Technology
While the proliferation of digital technologies has added many more tools to the instructor’s toolkit, we’re now facing questions about how and what kinds of tech to choose for our teaching contexts. At the CTL, we: ✦help faculty connect their course goals with the appropriate instructional technologies, ✦sponsor programs and initiatives around the use of various emerging and open-source technologies, and ✦model the use of instructional technologies in many of our seminars and workshops.
Click through for:
CTL’s Technology Initiatives
At the CTL we’ve built our own open-source ed-tech platforms, and we also offer guides to teaching with institutionally licensed platforms (like Zoom) as well as third-party open source ed-tech. In other words, we made these! Please feel free to use, remix, and reuse.
Blogs@Baruch
Need a home base for your class, or want to showcase student projects? Easily create and publish a website for your upcoming class or student projects.
Blogs@Baruch is an online publishing and academic networking platform for the Baruch College community, maintained collaboratively by the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Baruch Computing and Technology Center.
Vocat
Want to extend in-person interaction with and among students into your asynchronous or online assignments next semester?
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. See ‘Vocat Help’ below for instructions on using Vocat. For course-specific technical help please email [email protected].
Zoom Guide
Have questions about setting up Zoom sessions for your upcoming course, want to try a feature that is new to you, or want to better secure your room?
This CTL guide offers instruction and advice on the pedagogical uses of Zoom. Zoom is designed for all instructors who need a remote/virtual class meeting platform to support any of the learning modalities currently offered by Baruch. Technical assistance for Zoom is available here.
Teach Open Tools
Want to explore and get some hands-on experience with digital teaching tools?
Get familiar with a variety of open-source technologies that can compliment your teaching. Through a series of interactive modules, you will become adept in using WordPress, Hypothes.is, Omeka, Timeline JS, and other open digital tools.
More Tech at Baruch and CUNY
CUNY Licensed Instructional Technology
CUNY licenses the following tech platforms and systems. We’re happy to talk with you about their pedagogical uses, but we don’t provide technical support. For technical support for these or other licensed products, please see the respective links to their help documentation, or contact the BCTC Helpdesk.
Brightspace
You can use Brightspace as a home base for your course and store all necessary course information including a syllabus, assignment prompts, homework, quizzes, tests, grades, etc. All Baruch community members have access to the Brightspace learning management system.
Dropbox
You can use Dropbox to store and share course or project files (or even entire folders) with your students. You can also ask students to use Dropbox for group projects, storing drafts, or other work. All CUNY community members have access to the Dropbox file storage system.
Zoom
You can use Zoom videoconferencing for recording or delivering lectures, online synchronous class activities, remote office hours, group meetings, and much more. All CUNY community members have access to the Zoom videoconferencing application.
Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 for Education gives you free access to select Office 365 online applications and services, including Teams and Microsoft Office Suite. You can use Teams for synchronous online meetings and group projects, and ask students to download the MS Word, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint applications for class work.
CUNYfirst
You can use CUNYfirst to access class rosters, input final grades, and add any special notes for your course (for example, if your course is Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC)). Students can manage their academic career and financial accounts in real time through CUNYfirst. All CUNY community members have access to the CUNYfirst system.
Apporto
Apporto lets you access applications such as ArcGIS, SPSS, SAS, Matlab, Mathematica and Maplesoft remotely through your web browser. Log in with your CUNY Login credentials to access the above applications through Apporto.
Available at Baruch
The Baruch Computing and Technology Center (BCTC), in conjunction with the Newman Library, offers a limited supply of the following hardware and software. There are different procedures for requesting these, so please read all instructions carefully. For further questions and technical support, please reach out to the BCTC Helpdesk.
Smart Classrooms ↗
Baruch has an expanding number and variety of Smart Classrooms in each of its buildings. If you know your classroom location, follow this link to find out what types of tech you may find in that room. You will also find user guides, training resources, and other support at this link. For any technical support, contact the BCTC Helpdesk.
Student Technology Loan Service ↗
The Newman Library loans out a wide range of technology items from the 2nd floor circulation desk and the self-service kiosks with the support of the Baruch Student Technology Fee. While most items have short loan periods, selected items (such as Chromebooks and graphing calculators) can be checked out for the entire semester.
Software for Faculty ↗
Baruch College offers a variety of software for use both on campus computers and personal computers. These software applications include Microsoft Office, Adobe’s application suite, MATLAB, Mathematica, SPSS, and Qualtrics. For any technical support, contact the BCTC Helpdesk.
Clickers
Baruch offers limited number of Top Hat licenses for instructors who want to use a student response system (clickers) in their classrooms. Please contact BCTC for more information.
IT Help In Baruch’s 3 Schools
Baruch faculty and staff may obtain technical assistance from their school’s IT staff, as listed below:
Weissman School of Arts and Sciences (WSAS) Tech Team
(646) 312-3886
[email protected]
For faculty & staff only
Marxe School of Public and International Affairs Tech Team
(646) 660-6774
[email protected]