around the world.
Best of all, Quizziz tracks several different metrics which can be viewed in the browser or downloaded in a spreadsheet. Instructors can see individual student progress on quizzes and use the results to determine remediation needs or mastery grades. Instructors can also pull class quiz reports that show class accuracy and average time spent on each question.
To learn more about creating Quizizz games, view the following walk-through tutorials.
- Voicethread
Voicethread is an online platform that allows faculty to put digital media such as images, videos, and documents at the center of an asynchronous conversation. VoiceThread allows students to contribute to discussions using a keyboard, microphone, web cam, telephone, or uploaded audio file. This tool can help students feel a greater sense of being part of a community, be more aware of the faculty role in their learning experience, and engage more actively with instructional content and their peers.
PWSC instructors can create Voicethreads at uaa.voicethread.com, or within Blackboard.
For further information, please see the voicethread tutorials published by the University of Southeast Alaska's Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching and the UAS Sitka campus. Also, consult the University of Alaska Anchorage Teaching Academy's article Using VoiceThread to Increase Student Engagement and Community.
- FlipGrid
Flipgrid modernizes the standard text-based discussion forum with instructor and student created videos. Teachers and students can create a grid (forum) about a specific topic and encourage peers (and even people from around the world) to record a short video about the topic!
This is a particularly useful tool for distance learning courses. It is easy for students to feel disconnected from their classmates in a remotely-delivered course, with relationships largely being created around written communication. In Flipgrid, students build and strengthen social learning communities as they discuss their ideas and experiences in video format. Seeing a classmate's face and listening to vocal inflection solidifies and deepens the interaction with both peers and course content!
This platform is free for all users, and easy to use on any device. Flipgrid first started as an innovative discussion board tool in higher ed at the University of Minnesota, was purchased by Microsoft, and is now incredibly popular in K-12 classrooms acround the world. Many of your undergraduate students may already be familiar with this tool!
Take a look at the following videos to learn more about Flipgrid.
- PadletPadlet is an discussion/poster/note board that allows people to share their thoughts & ideas both in class & remotely. Submissions can be anonymous or require submission identification. Most forms of content can be submitted including : images, videos, documents, & text from any device. Personal note taking & to-do lists are other pertinent uses.
- LucidPress, LucidCharts
LucidPress is an online graphic design program that allows all students and instructors to create stunning visual content and bring big ideas to life. Users can create visual learning aids, posters & other teaching collateral with just a few clicks of the mouse. LucidPress runs in the cloud, so whole teams can create or comment together on a document in real-time.
Lucidchart is an online diagramming software that makes it easy for students to explain complex processes and demonstrate learning techniques with timelines, mind maps, flowcharts, and venn diagrams. Lucidchart runs in the cloud, so whole teams can create or comment together on a document in real-time.
To sign up for your free education account:
- For Higher Education students and professors, sign up for a Lucidchart account at https://app.lucidchart.com/users/registerLevel with your education email address.
- Click your name in the top right and navigate to "User Settings"
- Click "Get a Free Educational Upgrade" in the bottom left navigation.
- Receive your confirmation email, click the link, and you're in!
- Canva
Canva is an online graphic design tool based on easy drag and drop functioning. A large array of templates are available to create professional style visuals ranging from presentations and infographics to fliers and newsletters. The site includes a wide range of free images and also the option to buy additional individual images at minimum cost. This site is great for student projects or to use in creating instructional materials. Best of all, it provides collaboration features that allow teams to work together on the same document in real-time.
See more user tutorials at https://www.youtube.com/user/canvadesign
- Google Suite
With G Suite for Education, educators can create opportunities for learning, streamline administrative tasks, and challenge their students to think critically—all without disrupting current workflows. All Google products are cloud-based and designed for real-time collaboration.
Learn more at Google for Education, or visit our PWSC G-Suite Knowledge Base tutorials.