Trying something new in your course

Here are a few ideas to consider when trying something new adapted from Tips for Teachers.

Before looking to make wholesale changes to your teaching, based on your reflections, identify practices you already do and look for ways to improve them. This should take less time and effort and give you a platform of success upon which to make further changes in the future. For example:

Instead of several worked examples that you have to whiz through, choose one or two that you have thought carefully about. Spend time going through them. Consider modelling them in silence first, and then using carefully considered self-explanation prompts/questions to give students a better opportunity to understand the process.

How are you going to know if the idea has been a success or not? The more objective the measure, the better. For example:

If you are looking to boost your participation ratio by using tools like (Top Hat or PlayPosit), track the number of times you see responses from all students.

This is the question that gets asked the least, and yet is so important. Trying something new may mean you have to no longer do something else. This plays out in two ways: A new idea in the classroom may mean you have less lesson time to do something else. Is that a sacrifice worth making? Planning a new idea may mean you have less planning time to work on something else. Is that a sacrifice worth making?

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January 16, 2024
1:00pm ET
Online

In this workshop, you will learn how to create VoiceThreads and then add them to your Canvas course as lessons, discussions, or assessments. This will be a hand-on workshop where you can follow along with the activities and add VoiceThreads into your course modules.

12 PM ET

Online

Join us for a transformative, free webinar designed specifically for educators who are newer to artificial intelligence. This beginner-friendly session will demystify the use of AI tools like ChatGPT, showcasing how they can transform how you prepare and deliver your courses – as well as assist with other tasks in the faculty workflow. Discover how to harness these tools to enhance learning experiences, improve efficiency, and spark creativity. You’ll leave with practical knowledge, inspiring examples, and effective techniques to confidently integrate AI into your toolkit for 2024. Embrace this opportunity to step into the future of education – where innovation meets empowerment. Register now! Registration includes access to the session recording and materials.