If you've ever wanted to slow down and try to be more intentional about your daily routines, then this TED talk is for you! Becky Fenton shared this video at a meeting recently and it made me wonder how I can try to design my life not for speed, but for happiness. OTL wishes all of you a happy and restful holiday.
Thoughts from Becky Fenton
It seems like every day we are presented with a new challenge, a new mandate, or a new reason to protest. So much of it is just not in our control. We cannot control if we have to wear a mask in public, what is going on with our government, how people treat each other on social media, or if we have to find a way to work full time, homeschool our kids, protect the ozone layer, and save the turtles all in one day. We can't even control how we feel about all of it. The only thing we can do is choose how we, personally, react to it. We can choose to laugh or cry in our situation, we can choose to show kindness to someone or be critical of them, we can choose to have a positive attitude or be someone who sees the dark side of everything.
Even in the toughest of circumstances, there is so much good around us. Sometimes you have to look harder to find it, sometimes it takes a little longer to do it, but It's there. I would love for you all to join me as I choose the happy path through this crazy journey.
Please share the funny or inspiring memes, quotes, and articles to give us a reason to smile.
Upcoming Events
- Canvas Course Requests for Spring 2021 Due December 14th
Canvas Course Evaluations
OTL is working on systematically evaluating Canvas courses. The sooner you request your Canvas courses for Spring 2021, the quicker we can create your course and complete the evaluation, which is required. Read more about evaluations here.
Did you miss the webinars?
OTL takes webinar content and puts it into Bridge as an online course for optimal online learning (rather than just sending you a long recording). Click on the links to enroll in courses that cover the past two webinars.
- October's webinar discussed a framework for deciding how to use Technology as part of your teaching.
- November's webinar covered Canvas Course Evaluations. Everyone should go through this course so you know the best practices for improving your Canvas course for student engagement, mobile accessibility, and communication.
Simple Syllabus in Canvas
You may have noticed "Simple Syllabus" in your Canvas course navigation. Going forward, this is where most courses will display the syllabus and allow you to edit it. You can hide your old Syllabus link by customizing your course navigation. If you notice an error or need to request any changes, email otlhelpdesk@mtec.edu.
Tools in Canvas Student App for Assignment Submissions
Do you have paper worksheets or forms that students fill out and submit to you in person? Or is one of your students stuck at home during quarantine and wants to send you a pass-off video? If your students use the Canvas Student App on their phones (iPhone or Android), there are some really easy tools in there for helping students submit assignments.
- PDF Annotations: If you put a PDF file in the assignment details of an assignment, the student can open the PDF and annotate it (write on it) right within the Canvas Student App, and submit it.
- Media Submissions:
- If students have filled out a physical worksheet, they can use the scanner tool in the app to easily take a picture of it and submit.
- Students can record video within the assignment submission space and submit it.