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I use Phrase Express for all of my canned response needs (see this post, for example), but for those of you who just want canned responses in Gmail, check out this Google Labs option. Enabling Canned Responses In Gmail, go to settings by clicking on the cog icon on the far right, and select “Settings”. Click on the “Labs” tab. Scroll down to “Canned Responses” and check “Enable”. Creating a Canned Response Compose a new email. Type up whatever you’d like to save as a response. Click on “Canned responses”. Add a “New canned response…”. Selecting it generates a popup that asks you to nameRead More →

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I’ve written before about the utility of PhraseExpress. PhraseExpress (Windows; Mac users try TextExpander) allows you to create text shortcuts. For example, when I type #IV it automatically expands to independent variable; #slo will expand to student learning outcome; #entry generates a paragraph of text explaining why I won’t give an entry code to a student who doesn’t meet the prerequisite for my course. These programs work anywhere you can type, such as your email, your word processing program, your browser. LifeHacker has a nice use for it. Create a shortcut, say #rude, that generates a canned response to rude or hostile email messages. TheRead More →

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As more and more people are moving to Gmail, some are missing the spellcheck feature of their former email program. Gmail does have spellcheck, but it’s not check-as-you-type. When you are done composing a message, click the “Check Spelling” link on the new message’s toolbar. For the curious, “Suggest Times to Meet” is a feature of the Boomerang add-on for Gmail. See this blog post for more information on Boomerang. Spellchecking in browsers. In most browsers, however, you already have a spellchecker built in. Spellchecking in Firefox is on by default. It will only work in text boxes that allow you to enter 2 orRead More →

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In June I wrote about a new tool, KeyRocket, designed to help you learn keyboard shortcuts for MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. KeyRocket now has a version available for those who use Chrome to access Gmail. Did you know that Gmail has keyboard shortcuts? KeyRocket tells you what they are as you use Gmail. Keep reading, you’ll see what I mean. Installing KeyRocket. Get KeyRocket for Gmail from the Chrome Web Store; it’s called “Shortcuts for Gmail.” After it is installed, you will be directed to the settings screen in Gmail. In the “keyboard shortcuts” section of the page, make sure keyboard shortcuts are turnedRead More →

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Boomerang Calendar, a gmail addin, looks for date/time information in your incoming gmail messages, compares them against your Google Calendar entries, and lets you know if you’re free or not, and then lets you schedule a time. It also allows you to easily propose meeting times to individuals or groups. I sent this message to my gmail account. This is what it looked like when I opened it in gmail. Boomerang Calendar identified date/time information, and looked at those time slots in my Google Calendar. Green means I’m free, yellow means that the time is bumping up against another appointment, and red means I’m alreadyRead More →

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In: 08. Memory & Cognition, Technology for Academics (archive)

A group of psychological scientists have identified 25 principles of learning. Of those 25, this group identified 9 to explore in greater depth as they relate to instruction. In this series of posts, I’ll look at each in turn, discussing some of the relevant technologies that can be used to take advantage of those principles. The first in the list: “The single most important variable in promoting long-term retention and transfer is ‘practice at retrieval’—learners generate responses, with minimal retrieval cues, repeatedly, over time.” In short, if students are going to be able to retrieve what they learned later they have to practice retrieving now (theRead More →

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[Update 2/29/2012: The folks at Fiesta.cc announced that someone else will be taking over maintenance of the service.] In this earlier blog post, I recommended using Fiesta.cc as a tool for collaboration. It was a quick and easy way to create email distribution lists. Unfortunately Fiesta.cc just announced that they’re closing down effective March 1st, 2012. They are open to a buyer, so if someone is looking for a business opportunity… Looking for an alternative? Try Google Groups. You can create a private group just for your class. I’ll write more about how Google Groups work in a future blog post.Read More →

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12/15/2011 11:46am The presentation has moved into the Q&A session, so I’m going to wrap up here. Be sure to check out the report and the 2011 study infographic. As we slide into the winter break, I hope to have time to read the report myself and write about some of their findings in this blog. ___________ 11:41am PT Where do students say they learn the most? Source: EDUCAUSE Live Presentation, 12/15/2011 ___________ 11:34am PT Basically, students don’t think instructors are using technology effectively. How can we make better use of the technology we have? Source: EDUCAUSE Live Presentation, 12/15/2011 ___________ 11:29am PT What doRead More →

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The theme for the last week on this blog has been email management. This morning I ran across a LifeHacker blog post that was talking about the same thing. See “Top 10 Tricks for Dealing with Email Overload.” That post reminded me that I’ve been wanting to show you how to turn off Outlook 2010 email notifications – that little popup box that appears in the lower right corner of your screen when a new email comes in. If you’re like my colleague Deb M., you are able to completely tune it out and ignore it. If you’re like me, you see it, and ifRead More →