The spring semester has ended, and for many students and instructors, that means a well-earned break from classroom activity. For others, the summer term is just gearing up. In fact, between all the summer sessions, Pitt offers more classes in the summer than during the fall or spring semester! Because summer courses are often condensed, the course structure and content may be different than in a full-semester class. Having all your tech ducks in a row is important for ensuring a good learning and teaching environment. Fortunately, Pitt IT is up and running all summer long to help. 

Build a Better Course in Canvas

The Learning Management System (Canvas) is the online companion to all your courses, and for students, it’s a lifeline to understanding the course content, schedule, and assignments. Today’s students generally attempt to solve problems on their own, and Canvas is the first place they go. You can save them — and yourself — a lot of hassle by making sure it’s organized well.

Think about previous sessions of a class you’ve taught: Were there any pages or files that your students had a tough time locating? What questions do your students routinely ask that you might head off by making the information more accessible online?

Then think about how the summer offering of the course differs from the fall or spring version. This is especially true for four- and six-week classes. How does the condensed format change your teaching approach, the kinds of assignments and quizzes you give, or attendance requirements? Make sure that your Canvas class is specifically organized to reflect the needs of a summer student.

The University Center for Teaching and Learning can help you plan out and organize your Canvas pages to best meet the needs of your students.

Record Lectures with Lecture Capture (Panopto)

Recordings can be an important element of any class, and students appreciate having recorded lectures in case they miss a class or to review difficult content. Because of the shortened format of many summer classes and the increase in non-traditional students taking them, video can be even more critical. Some professors feel that recorded lectures are more important in the summer because one missed class constitutes a larger section of the course. Other instructors choose to do flipped lessons (where students watch a recorded lecture on their own and use class time for discussions and working through problems) to maximize their more limited class time together.

Lecture Capture (Panopto) can be used to record videos of lectures, demonstrations, or lab techniques in advance or live while you teach. You can also make previous recordings available to current students. Panopto recordings can be added to any Canvas course, so all materials are in the same place. (If you have recordings that you use infrequently, save them in your OneDrive account, since Panopto videos that have not been viewed for 18 months are archived and are permanently deleted after 30 months.)

Set Up Student Electronic Research Notebooks (LabArchives) for Lab Classes

Are you teaching a class where students get hands-on experience with research and lab experiments? Stay up to date on their progress and give them practice in documenting their methods and results with student Electronic Research Notebooks from LabArchives. LabArchives is a cloud-based tool that enables researchers and students to safely store, organize, and share their laboratory research. Instructors can view student notebooks, provide feedback, give assignments and grades, and monitor student activity to help your students become better researchers.

Reserve and Request Classroom Tech

Many courses (e.g. computer or information science, web development, CAD, or graphic design) require students to work directly on computers for hands-on learning with instructor oversight. Having students use their personal devices, with different configurations, operating systems, and compute power/memory, can make that hard. Pitt IT has several options to help ensure all students can access the right software and practice on equally powerful devices.

Lab Classrooms

Reserve a lab classroom in G62 Cathedral of Learning or 314 Bellefield Hall so your students can practice as you speak, while you view their desktops to help them in real-time. Classrooms can be reserved for every class or for one or two sessions or recitations. A reserved lab will not be open to the public, so you will have a private, focused environment. Lab Classrooms are reserved on a first come-first served basis, so reserve your lab promptly.

Azure Lab Services

Azure Lab Services enables instructors to easily build a customized, cloud-based environment, creating a virtual sandbox that allows students to work directly in the system. The service is free for instructors of computer programming, data science, cybersecurity, information science and systems administration courses. Read more on our blog about how Azure Lab Services came to Pitt and tips to get you started.

Request Lab Software

If your students will be working on their own, but will need to use specialized software, you can request that the software be available in the Virtual and in-person Student Computing Labs. Required software should be available in the labs even if it can be downloaded at no cost to prevent snafus related to incompatibility or insufficient resources (speed, memory) on their device. Just request the app using the New Software Title Request form.

Summer Support

Support your summer classes using Pitt IT technology. It will enhance your student’s learning experience, while making your teaching life easier. Learn more about IT resources for Pitt faculty here. Check out the Teaching Center for tips on effectively using Canvas and other technology tools in your classrooms.  For technical help with Pitt IT services or to explore your tech options, send a request to Pitt IT — we’d be thrilled to work with you! And if you decide to take your students outside to learn on a warm, sunny day, check out the many locations that provide outdoor Wi-Fi!

-- By Karen Beaudway, Pitt IT Blogger