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Kicking Off Class with a Plan! An overview of teaching.tools

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Makena Neal (she/they)

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On September 5, 2023 the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation hosted guest facilitator, Dr. Michael McCreary, co-founder of Teaching Tools and Educational Developer at Goucher College. 

Kicking off Class with a Plan!

A lesson plan can serve as an educator’s road map… including what students need to learn and how that learning will be facilitated within the time span of the experience. Lesson plans can help you feel more confident while maximizing positive student outcomes. Class prep doesn’t have to be a chore this semester! In addition to providing an easy-to-use framework for lesson design, this interactive workshop will introduce participants to an online tool for planning effective, inclusive class sessions… PLUS the new Brainstorming Tool for the first time! This tool uses expertly-prompted AI to generate effective lecture plans, discussion questions, case studies, and more. This is the perfect way to get hands-on practice with Teaching Tools’ entire suite of applications that will revolutionize your class prep workflow. Participants will have the chance to explore the tool, ask questions, and leave the session with a new tool in their educator toolbox.

Setting the Stage…

When class prep is difficult and time consuming it…

  1. Doesn’t happen at all
  2. Doesn’t happen very often
  3. Isn’t very effective

This results in…

  1. Winging it
  2. 10-year old lesson plan (often inaccessible)
  3. Decreased motivation

Teaching Tools (according to the site)

“We build technologies that promote effective, inclusive college teaching. By translating evidence-informed pedagogical research into easy-to-use online tools, we make good teaching practices more accessible to college instructors of all disciplines and experience levels. Our tools are designed to complement the services offered by Centers for Teaching and Learning, Instructional Technology units, and your LMS. We add value by providing innovative solutions tailored to the higher ed teaching and learning context. Launched in February 2022, Teaching Tools is a registered limited liability company in Maryland.”

Anyone can access the three tools at  https://teaching.tools by signing up for free [even with a google account].

1. ACTIVE LEARNING LIBRARY – discover new learning activities that fit your teaching context

https://teaching.tools/activities

  • Main column displays series of learning activities – huge variety from “traditional” (lectures) to more engaging (case study)
    • Click each activity for more details” engagement level, formative feedback, time, modality
    • Best practices for facilitations
  • Filters on the left allow educators to filter by facilitation difficulty level, prep time required, class size, active learning, formative feedback level, bloom’s taxonomy, inclusive learning (UDL principles), whole-person learning, activity time, class modality

2. LESSON PLANNING TOOL – build a cohesive lesson plan for based on series of activities

  • Allows educators to build out timetable for learning experience
  • Saves in database and can be duplicated and edited over time.

3. BRAINSTOMING TOOL – generate new content ideas for lectures, discussions, cases, etc.
https://teaching.tools/brainstorm

  • Works hand in hand with active learning library to build content for the activities you select from library
  • Click learning activity – enter course name and class topic
    • Based on information entered, AI will generate (blooms based) Los
      • Clicking will populate in Lesson’s Los
    • Can edit the text from the populated Los
    • AI will use all the information shared – Name, Class topic, selected Los, to generate:
      • discussion questions
      • lecture topics
      • case studies
    • “regenerate” is a tool to mmix-up the results and get fresh responses from the tool 

In the end…

When class prep is simple and intuitive, it…

  1. Happens fast
  2. Happens often
  3. Effectively promotes student learning

This results in…

  1. Increased confidence
  2. Creative, dynamic lessons
  3. Teachers and students feeling fulfilled and engaged

While we did not record this session, you can…
–> View Michael’s presentation slide deck
–>Listen to Michael on the podcast Lecture Breakers:
Episode 140: Tech Spotlight: How Teaching Tools Helps Educators Plan Effective and Inclusive Learning Experiences with Dr. Michael McCreary
 

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