organization – Two-minute Tech Tips

Tip #14: Use Intelligent Agents in D2L Brightspace

Intelligent agents are a quick way to automate some types of emails to students. Some emails need to be personally written and sent to students, but not all of them. If you are looking for a way to remind students about missing assignments or discussion posts, congratulate them for doing well on a quiz, or ask them to look at the feedback you left them on D2L, intelligent agents might be for you. Intelligent agents use a customized email template and {strings} to personalize it for each student. D2L checks for specific criteria that you set (similar to release conditions)…

March 13, 2023D2L, Efficiency, organization, StudentsAutomation, Intelligent Agents, Work smarter not harder

H5P Microsoft Excel organization Students

Tip #10: Create a timeline of class projects for your students

Gantt charts can be helpful for students. Businesses often use Gantt charts for project management, but I also use them in my classroom. A Gantt chart gives the students a higher-level view of the semester for your course. It shows the start and end dates and the overlap of projects. I used H5P to create my chart for my course. I've embedded the chart in my welcome page and content pages throughout the semester. I aim to continually communicate with students about past, current, and future projects. If dates need to be changed, I can quickly change them on the…

January 20, 2023H5P, Microsoft Excel, organization, StudentsGantt Charts, Semester Timeline

Microsoft Excel organization

Tip #7: Use a spreadsheet to prepare and plan for the new semester

Keep track of the preparation progress for each of your courses. Teaching multiple courses or multiple sections can seem overwhelming. In the past, I found myself preparing for my classes by doing small chunks and then not remembering what pieces I did for which courses. I spent more time figuring out where I left off than working on the course. A couple of years ago, I created a simple spreadsheet that I could use to keep track of what I had completed and what I still needed to do for each course. The document has evolved into a more elaborate…

January 2, 2023Microsoft Excel, organizationorganization, preparing