Tools and Platforms
The CTL helps members of the Columbia teaching community effectively integrate instructional technologies in their teaching practice. Faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and staff can get advice, training, and support to experiment with a rich portfolio of online platforms and digital and media tools to turn classrooms into active spaces for learning.
On this page:
Get Support
Send inquiries to ColumbiaCTL@columbia.edu or contact the learning designer assigned to your department.
CourseWorks
Columbia’s learning management system, CourseWorks, is at the center of many instructional technology activities. CourseWorks is supplemented and enhanced by other tools that support a range of instructional objectives, such as tools for online collaboration, presentations, lecture capture, audience response, media annotation, and electronic portfolios.
EdBlogs
EdBlogs make it easy to share course content and create an online community using a blogging format. EdBlogs provides a blog for any course offered at Columbia University upon the course instructor’s request.
Ed Discussion
Ed Discussion is a Columbia-supported communication, discussion, and Q&A platform that is integrated with CourseWorks (Canvas). Ed Discussion combines Question, Post, and instructor Announcement threads into a single interface, and offers tools to help instructors and students keep class discussions and communication organized and easy to access, even for large courses!
Gradescope
Gradescope is a tool designed to streamline and standardize the grading of paper-based, digital, and coding assignments. Gradescope allows for handwritten assignments to be graded digitally, and for multiple graders to collaboratively develop and implement their grading rubrics. It supports problem sets and projects as well as worksheets, quizzes, exams, and papers.
LionMail
LionMail includes LionMail (Google) Drive which provides unlimited file storage, as well as access to Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. All these document types offer multiple collaboration and sharing options
Locus Tempus
Locus Tempus is an open-source mapping platform developed by the CTL. It facilitates map-based learning activities across disciplines by engaging students to act as repository builders, researchers, and curators. Locus Tempus features tools for annotating maps, inviting collaborators, and analyzing data spatially and temporally. The platform integrates with CourseWorks, allowing Columbia instructors to easily set up assignments for their courses.
Mediathread
Mediathread is an innovative platform built by the CTL that supports close analysis of video, audio files, and images that are gathered from a range of online sources or individual collections. Course-specific Mediathread sites allow instructors to create and track a range of assignments that ask students to link claims to specific evidence in media objects. Mediathread allows students to make selections of these objects, incorporate these selections into essays and discussions, and share insights with the instructor or the rest of the class.
Panopto Media Service
Panopto is Columbia’s media platform featuring full storage and streaming functionality for audio and video content. Panopto supports recording and live streaming of classes and other events and can be integrated with CourseWorks/Canvas and other services through LTI integration. Panopto is particularly useful for flipped classroom, lecture capture/review, and online programs.
Poll Everywhere
Audience Response Systems (ARS), including Poll Everywhere, are used in classrooms of all sizes to engage participants by facilitating interactions among the students and the instructor. Instructors use audience response technologies to communicate with learners and collect feedback on questions. Learners respond to these questions using their own web-enabled devices, such as a phone, tablet, or laptop computer.
Zoom Video Conferencing
Zoom features full video conferencing functionality, breakout rooms, Canvas integration, and support for Android and iOS mobile.
Case Consortium @ Columbia
The Case Consortium @ Columbia includes a collection of over eighty multimedia case studies covering a range of topics in fields such as journalism, public health, and sustainable development.
CTL Knowledge Base
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) is an online training resource that offers videos on business skills, IT skills and desktop skills.
Teaching with Do-It-Yourself Video
This guide offers examples, principles, and best practices to help instructors create active and engaging classroom experiences using video, and provides information about the CTL’s DIY Media Production Spaces where instructors can create a variety of media, including interactive videos, screencasts, and annotated media.
Teaching in All Modalities
CTL has created resources to help instructors transition to in-person teaching, as well as teach in hybrid/HyFlex, and online formats.
The CTL researches and experiments.
The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning provides an array of resources and tools for instructional activities.