Tag Archive: Updates
Important Notices
Deletion (Archiving) of Courses Begins October 2
Spring 2014 and older SIS courses (courses with a designated section number) will begin being deleted on October 2. Deletion (Archiving) will start with Summer 2012 and Fall 2012 MCC courses. All course materials and student information associated with those courses will be deleted. These courses will also no longer appear in your course menu, inbox or calendar list. Throughout the Fall additional deletion/archiving processes will be run for the Spring 2013-Spring 2014 semesters.
What does this mean for you?
Please create archives of the courses if you think you want to keep/reuse any of the content. The archive (export file) can be imported into another Canvas course at a later time. Note: A course export does not include student records.
Privacy/Security & LTIs
You or your students may have noticed a recent disclaimer in Canvas regarding learning tools, known as LTIs (Learning Tools Interoperatbility) in Canvas. LTIs are a specific type of tool that may route users or their data to another resource (vendor). They include tools such as communication apps (e.g., “Chat”), to entire learning environments (e.g., Pearson MyLabs), and utilities such as plagiarism detection resources (e.g., TurnItIn). Although these tools are designed to enhance the learning experience, you should be aware that when you or your students use these links, you are potentially leaving the Canvas environment and the protections MCCCD has built-in to assure alignment with Maricopa’s Data Privacy and Security Standards and other legal compliance.
What does this mean for you?
At present, MCCCD has been unable to verify that the LTI software and systems conform to Maricopa standards for privacy and security. There is, therefore, some risk that individuals electing to use the products and services made available by these LTI vendors may place any student information shared with the vendor at a risk of disclosure that would concern MCCCD.
A District-wide committee is being established to address LTI concerns and one of the committee’s first activities may include building a web page that contains additional information about LTIs. Additional announcements will be made to include the address of the informative web page when it becomes available for your use.
For now, there are no specific recommendations. However, you may consider carefully reviewing any LTIs that you are using and informing students of the use of these tools in your course (e.g. syllabus).
Canvas Update Cycle
Canvas is on a 3-week update-release cycle. The next beta (preview) release is on 9/28, production notes will follow on 10/5 with the release and documentation to follow on 10/10. Follow the release schedule on the Canvas Updates Calendar.
What’s New in Canvas?
Recurring Calendar Events
Repeat Yourself! Repeat Yourself!
When creating a course event, the calendar feature now includes a recurring option similar to that of Google Calendar. Instructors can choose to create copies of the event to occur every day, week, or month. This course-level feature is pending an MCCCD release, but should be available soon.
Learn more about the Canvas Calendar.
Learn more about adding recurring events.
How can this feature be used?
- To create course events that repeat throughout the semester.
What will it look like?
When an event is scheduled to recur it will create a copy for each instance or occurrence. Recurring events are not linked together. They are copies or independent events. If users need to modify an event, each event has to be adjusted individually.
Conference Polling
Big Blue Button just got bigger!
The Canvas Conferences feature, Big Blue Button, has been outfitted with a polling feature. Now a presenter in a web-based conference in Canvas can survey, assess and engage participants with a quick poll. Polling options include Yes/No, True/False, or letter responses (A through F).
Learn more about the Canvas Conferences feature.
Learn more about the polling options.
How can this feature be used?
- To create an interactive poll during a web-based presentation in Canvas.
What will it look like?
Presenters (faculty or students designated as presenters) can create a poll at the bottom of the presentation window. Polls can also be created automatically from a slide in a presentation document that asks a poll type question. The feature will read the slide and include polling options that match the question! Polls are always anonymous and they are not required. Once a poll is started, presenters can see the participant responses as they are made in real time. The presenter an publish the results of a poll during the web conference.
Groups
Breaking up is easy to do!
Groups (student or instructor created) will now conclude when the course does. Groups in a concluded course will not appear in the Courses & Groups menu. Users will still be able access their previous and current groups in the Groups index page available in the Courses & Groups menu.
Learn more about concluding courses in the End of Course FAQs.
Learn more about the Group feature in Canvas.
Other Updates of Note
Gradebook – Muted Assignments
When an instructor mutes an assignment, scores are muted from (or not calculated in) the student’s Total score. Previously muting also prevented instructors from seeing the actual total. The instructor’s Gradebook will now reflect the total score with the muted assignment value included. Learn more about assignment muting.
