Author Archives: brendaa

End of Semester Tasks in Canvas

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CanvasChecking the Course End Date

The course end date in Canvas restricts students from participating in courses after that date. Make sure your course end date is set to be the last date you want students to view or submit course materials.  By default, the course end date in Canvas is set to be the same as the last course meeting as defined in Banner.  If students need to submit final papers, exams, projects or review course materials after that date, you will need to change the course end date. To change the course end date:

  • Go to Settings in your course menu
  • Go to Ends and extend the date
  • Click Update Course Details to save the changes

Grading Tip – Hiding or Holding Release of Student Assignment Grades

Would you like to release all of your grades for an assignment together so that students don’t see their grade until you are done grading all of the assignments?  Did you know you could “mute” an assignment? A muted assignment will not send out grade change notifications or any new instructor comments until the assignment is unmuted. A muted assignment displays a “mute” icon on the student grades page so students know the assignment is muted. Students will be unable to view their grade, including grade and score changes or submission comments for the assignment until the assignment is unmuted. Instructions for muting an assignment are found in the Canvas Community.

For additional assistance in using Canvas contact Instructional Technology at support@stedwards.edu.

What’s the Best Web Browser to Use with Canvas?

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web-browsersAlthough Canvas officially works on all of the latest releases of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and IE, there are a couple of instances in which Safari or Firefox may not be the best choice. Which browsers does Canvas support? in the Canvas Community is regularly updated with the latest browsers supported.  We recommend having the latest version of at least two browsers installed on your computer. For Canvas, Chrome should be one of those browsers.

Below are two known issues with Safari and Firefox.

Safari Issue with Student Turnitin Submissions

If students attempting to submit a Turnitin assignment are prompted to enter their login and password, they should switch browsers from Safari to Chrome or Firefox.  Turnitin requires the use of browser cookies and some versions of Safari may not be set up correctly.  If students want to continue using Safari, they should

1. Click on the “Safari” menu and select “Preferences.”
2. Click on the “Privacy” tab.
3. Set “Block Cookies and other website data” to “Never”

Note: You may need to close and then re-open your browser window, clear your browser cache, and/or log out and back into Canvas for these settings to take affect. After you are finished using Turnitin, you may revert your privacy settings.

Firefox Issue with Online Grading Using Speedgrader and Crocodoc

If an instructor is using the online commenting tools with Canvas’ Speedgrader (Crocodoc), there is a known issue that Firefox may not save the last comment.  Since comments are automatically saved, you may not notice that the last comment entered is not saved when you navigate to the next student’s assignment submission.  We recommend using Chrome when grading online.

Canvas Start of Semester Checklist

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Clipboard with checkmarks and Canvas logoWelcome back!   Here are a few things to check as you set your courses up in Canvas for the semester. The Canvas Community is a great resource if you have questions about using Canvas. You’ll also find answers to many questions on the new Office of Information Technology Support site.

 

checkbox_no  Make your course available to students

  • Publish your course by clicking on the Publish button in the upper right menu of the Home page
  • Check the Start and End Dates for your classes. By default, students cannot view classes outside of those dates, even if the course is published.  Make sure to set the course end date so that students can use it to study for final and to check their final Canvas grades. Go to the Course Settings to check and change the dates. Click on the Update Course Details button to save the changes.

checkbox_no Rename your course to add the semester and year

checkbox_no Import Content from another Canvas course

  • Go to Course Settings for your Fall 2016 course and click on the button to Import Content into Course
  • Under Content Type select Copy a Canvas Course
  • Search for the course name
  • Choose All Content unless you want to only copy over specific content or want to exclude Announcements created in your prior class.  Note that Announcements from the prior semester are automatically included in an All Content import.  These announcements will be available to students in the current course unless you delete them from Announcements. If you have announcements we recommend choosing “Select Specific Content” and not importing announcements.
  • If you want Canvas to try and adjust your Due Dates on Assignments, also select Adjust Events and Due Dates
  • Click on Import
  • Complete instructions with screenshots are available in the Canvas Community

Check box Add your Syllabus

  • Upload your Syllabus and link to it from the Syllabus tool in Canvas
  • You can also copy sections of the Syllabus into the Syllabus Description or a Page in Canvas.

Check box Add Assignments

  • When you add an assignment  it is also automatically added to Assignments, Calendar, Syllabus and Grades
  • Turnitin Assignments are created by selecting the Submission Type External Tool

checkbox_no Add TA’s or additional instructors

  • Go to the People link in the course menu and select +People.  Enter the TA(s) email address, change the role to TA and click on Next. Verify the correct person is being added and click on Add.

checkbox_no Send a message to your students

checkbox_no Combine multiple sections of a course

  • If you teach more than one section of the same course, you can combine these into one Canvas course. Please be aware of potential FERPA issues if you combine course sections that do not meet together.  You can take some steps to protect students’ privacy by removing People from the menu, and not combining discussions. Instructions for combining courses are available from the Canvas Training Center.

