Category: Canvas

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Perusall Gets a Major Update!

Dear Faculty,

We have just updated our Perusall reading annotation app to take advantage of additional features and functionality.  To activate Perusall in your Canvas course, follow the instructions at Canvas Instructor Quick Setup.  Additional information regarding Perusall setup is available at Getting Started for Instructors.  

If you have used Perusall in the past, please note: 

  • If you were originally integrated into Perusall with LTI 1.1, the first time you launch into Perusall via LTI 1.3 integration, it will prompt you with a one-time “confirm merge” email. You will need to confirm the merge and relaunch to officially join LTI 1.3.
  • If you originally had a course through the LTI 1.1 integration, that content is still available in your account under “my courses”. You can also copy course materials from an LTI 1.1 course to an LTI 1.3 course.  For instructions see How do I transition my Perusall course from an LTI 1.1 integration to LTI 1.3?Links to an external site.

If you have any questions or experience any issues activating Perusall in your Canvas course, or want to learn more about Perusall, please contact Brandon Bucy.

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How to Add a Faculty Member to a Canvas Course from a Past Term

 It’s definitely possible to add another instructor to a Canvas course that has concluded IF you know this trick:

  1. Go to Settings in the Course Navigation of the past term Canvas course.
  2. In the Course Details tab, change the Participation: dropdown from “Term” to “Course”.
  3. Type tomorrow’s date (or any date in the future) as the End date.
  4. Scroll down and click the “Update Course Details” button on the right.
  5. Go to People in the Course Navigation.
  6. Click on the “+ People” button on the right.
  7. Add the email address of the faculty member you want to add. Choose “Teacher” in the Role dropdown.
  8. Go back to Settings in the Course Navigation.
  9. Change the Participation: dropdown back to “Term”.
  10. Scroll down and click the “Update Course Details” button on the right.
  11. Tah-dah! You did it! Pat yourself on the back.

Need help? Have questions? Contact the ITS Information Desk at 540.458.4357 (HELP), email help@wlu.edu, or stop by the ITS Information Desk on the Main Level of Leyburn Library.

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New! Self-paced Canvas Instructor Training!

Truth? Brandon and I love teaching about Canvas.

We really enjoy having a computer lab chock full of professors eager to absorb all they can about the University’s learning management system and we also dig Zoom meetings with those needing a refresher about how to build a peer review assignment or use Speedgrader to grade assignments. 

We also understand that it’s difficult to commit to hour-long training, especially as the start of term creeps closer and closer.

As such, we’ve put together a totally asynchronous, self-paced Canvas tutorial consisting of short videos and links to the Canvas Instructor Guides that contains all you need to navigate Canvas, create assignments and assessments, build a course, grade, and give feedback. 

Self-enroll at: https://wlu.instructure.com/enroll/FJXDPE. 

Heck, if you don’t even want to join the tutorial, you can just watch any or all the videos here: https://wlu.yuja.com/V/PlayList?node=5138751&a=1547137616&autoplay=1 [must log in with W&L credentials]. 

Whether you email, call, or stop by our offices — we’re now located in the Harte Center on lowel level 1 in Leyburn Library — we’re always happy to answer questions, problem solve, and troubleshoot.

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NEW! Comment Library in Canvas Speedgrader! Reuse Frequently Used Comments in Speedgrader!

We KNOW you love Speedgrader to annotate student submissions, leave personalized feedback and enter grades—all in one! And we also know you wish there was a  way to add and save comments for reuse whilst grading.

Well, now there is! Instructure has been listening to your feedback and has introduced a new feature: the Comment Library.

The Comment Library allows you to save frequently used comments in SpeedGrader and be reused across multiple students and assignments. Comments you have added to the Comment Library are accessible from each course in which you are enrolled as an instructor. Comments can be edited in and deleted from the library at any time.

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Open the Comment Library

 

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Add a comment to Comment Library

Comments can be added directly from the Comment Library by opening the library and clicking the comment that should be added. The library will close and the comment will display in SpeedGrader.

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Add a comment via the Comment Library

Notes: 

  • Comments are saved per user regardless of course, so comments that you save in one course will also display when viewing SpeedGrader in another course.
  • The Comment Library functionality is not supported in the assignment submission details page.

