Tag Archive: Canvas
Important Notices
Summer Canvas Course Shells are Open
Summer 2014 course shells have been opened in Canvas. You will find links to all your summer courses on your Course List under Future Enrollments. TIP: Customize your course menu to include summer courses in your quick pick list.
The ongoing Daylight Savings Time (DST) issue that delayed summer course shells has been resolved and instructors will be able to copy courses from one semester to the next without having to worry about due dates/times changing when dates fall over DST. TIP: It is still best practice for faculty to review all of their due dates/times each semester.
Fall 2014 course shells will be created within the next few weeks.
Canvas Proactively Addresses ‘Heartbleed’
You may have heard recently of the ‘Heartbleed’ security vulnerability. Canvas IS NOT considered to be a high target threat, but nonetheless they have reported their security notice and are working proactively to address any potential security concerns. The MCCCD District IT is working with Canvas to ensure that Canvas and our student and instructional data remains safe and secure. There is no imminent threat to Canvas security.
What can you do to help with security?
Although we do not anticipate any issues with security, we can all take regular preventative steps to ensure that our data is safe. We recommend that you update your MEID password every few months and never, ever give your password to anyone under any conditions. MEID Password Maintenance Instructions.
Scheduled Maintenance Event April 16
Wednesday, April 16, 2014 between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AMMountain Time, Canvas will perform a very brief (<10 minutes) scheduled maintenance event. The purpose of the event is to install upgrades to key databases supporting the Canvas application.
Canvas Connections User Group
Don’t miss the next meeting Wednesday, April 16, 12 noon – 1:00pm, CTL Team Spot – AS Bldg
Discussion: Best Practices Using the New Draft State
This informal user-focused group will meet bi-monthly to discuss: Features, Best Practices, Upcoming Changes, Issues/Bugs, Teaching Strategies, Design and Feature Requests.
Users should bring their own lunch. Snacks and desserts may be provided.
Join Now!
Canvas Update Cycle
Canvas is on a 3-week update-release cycle. The next beta (preview) release is on 4/21, production notes will follow on 4/28 with the release and documentation to be published on 5/3. For information about Canvas updates follow the release page.
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Free Web Series Addresses Plagiarism
Join Turnitin® their second annual virtual conference for Plagiarism Education Week April 21-25. This week of FREE, daily webcasts is “devoted to sharing ideas and best practices to teach educators and students how to move from copying to critical thinking”. Certificates of Participation are provided for registered participants!
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin® is a service that is used by thousands of institutions in over 80 countries. It has a range of options, but the primary tool is its Plagiarism Prevention component, which has been purchased by MCCCD. Turnitin® is integrated with Canvas making it easy for you check for plagiarism in work submitted by students within Canvas. Learn more about using Turnitin® at MCC.
Schedule
This FREE series will kick off on Monday, April 21, and will include 45-minute webcasts on the following:
Monday, April 21
Understanding Plagiarism with Help from Dr. Seuss, Begins at 1PM
Stephen Fox, Psychology Instructor at the University of Hawaii, Maui College
Tuesday, April 22
Tweets from the French Revolution? Using What Students Know to Promote Original Work and Critical Thinking, Begins at 3pm
Daniel Velasco, Ph.D., Professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and Tokyo Medical and Dental University
Wednesday, April 23
“I Plagiarized My Child’s Birth”: From Extreme Plagiarism to Contextualized Understanding, Begins at 1PM
Audrey Wick, Professor of English at Blinn College
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Important Canvas Notices
Summer Canvas Course Shells Delayed
Several people have asked when the summer courses will be created in Canvas. Summer courses have been held, for now, until a fix is in place for the ongoing Daylight Savings Time (DST) issue. The hope is that this issue will be resolved by Saturday, April 12th. Once the fix is in place, instructors will be able to copy courses from one semester to the next without having to worry about due dates/times changing when dates fall over DST.
What happens if the issue is not fixed by April 12th?
The LMS Core Team (responsible for the transition and implementation of Canvas) will continue to assess the situation and advocate for a speedy resolution to this issue. So that faculty can begin their preparations, summer courses may have to be released without a fix in place. Please note that this will only impact course due dates that fall over the DST date of March 9. However, it is best practice for faculty to review all of their due dates/times each semester.
