Research Guides: Classroom and Teaching Technology Update: Additional Tools for Teaching

Additional Tools for Teaching

Below are some additional tools to use in teaching recommended by other law professors. Note that not all of these tools are free..

Office 365, OneNote Class Notebook
OneNote Class Notebooks have a personal workspace for every student, a content library for handouts, and a collaboration space for lessons and creative activities.
Hillary Einziger, Using Class Notebook in Teams for Organized Class Materials, Student Notes, and Assignments Class Notebook in Microsoft Teams allows instructors to present class materials and assignments in an organized way, and for students to interact with these materials and make them their own. As we transferred a previously flipped Applied Calculus class into an online class, I've used Class Notebook to distribute what had previously been paper handouts -- for each module day (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), students see an introduction and mini lecture videos in Canvas. In a dedicated section of their Class Notebook, each student receives a notebook page with outline video notes for them to fill in as they watch. Students also receive a problem packet for each day (which had previously been the in-class portion of the flipped class), and they can use OneNote and a tablet to write out their solutions directly on the digital page. These pages all stay within their notebooks so that they can easily access them for review. The same system could be used for classes with PDF handouts of reading material, allowing the students to highlight, underline, and take notes directly on the page, while keeping all the pages organized within the section structure designed by the instructor. The Content Library section of the notebook contains material that I can edit, but students can only view. There's a section there for solutions to the problem packets. I use Microsoft Stream to make videos of myself working through the solutions and explaining my work, and then embed those videos directly in the OneNote page, so that students can read through the written solutions and then immediately click on the video if they want to see a more in-depth explanation. I also use the Content Library for blank copies of all the handouts -- if a student accidentally deletes one or it didn't distribute properly, they can always copy one from there into their personal section and start editing it. The Content Library also contains a section of how-to videos and links, showing how to access the various course materials, how to use Casio calculators for the functions we use in this class (we use TI calculators in all our demonstrations, but a few students have Casios), some best practices for getting the most out of Teams and OneNote, and so on. There's also a collaboration space section of the Class Notebook, and students can use that when showing their work to other students within small group meetings or chats, or to keep all the materials for group projects in one place. Students can add their own pages and sections to their notebooks, and use them for notes, or for keeping track of research projects, or for any other materials that they feel they want to keep with their class materials. Class Notebook can also be used for distributing and submitting assignments. I haven't used it in this way, because assignments aren't currently available for classes with more than 200 students, but it's a good way to keep things organized so that students can clearly see the assignments that go along with each section of material, and submit their assignments directly from their notebooks. The grades for these submitted assignments will be recorded within Teams, and can be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet. Using Class Notebook in this way does require that students have a way to use the "draw" tool within OneNote. It's possible to do this on a laptop trackpad, but it's tedious. If a student already has a tablet (like an iPad or Surface or Galaxy Tab), then I recommend that they use that plus a stylus for writing on their Class Notebook pages. If they don't have one, then there's a graphics tablet that I recommend (which I've been using myself for several months) which costs about $40, as a relatively inexpensive way to get the full functionality of OneNote. If a student does not want to purchase anything new, then I recommend that they print out the PDF files and write on the paper, and then keep those papers in a binder so that they'll have them available for studying.
Web-Based Whiteboarding Tools: Google Jamboard and Microsoft Whiteboard
Google Jamboard and Microsoft Whiteboard are accessible using a web browser on your computer, and offer mobile applications you can use from a tablet or other mobile device. The browser-based versions make the applications far more accessible to individuals who may not have a mobile device, tablet, or stylus available. Using the browser-based versions of these whiteboard tools, you can type text, draw using your mouse, create sticky note activities and more. The chart on this page highlights some features available in the browser-based versions of the applications.
VoiceThread
VoiceThread is an interactive tool that allows students and faculty to share a wide variety of media (images, PDFs, slides, video, and more) and to share text, audio, and video comments on that media quickly and easily. Note: Voicethread is not free.
Wheel of Names
Make calling on students a little fun with the Wheel of Names.
Picker Wheel
An alternative to Wheel of Names that is a little more customizable.