Learning Tech Roundup

You can keep your courses open beyond the official end date (which for Fall 2020 is Dec 18, at 12am) if you need to accept late submissions from students (for example, if you have students taking a provisional grade and need them to be able to submit quizzes and assignments).

• • If you do not do this before the term ends, only a Canvas Admin can reopen the course for you (which you can request by opening a Help Desk ticket).

• Please note that extending a course end date will keep it “open” for all students in the course, just as reopening a course is all or nothing. All students will still see the course as an open/ongoing course in their Dashboards, will be able to see course content, and will still be able to submit assignments; so you will need to make your expectations clear to students in this course, if you extend or reopen your course.

• Here are the instructions to change the start and end dates for a Canvas course.

• Import Content from a Past Course or Sandbox

  1. Go to your Canvas Dashboard, scroll down to your Unpublished Courses, and select the spring course you would like to import existing into.

  2. Follow these directions to copy content from a past Canvas course into your new course.
     Note: You have access in Canvas to all of your courses, from Fall 2014 to the present: you can find them in your Canvas Dashboard by clicking the Courses icon, then All Courses, then scrolling down to Past Enrollments.

• Run Through the Beginning-of-Semester & Accessibility Checklists

  1. Use this beginning-of-semester checklist (http://bit.ly/gc-canvas-checklist) to review your Canvas courses and make sure everything is in order before the semester starts!

  2. Use the Accessibility Checklist (http://bit.ly/gc-canvas-accessibility), to ensure your Canvas course is accessible to and welcoming for all Guilfordians.

• Don’t Forget to Publish Your Courses!

  1. Publish your courses, all modules, and individual content items within them that you want students to see, prior to your first class meeting.

     • Students are unable to see courses that have not been published. You may verify what your students see in your course, using Student View.

• Please communicate with your students

  1. It is always a good idea to let your students know what your plans and expectations are, especially if you do not plan to use Canvas or plan to publish the course after the start date.

• In consideration of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), we will be restricting the current Teaching Observer role in all our Canvas courses (this will affect past courses too). I plan to implement this change on Jan 4, at 9 am.

• The default permissions for this role gave observers rights to change course content and, more importantly, to see student lists, posts, grades, et al.

• The new (and retroactive) permissions for this role will allow Teaching Observers access to see all published course content, but no student data.

• If you are interested in allowing a colleague design-level access to your course, you may still do so by adding them in a “Teacher,” “TA,” or “Designer” depending on the level of access you wish to extend.

• We hope this change will implement what you always intended, when adding colleagues as “observers.”

The new RCE has these abilities in the toolbar with the RCE (above)

• As I said in the last Learning Tech Roundup, it seems to me, if and when community members test positive, they will be quarantined for two full weeks, not one; so, it makes sense that you might want to be prepared to offer fully online courses until at least Jan 25, due to quarantine.

• Be prepared; be safe! We are truly in this together!

• You can undelete things in your Canvas courses

• How to Make Breakout Rooms Work Better – A Chronicle of Higher Education article by Beth McMurtrie

  1. While much of this is true of all group work, there were some cool ideas about how to get students started, encourage them to stay on task, and track progress.

• Engaging Faculty to Connect with Online Learners in Real Time – An EDUCAUSEreview by Tiffany Snyder and Brad Garner

  1. Even when you do a lot of asynchronous work, coming together is key.

• The 5 Biggest Lessons We’ve Learned About How Coronavirus Spreads on Campus – A Chronicle of Higher Education article by Francie Diep

  1. Individual behavior was the most significant factor.

• This Google form invites you to share cool things you or your students discovered (I will publish highlights in the next Learning Tech Roundup); it also welcomes topics you’d like to see me delve into in the next issue. Learning Tech Roundups really ARE all about you!

• Make a virtual appointment for one-to-one assistance: ask questions, get pedagogical support, troubleshoot issues, and more! I am happy to help with anything you need.

• Garrett Collins (he / him), Interim Learning Design & Development Technologist: 336-316-2371

• Make a virtual appointment with me at http://bit.ly/garrett_calendar; do not hesitate to email me at gcollins1@guilford.edu if you do not see an appointment slot that works for you.

I hope you enjoy your holiday season and that you and yours are healthy and happy, as you share time together!