Global Announcements
Global Announcements in Canvas have a new face. A clear box and distinguishing color with icons make it easier for users to see important notifications on the dashboard.
Canvas Mobile
Review the latest improvements to the iOS and Android Canvas Apps.
Review the Release Notes for more updates & bug fixes.
Did You Know?
A New User Interface is Coming
Canvas will be introducing a new User Interface, product look and feel, beginning in August of 2016. The new interface will be a big change for both faculty and students.
This new interface will streamline navigation and refine the user experience. You can learn more about the new UI by watching this video and reading this Canvas Guide.
Get a Preview
Be prepared for an exciting change! You can see how the new UI will operate by visiting the MCCCD Canvas Beta environment. This environment is used to review upcoming changes. Note: This is not a live production environment, it is for review of features only.
Log-in with your MEID and MEID password and take a tour!
Why wait? I love it!
The interface has been launched in certain instances of Canvas, the Network and Free for Teachers, but is not available in MCCCD at this time.
Extensive testing and feedback is needed to make sure that the new UI will be a good fit for our teaching and learning environment and to address any specific issues that may cause disruptions. The expected date that the new UI will be available in MCCCD is August 2016.
I think something could be better!
Great! If you are interested in providing feedback to Canvas about the new UI, they have formed a community where people can share their accolades, concerns and ideas.
Join the New UI User Group to see what people are saying and start sharing your thoughts about the new UI.
Resources
New UI Frequently Asked Questions can be found on the Canvas Community site.
Watch the upcoming CanvasLive Webinar on September 23, Same U-New UI live or access the archive after the session at a more convenient time.
Contact the MCC Center for Teaching & Learning for more information about this or other Canvas issues.
Canvas Training
MCCCD Canvas Webinar Learning Series
Join the Maricopa Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) for the fall Canvas Series. For nine weeks the CTLs will provide you with up-to-date informational sessions on tools, instructional techniques, and best practices for Canvas. Each campus will specialize in a topic important to Maricopa faculty. Sessions will be held online using Adobe Connect so you may attend from anywhere. Topics include:
- Using Collaborative and Social Tools in Canvas (Register)
- Alternative Ways to Use the Quiz Tool in Canvas (Register)
- Using Groups in Canvas to Achieve Learning Goals (Register)
- Practical Peer Review Tips in Canvas (Register)
- Grading the Easy Way: Using Rubrics in Canvas (Register)
- Embedding Google Docs and Using Google Apps in Canvas (Register)
- Using Images to Enhance Content Delivery in Canvas (Register)
- Module Release in Canvas (Register)
MCC Center for Teaching & Learning
Appointments, Workshops and Customized Sessions
The CTL is your partner as you implement innovative teaching, learning and workplace strategies. From general support, to consultation services, and/or tailored workshops, we are here to help you, your department, program or team reach your goals for student success.
The CTL provides day-to-day support for faculty and staff on technology, teaching and productivity issues including Canvas. Stop by our offices, send us an email or give us a call for support or to set-up an appointment. We are here for you!
- Canvas Instructor Orientation 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.
- Canvas Instructor Video Guides contain quick and informative video tutorials to get you started with Canvas.
- Canvas Guides are available that cover all major features of Canvas. They can be searched by topic (e.g. Assignments, Discussions, etc.) or by user/type (e.g. Instructor, Mobile, etc.) and are formatted as easy to navigate and mostly image-based walk thru demonstrations of how to use a particular feature. Best practice tip? Share relevant Student Guides in your Canvas course to help students be more successful in using Canvas.
- Canvas Live provides free webinar trainings on a variety of best practices with teaching and learning on Canvas topics. Join a live session or if you can’t make it sessions are archived for later viewing.
- MCC Center for Teaching & Learning How-To Documents include a variety of helpful how-to guides such as the Getting Started with Canvas in 10 Steps resource.
- [Student Resource] MCC Canvas101 is an open enrollment, self-paced course that introduces students to Canvas and walks them through the basics of setting user preferences, submitting assignments, replying to discussions, taking quizzes, viewing grades and more! Recommended for all students.
Canvas Help at MCC
Faculty & Employee Support
Contact the MCC Center for Teaching & Learning for all your Canvas questions. We are here to help!
When sending emails or leaving voice messages, please be as specific as possible about your request. Include your name (first and last), the course section number (if applicable) and a brief description of the issue within your inquiry. This will help us address your question faster!
