The Tech Savvy Professor

Marty and Eric look at tools that organize, polish, and publish your academic work — balancing power, simplicity, and ethical use.

All-in-One Writing and Organization

We’ve all been the “go-to tech person” in our department. Colleagues often ask for help with software or hardware, and while it can feel rewarding, it can also be frustrating. This episode explores how to balance being supportive with keeping your sanity intact.

The 7 Rules for Teaching Colleagues about tech

1. Start with purpose, not features. Ask: “What do you want this to help you do this week?”

2. One task per session. Success once, unaided — then stop.

3. I do → We do → You do. Demo once, do it together, then they do it solo.

4. Use their words & write steps down. Make a 4–5-step card; snap a photo of it.

5. Slow the tempo; narrate actions. “Open Photos… tap Share… press and hold…”

6. Translate jargon. “Two-factor” → “second step to prove it’s you.”

7. Praise the process. Celebrate spot-on actions (“You found the Share icon—nice!”).

Helpful Tech Learning Resources for Colleagues

Marty and Eric provide ideas and resources for your consideration is using project management software

Why move past email?

Email buries decisions/files in long threads.

Slack (real-time chat + threads) + a project manager (kanban/tasks/timelines) make work visible, searchable, and faster.

Slack is already common in higher ed for communication and collaborative learning; pairing it with a project manager levels up coordination.

30-minute starter kit

Create a Slack workspace; invite your class/research team with university emails.

Channels (starter set): #announcements, #general-questions, #project-alpha, #helpdesk, #random.

Norms (pin these in #announcements): use threads, tag with @, add short TL;DRs, react for quick status.

Project manager: Set up a board with lists/columns → Backlog → To Do → Doing → Review → Done.

Task template: Goal, owner, due date, checklist, attachments, link to reading/IRB doc.

Connect Slack ↔ project manager: enable the integration so task updates post to the right channel.

Teaching use cases

Team projects: each team gets a Slack channel + its own board; require weekly “Done” screenshots.

Office hours: scheduled Slack huddles; post a recap thread.

Peer feedback: students comment on tasks; instructor summarizes in Slack.

Late-work transparency: a Blocked list with reason + next step.

Research use cases

Protocol to practice: one task per milestone (IRB, recruitment, analysis, manuscript).

R&Rs: a “Review → Revise → Resubmit” lane with checklists for each reviewer note.

Data hygiene: Slack for coordination only; store data in approved drives; link rather than upload.

Accessibility & equity

Encourage asynchronous participation; clear headings, short paragraphs, alt text for images.

Prefer threads to reduce noise; summarize meetings in a single recap post.

Privacy, policy, ethics (esp. counseling/education)

No PHI/PII or client details in Slack or the project manager; share links to secured storage instead.

Align with FERPA and IRB guidance; pin a “What NOT to post” note.

Set channel/board permissions; remove access at term/project end; export/archive if required.

Adoption playbook (4 weeks)

Week 0: Announce tools + 5 rules (threads, TL;DRs, owners, due dates, recap posts).

Week 1: Move announcements to Slack; first sprint (one deliverable on the board).

Week 2: Turn on Slack↔PM automations; introduce the Blocked ritual.

Week 3–4: Gather feedback; prune channels/labels; codify norms.

Just in time for the start of the semester, Marty and Eric talk about ways you can organize and manage your document backups

The Simple Backup Plan (3-2-1)

Rule: 3 copies, 2 types of storage, 1 off-site.

Step-by-step (7 steps)

Make a home base: Create folders: Teaching, Research, Service, Admin.

Turn on encryption: FileVault (Mac) / BitLocker (Win).

Cloud copy (off-site): Save active work inside OneDrive/Google Drive/Box (edu account). Make sure version history is on.

Local versioned copy:

Mac → Time Machine to an external drive/NAS.

Windows → File History/Windows Backup to an external drive/NAS.

Air-gapped copy (optional but great): A second encrypted SSD you plug in weekly, back up, then unplug and keep elsewhere (office/home).

Label & note: Keep a one-page “Backup Map” listing where copies live and how to restore.

Test restore: Once a quarter, restore one random file from each place.

Weekly rhythm (easy to remember)

Daily: Work from your cloud-synced folder.

Weekly (Fri): Plug drive, let Time Machine/File History run; if you have a second SSD, run it, unplug, store off-site.

Quarterly: Do a 5-minute test restore.

Tips that prevent headaches

Compliance first: Use IT/IRB-approved storage for FERPA/PHI/IRB data.

Ransomware safety: Keep one offline copy or use cloud “file lock/immutable” if available.

Email ≠ backup: Export gradebooks/key emails (PDF/CSV) into your term folders.

Name things clearly: 2025-FA COUN62356 Syllabus v03.docx.

Exclude junk: Downloads, caches, node_modules, giant temp files.

Notifications on: Set backup apps to alert on failures.

One-line defaults (pick these if unsure)

Cloud: OneDrive (edu)

Local backup: Time Machine (Mac) / File History (Win)

Extra SSD: 2TB USB-C, encrypted

iDrive