Technology Options
CLEAR provides access to a variety of technologies that support instructional strategies and improve instructor productivity. Whether you are teaching face-to-face, using a hybrid or blended learning model, or are developing and teaching classes online, it is important before adopting a new technology to begin by identifying an instructional problem you are trying to solve. CLEAR's instructional consultants can guide you through this process and help you make technology selections that align with your objectives, address issues, and are easy to manage.
Below are technologies that CLEAR supports organized by category:
Learning Management Systems
A learning management system comprises a collection of tools that support teaching and learning activities such as communication, collaboration, dissemination of content, links to resources, the collection of assignments, administration of quizzes and tests, and management of grades. Generally web-based, learning management systems are password-protected, secure sites within which faculty and students conduct course work. The learning management system, or LMS, may be used for all course activities and communication, such as in an online course, or for some of the course activities and communications, such as in a blended or traditional face-to-face class. At UNT Blackboard is the centrally supported LMS:
Blackboard Learn is a secure, Web-based environment that supports content delivery, online collaboration, and assessment. To login to Blackboard Learn, go to http://learn.unt.edu. For information about using Learn go to http://bbsupport.unt.edu.
More and more class communication and collaboration take place outside of the physical classroom. If you are teaching online, most of your interaction with students as well as most of their interaction with each other will take place in an online environment. In addition to the tools within the learning management system that support communication and collaborative activties, CLEAR supports the following technology tools:
GoToTraining is an online collaboration tool to enhance online courses with live, voice-based interaction. Host live online meetings of up to 100 participants. GoToTraining includes a number of audience management features such as pre-event registration, hand-raise, surveys, polls, a dashboard for monitoring attendee participation, and a post-event reports. Our subscription also includes GoToMeeting, which can be used for smaller, more informal meetings and can be launched from within Outlook. Find out more about GoToTraining and GoToMeeting here: http://clear.unt.edu/gototraining.
PBworks (formerly PB Wiki) lets you create a simple, secure Web-based workspace that supports highly collaborative class activities.
As students continue to saturate themselves in the world of social media, many instructors are finding creative uses for implementing services such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in their online and face-to-face classrooms. Review our Social Media Guidelines to learn ways to incorporate social media into your class and avoid unnecessary risks that can come with tools that require users to create accounts on third-party sites.
CLEAR facilitates the delivery of videoconference based courses every semester and also schedules many non-class related videoconferences.
In addition to tools available within the learning management system that automate scoring and grading activities, the additional technologies below serve the purpose of making class management tasks easier and faster:
Qwickly is a user-centric productivity platform for Blackboard Learn. Qwickly allows faculty to make courses available, send emails, post announcements, and post content to multiple courses at once from DropBox, Google Drive and OneDrive. - See more at: http://www.goqwickly.com/demos/.
Respondus enables you to create and manage exams to be printed to paper or published directly to Blackboard Learn for online delivery.
StudyMate enables faculty to easily and quickly create actvities such as flash cards, crosswords and quizzes to help students engage students with course content in an individualized way.
Assuring academic integrity requires a combination of strategies that promote ethical behavior, deter cheating (by means of obstacles or the risk of consequences), and detect incidents of cheating when they occur. UNT provides the following technological solutions that support these strategies:
ProctorU is a web-based proctoring service that provides instructors a test delivery method for high-stakes online testing for distance learning classes, without the worry of academic integrity issues.
Turnitin helps students learn to cite their work properly and aids faculty detecting possible incidents of plagiarism on written assignments.
Respondus LockDown Browser™ is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within Blackboard, creating obstacles to cheating on exams. When students use Respondus LockDown Browser they are unable to print, copy, go to another URL, or access other applications. LockDown Browser™ is currently available at UNT's Sage Hall Testing Center. Get more information on the LockDown Browser support page.
Although many of the technology options on this page can be used in either face-to-face or online classes, the following tools were designed to be used in the classroom:
Transform your classroom lecture into an interactive and engaging learning environment with REEF Polling. REEF is easy to use and free for UNT students thanks to the purchase of a site license! Find out how to get started on the REEF Polling page.
Panopto lecture capture software simultaneously records and synchronizes video, audio, slides, document cameras, screen capture, electronic white boards, and more. Record formal lectures, campus events, classroom activities, and informal presentations from your home or office. Students can pause, search, review, and add notes to lectures based on their individual learning needs. Get more information on the Panopto support page.
Related TREE Modules
Teaching Resources for Engaged Educators (TREE) is a free resource for UNT faculty. Modules with content that relates to this topic include:
- Teaching with Technology I, II, III