Student Support
Students seeking assistance with Canvas should contact the MCC HelpCenter at:
Outside normal business hours students should contact the 24X7 assistance line at 1-888-994-4433.
Important Canvas Notices
Course Deletion
Spring 2014 and older SIS courses (courses with a designated section number) will begin being deleted the third week in September. All course materials and student information associated with those courses will be deleted. These courses will also no longer appear in your course menu, inbox or calendar list.
What does this mean for you?
Please create archives of the courses if you think you want to keep/reuse any of the content. The archive (export file) can be imported into another Canvas course at a later time. Note: A course export does not include student records.
Canvas Community
Canvas launched an updated Community feature for users in April. The Community is a resource for students and instructors to find helpful guides on how to use Canvas, as well as to participate in feature discussions, find best practices and more.
What does this mean for you?
All the links to old Canvas Guides will remain functional, however, we recommend moving any support links you provide to students to the new community guides as the old guides will no longer be updated.
Is Your Canvas Ready? Top Tips
Make sure you are ready for a smooth start this Fall 2015!
Customize You Course List
Access your courses quickly and easily by customizing your Course Menu in Canvas. Remove Spring 2015 and older classes from your list so that you can focus just on the current semester.
Is your course missing? follow these troubleshooting steps:
- Check your All Course List in Canvas.
- Verify that you have been officially scheduled as the ‘instructor on record’ in SIS (My.Maricopa). Instructors assigned to courses in SIS will have access to a Canvas shell.
- Is your course non-credit? Only credit courses are provided Canvas shells. To request a Canvas shell for a non-credit course, contact the MCC CTL at (480) 461-7331.
- If your course is still is not listed (after following the steps above), contact the MCC CTL at (480) 461-7331 for assistance.
Import (Copy) Content
You don’t have to start from scratch! Copy an entire course or select items that you want to copy from a previous course into your Fall course shell. Don’t forget to use the Adjust Events and Due Dates option to save yourself time. Please note it can take up to 2 hours for copies of courses from one semester to another to be completed (size and traffic determine speed).
Feel free to leave the copy page or logout of Canvas while the copy is being made. Additionally, pay close attention to any error notices at the end of the copy process. Review any alerts reported (posted notice in the import history) and take corrective action. Errors will most often be related to broken links or empty pages. Please review the import (copy) guidelines to get started.
Publish Course Items
Publish any quizzes, assignments, discussions, content pages or modules that should be visible to students prior to publishing your course. Publishing the course will not publish items within the course that are still in ‘draft state’. Learn more about Draft State in this short video.
Publish the Course
Don’t forget to publish your course to make it available to students. Once a course is published you can continue to make changes and updates as needed. Courses cannot be unpublished once students have submitted work to the course.
Cross-List (Combine) Sections
Do you want to combine two or more sections of the same class? Combining sections can be a great option for more easily managing courses of the same prefix/# and type (in-person, hybrid or online). When you cross-list all the students will be have access to and participate in a single Canvas course. This does not change the SIS enrollment. Learn more about cross-listing sections in Canvas.
Update Cycle Canvas is on a 3-week update-release cycle. The next beta (preview) release is on 8/17, production notes will follow on 8/24 with the release and documentation to follow on 8/29. Follow the release schedule on the Canvas Updates Calendar.
What’s New in Canvas?
If you did not teach this summer you may notice that there have been many new and exciting additions and changes to Canvas. Here’s a list of highlights:
Assignments, Discussions & Peer Review
Excuse Me! Using Excused Assignments
As needed, you can use the Gradebook to excuse a student from an assignment, discussion, or quiz. You can also excuse a student from a group assignment.
When an assignment is excused, the assignment page and the student grade page will show the student that he or she has been excused from the assignment. Students cannot submit excused assignments and they are not calculated as part of a student’s total grade.
Learn more about Excused Assignments.
A Big Difference! Differentiated Assignments
Using Differentiated Assignments you can create Assignments, Graded Discussions, and Quizzes for certain only a individual student(s), sections, or vary due dates for students in your courses.
How can this feature be used?
- Honor’s & Special Projects – Assign special projects to only the students that need to complete this work.
- Make-Up Work – When a student misses a class you can assign them an individual alternative assignment.
