Canvas Fall 2020 semester wrap-up

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:
   1. You will have full access to your course until Jan. 8 at 11:59 p.m. After that, you will only have read-only access. However, you will be able to export your course. At that point, get to the course by clicking Courses – All Courses. It will be listed under Past Enrollments.
   2. Students will have full access to your course until Dec. 18 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.
   3. 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.  
   4. 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.
2. For each class, check the accuracy of your grades, then DOWNLOAD YOUR GRADEBOOK AND COURSE SEPARATELY!
   1. 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 in Totals when they check grades.
   2. Make sure you don’t have any grade columns that show as hidden when they shouldn’t be hidden.
   3. 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.
   4. When you are finished with grading, download your Gradebook by clicking Actions - Export. Keep your exported Gradebook on your computer and/or external/online drive.
   5. To archive your course and save it for safekeeping (in case anything bad happens to Canvas…and it has happened!), 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 and/or external/online drive.
      
      Exporting, downloading, and saving your Gradebooks and courses are critical! We have had incidents in the recent past where entire courses and class grades were lost. Don’t get caught without backups.

 

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."
   1. Learn how to copy a course.
   2. Learn how to export a course.
   3. Learn how to import a course.
      
      If you use the Hypothesis annotation tool, be sure to read Canvas Course Import and Hypothesis for special instructions.
      
      
4. Also when moving from one semester to another, do not remove assignments from the Calendar. If you need to remove assignments, do this from the Assignments area. If you need to remove quizzes or discussions, do those from their respective areas, too. This pertains to both the course from which you are copying and the course into which you are copying.
   
   
5. Students will be put into their Spring courses Jan. 4.
   
   
6. If you are teaching during the Spring, you should send a welcome letter to your students a week or so prior to the first day of classes. We offer a welcome letter template for your optional use, along with an online syllabus template, and an entire model course template.
   1. View/download welcome letter template
   2. View/download syllabus template
   3. If you are interested in viewing or using the model course template, complete this request form.
      
      
7. If you want to merge next semester’s sections in Canvas and have not already done so, read the Merging Sections in Canvas page, and follow the instructions carefully.
   
   
8. The New Rich Content Editor will be implemented enabled in Canvas on Jan. 5. View a video on the new RCE. The assignment submission interface for students will also be implemented that day. If you detail steps for students on how to submit an assignment, you will want to update those instructions. View a student tutorial titled How do I upload a file as an assignment submission for a course using Assignment Enhancements?

1. If you want to see what is upcoming in Canvas, go to the Canvas Release Notes page.
   
   

9. The Web Accessibility Course (WAC) that you have access to in Canvas will be getting a refresh over the break. Essentially, Module 5 of the OCDP, which contains the latest information on web accessibility, will be copied into the WAC, and the existing content in the WAC will be removed. This allows us to maintain consistency in our training on accessibility.
   
   
10. Reminder: Student and faculty support available through Canvas will be changing Jan. 1. Neither students nor faculty will have access to calling Canvas directly. Instead, both will have access to a new “self-service” support page by clicking Help in the global navigation menu. On the page, in addition to 24x7 live chat for students and faculty, there will be 24x7 email support. The self-service page will be powered by LPC’s Knowledge Base that will give students and faculty answers to popular college- and district-specific questions.
    
    
11. Reminder: As of 5 p.m. Dec. 18, I will be gone for the next two weeks, returning to work Jan. 4. Wanda Butterly will be available Dec. 21-23. Both of us will be unavailable during the holidays. Wanda will be off the week of Jan. 4 and will most likely return to part-time hours beginning Jan. 11.
    
    

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and enjoy your time off (you deserve it)!

Scott

 

Upcoming Canvas support

If you didn't already know, Canvas student and faculty support available from Canvas will be changing Jan. 1. Neither students nor faculty will have access to calling Canvas directly. Instead, both will have access to a new "self-service" support page by clicking Help in the global navigation menu. On the page, in addition to 24x7 live chat, there will be 24x7 email support. The self-service page also contains LPC's Knowledge Base that will give students and faculty answers to popular college- and district-specific questions.

None of the above affects the student support provided by the LPC Computer Center, nor does it affect faculty support provided by me and Wanda Butterly. Speaking of us, as of 5 p.m. (hopefully) Dec. 18, I will be gone for the subsequent two weeks, returning to work Jan. 4. Wanda will be available Dec. 21-23. Both of us will be unavailable during the holidays. Wanda will be off the week of Jan. 4 and will most likely return to part-time hours beginning Jan. 11.

Happy Holidays, 🎅
Scott