Author: edtechtruro

Adding Captions to a Panopto Video

edtechtruroBrightspace

Link to PDFIn addition to making video content more accessible to viewers with impaired hearing, captioning can improve the effectiveness of video. Captions can:

  • improve comprehension by native and foreign language speakers;
  • help compensate for poor audio quality or background noise within a video;
  • make video useful when a person is watching with the sound off or viewing in a noisy environment that obscures the sound; and,
  • provide viewers with one way to search inside of videos.

Panopto has the ability to listen to your lecture videos and add ASR (automatic speech recognition) generated captions to your video. However, it is not foolproof, and it does not always do a great job in articulating scientific words. Because of these inconsistences, it is important to know how to edit the captions for accuracy.
Adding Captions to a Panopto Video [PDF]

Working Together Through The COVID‑19 Virus Outbreak

edtechtruroBrightspace

D2L Brightspace has compiled a collection of resources to address the rapidly changing needs in the education community. These resources may be of interest to our entire campus, and in particular, with those teaching to students at FAFU. Educational Technology & Design has been working closely with a number of instructors to assist them in preparing for and adapting to teaching online. Please get in touch with Sondra (sondra.mantle@dal.ca) or Brian (brian.lesser@dal.ca) for personalized assistance.

You may also find Tony Bates’ recent blog article, Advice to those about to teach online because of the corona-virus, useful and informative.

2018 Annual Survey of Online, Digital and Distance Learning in Canadian Post-Secondary Education

edtechtruroCourse Design & Delivery

Canadian Digital Learning and Research Association has release their annual survey of online credit courses offered by Canadian colleges and universities. Some of the highlights include:

  • 1 in 5 students in Canada take at least 1 online course a year;
  • more than 2/3 of Canadian post-secondary institutions consider the learning outcomes of online courses to be equivalent to those of face-to-face courses, with some rating them superior; and,
  • 82% of Canadian post-secondary institutions offer online courses for credit, including 91% of universities.

Download the full report at Tracking Online and Digital Learning in Canada.

Leaders & Legends of Online Learning

edtechtruroCourse Design & Delivery

Mark Nichols, until recently at the U.K. Open University, has started a new podcast series. The aim of the series is to have a mix of new or emerging online leaders and some of the more senior leaders reflect on the development of online learning, needed research, and current trends.

The first four podcasts include:

  • Antonio Teixeira, Universidade Aberta (the Portuguese Open University)
  • Alan Tait, UK Open University
  • Tannis Morgan, BCcampus and Justice Institute of British Columbia
  • Tony Bates, Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord

The podcasts can be accessed at: https://onlinelearninglegends.castos.com/podcasts/691/episodes

Active Teaching & Learning with Padlet

edtechtruroBrightspace

Padlet is an online collaboration tool on which students can post their ideas on a certain subject and view other students’ posts. This easy to use online tool facilitates active teaching and learning and can be incorporated into your Brightspace course site. If you are interested in exploring Padlet, visit the web address: http://padlet.com

Examples of how padlet can be use to engage students – https://padlet.com/pha/ICDE2017

Made with Padlet

Survey of Faculty Attitudes on Technology

edtechtruroCourse Design & Delivery

Insider Higher Ed’s review of the 2018 Survey of Faculty Attitudes on Technology is worth the five or so minutes to read; however,  some of the comments from readers at the end of the article are far more interesting. I was particularly struck by the formal response to this survey by Laura Gibbs – her complete response can be found at Facts and Opinions: a response to the IHE survey.

Conflicted Views of Technology: A Survey of Faculty Attitudes. Doug Lederman, October 31, 2018. Inside Higher Ed