- Varied Due Dates – Creating assignments for different users also allows for different due dates and availability date options for the same assignment. Great for cross-listing (combining) sections that meet on different days of the week.
What will it look like?
When using differentiated assignments with the Gradebook, the assignment appears as a column for all students, but grade cells are grayed out for students who have not been included in the assignment. On the student grades page, students can only view assignments that have been assigned to them.
Grades cannot be assigned for students who have not been included in the assignment, and assignments that are assigned to them, either individually or as part of a course or section, are not factored into overall grades.
Learn more about Differentiated Assignments.
The Easy Button! Assignment Submission Overhaul
The student Submit Assignment link has been moved out of the sidebar and placed more prominently as a (blue) button. The Re-submit Assignment link has also been re-purposed as a button.
What’s Not to ‘Like’? New Discussion Feature
Instructors can allow students to indicate ‘liked’ discussion replies within Canvas Discussions (graded and ungraded types) on a per-discussion basis.
When a discussion has liking enabled, students and instructors will see a gray Like icon within each discussion reply. When clicked, the icon will turn blued indicating that the discussion reply is ‘liked’. A total number of likes will appear next to the link and optionally instructors can elect to have replies with the most ‘likes’ appear at the top of the board.
The ‘like’ feature may also be limited to instructor use.
Learn more about the Like feature in discussions.
Peer Review Goes Undercover
Just in case you missed it in late April Canvas released the first iteration of Anonymous Peer Review. Instructors can now choose to create peer reviews (for Assignments and Discussions) with anonymous responses. This hides the name of the student reviewer from the student with the submission. Note: Instructors will always be able to see the name of the reviewer. Canvas plans on adding more functionality to the peer review feature in the future. Stay-tuned!
Other Changes
Custom Calendar Colors
Canvas now allows users to set their own colors for each calendar in their account. Users can select from one of 15 default colors or insert a Hex code to create any color of their choice. Colors selected by instructors for a course calendar do not effect the student view of the calendar. Learn more about the calendar.
Etherpad Collaborations
Etherpad is no longer available as an option for class collaboration within Canvas. All existing Etherpad collaborations have been deleted. If you are interested in using collaborative documents in Canvas you have the option to use Google Docs or Pages.
Incomplete Quiz Score Icon
A new Quiz icon will display in the Gradebook when students complete a quiz that includes a manually graded question. When students hover over the icon, students can view a message indicating that grading is in progress. Learn more about Gradebook icons.
Module Tracking
A new Module Requirement feature option allows instructors to assign ‘Mark as Done’ for students to progress through course assignments and pages. When this is enabled, students are responsible for marking the module item as done before they can move on to the next module item. Learn more about Module Requirements.
New Files
The Canvas File cabinet has been completely overhauled making it easier to upload, organize and view files. The new interface for files includes creation and modification dates, file sizes, publishing options and more. Learn more about using Course Files.
Persistent Gradebook Customization
When rearranging and resizing columns in the Gradebook for ease of grading, the changes will now persist or remain in place across computers and browsers. Note: changes to the Gradebook in the instructor view does not change the student view. Learn more about customizing Gradebook.
Want even more?
Join Us for a Session
What’s New in Canvas? Personalized & Social Learning!
Explore the new features and updates to our learning management system, Canvas. From Differentiated Assignments to the New Community and “Liking” Discussions to Anonymous Peer Review, join us for a session dedicated to all things new in Canvas! Great for current Canvas users or new users looking to review Canvas features. (Note: Not a getting started session). Pick from the following sessions:
Tuesday, August 11, 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
HCM Course #001826, Session #0008; CTL AS Building – Room 175; Register Now
Thursday, August 13, 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
HCM Course #001826, Session #0010; CTL AS Building – Room 175; Register Now
Monday, August 17, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
HCM Course #001826, Session #0009; CTL AS Building – Room 175; Register Now
Did You Know?
Help is Just a Click or Call Away!
Contact the MCC Center for Teaching & Learning for all your Canvas questions at ctl@mesacc.edu OR (480) 461-7331. We are here to help!
Be specific.
When sending emails, please be as specific as possible about your request. Include your name (first and last), the course section number (if applicable) and a brief description of the issue within your inquiry. This will help us address your question faster!
How do students get help with Canvas?
