If you skim through the archive for this blog, you can see that I enjoy experimenting with different technology tools and resources. I even wrote one post on how to take new tools for a test drive. I don’t just try new things willy-nilly or for the sake of trying something new. In fact, I set a pretty high bar for a tool before I incorporate it into my daily work or try something with a class. My personal time and our class time are just too precious to waste.
 
That said, the endless stream of new tools and resources do present new opportunities, efficiencies and teaching/learning affordances. With this in mind, each year I try to focus on a collection of new tools to test out and try to understand how they might or might not fit into my work and teaching. Sometimes new tools really fit for me. Other times they don’t. Of the five tools I mention in the blog post above, only two have really stuck with me.
 
What I look for in a technology tool
When I’m considering whether to try out a new tool, I try to determine if it helps to solve a problem or make something I do easier. For example, a colleague recently got me to try out Zotero to manage my research references. I had tried a number of these before, but always found them to be more trouble than they were worth. With Zotero, though, it is so easy to pull the reference in from either a library database (e.g., JSTOR) or even a Web resource. I haven’t used the bibliography creator much yet, but just storing and sharing resources is a tremendous advantage over how I have done it in the past.
 
When I’m considering a new tool for my teaching, I think it’s important to make sure it’s a good fit for what I’m teaching and how I want to teach it. For example, while Poll Everywhere is a great tool, it doesn’t lend itself really seamlessly for the smaller, discussion-oriented classes I typically teach. I’m sure there are ways I could integrate it, but I never want to force a new tool into my repertoire.
 
Finally, I think the design, interface and feel of a tool is really important. I’m a bit of a snob with how things look and work. I’ve been known to delete apps from my phone based solely on the look of the logo. I think this is important, because you have to enjoy using a tool to get the most out of it and integrate it in your daily routine. This is a particular strength of the five tools I suggest trying below.
 
Five tools worth taking for a test drive
Full disclosure – some of these tools I have used more than others. That said, the ones I’m less familiar with come highly recommended from colleagues I trust.

1. OneNote – After having tried several other note-taking tools, I keep coming back to OneNote. It is a very flexible, powerful, and easy-to-use tool. It’s particularly good on the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, there are apps for Mac, Windows, IOS, Android, Windows, and probably anything else you can think of. Your notes are stored in the cloud and thus automatically backed up and accessible across all your devices. If you need a powerful, flexible note-taking tool, I highly recommend it.
2. Canvas – On our campus, BlackBoard is the learning management system for academic courses. For years though, I’ve wanted to experiment with Canvas, an alternate LMS option.  Last year, a colleague and I designed a short course using Canvas and we had a great experience. So this year, I’ve designed one course in it completely to offer a hybrid learning experience for my students. What’s great is that you can create a free account and use it right away. So, if you’re designing an online or hybrid course, I’d encourage you to check out Canvas.
3. Zoom – Zoom is a free and powerful web conferencing tool. With Zoom, you can schedule a virtual room, share the link, and then interact with one or more students or colleagues using a powerful web conferencing platform. You can use it like a webinar, or in a more interactive way with audio or video. While I haven’t used this yet, I plan to use it for a couple of different experiences in my course this fall. Based on the recommendation of colleagues and my experience in setting up the rooms, I think it will be a great choice.
4. Zaption – Zaption is a tool that allows you to create an interactive learning experience from a YouTube video. After you create an account and paste the URL of the video from YouTube, you can add annotations, provide prompts for students to stop and consider, or create quiz questions time-stamped to different parts of the video. This is another tool that I haven’t yet used substantively, but I’m really looking forward to trying it out with a couple videos for my course this fall.
5. Eas.ly – Eas.ly is a Web tool that enables you to design infographics to create a visual representation of data. There are a number of these tools available, some for free and some paid, but Eas.ly looks very user-friendly and slick. I’ve begun creating an infographic on findings from research on educational technology in classrooms, and found it very intuitive and user-friendly. In fact, I’ve enjoyed it so much that I plan to require my students to create their own infographics for a class project.

