This page contains information and tutorials about the technology tools that Dickinson College provides or that Academic Technology recommends. As we update this page, we will make note of which tools are provided by Dickinson College.
Tools with an asterisk (*) are provided by Dickinson College IT.
Please be aware that the tools we recommend but are not paid for by the college are often free. However, the company may change their terms at any time and that could affect your free access. Also, please check the privacy information for online tools before providing them with student information. If you require assistance, please see a member of the Academic Technology team.
Before selecting a tool to implement in your course, you should start with the problem you are trying to solve. For instance, if you want to hold a class discussion, you can use Zoom for synchronous discussion, Microsoft Teams for synchronous and asynchronous discussion, and Moodle Forums for asynchronous discussion. To decide between these tools, you will need to determine your learning outcomes for the lesson and select the tool that will help you to meet them. Academic Technology staff can assist with these decisions.
HyFlex Classroom Video Demonstration
Please review the following video demonstration that walks you through teaching in the HyFlex classroom. Watch the entire video and/or use the bookmarks to navigate to a specific topic:
Moodle*
Moodle is Dickinson's learning management system. We recommend using Moodle as your course's "home base." Moodle allows you to share files, deploy tests, create discussion forums, track grades, and more. You can view all of our tutorials by clicking through our Moodle Upgrade playlist that includes tutorials on:
- What’s New in Moodle
- Add Activity or Resources and Activity Block
- Assignments and Activity Completion
- Course Page Overview
- Creating and Using Quizzes
- Forums Overview
- Gradebook
- Participants
- Quickmail Overview
- Restrict Assess and Overrides for Users and Groups
- Reports
Panopto*
Panopto is a video recording and hosting platform. Think of it as Dickinson College's internal Youtube. You can record videos such as asynchronous lessons, lectures, demonstrations, announcements, welcome messages, syllabus overviews, and more using the Panopto recorder or you can upload videos you made with something like iMovie. (Panopto resources updated 1/23/23)
- Powerpoint from Panopto Workshop including examples of ways to use Panopto in your teaching
- Panopto Faculty Guide
- Panopto Student Guide
Zoom*
Zoom is a synchronous video conferencing platform. We recommend that you use Zoom for discussions, activities, and group work. You can use breakout rooms, polling, and chat to encourage engagement and conversation. You can also use Zoom for virtual office hours and student conferences. You can also record Zoom meetings to the Zoom Cloud and share it with your students. To request access to the Zoom Cloud, submit a ticket to helpdesk@dickinson.edu. Students do not need a Zoom pro account to access your classes.
- Zoom 101: Breakout Rooms
- Zoom 101: Polling (In-meeting)
- Zoom 101: Manage Participants (In-depth)
- How to use Waiting Rooms
- Using Annotation Tools on a Shared Screen or Whiteboard
- Sharing Your Screen
- Setting Up Zoom Meetings in Moodle
- Zoom: Recording to the Cloud
- Zoom: Closed Captioning
- Zoom Live Transcript
- Pre-Assigning Participants to Breakout Rooms
Microsoft Teams*
MS Teams is a collaboration platform for chat, video, and file sharing. It is a part of the Office 365 Suite and works with all of the Microsoft applications. You can use MS Teams to connect with students through chats, calls, and video conferencing. You can also set-up file sharing and encourage collaboration. MS Teams is included in our current Microsoft subscription and is free to use.
Explain Everything
Explain Everything is an online app that allows you to create engaging, interactive lessons. You can use it to illustrate an asynchronous lesson or to encourage class collaboration. You can use it as a digital whiteboard for lectures or class discussions. Students can use it to collaborate on group projects and record presentations. Explain Everything has a basic account that is free to use.
Digital Whiteboard Options
This handout provides a comparison between different digital whiteboard options: Zoom Whiteboard, Explain Everything, and Google's Jamboard.
Collaboration Tools
In addition to the Forums feature on Moodle, you can also use FlipGrid. FlipGrid is a video/audio discussion board that allows you to create a discussion prompt with either video or audio and gives students an opportunity to respond to your prompt and to one another. There are many different ways to use this tool in your remote course.
Padlet is a freemium tool that allows you to create a flexible, collaborative space. You'll create a Padlet account, where you can set-up a few Padlets for free. Once you set up a Padlet, you would then need to share it with the class, which can be done by posting the link in the course site. Although Padlet is great for chats, you can also use it as a whiteboard, and the app has different templates, including a timeline.
Scheduling Tools
For assistance with scheduling, we recommend MS Bookings (please note that you may have to log-in with your Dickinson credentials) which integrates with MS Outlook. You can also use calend.ly which can integrate with Zoom for free for a limited time.
Lesson Planning Tool
Lesson Planner is an evidence-informed tool to help you design effective, inclusive lessons for your classes. The tool guides you through the essentials of lesson planning and has a library of active learning strategies to suggest.
Lecture-Capture Classrooms*
Most classrooms on Dickinson's campus now have webcams and microphones that can be used with Panopto to record your class. The classrooms listed below have technology that make the recording process even easier. Please contact Academic Technology if you'd like to learn more about them.