Students seeking assistance with Canvas should contact the MCC HelpCenter at: (480) 461-7217 OR HelpCenter@mesacc.edu. Outside normal business hours students should contact the 24X7 assistance line at 1-888-994-4433.
Out of the Box! MCC’s Getting Started Module for Canvas
Get a jump on your course design with the MCC Getting Started Module. This “Start Here” module includes everything you need to get students going in Canvas and in your course. The duplicative and customizable template includes a home page, welcome letter, syllabus sample, links to important student resources, Canvas tutorials, sample introductory activities and much, much more. This module was designed by the MCC eLearning Committee (according to Quality Matters standards) and can be used with any course format.
Preview & Download the MCC Getting Started Module Template into your course today!
Working with Publisher Resources
Many textbook companies offer a variety of instructor resources that can be can be used outside or within Canvas to supplement your content. Resources range from presentations and test banks to fully integrated applications with assignments and grade books.
Get represented!
Talk to your publisher representative to find out what types of materials are available and get an access account. Cartridges are the most convenient option for loading large amounts of publisher resources into Canvas. If your publisher offers an integration with Canvas, ask for a demo course so you can see how the integration might work for your course and decide whether you would rather keep the systems separate. Note: Security and privacy issues may have to be addressed for any integration of publisher systems with Canvas. Contact the MCC CTL for details.
How can the MCC CTL help?
The MCC Center for Teaching & Learning does not have direct access to publisher information and resources for textbooks. We can act as a consultant to help you in finding your publisher representative, reviewing the resource options available to you and your students, helping you download and upload course materials, and assisting you in integrating special publisher tools.
Canvas Training
MCC Center for Teaching & Learning Appointments, Workshops and Customized Sessions
The CTL is your partner as you implement innovative teaching, learning and workplace strategies. From general support, to consultation services, and/or tailored workshops, we are here to help you, your department, program or team reach your goals for student success. The CTL provides day-to-day support for faculty and staff on technology, teaching and productivity issues including Canvas. Stop by our offices, send us an email or give us a call for support or to set-up an appointment. We are here for you!
Online Resources, Tutorials & Guides
Canvas Instructor Orientation 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.
Canvas Instructor Video Guides contain quick and informative video tutorials to get you started with Canvas.
Canvas Guides are available that cover all major features of Canvas. They can be searched by topic (e.g. Assignments, Discussions, etc.) or by user/type (e.g. Instructor, Mobile, etc.) and are formatted as easy to navigate and mostly image-based walk thru demonstrations of how to use a particular feature. Best practice tip? Share relevant Student Guides in your Canvas course to help students be more successful in using Canvas.
Canvas Live provides free webinar trainings on a variety of best practices with teaching and learning on Canvas topics. Join a live session or if you can’t make it sessions are archived for later viewing.
MCC Center for Teaching & Learning How-To Documents include a variety of helpful how-to guides such as the Getting Started with Canvas in 10 Steps resource.
[Student Resource] MCC Canvas101 is an open enrollment, self-paced course that introduces students to Canvas and walks them through the basics of setting user preferences, submitting assignments, replying to discussions, taking quizzes, viewing grades and more! Recommended for all students.
Canvas End of Semester Best Practices
In order to ensure a smooth, end of the semester, please consider following the best practice activities for closing your course and transitioning to the next semester.
Important Notes
Ensure that student grades are tabulating correctly:
- Check your grading options including any assignment groups and grade weighting (if applicable) from Assignments in the course navigation.
- Enter zeroes for any student work not submitted OR from Grades select the “gear” drop-down menu, click “Treat Ungraded as 0’s” to ensure unsubmitted assignments are scored with a zero. Detailed instructions.
Do not conclude your course or lock modules if you have assigned a grade of “Incomplete” to a student. They still need to access and participate in the course material.
Withdrawn student data, downloading of data, and sending of messages is not available after final grades have been entered in My.Maricopa (SIS). Instructions for accessing grades in Canvas after conclusion.
End of a Canvas Course FAQs
BEFORE Entering Grades in SIS (My.Maricopa)
Archive Grades – Download your grade book to CSV to archive it locally on your computer or flash drive. Click on Grades > Click on the Gear symbol > Click on Download to CSV More Information – Downloading Grades
Gather Data – Download any assignments, course surveys, quizzes or exam results to archive them locally on your computer or flash drive.
