Tips, tutorials, and commentary on pedagogy, productivity, and technology in higher education.

Tag Archives: calendar

Scheduling 101: Using Acuity for Student Appointments

February 24, 2010 in ProfHacker 101 by Prof. Hacker

Guest author Todd Stanfield explains how to use Acuity Scheduling to simplify the process of scheduling appointments with students.

Scheduling 101: The Ideal Academic App

February 11, 2010 in Productivity, ProfHacker 101 by George H. Williams

Today I'd like to brainstorm with ProfHacker readers about what the ideal academic scheduling service or app might look like. I've taken the various comments that ProfHacker readers have shared over the last few months and combined them with some ideas of my own. So consider this an open letter of sorts.

Scheduling 101: Using Tungle.me for Committee Meetings and Student Appointments

February 1, 2010 in How-To, ProfHacker 101 by George H. Williams

Since using scheduling & calendaring services Doodle and Jiffle, I've learned about Tungle. Conclusion? It combines the best features of the other two and offers some features they don't, making it the best choice of the three for academics (though it's not without drawbacks). In this post I explain why.

The Now Habit

November 30, 2009 in Productivity by Natalie Houston

As we approach the end of the semester, many people in academe (faculty and students alike) discover that they have been or currently are procrastinating about something. Neil Fiore's book The Now Habit can help.

Scheduling 101: Using Jiffle for Student Appointments

October 23, 2009 in How-To, Pedagogy, ProfHacker 101 by George H. Williams

In yesterday's post about scheduling appointments with students, I demonstrated how to use Doodle to avoid the drawbacks of a paper or whiteboard signup system. Then Wendy left a comment suggesting that I try out Jiffle, and so I did... The result? So long, Doodle!

Scheduling 101: Using Doodle for Student Appointments

October 22, 2009 in How-To, Pedagogy, ProfHacker 101 by George H. Williams

On my campus it's time for academic advisement, meaning all the students will be looking to make appointments with their adviser in order to discuss what courses to take next semester. This is one of those times when I'm glad that tools like Doodle.com exist, because such tools make it so easy to schedule all of these appointments.

Does It Matter If Your Calendar’s Online?

October 12, 2009 in Productivity by Jason B. Jones

Although ProfHacker is generally optimistic about technology, we're really interested in doing things better. For example, here's an excellent approach to keeping a calendar that relies on nothing fancier than a post-it.

Scheduling: Using Doodle to find the best time for a committee meeting

September 24, 2009 in How-To, ProfHacker 101 by George H. Williams

This "ProfHacker 101" post explains how to use Doodle.com, a dead-simple and user-friendly service for scheduling meetings or surveying people. There are basically just three steps to take every time you use Doodle: create your poll; share the poll with other participants; check the poll after everyone has responded. In this post, we'll walk you through each of these steps.

Are You Spending Time on What Matters to You?

September 21, 2009 in Life, Productivity by Natalie Houston

Last week, I recommended tracking how you spent your time for a few days (or ideally for the whole week) as a first step in evaluating and possibly refocusing your decisions about what you do and when. In today's post, I explain how to think a bit about what your current goals and priorities are, not just in your work, but more holistically.

Scheduling & Surveying 101: Introduction

September 17, 2009 in How-To, ProfHacker 101 by George H. Williams

Whether you’re an instructor, a student, or a staff member, part of your responsibilities inevitably involve meeting with other people for collaborative work or discussion. And there aren’t many things more tedious or unnecessarily difficult than trying to find a meeting time that works for everyone. Fortunately, there are several possible solutions to the problem.

Where Does Your Time Go?

September 14, 2009 in Life, Productivity by Natalie Houston

If, like me, you look around after the dust settles at the beginning of a new semester, and wonder now how am I going to find time for X? this tip is for you. It's an exercise I repeat at least once a year, sometimes more frequently depending on what changes have been taking place in my work, in my life, or in my goals. It's an exercise that involves time tracking and creating categories of life goals.

Preparing for a new semester: hit your deadlines, with help from your calendar

August 25, 2009 in Productivity by George H. Williams

You don't have to be Mr. Short Term Memory to need a reminder from time to time. (I would appreciate it if those of you who know me personally would refrain from making any jokes right now.) Two things that machines are good at are handling repetitive tasks that humans find mind-numbingly boring after awhile and laying in wait until a specified time before they take action. These 2 things are what make an online calendar ideally suited for reminding you--via email, instant message, or txt message--that it's time for you to complete a task related to your professional life.