What technology tool are you interested in trying out this year?
Please post your comments below. 

I can’t remember the last time I referenced a physical journal or requested a hard copy article or book from inter-library loan. Instead, I rely almost completely on PDF files for articles and manuscripts I’m reading. One advantage of having articles in PDF form is that you can save and organize them in folders for future reference. The other advantage is that you can read them and annotate them on your computer or mobile device. A tablet like the iPad is almost ideal for this purpose. So throw away those reams of paper and ink highlighters and read on…
 
In this Luminaris Field Guide video, I walk you through how I use PDF Expert to markup PDF files with highlights, underlined text, shapes and images. I also reference iAnnotate PDF, which is also a great option. While I demonstrate the process with a 12.9” iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil, the process works with any iPad and any stylus. I hope you find the video helpful and informative.

What other tools and strategies do you use to annotate or markup PDF files?
Please post your comments below.

As faculty members, it’s easy to get inundated with student work. I like to do as much grading and feedback with as little paper as possible. I prefer to do this digitally, not only to minimize paper, but also to keep a record of the feedback I provide, pass work back and forth electronically, and have the flexibility to provide this feedback wherever I happen to be.
 
I’ve tried numerous tools over the years, and have always run into difficulty. Using the commenting features in Word works great, but I really prefer to provide feedback in handwritten form. I like being able to highlight sections, draw diagrams, and add different marks in the margins. At last, I think I found the ideal solution and I wanted to share it with you.
 
Digital Annotation with Word on the iPad
In this Luminaris Field Guide video, I walk you through how I use Box.com, the Word app, and the iPad to easily and naturally provide handwritten feedback to student work. While I demonstrate the process with a 12.9” iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil, the process works with any iPad and any stylus. I hope you find the video helpful and informative.

What other tools and strategies do you use to annotate or provide feedback on student work?
Please post your comments below. â€‹

​I was late to the Twitter game compared to many of my friends and colleagues. It was only about 18 months ago or so that I made a conscious effort to commit to using the service for professional connections, sharing, etc. Many of my colleagues are much more active (10,000+ posts) and more connected (thousands of followers). I was just very skeptical of its value compared with the time and effort I’d need to put into it to derive any real benefit.
 
Today I’d say I’m moderately active (I’m @markhofer if you'd like to connect). I try to tweet out interesting articles that I find online, I share blog posts I’ve written, and I’m taking baby steps towards creating more connections, participating in tweetups, etc. I think this might be hard for me, because I’m not much of a social media guy. I have LinkedIn and a dormant Facebook account, but I’ve never really enjoyed or figured out the best way to make these tools worth the investment of time and energy. When I read about colleagues in higher ed using Twitter and other social media services in their teaching, I’m particularly skeptical.
 
Finding balance between skepticism and open-mindedness
The place of technology in teaching and learning can be a bit of a polarizing topic. There are some folks who would argue that technology has no place in the college classroom. Even if they are personal users of technology, they argue that these kinds of tools create distance between the students and the instructor, distract from learning, and may even make students lazy in their thinking. On the other side, of course, you have the technology evangelists who not only promote the use of technology in the classroom, but go so far as to disparage those who resist. I think that as faculty who care about student learning, growth and development, we have an obligation to situate ourselves somewhere in the middle between these two poles.
 
Just because I’m naturally a bit skeptical about Twitter in the classroom doesn’t mean I should dismiss the possibilities out of hand. I recognize that increasingly my students are active and engaged in these spaces, so it makes sense to consider the possibilities. Like with anything, though, I feel like tools and resources should be selected based upon how they serve students and engage them in my course content. In an effort to better judge the tool's affordances and constraints, I decided to do some research. Fortunately just at that time, I came upon a resource created  by Jamison Miller, PhD student and graduate assistant in the William & Mary School of Education Technology Integration center,  called Twitter for Educators.
 