For Quizzes: Click on Quizzes > Select the Quiz > Click on Quiz Statistics > Select the download option of Student and/or Item Analysis More Information – Downloading Quizzes/Surveys
For Assignments: Click on Assignments > Select Download Submissions from the right-navigation.
Send Final Communications – Send end-of-course messages to students, if desired. Please note that all communication will be preserved in the Canvas Conversations inbox. Messages will not be deleted or automatically archived by the system.
AFTER Entering Grades in SIS (My.Maricopa)
End Course – You can leave your course “as is” and it will automatically go into a read-only mode for students. Students will no longer be able to submit assignments or communicate with the class. If you prefer, you can also end your course (Settings > Edit Course Details > Enter an Ending Date for the course). We DO NOT recommend concluding your course as it becomes inaccessible to you.
Locking Content – You can selectively lock content to keep students from accessing sensitive content such as quiz results.
If you do not want students to view Quiz Questions after the end of a semester you will need to set and ending date for your course. Click on Settings > Edit Course Details > Enter an Ending Date for the course.
For Module Content, lock each module by entering a lock date far in the future – 1/1/2020 for example). Locking Modules Instructions
For Course Files, hide the Files area from the course navigation. Keep in mind that files linked to pages will still be visible unless locked. Locking Files Instructions.
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Spring 2015 Canvas Course Shells are Open
Spring 2015 course shells have been opened in Canvas. You will find links to all your assigned Spring sections on your Canvas Course List. Feel free to develop 
your courses within these unpublished shells throughout the Fall. TIP: Customize your course menu to include Spring courses in your quick pick list.
Delays in Instructor/Enrollment Updates
If you don’t see your Spring 2015 course shell in Canvas, please be patient. The SIS (My.Maricopa) to Canvas update is experiencing delays, so recent instructional changes/additions within the schedule may not yet be reflected in Canvas. We hope that this situation will resolve itself soon. Please contact the CTL with any questions or concerns.
Course Copy Tips
Don’t forget that you can copy course content from your previous Spring or Fall courses into these shells. Please see our copy guidelines to get started. Don’t forget to use the Adjust Events and Due Dates option to save yourself time. It can take up to 2 hours for copies of courses from one semester to another to be completed (size and traffic determine speed). Feel free to leave the copy page or logout of Canvas while the copy is being made.
Additionally, pay close attention to any error notices at the end of the copy process. Review any alerts reported (posted notice in the import history) and take corrective action. Errors will most often be related to broken links or empty pages.
Maintenance on Roll Call/Attendance on November 9
Canvas will perform maintenance on the Roll Call/Attendance tool on November 9 beginning at 10pm MST. The tool will be unavailable at this time for an estimated 2 hours. Learn more about the Roll Call/Attendance Tool.
Canvas Update Cycle
Canvas is on a 3-week update-release cycle. The beta (preview) release for this cycle was on 10/27, production notes were shared and the release and documentation will follow on 11/8. Follow the release schedule on the Canvas Updates Calendar.
Recent & Upcoming Updates
Strikeouts for Assignments Improve Calendar Functionality
On the calendar, students will see submitted assignments with a text strikeout. This is a visual indicator that work for that assignment has already been turned-in. For instructors, a crossed out assignment indicates that the due date has passed and that all grading has be completed.
Learn More: The Canvas Calendar
Interface Changes Expand Accessibility & Streamline Navigation
Canvas has made a variety of changes to the interface to improve the user experience, enhance navigation and comply with best practices in accessible design. Recent changes include:
- The removal of the Assignments Tab from the Global Canvas Navigation to encourage students to enter the course to find and submit assignments.
- The addition of Term Dates in the Course List to make it easier to identify courses by semester.
- The improvement of contrasting within the calendar and to grade score formatting within the Gradebook.
Be in the Know with Canvas Status Updates
Want up to the minute reports on the status of Canvas and Canvas features? Check out the improved Canvas Status tracker at http://status.instructure.com/. In this interactive interface you can review the current functionality of all the major features from Document previewing to the Media recording tools. Subscribe to Updates to receive notices of issues/incidents in your Gmail.
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Be CyberSecure!
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. This month is designed to engage and raise awareness of important cyber security issues in an effort to limit risk in the digital age.
Throughout this month MCCCD has been sponsoring activities and events to make the district aware of important security concerns.
