Friday, July 31, 2015

Three Great Icebreakers for College Courses

Syllabus Quiz
Create a quiz on your syllabus (ex. “The first assignment is due on _____” or “The final exam counts as ___% of my final grade”). Have students work in pairs or small groups to answer the questions. You can then review the questions as a large group or just ask students if they have questions about the syllabus. (Harrington Instructor’s Manual, 5)

Plagiarism and Cheating
Students need help understanding these concepts. Have students pair up and come up with their own definition of these terms and then have them identify examples of each. The examples can be shared and discussed with the entire class. Students can compare their definitions to those described in the book. (Harrington Instructor’s Manual, 9)

Class Summaries
At several points throughout the class (every 15-30 minutes), stop and ask students to write a brief summary of what they learned so far. Do not allow them to use any course materials—it is a retrieval exercise. They can then share this with a partner. Give students an opportunity to ask questions about concepts that are not clear. Discuss how students can build in these mini-reviews into their routine as they read and study at home. (Harrington Instructor’s Manual, 28-29)


Reference: Harrington, Christine. 2016. Instructor’s Manual for Student Success in College: Doing What Works!, 2nd ed. Boston: Cengage Learning. © 2016 Cengage Learning.

Save Your Files Directly from Microsoft Office to Google Drive

 
Google steps up to make life easier for you! This add-on places an icon in your MS Office workspace so you can save a document in Microsoft Office directly to Google Drive.
 
 
 

Friday, July 24, 2015

Insert Citations in Google Docs - Easy!

Not only can you insert citations easily while in Google Docs, you can research from an open document once you open the sidebar. Wow! 

This is also a good way to locate images by filters to avoid copyright issues. If you insert an image into your document, it will cite the image for you.

Step 1:
Create or open a Google Doc

Step 2:
Click on Tools, Research (the sidebar will open)

Step 3:
Click in the search bar to view the different types of searches available
  • You can use Google Scholar to search for an article or study
Step 4:
Click on the tiny down-arrow in the middle of the side-bar search window where you may choose:
  • Filter image results by usage rights
  • Select your citation format 
Once you find the article you want, either Cite as footnote or Insert

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Dear Google: No Downloading, Copying or Printing My Files!

Dear Google,
I like to collaborate with Google Docs and Drive, but there are certain files I don't want people to download, copy or print! 
Aloha,
suzy :) 

--- 

Suzy,
You're in luck! There's a way to do that!

-Google 

 
"Prevent People From Downloading, Copying or Printing Your Drive Files | The Gooru." The Gooru. 16 July 2015. Web. 23 July 2015.