Academic Tool Finder

Digital Tool Finder

Key

Learning Types

Tools in Canvas

Further Digital Ed Tools

Acquisition

Collaboration

Discussion

Investigation

Practice

Assessment

Production

Assignments

Quizzes

Discussion

Pages

Pages

Assignments

Use this tool to map digital tools and approaches against 1 of 7 learning types. Hover over the learning types to view a description and click on each of the tools to discover more information and support.

Studio

Pages

Quizzes

Microsoft Forms

Chat

Studio

'Collaborations'

Quizzes

Stream.liv.ac.uk

'Collaborations'

Sway

Social Media

Sway

Microsoft Forms

Office 365

Teams

LinkedIn Learning

Padlet

Teams

YouTube

Microsoft Forms

YouTube

Teams

PebblePad

Genially

Microsoft Forms

Genially

Many of these tools can supportactivities in any of the learning types. We must remember that what determines the choice of tool is our own pedagogic contexts. This tool finder is to help us map digital tools against teaching activities.

Class Notebook

Class Notebook

PowerPoint

PebblePad

Microsoft Word

PebblePad

PebblePad

Box of Broadcasts

PebblePad

PowerPoint

Microsoft Word

Hover over the learning types to view a description of each.

Click on each of the tools to discover more information and support.

Based on a resource designed by the Portsmouth University TEL Team.

Office 365

Key features

Extra Guidance

What is it?

• Quizzes and Surveys using Forms
• Engaging resource creation using Sway
• Generate embed codes for Canvas
• Co-author with other academics and students
• Digital whiteboard
• Access from any device, anywhere and anytime
• Turn your mouse into a laser pointer in PowerPoint
• Plan your time and activities with Planner
• 1 terabyte of cloud storage (OneDrive)

Office 365 refers to an online version of the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Liverpool University subscribes to Office 365 and all students and employees have access to the platform. Aspects of content creation and collaboration means Office 365 offers exciting opportunies to educators.

CSD Overview

365 Course(LinkedIn)

How to access

Examples of Use

Head to the office.com and login using our University credentials. Once logged in, all of your Office 365, online apps can be see down the left of the screen.

• Suggest students use the co-authoring function of PowerPoint to create and practice their presentation.
• Create an activity where students have to collaboratively create a survey using Forms.
• Use the 3D images in PowerPoint to give students a more immersive experience of subject content.

Pebble Pad

Extra Guidance

Key features

What is it?

• Interactive workbooks
• Customisable templates
• ePortfolio design tools
• Activity logs & collections
• Grading
• Blind, and double-blind marking

PebblePad is a portfolio and personal learning platform. It is designed to help learners, wherever they are learning (at study, work or play), develop, shape, and share their unique skills and attributes. PebblePad can be used by an individual to support their own learning and professional development, or by an organisation to facilitate the learning of their members, be they students, staff, or professionals.

Pebble Pad in a Nutshell

Examples of Use

You could design activities / templates that include all or some of the following:

• Reflective journals
• Writing samples
• Projects prepared for class or extracurricular activities
• Evidence of creativity and performance
• Evidence of extracurricular or co-curricular activities, including examples of leadership
• Evaluations, analysis and recommendations

Templates & Workbooks

How to access

Head to pebblepad.com and login using your MWS credentials. Students can also login to Pebble Pad like this. You can now begin creating and sharing.

Sharing with Others

Social Media

Extra Guidance

Key features

• Simple and Friendly User Interface (UI)
• Visually Appealing and Accessible Design
• Secure Login

• Networking Element
• Content Sharing Method
• Messaging System
• Open Forum
• Real-Time Notifications
• Synchronous broadcast tools
• Follow key researchers / educators

What is it?

Social media are interactive technologies that allow the creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. The most popular at the moment are TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Using Facebook for Education

Examples of Use

How to access

Making a TikoTok video for Education

• Ask students to follow a subject expert on social media and then reflect on opinions/research posted.
• Run a 'Tweet Meet' for your students and involve other research/student communities.
• Design an activity where students have to curate a gallery of social media resources and then have them refelct on and write about their choices.