Join the Discussion at MCC
Stop.Think.Connect. Learn how to Secure Your Assets with MCC’s Director of IT Security Planning, Jeremy Kurtz, who will introduce the “Tbird Top Ten” cyber security tips. An important session for all MCC employees.
Co-hosted by College Technology Services and the Center for Teaching & Learning.
Wednesday, October 29, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m., Brown Bag Session
AS175, Center for Teaching & Learning Lab Room; AS Building – Southern & Dobson Campus [Please Bring your own lunch.]
Come alone OR bring your team.
Questions or Concerns?
Contact the MCC Center for Teaching & Learning
Email: ctl@mesacc.edu
Telephone: (480) 461-7331
Important Canvas User Notices
New Canvas 101 for Students Launched at MCC
The MCC Canvas 101 Student Orientation course has been updated! This self-enrolled, self-paced course was first made 2 years ago when MCCCD transitioned to Canvas. It is given out by faculty to orient students to Canvas. It is also published on our MCC eLearning web site, Center for Teaching & Learning Canvas Tutorials and other locations. It is highly recommended that you encourage those students new to Canvas to take this course. This will not only help them be more successful in navigating Canvas to access important course information/activities, it should also save instructional time otherwise spent on technical issues. The easiest way to share this course is to include the web link in your syllabus, welcome letter, getting started activities, etc..
Canvas 101: Student Orientation to Canvas Course – http://tinyurl.com/learncanvas
Keep Your Browsers Current & Clean!
Many of the issues users face with Canvas relate to the web browser. Canvas supports the latest two versions of all the major browsers (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox). Although users may be able to access Canvas with older browser versions, they may experience a variety of issues including loss of functionality and worse, loss of work if the browser crashes.
In addition, it is important for browser health and for the usability of Canvas and Canvas features to regularly clear the browser cache. We recommend that users mark their calendar to do this maintenance at least a few times per month or whenever they experience issues like being unable to record video or audio using the Canvas media tools. Some Canvas features also require Flash and the Java plug-in.
A few words on security. Canvas is a secure environment and this can sometimes cause issues with certain multimedia features like embedded videos and tools working or displaying properly due to browser security. It is important to provide links to media and tools, as well as the embedded versions to ensure that students are able to see and interact with course material.
Learn more about Canvas and browser compatibility including security. **Bookmark this resource and give it to students it is extremely valuable!
Resources for Clearing Browser Cache
When in Doubt, Switch Browsers!
One of the first things a user should try when they are experiencing an issue in Canvas is to switch browsers. It may sound like a Help Desk cliche, but a little flexibility in browsing preferences can save a lot of time and frustration. Currently most users are preferring the functionality provided by Google Chrome or Firefox. Internet Explorer is supported, but not recommended.
Canvas Update Cycle
Canvas is on a 3-week update-release cycle. The next beta (preview) release is on 9/15, production notes will follow on 9/22 with the release and documentation to follow on 9/27. Follow the release schedule on the Canvas Updates Calendar.
Recent Changes
Big changes come in small packages! Many of the recent updates to Canvas have been tiny tweaks to functionality that will make your life and the learning of your students better and better! Review all the recent changes from the 9/6/2014 release.
Canvas Course List All-Stars
The Canvas Course list functionality has been changed to allow all users (students and faculty) to more easily manage their Canvas courses. The previous customize option (to control what courses appeared in the ‘quick list’ drop-down course menu) has been combined with the My Courses page. Now users can view all their courses and select which courses to display (using the new star icons to mark favorites) in the drop-down menu all within the same location.
Your course(s) marked as a ‘favorite’ will correspond to your Courses drop-down menu, Canvas Conversations Inbox menu and Calendar menus so it is worth taking the time to customize your course list each semester!
Additionally the My Courses page includes more information about the status of a course including whether it is published or not. Note: Unpublished courses are listed in gray and include a tag which is visible to faculty and students. When students hover over an unpublished course they will see a message stating – “This course had not been published. Students should contact the course instructor for access.”
The New MCC Canvas 101 – Student Orientation to Canvas Revamped!
The MCC Canvas 101 Student Orientation course has been revamped. This self-enrolled, self-paced course was first made 2 years ago when MCCCD transitioned to Canvas. It is given out by faculty to orient students to Canvas. It is also published on our MCC eLearning web site, Center for Teaching & Learning Canvas Tutorials and other locations.
