Canvas User Updates January 3, 2014

By Helice Agria | January 3, 2014

Important Canvas User Semester Start Notices

Course Copy

Copying your course from semester to semester is 1, 2, 3 easy. Please see our copy guidelines to get you started.

Important Copy Options – Don’t forget to consider your options to Select Migration Content AND to Adjust Events and Due Dates so you can take only what you need and save yourself some time moving assignment dates.
Don’t wait around! – Depending on the size of your course, the copy process can take from a few minutes to an hour. Feel free to leave the copy page or logout of Canvas while the copy is being made. To verify the status of the copy return to the Import Page.
Error Check – Canvas added a copy error notice this Fall. Carefully review any errors reported and take corrective action. Errors will most often be related to broken links or empty pages found in the copy process.
Date & Time Verification – After the course copy review all the dates and time to make sure that they are accurate. Canvas automatically adjusts for Daylight Savings Time. Because Arizona does not observe DST, some assignments dates and times may change incorrectly. Canvas is working to resolve this problem, but until then be sure to check and correct any issues. Learn more from the November 19 Update.

Course Publish

Don’t forget to publish your course to make it available to students. Find the publish dialog box on the home page. To publish the course find Select Publish and follow the screen prompts. Once a course is published you can continue to make changes and updates as needed. Courses cannot be unpublished. Directions for publishing courses.

Canvas Update Cycle

Canvas is on a 3-week update-release cycle. The next beta (preview) release is on 1/6, production notes will follow on 1/13 with the release and documentation to follow on 1/18. For information about Canvas updates follow the release page.

December 28 Release Overview

Canvas completed a production release with new and improved features, along with bug fixes on December 28. Here are some highlights of the new features:

Group Redesign

The Groups area has bee redesigned to more closely match the other areas of Canvas and to work more intuitively for instructors.

Group and Group Set buttons now distinguish between creating a set of groups and creating student groups within the set.
A Gear Icon menu for each group includes edit, delete and access group options.
“Unassigned” students can be dragged/dropped to groups or a new + icon allows instructors to quickly add students to a group.
A Gear Icon menu for students “Assigned” to groups allows instructors to remove or move the student to a new group.

Video Tutorial: Groups Feature Overview

New Quiz Settings

Canvas has added some new settings and has improved the options layout to make it easier for instructors to structure the features for a quiz.

Related Quiz Settings Options are now visually linked together.
The Let Students See the Correct Answers feature has been given an availability restriction option allowing instructors to release and/or hide correct quiz answers as wanted.
When allowing Multiple Attempts, the Let Students See Their Quiz Responses feature can be limited to release only after the last student attempt.

Video Tutorial: Quiz Creating Settings Overview

New Calendar (Calendar 2)

As a reminder everyone should elect to move to the New Calendar (Calendar 2). The old calendar will not be supported for much longer and is experiencing a variety of issues that will not be resolved. Learn more from the November 19 Update.
Agenda View
Users can now customize an agenda view of upcoming events and assignments by selecting a date range in the calendar. Courses are distinguished by contrasting colors.
Icons
Icons have been added to accompany assignments, discussions and quizzes making it easier to distinguish activities visually within the calendar.

Old vs. New Calendar Overview

Video Tutorial: Using the New Calendar

Other Updates & Bug Fixes

Review the December 28 full Production Release Notes for details of all the recent changes to Canvas. Video Overview

Canvas learning opportunities are available during the Week of Accountability.Mesa Community College Learning Opportunities
Register through HRMS
Registration Instructions

*NEW Canvas Connect! User Group Starts this Spring in the CTL

Join the MCC Center for Teaching & Learning *NEW Canvas Users’ Group – Canvas Connect!, a Lunch & Learn Series. Join Now!

New and seasoned users are welcome to join us to:

Connect! Stay on the inside track with all things Canvas. Share! and Learn! with others. Engage! in some great conversations over lunch. Join Now!

This informal user-focused group will meet bi-monthly to discuss:

Features
Best Practices
Upcoming Changes
Issues/Bugs
Teaching Strategies
Design
Feature Requests

Users will be encouraged to present or share a specific topics/features. This group will have an informal agenda and will be run by the attendees. Join Now!

Meeting Dates/Times:
Bi-monthly, alternate Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 12-1pm beginning January 22.

January 22
February 4
February 19
March 4
March 19
April 1
April 16
April 29

Meetings will be located in the CTL Lobby unless otherwise specified. Users should bring their own lunch. Snacks and desserts may be provided.

Join Now!

Canvas Training

Getting Started with Canvas in 10 Steps Did you know that Canvas can benefit any course format face-to-face, hybrid and online? Learn how to communicate with your students, post course materials/ syllabus, set-up assignments and grades within Canvas in just 10 easy steps.

Monday, January 6, 11:00am – 12:30pm, Room 175 AS Building Southern & Dobson Campus; COURSE #001839, Session #0006

Grades & Assessment in Canvas Review the options available in Canvas to help you know how well your students are learning in your courses. In this hands-on session participants will get a brief introduction to the Grades, Rubrics, Discussions, Quizzes, and Assignments features and strategies on how to use them effectively to assess and grade student work.

Monday, January 6, 1:00 – 2:30pm, Room 175 AS Building Southern & Dobson Campus; COURSE #001699, Session #0008

Monday, January 6, 5:30pm – 7:00pm, Room 175 AS Building Southern & Dobson Campus; COURSE #001839, Session #0007

Giving Effective Feedback in Canvas Quality assignment feedback is critical to student success. In this hands-on session we will explore the variety of tools available in Canvas for providing excellent and detailed feedback. Learn how to use the SpeedGrader, Rubric, Crocodoc (in-line comment tool) and Turnitin (plagiarism tool) to increase student success in your classes.

Friday, January 10, 8:30 – 10:00am, Room 175 AS Building Southern & Dobson Campus; COURSE #001828, Session #0006

The 3 C’s: Chat, Conferencing and Conversations in Canvas Explore the synchronous and asynchronous features in Canvas that can bring a dynamic, high-touch learning environment to any class. From basic messaging and office hours to delivering formal online presentations, discover the engaging and easy to use tools that can extend the learning environment of any class format.

Friday, January 10, 1:00 – 2:30pm, Room 175 AS Building Southern & Dobson Campus; COURSE #001768, Session #0006

View our full calendar for more sessions.

Online Resources, Tutorials & Guides

The Instructor overview course video is designed for people who are new to Canvas and want to get started. The concepts are presented in the order that new users often have questions about.
Canvas 101 is an open enrollment course that will walk you through the basics of setting up a new course in Canvas. To enroll, simply click on the “Join this course” button on the Course Home Page. There is no facilitator, but it is a good series of self-paced exercises.

MCC Center for Teaching & Learning How-To Documents – Review our helpful how-to guides including Getting Started with Canvas in 10 Steps.