Every social media platform will require you to sign up for an account in order to post content, follow other accounts etc. You can do this by using a smartphone app or by going to their website.

Twitter for education

Class Notebook

Key features

Extra Guidance

What is it?

• Break content up into that which your students can view, edit or is visible by educators only
• Distribute pages or new sections to students in a class quickly and easily
• Students have access to open as well as private areas
• Embed MS Forms content into pages
• Voice to text and and voice recording directly onto pages
• Synchronous and asynchronous engagement
• Mathematics tools

OneNote Class Notebook is an advanced version of the free Microsoft OneNote app. This version, allows students to simultaneously collaborate on projects together and privately submit assignments. Educators can create unique digital notebooks for each class while maintaining full control of which students and teachers have access.

Overview of Class Notebook

How to access

Examples of Use

The best way of accessing Class Notebook is via Microsoft Teams. Open Teams, and if your team has been set up using the Class template, you will see Class Notebook on the General tab. You can also create a Class Notebook from within Canvas. Students can also access using a mobile app.

• Suggest students use the co-authoring function of PowerPoint to create and practice their presentation.
• Create an activity where students have to collaboratively create a survey using Forms.
• Use the 3D images in PowerPoint to give students a more immersive experience of subject content.

Setting up Class Notebook

Padlet

Key features

Extra Guidance

• Add posts with one click, copy-paste, or drag and drop
• Simple link sharing allows for quick collaboration
• Invite others to contribute - signup not required
• Embed in other platforms such as Canvas and Teams
• Allow others to remake your work to use as a template
• Upload files from your computer, take a picture or video from your phone, or link from the web
• Post images, documents, videos, music, and files from Photoshop, Illustrator, Autocad, and more
• Embed content from anywhere on the web, including YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Vimeo

What is it?

At its most simple, Padlet is a digital, curatable and shareable post-it notes board. The boards are incredibly flexible and can be accessed and used from almost any device, froma web-browser to a smartphone.

Introduction to Padlet

How to access

Examples of Use

Head to padlet.com and create an account. Once you've done this you can start creating and sharing.

• Introduce an activity where your students use Padlet to build a concept map
• Use Padlet to brain storm and develop ideas for a new course with you colleagues
• Create a Padlet to engage students with ice-breaker activities
• Issue an assigment where students use Padlet to build a timeline

The Basics for Educators

Genially

Key features

Extra Guidance

What is it?

• Animation & Visual Effects
• Interactive & Layered Content
• Integrations
• Collaborative Tools
• Templates
• Resource Library
• Embedding in Canvas, Sway etc.

Genially is a media creation platform focused on designing and sharing media creations and presentations of all kinds. From the dashboard, we can start from blank or predesigned templates organized into 12 types, including videos, infographics, interactive images, quizzes, and more.

CSD Overview

Getting Started with Genially

Examples of Use

How to access

• Design an interactive module guide and embed in your Canvas course.
• Create an interactive infographic of your module
• Create a 'choose of your path' game/activity for your students
• Ask your students to build an interactive guide or exhibit as part of an activity or assessment

To use Genially, you need to create an account. Once you have created an account, you'll be able to login and begin creating.

Educational Uses for Genially

Canvas Quizzing

Key features

Extra Guidance

What is it?

• Create new quizzes with individual questions and question groups
• Set up question banks
• Import external quizzes
• Show one quiz question at a time
• Create quizzes with due dates
• Create quizzes with completion time limits
• Ask varied question types in one assessment (including; Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer, True False, Essay)
• Mark essay answers in SpeedGrader

Canvas quizzes offer a number question types, many of which can be automatically marked and fed back upon. Canvas quizzes shouldn't normally be used for essay type activities, contact cie@liverpool.ac.uk for guidance if you're unsure.

Creating Quizzes

How to access

Examples of Use

Head to a Canvas course and the Quizzes option will appear in the course menu.