What’s New? MCC Canvas 101 Reloaded
The course had become a bit out-of-date so we took the opportunity to overhaul the entire orientation and have some fun! We beefed up the content to match the wider feature set of Canvas since we created the original Canvas 101 course 2 years ago and made the the content more responsive so that won’t be out of date every 3 weeks when Canvas make an update. We also gave it an overall design facelift and an option for students to either take the full orientation (or approach modules ala carte). Finally we added some engaging gaming strategies with the use of digital badges to encourage students to go through the tutorial.
The improved course includes:
- All the relevant Student Canvas Tutorial Videos (embedded so they will be up-to-date at all times) and narrative with links to guides that are kept current by Canvas.
- Additional assignments for students to try-out Canvas features, specifically working in the Canavs Group Feature.
- A more course like feel with and opening module that explains the purpose of an learning management system and specifically the advantages of Canvas to student learning.
- Narrative and content to cognitively wrap students with a deeper understanding of how Canvas works, the expectations of how they should work in it (profile image professionalism, netiquette) and the resources available to them when they need help (HelpCenter, Canvas Guides, etc.).
- Digital Badges that students can earn for completing each module. This is administered by Credly, a free service. Learn more about digital badges – Educause 7 Things You Should Know About Badges.
- A final certificate of completion that can be earned if a student returns a survey telling us about their experience.
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Canvas User Update: Fall Start-Up
Important Canvas Notices
- Course Copy: The course copy process continues to improve in functionality. Now you can more easily select items that you want to copy from a course, rather than deselect content. Don’t forget to use the Adjust Events and Due Dates option to save yourself time. Please note it can take up to 2 hours for copies of courses from one semester to another to be completed (size and traffic determine speed). Feel free to leave the copy page or logout of Canvas while the copy is being made. Additionally, pay close attention to any error notices at the end of the copy process. Review any alerts reported (posted notice in the import history) and take corrective action. Errors will most often be related to broken links or empty pages. Please see our copy guidelines to get you started.
- Publish Course Items: Publish any quizzes, assignments, discussions, content pages or modules that should be visible to students prior to publishing your course. Publishing the course will not publish items within the course that are still in “draft state”. Learn more about the draft state in the recent update section below.
- Course Publish: Don’t forget to publish your course to make it available to students. To publish the course find the publish notice dialog box on the course home page. 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 once students have submitted work to the course. Directions for publishing courses.
- Special Tools & Publisher Integration Changes:Due to recent changes to several of our special integrations in Canvas including ShareStream, Pearson and McGraw Hill you may to re-integrate these tools to ensure that they are working properly. For Pearson integrations users will need to use themaricopa.instructure.com log-in to access Pearson materials. If you are using one of these products, contact the MCC Center for Teaching & Learning atctl@mesacc.edu OR (480) 461-7331 for additional details.
Canvas Update Cycle
Canvas is on a 3-week update-release cycle. The next beta (preview) release is on 8/25, production notes will follow on 9/2 with the release and documentation to follow on 9/6.Follow the release schedule on the Canvas Updates Calendar.
View More Notices
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Introducing the Canvas Draft State
Canvas has recently released the highly anticipated Draft State feature that allows for 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 will become a standard, permanent part of Canvas on July 5, 2014 and will be activated for all Canvas courses within MCCCD on Saturday, May 10, 2014.
Teaching this Summer? ‘Opt-in’ to Draft State Now
The Draft State feature will impact all of the major instructional user interfaces within Canvas and will have a small cosmetic impact on the student view of courses. Because this change is anticipated for the middle of the summer session, we highly recommend that you remain ‘opted-in’ to the draft state feature before your summer course starts to avoid any potential disruption, albeit small, for students.
Draft State User Information Sessions
The MCC Center for Teaching & Learning has scheduled a few information sessions to help users with this transition.
Register Now
Registration Instructions
Choose from the following:
Monday, May 12, 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
HRMS Course #002116, Session #0002; CTL Lab AS Building, Room 175
Monday, May 12, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
HRMS Course #002116, Session #0003; CTL Lab AS Building, Room 175
Thursday, May 15, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
HRMS Course #002116, Session #0004; CTL Lab AS Building, Room 175
Monday, May 19, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
HRMS Course #002116, Session #0001; CTL Lab AS Building, Room 175
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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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