Canvas instructors,
Hope your semester went well. To wrap it up and prepare for next semester, please note the following:
- Here’s how course access at the end of a semester works in Canvas:
- You will have full access to your course until Jan. 10 at 11:59 p.m. After that, you will only have read-only access. However, you will be able to export your course.
- Students will have full access to your course until Dec. 21 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- You will have full access to your course until Jan. 10 at 11:59 p.m. After that, you will only have read-only access. However, you will be able to export your course.
- 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.
- Make sure you don’t have any grade columns that show as hidden when they shouldn’t be hidden.
- If you incorrectly gave a student extra attempts on quizzes by adding that student’s name under Assign To in the quiz settings while removing Everyone, you will need to add Everyone back in. You’d notice this in the gradebook if you have a quiz column with only one student’s score while the rest of the students have no scores. Once you add Everyone back in and click Save, all of the scores will show.
- For those of you still using the old gradebook: When you are finished with Fall 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 Fall 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.
- 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.
- 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."
- On Jan. 9, the following Canvas changes will be implemented: VeriCite will be removed, and the New Gradebook, New Analytics, and the Microsoft Immersive Reader will be enabled for everyone.
- Students are scheduled to be inputted into their Spring classes in the early morning hours of Jan. 3.
- 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. I even have an entire course template, and if you’re interested in that, let me know.
- Canvas now offers a Training Services Portal that is available from the Help icon in the global navigation menu. Resources include live webinar trainings, recorded videos, and actual courses.
- For those of you who teach DE courses and completed the DE Faculty Survey, I want to thank you. Your answers are extremely beneficial as we strive to continually offer a quality DE program. Among those respondents who chose to enter the raffle for a $25 gift card to the Cheesecake Factory restaurant, only one could win. And the big winner was Business instructor Mary Lauffer! Mary graciously donated the gift card to CalWORKs.
- The campus will be closed Dec. 24-Jan. 1. I will be off Jan. 2-3. Wanda Butterly will be working Jan. 2. Canvas provides nighttime and weekend support at 1-833-300-3467.
Enjoy your holidays!
Scott