Have questions? Need help? Contact the ITS Information Desk at 540.458.4357 (HELP) or send an email help@wlu.edu.

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Shiny New Canvas Features: Webcam Assignment Submissions and Assignment Reassignment!

NEW! In File Upload assignments, students can use their webcam to submit to an assignment. This change allows students to use their webcam to submit a file upload assignment from the browser and aligns behavior with the Canvas Student app.

How This Feature Works for Students

For File Upload assignments, students have the option to use their webcam for file uploads. The first time they use the feature, they will need to give permission to Canvas to access their computer webcam. Like all other graded submission types, images submitted via the webcam functionality do not count against course or user quota.

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How This Feature Works for Instructors

Instructors can view uploaded images submitted via a student’s webcam as they see other file uploads in SpeedGrader and anywhere that submissions are available. 

NEW! In SpeedGrader, instructors can leave feedback comments and reassign the assignment to a student. This feature allows an instructor to ask a student to resubmit an assignment as part of the instructor’s regular grading workflow.

How This Feature Works for Instructors

For online assignments with a due date, instructors can view a Reassign button in SpeedGrader. If they require a student to redo an assignment, they can reassign the assignment directly to the student from within their grading workflow in SpeedGrader.

The instructor must first provide feedback regarding the assignment, which will enable the button. The reassignment does not change the original due date for the student.

Notes

  • The Reassign Assignment button is not available for External Tools (LTI), on paper, and no submission assignments.
  • The Reassign Assignment button is only available for assignments with due dates.
  • If an instructor returns to SpeedGrader after navigating away from the page, the Reassign Assignment button shows that the assignment has been reassigned.
  • If the assignment’s settings do not allow students to make an additional attempt, the Reassign Assignment shows that the assignment is not able to be reassigned.

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How This Feature Works for Students

When an assignment is reassigned, students see the assignment in their List View Dashboard with the instructor’s feedback.

Students can resubmit the assignment and submit for additional feedback from their instructor.

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Images in Canvas aren’t appearing in Safari!?!??

 

Sadly, there is an on-going issue with Safari 13.1 and later versions with displaying images and downloading files. Canvas engineers are currently working on a solution for this issue.

Until Canvas releases a fix, you may avoid errors by disabling cross-site tracking prevention in Safari when using Canvas:

On Mac:

  1. Open Safari.
  2. Go to the Safari menu and select “Preferences…”
  3. Click on Privacy.
  4. Uncheck “Prevent cross-site tracking”:

    Prevent cross-site tracking in Safari on a Mac

On iOS:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Scroll down the list of headings on the left and choose Safari.
  3. Uncheck “Prevent Cross-Site Tracking” (under Privacy & Security).

If disabling cross-site tracking doesn’t resolve the issue, please try the latest version of Chrome or Firefox. (Stinks, we know.)

Need assistance with Safari or Canvas? Contact the ITS Information Desk at 540.458.4357 (HELP) or email help@wlu.edu. 

 

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How to copy content from one Canvas course to another!

Need to copy course content in Canvas such as Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, Files, Modules, and/or Pages from a sandbox course or an official Fall term course into the official Winter Term course shell that ITS has created for you?  Here’s how!

Open Settings

In Course Navigation, click the Settings link.
 

Import Content into Course

Import Content into this Course button

Click the Import Course Content link.

Select Content Type

Import Content from Blackboard

In the Content Type drop-down menu, select the Copy a Canvas Course option.

Search for a Course

Select Institution

In the Search for a course drop-down menu [1], select the course you would like to access. Courses are ordered alphabetically by most recent term. You can also choose to include completed courses by selecting the completed courses checkbox [2]. The Include completed courses checkbox is selected by default.

To search for a course by name, enter the name in the Course Name field [3]. Click the name of the course when it appears.

Note: If you have access to more than 100 courses, the search page only displays the Course Name field.

Select Migration Content

Select Course

To import all content from the course, select the All Content radio button [1].

If you want to select specific content, click the Select specific content radio button [2].

Note: If you select the specific content option, you are required to select the content you want to import after you review the remaining page options. After you start importing the content, the import selection cannot be canceled.  

Adjust Events and Due Dates

Select Course

If you want to adjust the due dates associated with the course events and assignments, click the Adjust events and due dates checkbox.