Miller highlights four different strategies for using Twitter in courses:

• Continuous asynchronous discussions throughout a course
• Focused, synchronous “tweetchats”
• A Twitter essay activity
• A synchronous Twitter journal club
  
  

I was intrigued to read through these four examples because they were clearly thoughtful strategies to use Twitter in a substantive way. Based on these four examples, I’ve identified a few affordances and constraints of this tool in the classroom.
 
Affordances of Twitter in the classroom

• The informal feel of Twitter and short length of tweets might encourage greater and more organic participation in discussion, particularly in responding to each other.
• The 140-character limit for tweets forces students to synthesize their ideas and be concise and clear in their communication.
• “Unleashing a tweet into the world,” as Jesse Stommel phrased it, encourages students to consider their audience, tone, and perspective.
• If also active on Twitter, students can engage directly with the author(s) of an article or book used in class using an @ reply.
• Using a specific hashtag for a journal club or community reading allows students to quickly tweet their reactions, ideas and questions as they go, which may promote increased engagement in reading and connections around ideas from a text.

Constraints of Twitter in the classroom

• The 140-character limit may encourage shallow ideas and thinking.
• The character limit can also make it difficult to provide context for contributions.
• It can be difficult for students to reference texts and sources as they contribute online.
• Asynchronous discussion is not threaded in the way that a discussion board allows – consequently, it can be difficult to follow a string of tweets as a conversation.
• Using Twitter as a back channel during an in-class discussion may create a kind of distance between participants and may decrease active engagement in the face-to-face discussion.

In the end…
I found it interesting that in exploring some examples and thinking through the affordances and constraints that Twitter can be both a positive and a negative. Much of the value or limitations with Twitter as an instructional tool depends on how it would be used and for what purpose.
 
While I am still suspicious of Twitter as a way to post substantive contributions or to facilitate sustained threads of discussion, I’m starting to understand targeted ways that Twitter might be useful in my classes. In particular, I like the idea of Twitter journal groups for students to share ongoing ideas related to a reading. I worry a bit that this might lead to a muddled, difficult to follow collection of isolated and de-contextualized notes. Like anything, I suppose, it will take some trial and error experimentation and some input and advice from my students to make this a meaningful learning experience for my students.

Where do you stand on Twitter and other social media tools in the college classroom? More importantly, why?
Please post your comments below. 

Several of my colleagues at William & Mary and around the country have recently acquired iPad Pros. Many others are trying desperately to be more productive on their iPads or iPad Minis. The truth is, while iPads and other tablets offer great potential to make us more productive, you have to be strategic in setting up your device, finding the right apps, and working through some of the limitations with these mobile devices.
 
I thought it might be helpful if I shared some of the essential services, tools, and apps to help us all get the most out of our iPads. What follows are my ideas on what every iPad owner should at least consider for maximum productivity on their device. In each category, I offer some alternatives with a slightly deeper dive into my service, tool or app of choice. I hope that you find this post helpful. If you have additional suggestions to share, please post a comment below.
 
File Management
One of the biggest challenges for new iPad owners and those who want to move beyond content consumption on their device is file management. It can be a bit of a mystery as to how to get files on and off the device from your computer. Apple has tried to address this with iCloud integration. If you are an iCloud user on your Mac, you can synchronize files back and forth with your iPad and iPhone fairly easily. For many of us, though, we have an existing file structure, folders, and resources that may not work well with iCloud. In this case, we need a simpler solution to synchronize our existing documents using a cloud storage service. If you’re new to cloud storage, you may want to view this video overview of how Dropbox works before continuing.
 
I’ve extensively used four of the main cloud storage services – Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, and Google Drive. All four offer free accounts which can be upgraded to include additional storage space or features and all include the ability to synchronize files automatically on your computer and devices. In my opinion, it is essential to subscribe to and use a cloud storage service to get the most out of your device. Choosing one can be a bit of a challenge, but here are some rules of thumb:

• If you work mostly in Microsoft Office, I’d suggest OneDrive.
• If you want integration with the largest numbers of apps in the AppStore, I’d suggest Dropbox.
• If you live in Google, I’d suggest Google Drive.
• If you need enhanced security and a variety of file sharing features, I’d choose Box.

