The Center for Teaching and Learning provides guidance for faculty and students who are interested in integrating a range of technologies into their work at Baruch College.
What we do
In collaboration with the Baruch Computing and Technology Center, the CTL supports the development and maintenance of two educational technology platforms.
Blogs@Baruch is an online publishing and academic networking platform for the Baruch College community. It is built on WordPress and BuddyPress, and is used for course weblogs, student journals and publications, curriculum development, administrative communication, and faculty development.
Vocat is a teaching and learning platform that facilitates qualitative and quantitative assessment of a range of media. Faculty and students can upload videos, pictures, and audio directly into Vocat using a simple drag-and-drop interface. Notes and annotations can be added to specific points in a video/picture/audio clip that will appear at the same timestamp for all viewers.
Screencapture/Screencasting
The CTL helps faculty members who are teaching online and hybrid courses build video lectures that integrate other media. CTL Staff are happy to work with faculty members to determine the best solution for creating, hosting, and serving asynchronous instructional media.
The CTL staff can consult faculty on small-scale video production projects. If you would like more information or to set up a consultation, contact ctl@baruch.cuny.edu.
For an overview of best practices in video production, see the CTL’s Video Production Guide.
Baruch also has several licenses for Camtasia, a powerful screen recording and video editing software package. If you are interested in using this software, we suggest you download the 30-day free trial from the Camtasia website to try it out. After testing out the software, please email the CTL for more details.
Screencast-o-matic is a free platform for video production (with limits). We encourage faculty to explore this and other free and open video production platforms. We are happy to explore new platforms with faculty but can only offer limited support at this time.
Other Educational Technologies at Baruch
Blackboard is CUNY’s course management system, and a familiar presence in the lives of all Baruch students. It allows for the posting of course materials, the structuring of assignments, and ease of communication between participants in a course. Kevin Wolff of BCTC is Baruch’s resident Blackboard expert, and can answer all questions pertaining to the system. For more information about the possibilities of Blackboard, see the slides below.
Many of the classrooms on campus are electronic or “smart” classrooms that have built-in multimedia equipment – Projector (ceiling mounted), Computer, Document Camera, DVD player and more. Click here to read more about Baruch’s smart classrooms. The College also supports the use of a classroom response system (commonly referred to as “clickers”) that can create an additional mode of feedback in the physical classroom.
The College currently supports two synchronous web communications/conferencing tools: Blackboard Collaborate and Skype. Additional tools are available on the web, including Adobe Connect, Cisco Webex, ooVoo and Google Hangout. The CTL will work with faculty members and BCTC to determine the best solutions for each particular instructional need.
The Baruch Computing and Technology Center offers a range of audio visual services and equipment, including lecture recording and on-site a/v assistance. These services require advance notice. See this BCTC page for more detailed information and to access the reservation form.
Members of the Baruch College community have access to Qualtrics, a powerful online survey tool. For more information on deploying a Qualtrics survey, please see this page from BCTC.
Integrating social media into classes can increase engagement about course-related material both inside and outside of the classroom. Using social media also offers students and faculty an opportunity to connect the content of an academic class with existing local, national, and global conversations. However, many faculty have questions about the ethics, efficacy, and practicality of incorporating social media into their teaching practice. Here are some links that can serve as an entry point for interested faculty members (please note that these links are in no way endorsed by Baruch College or CUNY and serve only as potential sources of advice, not policy). See also, social media sites where Baruch has an official presence.
Technology Resources
- Fall 2019 CTL Hybrid Seminar
- Hybrid Course Prep Timeline
- Spring 2019 CTL Hybrid Seminar
- Apply: Baruch College COIL Faculty Fellows Program
- Teaching Ideas for Online Class Sessions