Check box Meet with Instructional Technology

  • We’re available to help you design your Canvas course, setup your grades, learn how to use new tools such as web conferencing or lecture capture, and to answer questions.  Contact us at instcom@stedwards.edu.

We have several Canvas trainings scheduled.  Sign up at bit.ly/SEUITTraining .

Export Blackboard Course Materials Before August 15th

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Blackboard in a circle with a line through itAs the countdown clock on the Blackboard log-in page should tell you, we have now completed our conversion to Canvas for our Learning Management System. While the Office of Information Technology (OIT) will have access to Blackboard for grade challenges until the end of the Spring 2017 semester, regular access for faculty, staff, and students will end on August 15, 2016.

Please save any course materials you might have in Blackboard before that date. As a reminder, we began use of this version of Blackboard with courses in Summer 2011, so you may have content as old as that to extract from Blackboard. These materials can be exported, then saved in Box and later imported into Canvas. Directions are available online: https://stedwards.instructure.com/courses/5655/pages/exporting-copies-of-your-course-to-box

We know it’s the summer, so if you haven’t exported your course materials and can’t before August 15, 2016, all is not lost. It will just require an extra step to access your materials. If you need to retrieve course materials in Blackboard after August 15, please contact OIT Support:

512-448-8443
support@stedwards.edu
http://support.stedwards.edu

Migrating Classes from Blackboard to Canvas

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Migrating from Blackboard to CanvasBlackboard will no longer be used for classes starting with Summer 2016 classes.  That doesn’t mean Blackboard will disappear completely.  It will be available for grade challenges and for access to content until the end of the Spring 2017 semester.

We highly recommend exporting course content from Blackboard as soon as possible.  When you export course content it is saved in a zipped file that you can store on your computer or in Box.  That zipped file can then be used to import content into Canvas. You should go ahead and export all of the Blackboard courses that you might teach in the future.  Saving the exported file in Box will allow you to access the file for import into Canvas in future semesters.  You can only import files into courses that already exist in Canvas (i.e. Summer and Fall 2016 classes).

You can find instructions for exporting your Blackboard courses in the Canvas Training Course.  You will also find instructions there for importing content into Canvas.

If you need assistance exporting your content or importing it into Canvas please contact OIT Support at support@stedwards.edu.

We have lots of Canvas trainings coming up in the next two months.  You may also schedule a one-on-one appointment with Instructional Technology by emailing us at instcom@stedwards.edu.

 

Using the Attendance Feature in Canvas

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How does Attendance work in Canvas?

Canvas offers the Roll Call Attendance feature for tracking attendance. This tool can be used to mark students as present, absent or late. Your students will automatically be populated into the attendance list and you can use it as an alphabetical list or in a class seating chart view.

Roll call attendance

In Canvas, the Attendance feature is considered a no submission Assignment. Enabling Attendance will automatically create a column in Grades worth 100 points. The students all start with 100 points and their grade is automatically adjusted each time their attendance is noted. Attendance points are calculated by a percentage of the number of dates the roll is taken and the number of total points. You can also specify the percent of credit given to a student who is marked late. Every time you mark students as absent, present or late, students will receive a notification, based on their notification preferences.

Instructions for setting up attendance from the Canvas Community. Continue reading →

Viewing Your Current Courses in Canvas

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Is your Canvas Dashboard and Canvas Course List too crowded?  Are Fall 2015 classes obscuring your Spring 2016 courses? Do you have problems finding your current courses?

You can customize the active courses you want to show in your Course list and Dashboard. Courses you want to show in the Courses drop-down menu or Dashboard are called favorite courses. You can favorite any published course that appears in the My Courses section on the course list page. When no courses are favorited, the courses list automatically displays up to 12 courses alphabetically in the drop-down menu.

To favorite your current semester courses and remove old courses from the list, click on Courses (1) from the Global Menu.  Click on the “All Courses” link (2) at the bottom of the list of courses.

Courses menu with All Courses indicated with 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the All Courses display, click on the “Star” to the left of the courses you want to appear in your Course List and Dashboard.  If you no longer want to see a course in your list, click on the “Star” to unfavorite the course.
List of courses with stars to the left of each course

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Canvas Guide to using the new Canvas Dashboard explains all of the features of the Dashboard.

For more information on using Canvas, please contact Instructional Technology at instcom@stedwards.edu.

Start of the Semester Checklist for Canvas

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Clipboard with checkmarks and Canvas logoWelcome back to the Spring 2016 semester!  Did too much holiday cheer wipe out your memories of those start of the semester tasks you need to do in Canvas?  Is this your first semester teaching in Canvas? Here are a few things to check as you set your courses up for the semester.  Remember that Turnitin Assignments will need to be set up again as the integration with Canvas has changed.

 

 

checkbox_no  Make your course available to students.

