Welcome to the first edition of Technology Roundup! This feature will be released every Spring and Fall semester with the purpose of keeping our WCU teaching and learning community informed on the latest instructional technologies available to them while also highlighting any recent updates or improvements.
Padlet Pilot Program – Spring 2024
The Teaching & Learning Center (TLC) is excited to offer the Padlet Pilot Program during the Spring 2024 semester! Padlet is an online visual board that can be used to organize and share content. It’s a great tool for facilitating both collaborative and individual activities and projects. The TLC has procured a trial license, complete with D2L integration!
Registration for the Padlet Pilot program is open through Friday, February 9th. Please visit the Padlet Pilot Program page of our website for more information about the program and how to register! If you have any questions, contact Jessica Drass at jdrass@wcupa.edu.
Resources for Teaching & Learning in the Age of Generative AI
Since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, educators have been grappling with the impact such tools may have in the classroom and how to navigate teaching and learning in this new era. We at the Teaching & Learning Center have been following developments in AI and put together this resource on our website: Generative AI
Augmented and Virtual Reality
Did you know that the Teaching & Learning Center has a class set of Meta Quest 2 VR headsets available for loan? Faculty members who would like to facilitate in-class VR scenarios or activities can contact Jessica Drass at jdrass@wcupa.edu to make a headset reservation.
We also have a 360 camera that can be used to produce customized AR and VR learning activities. If you are interested in exploring ways that augmented and virtual reality can be applied in your instruction, please contact your assigned instructional designer, or email the Teaching & Learning Center at tlc@wcupa.edu.
Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere is an online system that allows users to engage audiences through live online polling, surveys, Q&As, quizzes, world clouds, and more! This tool can be integrated with the Gradebook in any D2L Course. To obtain a presenter license, contact Jessica Drass at jdrass@wcupa.edu. Learn more about Poll Everywhere on our Poll Everywhere Resource Site.
New Attendance Management Feature!
Poll Everywhere has released a new attendance management feature that is meant to help streamline attendance taking and reporting, and enables presenters to capture in-person audience attendance through geolocation. Visit these resources to learn more:
H5P
H5P is an online tool that allows users to build interactive learning activities which can be embedded into D2L Course Module Pages, or anywhere that supports HTML. D2L integration is supported by this tool, allowing faculty to connect H5P activities to the D2L Gradebook and generate completion reports at H5P.com. Check out some examples of what H5P can do: H5P Samples Google Site
If you are interested in learning more about H5P, contact Jessica Drass at jdrass@wcupa.edu.
VoiceThread
VoiceThread is an online tool that can be used for facilitating discussions and collaboration or creating presentations. VoiceThread can be integrated in D2L, allowing faculty to easily create VoiceThread Activities and Assignments that connect right to the gradebook! Learn more about this tool on the VoiceThread page of our website.