EdTech is excited to announce new text to speech tools in Brightspace.
A new toolbar (pictured below) automatically appears on content pages, Quizzes, Assignments, and Discussions.
The simple, intuitive interface allows for users to hear text read aloud. In Brightspace, simply select Listen and the toolbar instantly creates an audio version of text.
This tool offers students the choice of reading, listening, or both simultaneously. Allowing users choice and customization accounts for learner needs and preferences.
This tool may assist learners with:
Increased understanding
Improved reading comprehension
Information retention and recall
Vocabulary
Fluency and accuracy
Motivation and attitudes toward reading
Available user features include:
Customization of colour, style, and size of font
Choice of reading voice and speed
Synchronous text highlighting
Page masking and text-only view
Ability to select content to be read aloud
No download required
Learners can use this tool on campus, at home, on their phone, or on the bus
In addition to Brightspace pages, Word and PDF documents uploaded to Brightspace also have a text to speech reader option.
While a benefit to all learners, this tool is especially important to users that need content to be read aloud. The addition of text to speech is an important step in Langara’s work toward accessibility and universal design for learning.
For more information, read about the toolbar’s features or contact assistivetech@langara.
Have you worked within a discussion board and wished it was more engaging? Hoped for a platform that had a visually appealing user experience? Have you longed for an intuitive space that allowed intuitive posting across all devices? Padlet may be the tool you are looking for.
Padlet is a digital notice board that allows users to post media, documents and links and collaborate with a “wall” based environment. An online platform that describes itself as “somewhere between a doc and a full-fledged website builder”, Padlet allows open dialogue from all users, instructors or students.
The interactive nature of Padlet is generally described as easy to use and engaging. Users can collaborate on real-time, shared boards by adding and editing posts. Users can add rich multimedia, such as images, links, and documents. Posts can be arranged in various formats to best suit the content, including whiteboards, grids, timelines, and maps. Padlet offers a range of interactive features such as anonymous contributions, comments, and reactions.
An example of how a Padlet wall can be organized.
Padlet is a highly versatile tool, limited only by our imagination. Some of the benefits of using Padlet to improve student engagement include:
Allows brainstorming and live question bank.
Ease of collaboration and organization.
Create a gallery of student work.
Get feedback from students with exit tickets.
Anonymous posting allows for inclusive participation and can empower students to share ideas.
Makes learning visible to the instructor and the students.
Allows the instructor to adjust their level of instruction to fit with students’ current level of learning.
Responses remain on the Padlet board for future reference while being shared in real-time with the whole class.
The Padlet walls can be embedded into the Langara learning management system (Brightspace).
Screenshot of a Padlet wall embedded within a Brightspace course.
Padlet can be used to:
Assess
Collaborate
Communicate
Create
Engage
Reflect
We will explore specific features of Padlet in future posts. If you are interested in triallingPadlet, please email EdTech to request a license. Afterwards, visit the Langara Padlet login page to login with your Langara account. This tool is centrally supported by Langara EdTech, and detailed help is available on our EdTech website or through the Padlet Help website.
Edwards, L. (2020, October 19). What is Padlet and how does it work for education? Retrieved January 11, 2022, from Tech Teaching website.
Meyer, K. A. (2014). Student engagement in online learning: What works and why. In Student Engagement Online: What Works and Why (pp. 1–14). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. DOI link.
Norman, M. (2017). Synchronous Online Classes: 10 Tips for Engaging Students. Faculty Focus. Faculty Focus website.
Podcast recommendations from your Ed Tech and TCDC team
Looking for inspiration? Podcasts are a convenient and approachable way to pick up some new tools for your teaching toolkit. In this new feature, we’ll share a few of our favorite shows with a teaching and learning focus.
Hosted by Thomas Cavanagh and Kelvin Thompson, the monthly The Teaching Online Podcast focuses on issues related to online and blended learning. Episodes clock in at about 30 minutes. Recent topics explored in the show include OER adoption, blended learning course design, community engagement, and the role of synchronous online teaching post-COVID.