Canvas Update Cycle
Canvas is on a 3-week update-release cycle. The next beta (preview) release is on 3/31, production notes will follow on 4/7 with the release and documentation to be published on 4/12. For information about Canvas updates follow the release page.
March 22nd Production Release – Draft State Option
Here are some highlights of the new features, updates and changes from the March 22nd Canvas Production Release. Note: Features are subject to change based on testing! Some features may be selectively released by MCCCD.
Draft State (Pending MCCCD Release)
Canvas has released the highly anticipated Draft State feature will allow content in Assignments, Quizzes, Modules, Pages, and Discussions to be in an unpublished (draft) state even if the course is published. Draft content will be invisible to students and excluded from grade calculations. Draft State is a Course-level feature option, and will be available on a course-to-course basis once MCCCD decides to enable the feature at the institutional level.
The Draft State feature will impact all of the major user interfaces within Canvas (for instructors only). You are strongly encouraged to log-in to the beta environment to explore the features within Draft State to see what this new world will look like! Here is an overview guide to prepare you for the change: Canvas Feature Options: Draft State PDF. Additional documentation will be available in the Canvas Guides when Draft State is officially placed in the production environment.
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Important Notices & Updates
URGENT: Daylight Savings Time Issues
Currently Canvas operates and adjusts based on Daylight Saving Time (DST). Arizona is an exception to the observation of this custom. We believe we will continue to see instances in which due date times (and corresponding “available from” and “available until times”) for assignments and other dated activities will shift by one hour after DST begins at 2 am on March 9. You are encouraged to check your course (including discussions, quizzes and assignments) to verify the accuracy of all due dates and times after the time change.
We suggest holding off as long as possible on all course copies to give Instructure time to work on a fix. If you must perform course copies now, please check your course (including discussions, quizzes and assignments) to verify the accuracy of all due dates and times. We will update you as soon as we have more information from Instructure on an anticipated fix date. We apologize for the inconvenience. The MCCCD LMS Core team is working diligently with Instructure to resolve this issue.
More Information on Editing Assignment Due Dates/Times
Recent Updates
Here are some highlights of the latest new features, updates and changes from the March 1 Release. Note: Features are subject to change based on testing! Some features may be selectively released by MCCCD.
Outcomes: Learning Mastery Gradebook
The Learning Mastery Gradebook is a feature to help instructors and administrators assess the student learning Outcomes that are being used within Canvas courses. This addition to the gradebook allows instructors using the Outcomes feature to see an overview of student learning based on set Outcome standards rather than grades. Note: Instructors must be using the Canvas Outcomes feature to benefit from this new feature AND must enable the Mastery Gradebook in the Course Features area.
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Reaching Out: Using Technology to Connect With Our Students
Call for Workshop Proposals
The MCLI 2014 Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference is just a few months away. The conference committee is now accepting proposals for 50-minute interactive presentations or 2-hour hands-on workshops that focus on the intersection between technology and teaching.
Proposals are due on Monday, March 24th, 2014.
http://mcli.maricopa.edu/tech2014/proposal
Conference Registration
Mark your calendar for Maricopa Community College’s premier learning technology event on May 13, 2014 at South Mountain Community College. The program will include a keynote, track sessions, workshops, and more.
Register and read more about the conference.
http://mcli.maricopa.edu/tech2014
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Important Notices
Scribd Issues Resolved
For many of you the start of class brought some technical difficulties with the Scribd Preview feature in Canvas. Scribd is the service that allows for file documents to be viewed within Canvas. In the first week of class, this feature was not rendering documents correctly, and so users (students and instructors) were receiving error messages that documents were deleted or unavailable.
This issues has now been resolved and previews should be working normally. Keep in mind that the availability of document previews is always subject to the volume of users uploading and viewing documents across the entire Canvas system. This can cause the previews to delay or even temporarily not display. Some of you may better recognize this phenomenon by the characteristic “bicycle wheels” that never seem to stop spinning when you try to open a document! To help alleviate confusion It is important to let students know about the download option for any files that you share.
New User? More about document previews.
When viewing an uploaded file shared in Canvas, users will have the option of a magnifying glass icon to open the file in the Scribd preview OR a pop-out icon to download the file to their computer.
GUIDE: Files Supported by Scribd
Canvas Connections User Group
Don’t miss the next meeting Tuesday, February 4, 12 noon – 1:00pm, CTL Team Spot – AS Bldg
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.