  • Publish your course by clicking on the “Publish” button in the upper right menu of the Home page
  • Check the Start and End Dates for your classes. By default, students cannot view classes outside of those dates, even if the course is published.  Go to the Course Settings to check and change the dates. Click on the “Update Course Details” button to save the changes.

checkbox_no Rename your course to add the semester and year.

checkbox_no Send a message to your students.

checkbox_no Combine multiple sections of a course.

checkbox_no Add TA’s

  • Go to the People link in the course menu and select “+People”.  Enter the TA(s) email address and click on “Add”.

checkbox_no Import Content from another Canvas course

  • Go to Course Settings for the Spring 2016 course and click on the button to “Import Content into Course”
  • Under Content Type select “Copy a Canvas Course”
  • Search for the course name
  • Choose “All Content” unless you want to only copy over specific content or want to exclude Announcements created in your prior class.  Note that Announcements from the prior semester are automatically included in an “All Content” import.  These announcements will be available to students in the current course unless you delete them from Announcements. If you have announcements we recommend choosing “Select Specific Content” and not importing announcements.
  • Click on “Import”

Check box Add Assignments

  • When you add an assignment  it is also automatically added to “Assignments”, “Calendar”, “Syllabus” and “Grades”
  • Turnitin Assignments are now created by selecting the Submission Type “External Tool”

Check box Meet with Instructional Technology

  • We’re available to help you design your Canvas course, setup your grades, learn how to use new tools such as web conferencing or lecture capture, and to answer questions.  Contact us at instcom@stedwards.edu.

We have several Introduction to Canvas trainings scheduled.  Sign up at bit.ly/SEUITTraining .

Canvas and Turnitin Changes for Spring 2016

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Turnitin

Turnitin Changes within Canvas

The process for adding Turnitin assignments to Canvas is changing beginning December 21, 2015.  Turnitin has changed the way that it integrates with Canvas, which means three important things:

  1. Instructors have to use a new process for setting up Turnitin-enabled assignments in Canvas for the Spring 2016 semester. It is recommended you do not copy any Turnitin assignments from previous semesters. The old method of creating Turnitin assignments will no longer work after December 21, 2015.  The new method involves more steps, but allows you full access to all of the Turnitin features including Grammar Checking. To set up Turnitin Assignments follow these instructions for setting up a Turnitin assignment or view the video below.
  2. Turnitin Originality Reports for assignments submitted to Canvas between Spring 2015 and Fall 2015 will no longer be available after December 21, 2015. If you want to retain these Originality Reports, you will need to download them individually per student for each assignment. This is important if you have student grade challenges or need copies for department assessment. While the Originality Report won’t be available after December 21, the students’ file submission (without the Originality Report) will still be available in Canvas.  Instructions for downloading Originality Reports:
      • Go to Grades in your Canvas class.  In the grade column for a Turnitin Assignment, click on the color-coded rectangle to load the Grade window.  Click again on the color-coded rectangle. This will load the Originality Report in a new window or tab.
      • In the Turnitin Document Viewer, click the printer icon, located towards the bottom left of the screen. 
      • Select “Download PDF of current view for printing.”
      • A popup window will come up, and after a short time there will be a link: “Click here to download your file.”
      • You can then save or open the report as a PDF file.

    Note: There is no way to bulk-download Originality Reports for all student submissions.

  3. Student instructions for viewing feedback via Turnitin’s GradeMark have also changed. Students will now access their GradeMark feedback via Assignments.  If you grade Turnitin submissions using the Speed Grader student instructions for viewing feedback will remain the same.

New Canvas User Interface

Global menu with Account selected and Logout highlightedOn December 21, 2015 we will also switch the Canvas user look and feel to the new Canvas interface which is more responsive on mobile devices. Here’s what you need to know:

  • The Global Navigation menu that currently runs across the top of Canvas is now a vertical menu on the left (see the image at the left).  Use the far left menu to access your Courses, Calendar, Inbox and Commons.
  • The Logout option is now located under the Account button.
  • The Course Navigation menu will be just to the right of the Global menu.
  • The Course Navigation menu also collapses on smaller screens, allowing for a more content-focused and responsive layout.
    Canvas logo with 3 lines to the right

Click on the 3 lines to the left of the course name to restore the course menu.

 

Developing Lesson Plans for a Blank Canvas

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Texas CanvasCon Corpus Christi, TexasInstructional Technology staff,  Brenda Adrian, Joana Trimble Gandara, and Jenny Cha will be presenting at the 2015 Texas Canvas Con on November 5, 2015.  Drawing on our experience training faculty to use Canvas we’ll present on “Developing Lesson Plans for a Blank Canvas”.  This session will share the lesson plans we developed for our introductory Canvas workshops, including “Introduction to Canvas” and “Canvas Assessment and Grades”. We’ll discuss development of the workshops and how we adjusted them as we learned more about Canvas. We’ll share lessons learned and tips for training.

The Lesson Plans

Introduction to Canvas

Canvas Assessment and Grades