• Use the hot spot quiz type to test anatomical/other identification skills
• Assess pre-class or pre-module background knowledge of topics to be discussed.
• Poll students on questions related to course content.

New Quizzes - Basics and Benefits

Canvas Chat

Key features

What is it?

Extra Guidance

• Students and academics on the module can chat to each other
• Familiar set of emojis
• New message alert switch
• Chat embedded in Canvas, students do not have to open another window

Canvas Chat is a basic tool for real-time, text-based communication, is available in all Canvas courses and also in Canvas Groups. When enabled in the course Navigation menu, Chat is available for use by anyone in the class.

Canvas Chat Tool Demo

How to access

Examples of Use

Once you have enabled Chat in the course navigation menu, the Chat option will appear for all learners and academics on the course.

• Use the chat to initiate subject related discussion
• Encourage the use of chat as a space for reflection or peer support / Q&As

Using Chat as an Instructor

Canvas Discussion

Extra Guidance

Key features

What is it?

• Create, edit, and delete discussion topics. You can also reply to individual student discussion posts
• Subscribe to a discussion and be notified of replies
• Embed or attach files, images, and YouTube videos
• Subscribe to podcast feeds within discussions

Canvas provides an integrated system for class discussions, allowing both instructors and students to start and contribute to as many discussion topics as desired. Discussions allows for interactive communication between two or more people; users can participate in a conversation with an entire class or group.

Discussion Board 101

Examples of Use

There are a number of excellent discussion activities, including:

How to access

• Philosophical Chairs (link)

• Pinwheel Discussion (link)

The discussion option will already be visible on your course menu.

• Socratic Seminar (link)

• Affinity Seminar (link)

• Concentric Circles (link)

Creating Group Discussions

Canvas Assignments

Extra Guidance

Key features

What is it?

• Easily add summative / formative assignments to your course
• Provide diverse feedback using Speedgrader
• Accompany your assignment with a rubric
• Allow resubmissions
• Regrade assignments

Canvas allows a variety of student work to be submitted to a course site as assignments, including writings and recordings, discussions and quizzes.

How to access

Creating Assignments in Canvas

Examples of Use

Once inside a Canvas course, look to the course menu to the left of the screen. The assignments option is there.

• Test student knowledge by using ungraded assignments which won't clutter up your gradebook
• Consider diverse assessment submissions by allowing multiple submissions for assignments

SpeedGrader in the Canvas Teacher app...

Microsoft Teams

Key features

Extra Guidance

• Assign, track and grade assignments
• Students can interact without interrupting
• Share your screen or presentation in real time
• Split students into breakout rooms for activities
• Whiteboard for collaboration
• Use live captions when presenting
• Build communities using chat tools
• Share and co-author documents
• Use on multiple devices

What is it?

Microsoft Teams is a persistent chat-based collaboration platform complete with document sharing, online meetings, and many more extremely useful features for business communications.

Creating Assignments

How to access

Examples of Use

You can either start the app on your desktop/laptop computer or head to office.com, login using your University credentials and select the online version of Teams.

• Post resources and then use the chat function to generate a discussion around it
• Draw diagrams for class in real time using the White Board app
• Use the Flipgrid app to build a community around student video 'selfies'
• Use the assignments tool to issue formative assessments

Create an Engaging Online Experience using Microsoft Teams

Canvas Collaborations

What is it?

Extra Guidance

Key features

Canvas leverages collaborative technology to allow multiple users to work together on the same document at the same time. Collaborative documents are saved in real-time, meaning a change made by any of its users will be immediately visible to everyone.

• Copy and paste notes that everyone can access.
• Share bullet-point lists or agendas for upcoming synchronous class or group time or meetings.
• Create a text-based whiteboard that everyone in the classroom can see and refer to later.
• Assign student groups a collaborative assignment as a graded assignment

Getting Started

How to access

Collaboration & Assignments

In an open canvas course, look to the course menu and you will see the Collaborations option.

