Recommended Resources

Canvas is the university’s Learning Management System (LMS). Canvas is a web-based tool for teaching, learning, and collaboration. Canvas is a particularly strong tool for student learning when all classes use Canvas, as it becomes a one-stop-shop for their academic work, collaborations, and communications. All Puget Sound classes are automatically provisioned with a Canvas site. Canvas integrates with many other teaching and learning tools used at Puget Sound. New features, enhancements and bug fixes are applied to Canvas every three weeks. For Canvas assistance, please see Canvas FAQ or contact us.

Twitter and other social media networks provide opportunities for faculty to connect with students and other professionals inside and outside of class. These tools can be valuable for creating professional networks and crowdsourcing ideas. For other ideas on how to use Twitter or other social media in the classroom, please contact us or read "Tweeting in Higher Education: Best Practices" for more information.

WordPress is a flexible blog platform that has many useful pedagogical applications. Educational Technology supports a university installation of the program. Our WordPress environment can be configured in many different ways to allow students to engage with course content. Faculty can use it for a variety of purposes. Some examples include students being responsible for supplying class readings, interpretations, and commenting on each other’s work or on current events. This program lends itself to collaborative creation of web-based content to curate artifacts (digital or nondigital), may be a site for students to document their digital work throughout the course, build an online community, and enhance their use of resources in a meaningful, engaging way. Contact us for more information on how to create and use a university-hosted WordPress site in your class.

Adobe Creative Cloud for education includes graphic design tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Adobe Premiere Pro. Nearly limitless, Creative Cloud allows students to create and explore. Adobe Creative Cloud can be used to unleash students’ creative talents to develop visual representations, interpretations and analysis or reimaginings of course content. Some faculty ask students to create print advertisements or other image-heavy documents to advance their understanding of course concepts and ideas.

Tableau is a data visualization software that allows faculty and students to interpret, analyze and hypothesize about data sets in an effort to ask critical questions about trends. Tableau offers many digital trainings and live sessions for both individuals and classes. Contact your Educational Technologist for more information on how to use Tableau in your course.

Video Editing allows students to tell a story, create a meaningful way of responding to prompts, and can be useful for self reflection. Educational Technology’s Digital Media Lab has several basic, and high-end video editing softwares to help students and faculty create meaningful interpretations of coursework in video format. We support the following video editing software: iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro. Ask your EdTech about additional ways that we can help train your students or enhance your existing coursework with video creation and editing.

Audio Recording can give students opportunities to reflect, practice language, and give oral arguments, among many other activities. Students might be given a podcasting assignment where they will research a topic, and create a podcast segment that discusses the issue in-depth. Foreign language students can practice pronunciation, and other students may create digital storytelling projects or oral histories. We offer several audio recording options on campus, including: Audacity, Garageband, and Pro Tools. Educational Technology is here to assist with the creation of digital audio assignments and trainings.

Timeline Software can be a great way for students to create and prove historical arguments, see and analyze change over time, and understand chronology of events. Educational Technology supports a variety of timeline software (Timeline JS, Timeglider, Tiki-Toki), and can provide training, consultation and support for choosing the correct tool for your course goals.

3D Modeling & Printing is a developing area of interest and support for campus. Print and Copy Services has a 3D printer, and the Digital Media Lab has several 3D modeling softwares (Blender, Sketch-Up, and Sculptris).