2 more Canvas tips

Canvas instructors,

 

It’s easy to miss, but please be aware that there are important settings for your course when you go to Settings and click “more options” at the bottom. Here they are:

 

 

 

Also, by the time Spring classes start, there will be a new feature in the settings above that will allow you to display announcements on your home page...if you use a Canvas page for your home page.

 

Scott

Canvas info for Spring 2017

Canvas instructors,

My apologies for the length of this email, but I wanted to impart some important information.

1.       Beginning Jan. 1, you can get any of your Canvas questions answered by calling or emailing Canvas directly. LPC has paid for an 18-month contract that gives students and faculty 24x7 access to Canvas. The toll-free phone number is 1-844-600-4956. The email address is support@instructure.com.

2.       The Canvas training page on LPC’s Online Learning web site has lots of resources for instructors, including a link to the Canvas Instructor Guide should you need it.

3.       The main Canvas page on the above web site has resources for students that you can link to from within your courses.

4.       I will be out of the office beginning Dec. 21 and will return Jan. 4.

5.       Make sure any images in your courses can be seen by students. If you did not participate in the cleanup service provided by Canvas, your images could be broken because of the migration from Blackboard. Even though you might see the images in your courses doesn’t mean that students can. Your images might be cached, or saved, on your computer. If you see broken images, obviously, neither you nor students will see them. If you see images just fine, check them by clearing the cache, or history, in your browser, and try to view them again. If the images are broken, you will need to add them back in. Another way to check is to copy the image URL, open a new tab in your browser, and paste that URL in there. If the URL is very long and/or contains the word “blackboard”, it’s broken. If the URL is brief and is in this format, it’s good: clpccd.instructure.com/courses/30/files/2345.

6.       Students will be placed into your courses Jan. 5.

7.       Those of you teaching online courses should email your students to let them know their courses are in Canvas, not Blackboard, and how to access them. They can get to the Canvas login page by going to the Online Learning web site (http://www.laspositascollege.edu/onlinelearning), or they can go there directly at clpccd.instructure.com.

8.       You will need to publish your course before students can access it.

9.       Since Canvas is cloud-based, bug fixes, enhancements, and new features can be easily added. Our system will be updated with them every three weeks. There’s a link on the Canvas training page, under Other important resources, called Canvas release notes that will keep you updated.

10.   I am working on getting the CCC’s new web conferencing software, ConferZoom, integrated into Canvas. Hopefully, it will be ready soon.

11.   Apps from major textbook publishers will be installed at the global level, so you won’t need to this in your course.

12.   Some Canvas tips:

o   If you need to move content from one course to another, use Import Content into this Course; do not use Copy this Course. Copying creates a new course that your students will not be able to access.

o   Hide the navigation links in your course menu that you are not going to use. If you use Modules to present content, good links to hide include Files, Pages, and Quizzes.

o   It’s good practice to group your assignments, particularly if you weight grades or drop the lowest score.

o   If you used Journals in Blackboard, you can use Google Docs because Canvas doesn’t have a journals tool.

o   If you have a merged course and are adding a Group Set into it, you’ll see an option to divide students by sections. Because of the way our Banner system merges section, you won’t be able to divide students.

13.   Finally, I plan to post all of my Canvas-related emails to the LPC Online Learning updates blog as a reference for you to use, if needed.

Scott

Blackboard Fall wrap-up

Blackboard instructors,

 

Hope your semester went well. To wrap up Fall 2016, please note the following:

 

1. Make sure you: a) archive your course, b) check the accuracy of your grades, c) archive your emails, d) download your Grade Center, and e) make your course unavailable to students when they no longer need access. If your Total column in the Grade Center is set to Calculate as a Running Total and display as a Percentage, please make sure your grades are accurate by either turning Calculate as a Running Total off or entering zeros for missing assignments. If you have hidden columns in which you entered points possible but did not score students, check that you have not included those points in the Grade Center calculations and have not made the columns invisible to students. If your points possible don’t look correct, make sure all visible columns are included in the calculations.

 

Also, there has been recent emphasis by accreditors and federal regulators to prove instructor-student contact in DE and hybrid courses, so archiving your emails has become increasingly important. More information, and instructions on the tasks above, can be found in the document “Closing your course”.

2. Once you determine that students no longer need access to your class, make it unavailable to them. To make the class unavailable, go to Control Panel - Customization - Properties, and for Make Course Available, click No, then click Submit.
   
   
3. Click here to view information on copying courses. Important: If you are using publisher materials and need to copy them into your new course, make sure you scroll down the Copy Course page, and under the heading Course Cartridge Materials, check the box. This is a very easy box to miss because it is located further down on the page from the rest of the checkboxes. Please make sure you check this box each time you copy a course. If you don't, your exams will be copied, but the pools that house the questions, do not.
   
   
4. The LPC DE Committee developed recommendations, along with answers to frequently asked questions, that are intended to aid instructors—particularly new instructors—in determining how many students to add and when to add those students near the beginning of the semester. View the recommendations and FAQs.
   
   
5. If you are teaching a DE class in the Spring and contact your students prior to the start of the semester, encourage them to attend an Online Learning Orientation. I will be conducting one for students in Blackboard classes and one for students in Canvas classes. View dates, times, and more info.
   
   
6. If you haven’t requested your Spring course(s) yet, log into Class-Web, click Menu for Faculty, and click the Bb link at the bottom. Keep in mind that I won’t be able to approve course requests between Dec. 21 and Jan. 3 because...
   
   
7. I will be off Dec. 21-Jan. 3. I’ll be back Jan. 4. Jeff Sperry will return to his former position on a short-term basis Jan. 9. He’ll be working approximately 20 hours a week through Feb. 16. While he’s here, he will be handling all of the Blackboard issues while I concentrate on launching Canvas.

 

Happy Holidays,

Scott

 

Canvas faculty trainer/mentors

As part of the agreement between the District and Faculty Association regarding the transition to Canvas, LPC has identified faculty trainer/mentors to “assist in offering workshops and one-on-one assistance for faculty creating and transitioning courses into Canvas.”

 

Beginning in January, Toby Bielawski, Vicky Austin, and Teri Donat will serve as the LPC trainer/mentors. They will be available to all current and future users of Canvas (remember, Blackboard goes away at the end of the Spring 2018 semester). The first sessions will be drop-ins, Jan. 10 from 10-11 a.m. and Jan. 12 from 2-3 p.m. in the TLC (Room 2410). We plan to also have these available via web conferencing, and details will be sent as we move closer to those dates.

 

One-on-one appointments will be available beginning the week of Jan. 23. You will be able to register for appointments and workshops in January once the online registration form is complete. Workshops will begin the week of Feb. 13 and will cover a variety of Canvas topics. Everyone will be notified when registration is open.

 

For more information about the transition to Canvas, visit the LPC Canvas Training web page.

 

If you don’t mind paying for training, @ONE just announced today it is offering a new section of its Introduction to Teaching with Canvas online course. It’s $65.

 

Scott

Reminder: Spring 2017 course requests

If you have not already requested your Spring 2017 courses for either Blackboard or Canvas, please do so by logging into Class-Web, clicking Menu for Faculty, Staff & Advisors, then clicking either the Blackboard or Canvas links toward the bottom of the page. Choose Spring 2017 for the term and Las Positas for the campus, and click Submit Query. From here, you can request individual courses, or you can choose courses or sections to merge.

 

Scott