Example Uses

Use Canvas Collaborations to launch an in-class activity; this could during a face-to-face session on an online one.

Assign student groups a collaborative assignment as a graded assignment (instructor feature).

Box of Broadcasts

Extra Guidance

Key features

What is it?

• Easily search for content – including programme titles and transcriptions
• View content on any device
• Request recordings – you can request programmes up to 7 days in advance of their broadcast.
• Make clips from recordings – If you're only interested in a 2 minute clip from a programme, just make a clip!
• Create playlists which can be kept private to you or shared with other BoB users.
• Create a BoB playlist for your module.
• Embed content into Canvas

Box of Broadcasts, or BoB for short, is an on demand TV and radio service for education. If you've seen, or heard, something on TV or radio that you think would be useful to your learning or teaching, there's a good chance you can get hold of it via BoB

Introduction to BOB

How to access

Head to login.learningonscreen.ac.uk, find Liverpool University and use your Uni credentials to log in.

Recording with BOB

Microsoft Forms

Extra Guidance

Key features

What is it?

• Surveys: gather feedback, measure satisfaction, attitudes etc.
• Quizzes: Measure student knowledge, evaluate class progress, and focus on topics that need improvement
• Branching to allow multiple survey / quiz pathways
• Works on any device
• Automatically grade and
• Dowload responses to Excel
• Embed in Sway, Canvas etc.

Microsoft Forms is a simple, lightweight tool that lets you quickly create a survey or quiz, collect responses in real time, and view automatic charts to visualise your data.

Microsoft Forms for educators and teachers: Quizzing and testing

How to access

Head to office.com or forms.micosoft.com and login using your MWS credentials. Students also have access to Office 365 and, therefore, Microsoft Forms.

Example Uses

• Make it possible for students to collaborate and create their own rubrics for class projects.
• Using anonymous responding, create a survey to gauge student well-being

Forms Tips and Tricks

LinkedIn Learning

Key features

Extra Guidance

• Comprensive library of courses
• Students can slow down or speed up presentations
• Fully accessible interface and content
• View content on any device
• Students can keep track of progress and print out certificates of completion
• Bookmark videos, chapters or courses for future reference
• Create collections, make notes and undertake knowledge checks.

What is it?

LinkedIn Learning is a massive open online course provider. It provides video courses taught by industry experts in software, creative, and business skills. All the courses on LinkedIn fall into 3 categories: Business, Creative, and Technology.

Introduction to LinkedIn Learning

How to access

Example Uses

Head to https://www.linkedin.com/learning-login

• Create a learning challenge monthly or bi-monthly
• Use the Notes feature to create outlines for your students
• Download exercise files and have students practice applying knowledge as they go

and login using your email address and password.

All staff and students at the UoL can use LinkedIn Learning

Creating & Editing Learning Paths

Canvas Content Pages

Extra Guidance

What is it?

Key features

The pages tool in Canvas allows us to build a number of linked pages for our courses, containing whichever resources we think are important to our learners, files, wikis, vidoes etc.

• Store course content
• Link to pages from anywhere else in the course
• Specify a page as the course 'Home Page'
• Allow pages to be editable by students
• Easily lock and unlock pages

Adding Content Pages

Examples

How to access

• Create an editable page containing a course Wiki
• Create a page containing a curated course video gallery
• Create a page where students can collaboratively build content

The Pages menu will be available in any open Canvas course.

Creating a course Home Page

Stream (Lecture Capture)

Extra Guidance

What is it?

Key features

Stream is the University of Liverpool's own lecture capture platform.

• Record face-to-face lectures and add to Canvas
• Upload any video file and easily add to Canvas
• Content viewable on multiple devices
• Share across platforms such as Twitter etc.
• Content automatically up-scaled to HD
• Learners can comment on and rate your videos

Getting Started

How to access

Benefits & Features

Head to stream.liv.ac.uk and log in with your MWS username and password

In Canvas, academics and students can access Stream content by clicking on the Stream Lectures link in the course menu.

