This March, Abi and Tom of OLS had the opportunity to attend the Northeast Regional Computing Conference (NERCOMP) in Providence, RI. We presented a “sort-of” literature review on using video to reach all types of students. Here’s an abridged version of our talk. Encountering specific challenges with teaching online? Apply UDL to your video content! We know that there are… Read more →
Have you ever gotten a last minute paper, or a a resubmitted assignment and find yourself in need of the Turnitin plagiarism assessment tool for just that one paper? In Blackboard, faculty had a “Direct Submit” option with the SafeAssign tool, but now with Turnitin (which needs to be accessed through Canvas), you can use your sandbox course to create… Read more →
Your friends in OLS conducted a faculty survey to see what you’d like clarity or more information on, and notifications/communicating in Canvas were two of the most-cited topics. Since these topics go hand-in-hand, we created this short video to help you understand the way Canvas notifications and communication work. If you like reading better than watching, keep scrolling for more… Read more →
Welcome to your Canvas Dashboard! The Canvas Dashboard is the first thing you or your students see when logging in to Canvas, and it’s designed to help you organize your current and upcoming courses. Your friends in OLS conducted a faculty survey to see what you’d like clarity or more information on, and the Dashboard was one of the most-cited… Read more →
The Course Tools Mini-Module is available to all teachers as an addition to your Canvas course. It can help students be successful by introducing them to the Canvas learning system, and ensuring that they understand how to interact with online course content before the semester is underway. You can import the Course Tools Mini-Module into your course in a few easy… Read more →
We here in Online Learning Services get asked, from time to time, for some Canvas “tips and tricks,” or, in simpler terms, how to use Canvas more effectively. Here’s a roundup of some of these ideas! This will likely be the first in a series. Attendance tool (Roll Call) Roll Call/Attendance Points Did you know you can change the amount… Read more →
With the transition to Canvas, OLS has spruced up the old beginning-of-semester checklist! Remember that you can still merge your courses in Canvas like you did in Blackboard – for more information on that, check out our guide! 1. Update the Syllabus If your course content has been copied from a previous semester, don’t forget to update any course information!… Read more →
Accreditation and legal guidelines require that the College be able to verify that students who receive academic credit for a course that has an online component are, in fact, the same individuals who completed the coursework. Luckily, we have an easy way to accomplish this with WebAssign! Students’ access to a WebAssign course must occur through the Canvas course. This does not… Read more →
If you’ve been following my accessibility series, you know that descriptive links are a good way to make content accessible to students using screen readers or other assistive technology, and they make content look snazzier and cleaner to boot. Canvas opens the world of descriptive links up to more than just external website URLs, though: the system lets you create… Read more →
The Files tab in your Canvas course is an excellent tool that allows you to easily store files and assignments directly within the course. It also acts as a repository for all files linked to other areas of your Canvas course. For example, a PDF link to your syllabus under the Syllabus tab can also be found under the Files… Read more →
