August eTip: Reimagining the Writing Process Using Microsoft Tools

Hi everyone! We hope you've had a great eLearning week and welcome back to another month's sharing of eTip! For this month's eTip, we have Magdalena to share with us how we can use OneNote for a friction-less collaboration as well as communicating feedback and review!

Aren't you interested? Cause we are! Read on!

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July eTips: Microsoft Office Mix, Using Analytics!

Hello!

Hope everyone had a good semester break previously!
For this month's eTip, we have Caroline to contribute a sharing on how we can use the analytics function in Microsoft's Office Mix to track the responses from our students to our lessons!

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PowerPoint Tidbit!

Hello and welcome back to another sharing on tools for teaching and learning!

For this post, we'll be touching on PowerPoint Presentation. Have you ever needed to make adjustments to an image yet not have any Adobe Software on hand? Fret not! Because PowerPoint Presentations can assist you in making the basic adjustments such as cropping and removing the backgrounds of your images on your desktop!

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Using Nearpod as a tool for Formative Assessment

Besides OneNote, many of us use PowerPoint slides as our main tool when it comes to lesson delivery. It is a very traditional tool that contains most of our lesson content and is handy when teaching in the classroom. But how is teaching effective without gauging how students are able to follow the lesson and understand what is being taught? Therefore the emphasis on formative assessment.

Introducing Nearpod, an online tool whereby a presentation deck of slides comes with the capability of embedding activities comprising question types such as multiple choice and open-ended questions. There are other existing tools whereby Assessment for Learning could be conducted, for example via Microsoft Forms, Kahoot, Spectrum and Literatu. However, Nearpod offers the added capability of allowing students to present their answers in the form of drawings.

Here are some reasons why you would want to try out Nearpod:

Create easily:

It is easy to put up your lesson content on Nearpod. The interface is user friendly and creating a lesson is fast. You can also add a decent range of activities to check on your students’ understanding.

                        

Teacher’s screen: Lesson content options.

Teacher’s screen: Choices of question types.

             Slides can be uploaded onto Nearpod and used just like a normal presentation. 

“Draw It” function:

I think the best part of Nearpod is that it allows students to present their answers in the form of a drawing. A picture is worth a thousand words. You may either use an empty canvass or even put in an image for students to add on their answers to it.

Join spontaneously:

Just like the popular Kahoot tool, students need only to key in a short PIN (called CODE in Nearpod terminology) to access the quiz via their PLDs or smartphones.

Screenshot of teachers’ screen.

Screenshot of students’ screen on mobile phone/ PLD.

Awaiting students’ responses.

Teacher’s view of students’ responses. 

                    Individual students’ response being shown on the teacher’s computer. 

Instant feedback:

Teachers can give immediate feedback after the students have submitted their answers to address any areas for improvement. Peer critique can also be carried out, whereby students question their peers’ answers and suggest alternative answers. This allows the students to learn as a community, build on one another’s answers and learn from common misconceptions surfaced during the quiz.

Analysis of results:

Nearpod generates reports showing the performance of the students. Teachers can use the data to assess how well or badly the students did for the formative assessment and adjust their pedagogy and pace of lesson.  

Hope you find this tool useful in carrying out formative assessment for your classes. If you have any questions or feedback please let us know!

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March's ICT Tidbit

Dear colleagues,

Ever frustrated by accidentally sending out an email to all staff by accidentally “Replying All”? Or realized that you wanted to add on something to the email you just sent out? Fret not, this month’s Tidbits bring you two simple ways to resolve your worries!

Undo Sending

1. In the email tab, click on the Settings icon at the top right hand corner.

2. In the Search field, type in “Undo Send”. Click on “Undo Send” that appears at the top of the list.

3. Click on the “Undo Sending” under Shortcuts > Mail > Automatic Processing.

4. Click on the radio button “Let me cancel messages I’ve sent for”. Choose from the drop-down list that allows you to undo emails you’ve sent after 5, 10, 15 or 30 seconds. Save the settings.

5. This is what you will see when you next send an email. You may click on “Undo” to cancel sending of the email within the timing you have set earlier.

6. Turning off “Reply All” settings

7. While browsing through any of your email, on the email pane, click on the dropdown to the right of “Reply All”.

8. On the dropdown list, click on “Change Default” and place the checkmark against “Reply” instead of “Reply All”.

9. The settings would be automatically saved to “Reply” and your email pane will look like this. 

Hope this couple of Tidbits will come in handy the next time you send out reply emails. 

If you have any other tricks or tips, do let us know via the comments!

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Assessment using Microsoft Forms!

Greetings & a *Cock-a-doodle-dooooooooooo* New Year to all!

Hope everyone had a good holiday break and start to the new year! For this month's eTip, we will be sharing with you how to collate data on students' learning via Microsoft Forms. It's a simple method to help you gauge your students' progress and adjust your teaching practices to suit the learning pace of your class. Now, why switch to Microsoft Forms (MF) when some of us are already so comfortable with using Google Forms (GF), you say? Well, read on and find out some of the conveniences Microsoft Forms provide when you plug into your O365 account!

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Interactive Microsoft Mix Lessons!

Hi there! To round up our yearly eTips, we will be looking at using Microsoft Office Mix, specifically the creation of quiz and poll assessment within the mix to enhance teaching and learning.

Just in case you are not aware of what Office Mix is, Office Mix is a free plug-in for Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 that empowers users to swiftly convert presentations and slide decks into interactive online lessons!

Yes, with Office Mix, it is really easy, intuitive and quick to mix videos, quizzes and other content to make learning more engaging. This is particularly pertinent for educators as teachers are able to record themselves doing the following:

·         Presenting

·         Writing on the slides

·         Include screen captures and screen recordings

·         Incorporate quizzes, polls and other secure web-based elements

Such recordings could be paused, enabling teachers to collect their thoughts such that they are really assured of communicating what they wish to convey to the learners. The web camera could also be switched on and off. And presenters could also “erase” what they have written on a slide during the recording.

So here is a recap on why Office Mix is so empowering as an ICT tool for teaching and learning!

At the same time, it facilitates pedagogy.

In a nutshell, this really contributes to active learning – vital in this era of higher education and 21^stCentury Learning.  

So, to check on students’ understanding, Office Mix offers the following quiz and poll types:

• Free Response Quiz
• Multiple Choice Quiz
• Multiple Response Poll
• True False Quiz

How to quiz or poll your learners?

Follow the steps to learn how to insert a quiz in your Mix:

Alternatively, you can check out the demo by accessing Slide 7 in the Mix here.

And follow the steps to learn how to insert a poll in your Mix:

Otherwise, you can check out the demo by accessing Slide 13 in the Mix here.

Also, we would like to share with you some Office Mix Hacks that will contribute to an efficient lesson design.

And here are some useful web resources

• Online video tutorials at Office Mix website
• Example Mixes at the online gallery on Office Mix website
• Web article on significance of flipping student and workplace learning for professional development
• Web article on suitability of Office Mix for the ‘Flipped Classroom’ blended learning approach

Overall, Office Mix’s ease of use and myriad of tools offers a good approach for turning presentations into interactive online lessons which students could refer to outside of the classroom anytime and anywhere. Do try it out and share with us how you have used the Quiz function to review students’ understanding. ^_^b 💗

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