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.…
-
-
TurnItIn: Three Tips for Accurate Similarity Report Assessment
Reading Time: 2 minutesCedarville University (CU) provides all faculty and students access to TurnItIn to help improve writing and prevent plagiarism. TurnItIn accepts user documents and compares them to material located on the Internet and in TurnItIn’s document repository. After the documents are compared, TurnItIn produces the Similarity Report which shows the parts of a student’s paper that are similar to other sources. Here are three tips to help you read the Similarity Report. Tip 1: Familiarize yourself with what Canvas and TurnItIn can do Get up to speed with all of the functionality the Canvas and TurnItIn integration has to offer by viewing or downloading the Canvas Plagiarism Framework…
-
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.…
-
Sandy Yang: Kudos for Canvas Chat
Reading Time: 2 minutesOver the summer I taught three sections of Introduction to Humanities (85 students) in order to get a better grasp on Canvas, knowing that I would be coaching instructors new to the Canvas environment in the fall. My favorite part of the process was frequent—sometimes daily—encounters with my friends at Canvas Chat. Left navigation bar, last icon down, circle with a question mark. That was my go-to place for immediate help. Chat with Canvas Support (Faculty). Yes. Start Chat. Yes. Autofill my contact information. Choose severity: I can’t get things done until I hear back from you. Start Chat. Hello, _____, How can I help you today?…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
A Midsummer Guide to Canvas Setup
Reading Time: 2 minutesDeep in thought and focused on my very important game of Sudoku, my wife broke my concentration with sudden alarm and proclaimed, “Oh my goodness, it‘s only 6 months until Christmas Eve!” While six months is still a little while, what is drawing closer is the start of the 2019-2020 school year. In less than two months, Cedarville University will welcome students back and embark on a journey of transformation for the Word of God and Testimony of Jesus Christ. Fall 2019 brings a change from Moodle to Canvas for the entire campus, and everyone will be adjusting to the new normal. For faculty, the challenge may…
-
How to Get Help with Your Course
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThroughout the semester you’ll most likely discover questions that you need to get answered. They may be about how to tweak the settings on a particular assignment for a student. Or, you may have discovered what appears to be an error in the setup for your online course. Who do you call when those things happen? Hint: Not Ghostbusters. They can’t help. If you’re teaching in Canvas… …and it’s a face-to-face course Contact Canvas support. They’ll be able to help you with any questions you have about system settings, troubleshoot issues, and ensure your course is running smoothly. You can access chat support through the “help”…