You are bound to hear technical questions about the software you ask students to use for your course. I ask students to use Google Drive, because I like the commenting system that it has. You might use PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, or other tools. Rather than taking time to write documentation or create demonstration videos for these tools, point students to lynda.com.
All students, faculty, and staff at Virginia Tech has full, free access to the tutorials on the lynda.com site. Just login with your PID and password, and choose a topic from the “Browse the library” link at the top or search for a topic. lynda.com includes a full transcript of the videos (which helps take care of accessibility). Click in the transcript or the course outline to move around in the videos. Do preview the videos to make sure that will work for you.
As an example of how I use the videos, in one of my first posts in the course, I give students this advice:
If you have never used Google Drive before, you can learn more by watching relevant portions of Google Drive Essential Training with Jess Stratton. (Login required; lynda.com resources are free to VT students.)
The link gives them very complete documentation for the site, and I put the responsibility on learning how to use the tool on students. If questions about a specific capability do come up, I give students to URL to the particular section of the lynda.com video that covers the answer. In other words, I don’t explain the tool myself. I point them to the documentation.
There are also videos on the site that can help with specific kinds of writing. In particular, there are several videos that can help students with job application materials:
- Job Hunting Online with Jolie Miller
- Up and Running with LinkedIn with Brad Batesole
- Git Essential Training with Kevin Skoglund
- Job Search Strategies with Valerie Sutton
- Designing a Resume with Steve Harris
- Creating an Effective Resume with Mariann Siegert