Canvas instructors,
Hope your semester went well. To wrap it up and prepare for next semester, please note the following:
1. Here’s how course access at the end of a semester works in Canvas:
a. You will have full access to your course until Aug. 9 at 11:59 p.m. After that, you will only have read-only access. However, you will be able to export your course.
b. Students will have full access to your course until Aug. 2 at 11:59 p.m. (unless you have changed the Term end date and time). After the Term end date and time passes, students will have read-only access. They can get to the course by clicking Courses – All Courses. The course will show under Past Enrollments.
c. If you want students to have full access after the Term end date and time, go into Settings, increase the Term end date and time, then check the box that says: Students can only participate in the course between these dates.
d. If you don’t want students to have any access to the course after the Term end date and time, scroll down in Settings, and check the box that says: Restrict students from viewing course after end date.
- Check the accuracy of your grades, then download your Gradebook and course separately. For students who do not complete assignments by the deadline dates, manually give them zeros in the gradebook. If you leave their grade cells blank, those missing assignments won't count against them. Canvas has a feature in the old gradebook called Treat Ungraded as 0, but this does not automatically convert dashes to zeros; it only changes the Totals column. Students won’t see zeros or any changes in Totals when they check grades.
Speaking of students checking grades, you might want to re-read the email I sent Tuesday at 4:25 p.m. about incorrect total scores students have been seeing because of a recent problem with auto-grading quizzes. For that reason alone, you might want to start using the New Gradebook for your next class instead of the old gradebook (don’t switch your Summer class). The issue will be absent in the New Gradebook for your Fall classes.
For those using the old gradebook: When you are finished with Summer grades, download your Gradebook by clicking Export – CSV File. Keep your exported Gradebook on your computer or backup drive for safekeeping.
For those using the New Gradebook: When you are finished with Summer grades, download your Gradebook by clicking Actions - Export. Keep your exported Gradebook on your computer or backup drive for safekeeping.
To archive your course and save it for safekeeping (in case anything happens to the Canvas server), go to Settings – Export Course Content – make sure Course is chosen under Export Type, then click Create Export. Once the process is finished, click New Export to download the file to your computer or external/online drive.
To switch your Fall classes from the old gradebook to the New Gradebook, go to Settings – Feature Options and click the New Gradebook toggle button to turn it on. All classes will come with the New Gradebook by default in Spring 2020.
3. When moving from one semester to another, you can either copy a previous semester's course content or export the previous course and import it into the new course. You can do either of these by going to Settings and choosing Import Course Content. If you then select Copy a Canvas Course, you might have to check the box to "Include completed courses."
a. Learn how to copy a course.
b. Learn how to export a course.
c. Learn how to import a course.
4. The district has purchased a one-year license to use Turnitin as a replacement to the VeriCite anti-plagiarism service. The plan as of today is to install Turnitin and remove VeriCite on Aug. 13. That day is also the target for migrating all of the student submissions in the VeriCite database to the Turnitin database. The district is also planning to host a Turnitin training Aug. 15 at Convocation.
5. Students are scheduled to be inputted into their Fall classes in the early morning hours of Aug. 6. Remember, you do NOT have to request Fall course shells for Canvas; they have been automatically created.
6. If you are teaching a Distance Education course next term, you should send a welcome letter to your students a week or so prior to the first day of classes. A template is attached. I have also attached a syllabus template for your optional use. If you put either or both into Canvas, you will need to convert to accessible PDFs beforehand. I even have an entire course template, and if you’re interested in that, let me know.
- If you plan to use the online proctoring tool Proctorio next term, you need to understand how it works. View a faculty web page on Proctorio. The attached welcome letter and syllabus contain student language about Proctorio. Feel free to use that language.
Scott
