Category Archives: Teaching Tips & Strategies

Creating an Excel for Accounting Course

By Eric Weinstein, author of Labyrinth Learning’s Excel for Accounting and Payroll Accounting

Continue reading Creating an Excel for Accounting Course

Effectively Teaching an Excel for Accounting Course

By Eric Weinstein, author of Labyrinth Learning’s Excel for Accounting and Payroll Accounting

Continue reading Effectively Teaching an Excel for Accounting Course

Let Your Students Have a Do-Over

By Alec Fehl, author of Labyrinth Learning’s Microsoft® PowerPoint® 2016 Essentials and Your Digital Foundation Continue reading Let Your Students Have a Do-Over

Teaching Microsoft Applications: Encourage Individuality, Encourage Experimentation

By Alex Scott, triOS College; Author of Labyrinth Learning’s Microsoft® Excel 2016 Comprehensive Continue reading Teaching Microsoft Applications: Encourage Individuality, Encourage Experimentation

Multimedia Learning Tools: Cater Your Classroom to Every Learning Style

As any good teacher knows, no two learners are alike. Fortunately, professors and community college instructors have more tools than ever to help reach all types of students. Online learning comes with interactive modules and engaging video components that take learning far beyond what traditional textbooks can offer. In particular, video can offer “visual clues” that stimulate memory and problem solving, accelerating the learning process and helping students to deepen their understanding of the topics you teach. Researchers have also found that video’s unique blend of audio and visual cues can help students absorb new information most efficiently.

Using Video and Web Tools in the Interactive Classroom

Your students have grown up with screens and phones that deliver quick hits of information and entertainment at the touch of a button, so relying on ordinary textbooks and 60 minutes of lecture isn’t going to capture their interest. Instead, consider adding short videos and interactive components that let students practice what they’ve learned in a hands-on way. Here are some suggestions to get started:

  • Spark Discussion: Break up your lecture with a short video and use it as a jumping off point for discussion. Have pairs tell each other what they think, and then have those pairs combine into groups of four to six to work through post-video questions. You can be a “guide on the side” instead of the leader for a change of pace.
  • Hands-on Practice: Interactive modules are especially useful in computer classes, where navigating through drop-down menus on Word or Excel will help your students learn the program far more quickly than just reading about it. Have students pull up practice modules on their laptops to try a skill while you’re still there to clear up misconceptions to accelerate their understanding on the spot.
  • Flipped Classrooms: Video and other online learning modules make it easier than ever “flip” the learning model. Instead of using classroom time to explain a new concept and send students home to practice it, try having them watch a video at home first. When they get to class, you can use your time to answer questions and practice the new skill, which is often a much more efficient use of everyone’s time.

Online Learning Addresses All Learning Styles

Researchers have spent years trying to figure out what makes students tick, and the result is the theory of learning styles that describe sensory modes for absorbing new information. By offering video and web learning, you can help reach students who prefer to learn in different ways. For example, visual learners reap the benefits of videos and web graphics when they shift to online textbooks. They can efficiently scan the page to click on the diagram or chart that supports the text and even pull it up into a popup window for continual reference as they read. Videos with demonstrations that show people using a computer program or solving a problem serve as a high-speed highway of information absorption for these learners.

Online learning also addresses auditory and kinesthetic learners’ needs. Video helps auditory learners absorb material, especially if it’s a recorded lecture with a professor’s voice explaining material. These learners can listen to in-depth discussions and take notes without ever looking up — or they can simply pause or rewind when they need to review a detail. Kinesthetic learners master new concepts by touch and manipulation, so they love to interact with computer programs like Microsoft Office and QuickBooks. An interactive web module allows students to try their hands at using the software as they learn, making it the ultimate hands-on approach.

Multiple Modes for All

Accessing material in a range of ways helps the brain create additional neural pathways, which reinforces learning and allows the brain to retrieve long-term memories more easily. Using a judicious combination of text, video, interactive resources and the teacher’s human touch is the best way to enhance learning and reach students of all types.

Want to learn more about interactive online textbooks that will enhance your teaching of business and computer courses? Contact Labyrinth Learning to see the latest programs for Microsoft Office applications, Payroll Accounting, QuickBooks and more.

 

Payroll Accounting – Teaching Today’s Students

Are you looking for new ideas on keeping students engaged in your Payroll Accounting class?

We’ve got some tips and techniques to help you change up your typical routine.  There is no right (or wrong!) way to teach payroll, but we hope to help you optimize the results you can get this year.

Finding the time to research new ideas and solutions can be overwhelming, so we have created a series of webinars that we’re sure instructors will find valuable this time of the year.