ThinkUDL host Lillian Nave interviews guests about their experiences implementing Universal Design for Learning. Recent guests include Kirsten Behling, co-author of Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education, Flower Darby, co-author of Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes, and Kevin Kelly and Todd Zakrajsek, authors of Advancing Online Teaching: Creating Equity-Based Digital Learning Environments.
Asynchronous videos offer an effective alternative to synchronous Zoom lectures. These articles outline the benefits of synchronous video and offer advice for effectively incorporating them into courses.
Are you facilitating an online course this semester or next and still feel a bit overwhelmed about using technology? Join the Ed Tech Sandbox Sessions to try out your tools and synchronous teaching in a safe and supportive space.
To give all participants a chance to practice, registration is limited to 10.
Sessions will be held from 11:00 until 12:30 on January 29th, February 26th, March 26th, and April 30th.
The January session will be dedicated to using Zoom. The rest of the sessions will be open to whatever tools and technologies participants want to try out.
Registration is open and space is still available.
Whether you are on your NID and preparing for the spring semester or you are currently tackling your debut semester teaching remotely online, this list has something useful for you. In this short curated collection of articles, you will find practical tips for the use of educational technology in online classes, lessons learned and opportunities made possible by the pivot to remote teaching and food for thought related to the use of tech for teaching and learning.
From note-taking tools, to online book creation, to 3D modelling tools, you’ll find a plethora of free tech tools in a “Typology of Free Web-based Learning Technologies” by Matt Bower and Jodi Torrington.
For certain courses, technology may be a learning outcome, but for most courses, it isn’t, so it’s useful to be reminded that it’s a tool and re-direct our attention to how we can effectively achieve our learning outcomes.
Zoom is a modern web-based video communication platform that can be used to introduce a synchronous (real-time) element to online teaching and learning. For example an instructor could use Zoom to conduct online office hours or use the breakout rooms functionality for student group-work.
It takes commitment from all participants in a Zoom session — instructors and students — to develop and maintain a positive learning environment. Everyone is responsible for creating a safe and inclusive collaboration space when using Zoom and is expected to behave in a manner that is professional and ethical.
Before Using Zoom
For resources on using Zoom, visit Langara’s Zoom landing page to learn more about the functionality and use of this platform.
Ensure Zoom is accessible to the students in your classes. Synchronous learning tools often present unique challenges to students including whether they have access to devices with webcams, caps on data, internet speed and stability, finding a quiet place to participate, and the challenge of studying in different time zones. If in doubt consider using pre-recorded video instead.
If you are recording synchronous Zoom sessions, students need to be notified. Zoom recordings are to be used to support student learning only and should not be shared or used for any other purpose. Ask students to turn off their webcam and identify themselves using a first name only. If you upload the recording to Kaltura Mediaspace for sharing, make sure you delete the recording from your personal computer.
Setting up Zoom Sessions
There are a number of recommendations below on how to use Zoom effectively in teaching and learning to increase the safety and security of the learning environment.
Enable the “mute upon entry” feature for your classroom participants
Control the chat function and disable private chats. Chats are retained if a session is recorded, and may be accessible under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
If possible, set up a co-host to help during Zoom sessions. This could be a colleague, teaching assistant or other responsible student that can assist you to host the session. Co-hosts can help manage the chat function, set up break out rooms, and help manage the learning environment.
If practical, you can enable the “Waiting Room” feature – one of the most secure ways to allow only those invited to the session to attend.
The default screen-sharing option for educational accounts is “Host Only” – this allows only instructors to share their screen, unless they change it. If you want others to share their screen content, you can invite them during the session to do so, or via settings beforehand. See here for information on screen sharing.
To help educators in B.C. become effective facilitators of learning online, we have developed a family of courses designed to expand and enhance your online facilitation skills.
The next offering is FLO Synchronous, a 3-week immersion into planning and facilitating live online learning sessions.
Who is this for? Everyone who runs live online sessions, meetings, or webinars! This event has no pre-requisites.
This offering of FLO Synchronous is being co-facilitated by dream team: Ross McKerlich, Education Technology Coordinator at Okanagan College and Clint Lalonde, faculty member at Royal Roads University and Manager, Educational Technology at BCcampus.