This informal user-focused group will meet bi-monthly to discuss: Features, Best Practices, Upcoming Changes, Issues/Bugs, Teaching Strategies, Design and Feature Requests.
Users should bring their own lunch. Snacks and desserts may be provided.
Join Now!
Canvas Update Cycle
Canvas is on a 3-week update-release cycle. The beta (preview) release for this cycle was on 1/27, production notes followed on 2/3 with the release and documentation to follow on 2/8. For information about Canvas updates follow the release page.
February 8 Release Preview – Amazing Features! Big Changes!
Canvas will be implementing a Production Release on February 8. Here are some highlights of the new features, updates and changes. Note: Features are subject to change based on testing! Some features may be selectively released by MCCCD.
Draft State
The Draft State feature will allow content in Assignments, Quizzes, Modules, Pages, and Discussions to be in an unpublished (draft) state even if the course is published. Draft content will be invisible to students and excluded from grade calculations. Draft State is a Course-level feature option, and will be available on a course-to-course basis once MCCCD decides to enable the feature at the institutional level.
The Draft State feature will impact all of the major user interfaces within Canvas (for instructors only).You are strongly encouraged to log-in to the beta environment to explore the features within Draft State to see what this new world will look like! Here is an overview guide to prepare you for the change: Canvas Feature Options: Draft State PDF. Additional documentation will be available in the Canvas Guides when Draft State is officially placed in the production environment.
Don’t Miss Out! Canvas Conversations: Creating Your Masterpiece Program Announced
Hosted by Gateway Community College
Gateway Community College, Copper Room
Friday, January 31, 2014
9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Register Today: http://mcli.maricopa.edu/events/canvas-conversationsconference
Description: Please join us for the 2nd Annual Canvas Conversations. Now that nine colleges have officially migrated to Canvas, it is time to reflect on our experiences, learn best practices and fine-tune your Canvas courses. Faculty will present their lessons learned, engage in round-table conversations and dialogue with Canvas experts.
Conference Program:
| Time |
Event |
Location |
| 8:15 am |
Registration Begins |
Outside Copper Room(IE 1302) |
| 9:00 am – 9:15 am |
Welcome from Gateway Community College |
Copper Room |
| 9:15 am – 10:00 am |
Webinar from InstructureHear about Canvas updates from the Instructure crew. |
Copper Room |
| 10:15 am – 11:00 am |
Concurrent Sessions |
Reference Schedule Below |
| 11:15 am – 12:00 pm |
Roundtable Topics |
Copper Room |
| 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm |
LunchLunch generously hosted by MCLI and SMCC |
Copper Room/Outside(your choice) |
| 1:00 pm – 1:45 pm |
Concurrent Sessions |
Reference Schedule Below |
| 2:00 pm – 2:45 pm |
Concurrent Sessions |
Reference Schedule Below |
| 2:45 pm – 3:00 pm |
Closing remarks and raffle prizesTurn in your name badge at 2:45 in the Copper Room for a chance to win great prizes, including a massage, lunch at the PC Cafe Oso and Canvas swag. Must be present to win! |
Copper Room |
JOIN US FOR THE FIRST
MCC Canvas Connections! Meeting
Wednesday, January 22
12 noon – 1:00pm
Join the MCC Center for Teaching & Learning *NEW Canvas Users’ Group – Canvas Connections!, a Lunch & Learn Community!
Join Now!
New and seasoned Canvas 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.
This informal user-focused group will meet bi-monthly to discuss:
- Features
- Best Practices
- Upcoming Changes
- Issues/Bugs & Challenges
- Teaching Strategies/Delivery
- 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.
January 22 Meeting Menu:
Appetizer – Welcome
Soup of the Day – Updates, Issues & More
Main Course – Chewing on Chat
Check Please! – Plans for future meetings
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Don’t Miss Out
Mark your calendars and plan to join MCCCD for the 2nd Annual Canvas Conversations event January 31, 2014 from 9 am to 3 pm at GateWay Community College.
This all day event will focus on all things Canvas. Opportunities for everyone – from beginner to advanced! Participate in:
- Roundtables
- Hands-on workshops
- Show and tell
This event is open to all Maricopa faculty and staff. Don’t delay – take a minute to register today!
Submit a Proposal to Present
In addition, we know you are doing awesome work in Canvas; please consider submitting a proposal today to share your ideas and expertise!
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.
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