 
Still confused? Read this great post from Sarah Mitroff at CNET for more guidance. Whichever service you choose, it’s best to go “all in” and move all of the documents you regularly work with into your cloud account. Once there, it is relatively easy to access these files on your iPad and save documents there as well.  
 
Note-Taking
One of the things I like the most about an iPad versus a laptop is the size and relative unobtrusiveness of these devices. In contrast to having the laptop screen between you and others during a meeting, referencing materials and taking notes on an iPad puts up much less of a barrier between you and others – particularly when you use a stylus or the onscreen keyboard, rather than using your iPad with a keyboard. For this reason, I see a note-taking app as an essential tool in your toolkit.
 
If you work primarily in Office, you can use the Word app that works great on the iPad. If you prefer dedicated note-taking apps, I’ve tried a number of the great ones available in the AppStore. For me, I look for three things: a simple interface, notes have to be searchable/”organizable,” and they need to be able to sync to a desktop app or at least to my other devices. The two most widely used note-taking apps are Evernote and OneNote. Both have all the features you'd most likely need and are free. OneNote offers more unintuitive ways to group and organize your notes, but Evernote has connections with more additional plug-ins and services. I think it’s just a question of preference.
 
If you have an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil (or any iPad with a stylus you can at least tolerate), you may want to explore note-taking apps that enable you to take handwritten notes. This has always been my preference. I’ve enjoyed using Penultimate (which integrates with Evernote) and OneNote. On a recommendation from a friend, I’m eager to try Noteshelf which offers a great set of tools for different kinds of notebooks, paper, etc.
 
Document Creating/Editing
To make your iPad even moderately productive, you need to be able to access, edit, and create documents. You’ll then need to be able to sync these documents with your computer. If you’re a Google Drive user, this is easily accomplished with the Google Drive app. All you need to do is install the app, login, and you’re in.
 
For many of us, though, we need to be able to work with Microsoft Office files. A few years ago, this was a royal pain. Fortunately, Microsoft has developed a great suite of apps for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote that are optimized for the iPad. While you don’t have access to all the features of the desktop app, you can do most everything you’d need to do. While you can save files on the iPad, it’s much better to integrate with a cloud storage service. OneDrive is definitely the easiest and most robust service that works with these apps flawlessly. You can also make other services like Dropbox and Box work – it just requires a little more effort to set up these services and make sure that your files are syncing reliably.
 
To-Do List Management
One essential for a productive life is to have an app that helps you with organizing and managing your to-do list. While there are a number of great apps and services available (e.g., Omnifocus, Wunderlist, and Remember the Milk), in my opinion, no app offers the simplicity with all the features I need in a rock-solid app that works on the iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows – Todoist. Honestly, I wouldn’t waste my time exploring the others (trust me, I have) and just sign up for a free Todoist account. I predict that you’ll upgrade to the very affordable Premium service. If you need more convincing, check out my post on Todoist.

PDF Reading/Annotating
iPads are great for reading and annotating PDF documents. I find it much easier and more enjoyable to read a digital document on the iPad flat on the table in front of me compared to a computer screen. I also enjoy the ability to highlight text and make quick notes or annotations on the documents. The experience is exceptionally good on the iPad Pro paired with an Apple Pencil.
 
I’ve recently written an overview of how to choose the best PDF reading/annotation app for your needs. To boil down the substance of that post, I think either Adobe Acrobat Reader for basic use and iAnnotate PDF for increased features will meet most everyone’s needs. Just make sure that whatever service you choose integrates with your cloud storage service, as this can be a bit hit-and-miss across the apps.
 
What other essential tools would you add to this list?
Please post your comments below.