A Panel Discussion 

​Tue, Jan. 29, 2019
1PM – 2PM 

​Light refreshments will be served.
The Center for Instructional Design & Academic Technology (CIDAT) at SXU will host “Office Hours of the Future,” a 1-hour panel session on Jan. 29th from 1 - 2 pm in Butler Reception Hall. Presenters Alex King, Ph.D., Katie Soso, MSN, RN, CPSN-R, and Christina Matusek, MFA will share how they transform typical office hours for the benefit of the students and themselves. 
Traditional office hours provide a confidential place where students and faculty can discuss grades, assignments, and more. Incorporating technology into office hours allows faculty to be innovative with scheduling and hosting meetings with students. During this session, three instructors will review the way they host office hours. 
Subjects covered include: 
  • Traditional office hours in non-traditional locations
  • Canvas LMS Appointment Group Scheduler tool
  • ​Google Hangouts, Google Voice, and Google Collaboration tools (such as the chat feature in G-Docs)

Communication

Office hours are key to student success. It can improve teaching and learning: it allows for deeper learning, coaching, one-on-one assistance, and fosters connection.
​Supplementing office hours with technology can extend these learning and teaching opportunities. Some benefits of including technology:
  • Ease and flexibility of communication.
  • Personalizes communication method to suit individual student needs, this can help student's feel respected and welcome. 
  • More engagement and productivity from students. Especially those that may not feel comfortable interacting face-to-face.
  • Can alleviate anxiety to meet in a neutral space or virtual space
  • Teaches students alternative, professional ways to communicate -  so necessary in the job market.

Canvas - A few options

Appointment Scheduler
  • Streamline appointment scheduling by blocking off time slots that students can sign-up for in their own time. 
  • Allows for single-person or group sign-up
Announcements
  • Used to broadcast information
  • Goes to all members of a course
  • Reply and liking announcements can be turned on
Conversations - The Inbox
  • Offline communication
  • Private - one-on-one
  • Retains history
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Chat
  • Real time and offline communication
  • Group discussions, open to entire class
  • Great for virtual office hours, group discussions, and study sessions
  • Retains history
Conferences - a.k.a. The Big Blue Button
  • Real time communication
  • Great for virtual lectures, virtual office hours, and student groups
Canvas Apps
Get support with Canvas.

Google Suite

G Suite can help you connect, create, collaborate. Gives you control over access.
Google Hangouts with Chat
  • ​Voice and video conversations from most computers or mobile devices
  • Real time communication
  • Great for virtual office hours, group discussions, and study sessions, training/tutorials using screenshare
  • Has integrated chat
  • Apps: ​iOS, Android, Plug-in, Chrome extension​​
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​ Google Voice
  • Telephone service with call forwarding; receive voice calls, text, and voicemail
  • Forwards calls to your cell phone
  • ​Some features: screening calls, do not disturb feature, call recording, custom greeting, message archive, and notifications - badges and email notifications
  • Apps: iOS, Android, Web​
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​Google Drive
Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms
  • Share documents and provide feedback
  • Collaborate in real time 
  • ​Co-create in the classroom and outside of the classroom
  • ​Chat built in
Google Chat through Gmail
  • Real time interaction
  • Allows for single-person or groups
  • Notifications
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Blogger
  • An online journal 
  • Can be used to extend the conversation outside the classroom, or as a place to document research and share information
  • Privacy enabled - you choose with whom you share content.
Plenty of accessibility features to support students with diverse needs. 
Get support with Google products.

Building a Strong Network for Your Students

Successful communication and collaboration extended outside the walls of a traditional classroom can foster greater learning opportunities. It allows students to feel connected to you and their classmates, improves productivity, "attendance", etc. It can also increase retention and alleviate stress and anxiety. 

Resources
Chris Matusek | Copyright © 2023