Reading Time: 2 minutesCongratulations for making it through the first third of the semester! This semester has provided some unique challenges, and we’re here today with a couple reminders about techniques or tools you can use to help keep your courses running smoothly. 1. Use Canvas to your advantage. Canvas can be the central hub for your class. It contains your syllabus and gradebook, and you can take it a step further by using the Canvas Announcements to communicate with your whole class. If you aren’t currently using Quizzes in Canvas, consider using them to make it very simple for students to complete those assessments whether they’re in the classroom…
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How do I give a student extra time on a quiz or exam?
Reading Time: 2 minutesWith the changes of this semester, you may have moved some in-class quizzes or exams into Canvas. And with that change, there’s a feature you’ll need to use – moderating quizzes to give a student extra time for an accommodation. Even though the steps are a little different depending on whether you built your assessment as a Classic Quiz or New Quiz, the basic idea is still the same. You need to update the availability and due dates as well as give the student the extra time. Let’s look at how to do this in each quiz type. Remember: the Classic Quiz icon is just outlined, and the…
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What Do I Need to Know about Using Proctorio in Canvas?
Reading Time: 3 minutesIf you’re wanting to use a lockdown browser with your quizzes or exams in Canvas, Proctorio is the answer. It’s not hard to start using it, but there are a few things you need to know. You (and your students) must use Google Chrome. Proctorio works through a Chrome extension, so you cannot use any other browser when adding Proctorio to a quiz/exam or when students attempt the assessment. Before you can add Proctorio to a quiz/exam, you need to add Proctorio to your course and install the Chrome extension. Adding Proctorio to your course Since Proctorio is enabled at the course level, you will need to…
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Course Objectives in Canvas
Reading Time: 2 minutesOver the course of two years, Assessment and Accreditation Services worked with school deans, department chairs, and assessment coordinators to capture objectives for all of our programs and courses. Once a baseline was captured, reports were generated and sent to the appropriate dean or chair for verification. During the 2019-20 academic year these objectives were uploaded into the University’s new assessment software called AEFIS (Assessment, Evaluation, Feedback, and Intervention System). Going forward, it is the Academic Division’s intent to manage all program and course objectives within AEFIS. Over the last month IT has developed a script that will load course objectives from AEFIS into Canvas. Once this script is run, course…
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How Can I Import My Course Content without Overriding the Autosyllabus?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteCedarville is launching an “autosyllabus” this fall – a syllabus template that’s pre-loaded into your course sections. This syllabus will have some sections pre-filled, but there are others where you’ll need to add the necessary information. Since the syllabus is already loaded in your fall section, you’ll need to remember that so you don’t override it when you bring over your course content. So how do you bring over your course content without overriding the syllabus? Canvas will then process the import and bring over the content. If you have already brought over your course content and accidentally overridden the autosyllabus, it’s okay. Delete all the…
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Assessing Assessment: Practicing What We Preach with Enhancements for Fall 2020
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe all know that assessment is important. But, its importance means different things to different people. It is true that our regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) requires us to assess. It’s the only way we can prove that our faculty are teaching, and our students are learning, what we say we are delivering in each program. However, this assessment isn’t just for HLC accreditation. Faculty have their students’ best interests in mind, and they naturally want their courses to be the best they can be. That means looking at content and even pedagogy carefully. To answer the question “Are my students learning?” it is necessary…
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Remote Learning: The Next Level
Reading Time: 2 minutesOnce you’ve worked through the tools we talked about in Remote Learning: The Basics, you’re ready for the next step. These items will enhance your course – they make content easier to find for students, grading easier for you, and improve accessibility in your videos. Linking Canvas content together We’re going to start off with one of the coolest features in Canvas: linking to items within the course from a page, discussion, announcement, or anywhere else that the Rich Content Editor is used. This is especially helpful if you’re sending an announcement out to students where you reference a page or assignment – you can link directly to…
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How Can I Organize my Canvas Course?
Reading Time: 2 minutesWith moving online, you’ll most likely be adding more content to your course than before. But what is the best way to organize that content so you and your students can easily find items? Each of the methods we’re going to look at uses the Modules section in your Canvas course. Modules are particularly helpful because you can add almost anything – content pages, videos, assignments, quizzes/tests/discussions – to keep content grouped together in some way. There are a few options for organization, so let’s look at how they each function. Modules by class day/week This is the method we use in our fully online courses. We number…
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Remote Learning: The Basics
Reading Time: 3 minutesYou’ve survived the first couple days of teaching remotely because of COVID-19 – congratulations! We’re going to use this post to take a pause and review some of the methods that are most helpful for transitioning online. These are the things that will make your course functional. Your course will survive. And later in this transitioning online series, we’ll be covering items that will slowly take you from surviving to thriving. But for now, we’re starting small. If you haven’t checked out the Getting Started with Remote Learning course in Canvas, please do so. We walk through these tips plus best practices, FAQs, and ways to get…
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Speeding Up Grading with the SpeedGrader Keyboard Shortcuts
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWe’ve previously talked about how you can speed up grading and improve your feedback to students in Canvas with the four types of assignment comments and the annotation tools in SpeedGrader. Today, we’re looking at another element of SpeedGrader that can help streamline your workflow: keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts can help you quickly move from student to student as well as select various items from the submission information and grading panel. As a note, the shortcuts only work if you have the submission information and grading panel “in focus.” If you have clicked on the document and are in the process of making annotations for a student,…