Reading Time: 3 minutesIt’s time to dive back into the Canvas Accessibility Checker and chat about the rest of the issues it checks for. This week, we’ll be taking a closer look at image alt text, tables, and lists. Alt text Canvas checks for a few different issues that can pop up with alt text – if an image has alt text, if the alt text is different from the file name, and how long the alt text is. Canvas does automatically assign the file name as alt text when you upload an image, so you should rarely get the “no alt text error.” For any of the alt text…
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Course Accessibility: Headings, Links, and Color Contrast
Reading Time: 4 minutesToday we’re going to start our dive into the new Canvas Accessibility Checker and tackle a few of the issues it checks for. We’ll cover the rest of the items next week, but for now, we’ll focus on the text-based items. Before we start looking at the individual items, let’s chat about how to get to this tool and run the report. In your course, find the “Accessibility” link in your course navigation and click it. The first time you go to this page, you’ll get a note that says you have not yet scanned your course and a prompt to scan the course. Once the scan is complete, you’ll see a graph detailing the kinds of issues and a list…
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Course Accessibility: Intro
Reading Time: < 1 minuteToday, we’re kicking off a new series on accessibility – Canvas has a new tool they’ve launched, and we want to take this opportunity to also revisit accessibility principles and how they apply to each of us – regardless of whether your class is online or face-to-face. While these may seem like they’re just “extra work” or something that doesn’t make a difference, they’re still best practice. And by preparing our courses and materials to be ready for whatever needs a student may have, we’re showing our love for others in action. Across this series, we’ll explore how Canvas tools can help us in this journey – as well as what they don’t cover but we still need to address. We’re excited to dive in and explore all this with…
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Beginning of Semester Reminders and Tips
Reading Time: 2 minutesWelcome to the start of a new semester! Today we’re going be chatting about some tips and reminders to make the first week (and the rest of the semester) easier. We know there’s a big chunk of time between semester starts, so it’s easy for some of these things to slip your memory. Combining Canvas sections You may be teaching multiple sections of the same course but want to combine all your students into one section so you have a single place to work on the course. Canvas makes it simple to combine those multiple sections into one. A brief note: you’ll need to combine them before…
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Submitting Final Grades from Canvas to the Registrar
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIt’s a simple process to submit your final course grades to the registrar from Canvas. Before you start this process, however, you’ll want to follow these three tips for checking your Canvas gradebook to make sure you’re all squared away. Once you’re ready, follow these three steps: 1. Click the “Submit Grades to Registrar” link in your course menu. If you don’t see the link there, click “Settings” in the course menu then the “Navigation” tab. Drag and drop “Submit Grades to Registrar” from the inactive items list to the active items list and click “Save.” 2. Scan the information on the “Submit Grades” page. Is…
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Three Tips for Checking your Canvas Gradebook before Submitting Final Grades
Reading Time: 2 minutesFinals are soon approaching, so it’s time to start wrapping up your courses and preparing to submit your grades. Submitting grades is a quick process, but there are a few items you’ll need to do before you click that button. 1. Check your course grading scheme You should have a grading system in your syllabus with the values defined for each grade letter. Canvas can display that letter grade to both you and your students, but you need to make sure you have this setting enabled with the correct values set. 2. Check your grade breakdown The grade breakdown is different from the grading scheme! Go to the…
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Canvas Update: New Microsoft Teams and Meetings LTI
Reading Time: 2 minutesMicrosoft has released their new Canvas LTI after shutting down the previous Teams / Teams Meetings LTIs. Now, you can find multiple Microsoft products all through the same LTI – Microsoft Education. There’s already a handful of Microsoft products included in this LTI, and this is also where they will be adding future experiences/apps. How can I find it? Microsoft Education is already enabled in your course and navigation, but it will likely be near the bottom. To change where it is in your course’s navigation, go to the navigation tab in your course settings and drag and drop it to wherever you want it! While changing…
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Highlights from OpenAI on Campus: 5 Takeaways
Reading Time: 3 minutesOpenAI was on campus earlier this week to run some training sessions for both staff and faculty about how to effectively use ChatGPT in your workflow. Sessions covered everything from prompt engineering to effectively using the various tools accessible through our Cedarville workspace. We’ve got a quick recap of the biggest takeaways from the sessions, so let’s dive right in. Set up your personalization/memories settings This is super simple to set up! When logged in to ChatGPT, click on your name in the bottom left corner, then click “Personalization.” From there, you can enable customization, set the style and tone ChatGPT uses when responding, add custom instructions…
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Canvas Update: Smart Search
Reading Time: < 1 minuteInstructure has started incorporating AI directly into Canvas with a few features available now and more on the way. Currently, Canvas has added discussion summaries as well as a smart search option in courses. Smart Search allows instructors and students to quickly search course content. Smart Search operates based on its understood context – it isn’t restricted to keyword-based searches like we’re used to with Google or other search engines. This does mean that things you may be used to (like including a search term in quotation marks for an exact search) do not work in Smart Search, but Canvas is working on an updated search…
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Summer 2025 Canvas Roundup
Reading Time: 2 minutesWelcome back for another semester! Summer is always a busy time and a welcomed break from the school year. Because of that, we’re going to highlight some of the Canvas changes to make sure you’re up to speed with the current status of things. Assignments Canvas has made a few tweaks and adjustments to Assignments this year – they made it simpler to update due dates for assignments with “assign to” available in more places, they added a way for students to self-assess their work with the assignment’s rubric, and they have an annotation assignment type! For full details on each of these changes or features, check…