Reading Time: 3 minutesIf you’re anything like me, you use Google Drive pretty extensively to keep your work organized. Drive is so easy and convenient to use – it doesn’t matter where I am or what device I use. I can always access my files. The tricky part about using a system that extensively is it eventually can take more time to find the file you need. With Drive, the search feature does work well to help you find what you need. But Google has introduced two features that make using Drive even easier: Quick Access and Priority. Quick Access Google Drive now shows a banner of files at the…
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Three Tips to Improve Accessibility in Your Course
Reading Time: 2 minutesLet’s make sure we all start on the same page by defining our terms. When talking about “accessibility” related to the web or course materials, it’s easy to think about it in a context of screen readers and disability accommodations. But it’s more than that. According to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, accessibility means that products are not only designed in a way that people with disabilities can use them but also people who have “situational limitations” (being in a location where they cannot use their device as they typically would) or “temporary disabilities” (an injury that affects how they handle their devices). Today we’re going to…
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Three Tips to Quickly Build a Course in Canvas
Reading Time: 3 minutesIt may seem like it’s early, but next semester is quickly approaching. Now is the perfect time to start thinking about your courses if you don’t want to spend time during break to pull them together. If you’ve already set up the course in Canvas, it’s a simple process to import the content and change the dates. But if you need to start from scratch (or a Moodle backup), here are three tips to help you speed up the process. 1. Make a game plan and template Take the time upfront and look over your course. Identify which pieces are consistent across it to make a template.…
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Canvas Release Update: Course Navigation Visual Changes
Reading Time: 3 minutesCanvas is implementing visual updates to course navigation on October 19, 2019. But don’t worry – this change will not affect how the navigation functions. This update will improve accessibility and clarity, especially regarding hidden menu items. So, what are the changes? Currently, course navigation displays items visible to students in black, items hidden to students in a light grey, and the current page with a blue highlight. When you hover over an item, it displays a light grey background. These style elements did not meet accessibility guidelines. The contrast between hidden and visible items was too low, and the hidden/visible status was only defined by color.…
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Adding External Tools to Your Course
Reading Time: 3 minutesWe’ve previously talked about how to use Ensemble for screen capture and webcam recording. We’ve also talked about how to add annotations, edit, and upload your video. But once you’ve uploaded your video, how do you get it into Canvas? Ensemble is integrated with Canvas as an external tool, so it’s a simple process to add media to your course. We’re going to use Ensemble as an example here, but you’ll follow the same initial process to add any external tool to your course. Add an external tool to a module If you want your video or other item from an external tool to be available directly…
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Best Practices for Webcam Recording
Reading Time: < 1 minuteLet’s set the scene. It’s the early evening, and there was a concept in class today that your students need a little more help with. You decide to record a short webcam video using Ensemble Anthem for them. As you prepare to make this video, there are a few things to keep in mind to make the video a good experience for your students. Check out this video for examples! Video by Jared Pyles Want to never miss a post? Subscribe here!
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Canvas Transition: Canvas Tips Roundup
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe beginning of the semester is quickly approaching, so we’re all in the thick of learning Canvas and setting up courses. You may be excited to use this new tool and marveling at how some processes are easier to complete. You may be a little nervous to dive in, especially if you weren’t working in Moodle previously. Either way, let’s pause for a second and take a deep breath. Okay? Good. Now that we’re ready, let’s take a quick look at some of the Canvas tips and tricks that we’ve talked about over the summer, all gathered together here for a one-stop primer to get you jump…
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Canvas Transition: Intro to the Canvas Template
Reading Time: 4 minutesIf you’re getting comfortable working on your courses in Canvas and are ready to take a jump and add design and structure elements to your course, you’ll be thrilled to hear about the template the CTL has created in Canvas. Canvas created the base template, then the CTL modified it to fit our needs. We’re currently using it in all our online courses to provide consistent structure and visual design elements (see our post about the template icons for more details!), and you can use it also to accomplish those goals in your course. Of course, there are elements that you can use and trade out to…
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Canvas Transition: How Should I Use the Icons?
Reading Time: 4 minutesYou may remember that when designing a course in Moodle, there were limited options to affect the look and feel of a course. Canvas gives you more options and easier controls to use when designing the visuals in a course. When you use the course template provided by the CTL, you have access to an entire icon system Canvas designed. Why use icons? Icons provide visual interest on a page, and they can grab the reader’s attention. If icons are consistently used by a group, they create a common visual language – the user will recognize that items are tied together because the icon is used in…
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Calibrate: Interview with Lauren Eissler about Confab
Reading Time: 4 minutesSo, Lauren, you went to a conference a couple months ago. Can you tell me what conference it was and a little bit about it? I attended Confab, a content strategy conference. This conference is hosted by Brain Traffic, a content strategy consultancy, and it’s really Kristina Halvorson’s brainchild. She co-wrote the book on content strategy, by the way (Content Strategy for the Web). It’s fabulous, and I highly recommend it. But you might be wondering, “What exactly is content strategy” and that’s an excellent question. Content strategy covers a wide variety of roles and tasks including the design, creation, management, and governance of content across any…