Whether or not you are using a Labyrinth Learning Solution, tune in to a webinar to learn ideas, tips, and techniques for adding elements to your class, and improving student outcomes.

Join our webinar: 8 steps you can take to improve student outcomes in your payroll course to learn:

payroll classroom

  • Methods for implementing a practical approach
  • Tips on maintaining student interest
  • Techniques to help prevent students from feeling overwhelmed
  • Issues associated with teaching payroll-related federal forms, various calculations, and state payroll nuances
  • There will also be a live question-and-answer period at the end

Presenter Eric Weinstein, an instructor at Suffolk County Community College (NY), will share best practices for both in-class and online courses.

Two sessions:

Friday, Sept 9, 2016
Time: 10am Pacific / 12noon Central / 1pm Eastern

Wednesday, Sept 14, 2016
Time: 1pm Pacific / 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern

 

Are you SURE you have the best materials for your course?

Our fourth edition textbook comes with eLab for automated assessment. Who doesn’t like to have automatically graded practice sets – and lots of them!

We think you’ll find that using our materials will provide your students with a significant advantage over their peers upon entering the workforce with the skills they need to be successful!

Our product manager, Jason Favro,Payroll-fourth-edition will present our text: Payroll Accounting: A Practical, Real-World Approach, and all of the solution elements that are complimentary for both instructors and students.

Rick Street, Professor at Spokane Community College (WA) will join us to share his experience switching to Labyrinth, as well as the success he has had with his students using the this payroll accounting solution.

Join our webinar to hear about the:

  • Table of Contents, and how our approach follows the payroll cycle
  • Structure of the Labyrinth approach, including practice set and problem methodology
  • Solution components and the ease of switching to Labyrinth
  • Practical approach elements of the textbook that can help your students be more successful in the course
  • eLab Homework Grader featuring automated grading of practice sets

Two sessions:

Tuesday, Sept 20, 2016 1:30pm PST / 3:30pm CST / 4:30pm EST

Friday, Sept 23, 2016 12noon PST / 2pm CST / 3pm EST

 

Check out eLab – for automated assessment and grading!

If you think that the Labyrinth solution might be just what you need to kick-start your Payroll class into gear – then join us for our webinar: eLab Homework Grader.

In this webinar, we will:LabLearning-eLab-joint-logo

  • Set up eLab and the “ready to go” course for Payroll Accounting
  • Demonstrate eLab Homework Grader (one eLab license comes free with every textbook)
  • Explain customization features – set up the Practice Sets to best meet your class needs
  • Create assignments and tests for student practice, for homework, and for testing.

We will have plenty of time to answer questions, and walk you through how easy it would be to switch to our Payroll Solution in time for January.

One session:

Wed, Sept 28, 2016 1pm Pacific / 3pm Central / 4pm Eastern

Four Ways to Motivate Students

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The fall semester is beginning, and students are preparing to return to the routine of homework, all-nighters, and cramming for exams. The feeling of a fresh start that a new semester brings increases the motivation many students feel to apply themselves to their studies and succeed in their education.

There are two types of motivation: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is an internal motivation driven by a desire to learn a subject or master a skill out of inherent interest and enjoyment. Extrinsic motivation is motivation to master a skill for the sake of achieving a specific result or goal. While extrinsic motivation can be effective in driving students to learn material and earn good grades in the short term, studies have shown that extrinsic motivators for success can reduce students’ intrinsic interests in the subject or skill. Following are four tips to help students develop intrinsic motivation to retain the knowledge and skills they gain in your class for the long-term.

Show how the lessons are relevant to their lives and future careers. Students are much more likely to want to study and retain the material once they understand how the information will be useful to them. Show them examples of how concepts can by utilized in their personal and professional lives.

Have students set performance goals. At the beginning of the semester, have students write down what goals they would like to achieve in your class by the end of the semester. Tailor assignments to these interests, and periodically check in with students to have them evaluate their progress and adjust their goals to the appropriate level of challenge if necessary.

Give students options and control over their education. Give students options in their homework assignments and projects when possible. Let them choose topics for essays and research papers, and types of presentations for projects, whether it be PowerPoint presentation, oral presentation, video, or written report. Also use a variety of test types, such as multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short essay. This gives students more control over how they demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter to you.

Foster a sense of belonging in the classroom. Students are more likely to be engaged and intrinsically motivated in the course if they feel a connection with their instructor and peers. Be warm and welcoming towards your students and make an effort to get to know them individually. Also, encourage class participation and create some group activities in order to prompt students to learn from and get to know each other.

Labyrinth Learning’s full solutions provide a variety of materials to engage students and motivate them in their studies. Contact us today to learn more.