Sarah Dalrymple, PhD Our guest blogger this week is Dr. Sarah Dalrymple. Sarah got her Ph.D. in Population Biology, but is currently a postdoctoral scholar in Biology Education at the University of Tennessee. This summer she will join the SoLS faculty at ASU as an Academic Professional. Her primary interest is in teaching and exploring new ways to make learning more fun and effective. She also works with grad students and faculty to help them improve their teaching and is interested in the factors that determine whether or not instructors adopt evidence-based teaching practices. Clicker systems are an interactive technology used by many instructors in large lecture courses to get immediate feedback on student understanding. When used properly, clickers can increase student engagement and learning in a course. However, instructors have the ability to enhance or impede these effects by the way they deliver and review clicker questions. The following three tips on how to use

Different formats for Web-conferencing During last week's TeachT@lk webinar on Web-Conferencing: Engaging Your Students in Real Time ,  Peter van Leusen, PhD  and Amy Pate discussed best practices and "demoed" how to engage students in active learning exercises. We focused on Adobe Connect , as it is available to all ASU faculty for free, and fully supported by UTO. Among other educational applications, web-conferencing allows for: Class discussions Virtual office hours Screen/software demonstration Group work Guest presentations Supplementary course materials Lecture Recordings Mini lessons with audio and visuals Student-created content Assessment Overview of Web-Conferecing tools at ASU Below are some of the resources mentioned during the webinar, along with the slides and recording.  If you have questions, or are interested in trying out web-conferencing for your class, please contact me at  amy.pate@asu.edu . Webinar Recording (57

Last week we had a small workshop on how to create videos for your class. There are a variety of technologies available to use, but before you start make sure to know what your objective is in creating a video. We talked about 3 types of videos as: Spontaneous - videos with content that won't be kept more than 1 semester, used for feedback to the class, calling on specific students, or deadlines. They are instantly available to students. Step-by-Steps - screen captures that show a student a process, software, steps to complete a lab, etc. These are instantly available to students. Core Content - "rich" videos that are meant to be used multiple times, or in multiple courses. The production is more intensive, but the quality is better, and more professional. They may take 1-3 weeks to produce, but can include interviews, groups, special graphics and videos. For instant "at home" videos, technologies include Adobe Connect , Blackboard and Camtasia Relay