Guidance and Best Practivce

Canvas Studio

CIE Guidance

What is it?

Record a presentation with Studio

Key features

Canvas Studio is a media tool that allows students and instructors to upload, create, edit, manage, share and discuss audio and video files. Existing files can be used or new ones can be created with Studio's capture and editing tools.

• Upload your own content or record your own
• Students can also record their own video content
• Analytics - find out how engaging your videos are
• Students and academics can comment on videos
• Add quiz elements to videos

Share Studio resources in a Canvas Course

How to access

Examples

Accessing Studio Video Editor

• Diversity your assessment by introducing video submissions
• Use the the quizzing capability of Studio to design simulations / authentic experiences for your students

When you open a course in Canvas, the Studio option will appear in the course option list.

Captions and Canvas Studio

YouTube

Extra Guidance

Key features

What is it?

• Learners can search for and watch videos.
• Create your own YouTube channel and upload videos to it.
• Share videos with your students by embedding them in your Canvas site or by sending them the video link.
• You can create playlists of your videos and of other users’ videos and then share the playlist with your students.
• Learners are able to switch on subtiles.

YouTube is a video sharing service where learners can watch, like, share, comment and upload their own videos. YouTube can be accessed on PCs, laptops, tablets and via mobile phones.

Creating YouTube Playlists

How to access

Examples

Browse to www.youtube.com. You will need a Google account if you wish to use many of YouTube's features.

• Curate a subject playlist for your students to work through
• Trigger discussion using a provocative video clip
• Use clips from global subject leads to give 'key notes' in sessions

Creating a YouTube channel

Microsoft Sway

Key features

Extra Guidance

• Add text, sound, images and video content
• Create basic interactions
• Create image slide slows
• Displays identically on all devices
• Record and add audio content
• 'Chunk' content into sections
• Embed Sways into your Canvas courses
• Easily share using email, social media etc.
• Enhanced accessibility tools

What is it?

Sway is a presentation program and is part of the Microsoft Office family of products. We can use it to combine text, video, sound and interactivity to design engaging resources for our students.

Introduction to Sway

Examples

How to access

Here are a few examples to inspire you. Feel free to copy any of them to experiment on yourself.

Access Sway by heading to www.sway.com. Use your University credentials to log in.

https://sway.office.com/gKD3dFu5H4WuElFg?ref=Link

https://sway.office.com/8RMZZoe7XQbt6G6Y?ref=Link

https://sway.office.com/tFPFV5XppE8b0Ekp?ref=Link

Sway Top-Tips

Microsoft Word

Extra Guidance

Key features

• Document creation and editing
• Co-authoring
• Simple sharing
• Create academic posters
• Embed video content into documents
• Dictate voice directly into document
• Transcribe voices live or from recordings and embed directly into document
• Addition of Immersive Reader tool

What is it?

Microsoft PowerPoint is a digital presentation tool which has a number of features that make it

Using the transcribe tool

Example uses in education

How to access

Microsoft Word will already be installed on your University device. Or, to access Word Online, head to office.com, and use your University credentials to log in.

• Students can make documents interactive using hyperlinks, bookmarks etc.
• Insert comments and communicate with your students as they are shaping their work.
• Suggest students use the transcription tool to analyse voice content - interviews etc.

Immersive Reader in Word

Microsoft PowerPoint

Extra Guidance

Key features

What is it?

• Slide deck creation
• Live captions
• Screen recording
• Narration recording
• Video and audio embedding
• Comprehensive & free stock images & videos
• Embed Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Word is a word processing application and part of the Office family of apps. New features mean it has a number of teaching and learning uses.

Record your screen using PowerPoint

How to access

Example uses in education

• Using your webcam, create short 'talking head' recordings to engage students
• Learn how to bring your subject to life by creating animations
• Create Interactive "Choose Your Path" Activities using page links

Microsoft Word will already be installed on your University device. To access Word Online, head to office.com, and use your University credentials to log in.

Narrate & Record a Presentation