Import Course

Import Course

Click the Import button.

View Current Jobs

Course Extraction Email

The Current Jobs section displays the status of your import. Running reports display a progress bar indicating the time remaining to complete the import [1].

If you chose to select specific content in your course, the current job will show as Waiting for Select [2], which means you must select the content you want to import.  *** THIS IS OFTEN WHERE FOLKS GET CONFUSED BECAUSE THEY’VE NOT YET SELECTED WHAT TO IMPORT SO NOTHING HAPPENS ***

The import may also display other status indicators as part of the import process. Learn more about course import statuses.

View the content from any completed imports by accessing any link in Course Navigation.

Tah-dah! 

Need assistance? Contact the ITS Information Desk at 540.458.4357 or email help@wlu.edu.

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What is that new icon in the global navigation menu in Canvas?

Ever wish you had a quick way to find the last page you visited in Canvas? Now you can! Check out the new Recent History link/button in your Global Navigation menu.

The Global Navigation menu now includes a Recent History link/button (under Inbox). This History link/button displays the most recent pages viewed in Canvas up to the last three weeks. Page content is displayed by title.

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Questions? Contact the ITS Information Desk at help@wlu.edu or 540.458.4357 (HELP).

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NEW! Opt in to Display Personal Pronouns in Canvas

All users can choose personal pronouns in their Canvas profiles. Pronouns in Canvas display in locations such as:

  • Comment Fields
  • Discussions
  • Inbox
  • People Page (Course and Groups)
  • User Navigation Menu
  • User Profile Page
  • User Settings Page

The default is “None” and users can opt in to displaying a pronoun in Account > Settings. Available pronouns include:

  • He/Him
  • She/Her
  • They/Them

Here’s how:

  1. While logged in to Canvas, click Account in the global navigation.
  2. Click on the Settings link.
  3. Click the Edit Settings button (on the right side of the page)
  4. Select the desired pronouns from the drop-down menu.
  5. Click the Update Settings button.

[must log in with W&L credentials]

Questions? Contact the ITS Information Desk at 540.458.4357 or email help@wlu.edu.

And if you’re wondering … 

What are Personal Pronouns?

Pronouns are used on a regular basis to refer to people without using their name and imply one’s gender (he, she, they, etc.). Pronouns are one of the many ways we define our identities. 

But why do Personal Pronouns Matter?

You can’t/shouldn’t assume someone’s pronouns by their appearance or name. Referring to someone by the wrong pronoun can be damaging, making the person feel disrespected, invalidated, and/or dysphoric. Correctly using someone’s personal pronoun shows respect for their identities and helps foster an inclusive community. 

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Zoom-Canvas Integration is now active!

The Canvas-Zoom integration allows instructors to schedule and manage online meetings with their students. 

When you create a Zoom meeting within Canvas, you do not need to send meeting invites to students who are enrolled in the course.

A notification is also sent out to students within Canvas, as well as to their W&L email (assuming they haven’t changed the default notifications). Additionally, an event is created with the Zoom meeting information in the course calendar.

Students only use the Zoom tool in Canvas to join meetings created by Teachers in the course. Students can use Zoom outside of Canvas — by logging into myapps.wlu.edu with their W&L credentials and clicking the Zoom tile OR wlu.zoom.us with their W&L credentials — to create and host their own meetings.

How to Add Zoom to Your Canvas Course

Here’s a 3 minute video that will show you how to enable Zoom in your Canvas course and create a meeting invite for your students:

How to Add Zoom to Your Canvas Course

Open Settings

Open Settings

In Course Navigation, click the Settings link.

Open Navigation

Open Navigation

Click the Navigation tab.

Enable Zoom

how to enable Zoom in your Canvas course navigation

Click the blue “Save” button. After the browser refreshes, you will see the Zoom link in your course navigation. Click on the Zoom link to schedule meetings for your Canvas course!  (You will first be asked to authorize Zoom before you can use the tool. Once you click the “Authorize” button, you will be able to schedule or start meetings with your students.)

NOTE: Not all Zoom meeting settings, such as pre-assigning breakout rooms or creating polls, are available in the Zoom app in Canvas. Additional meeting settings are available in the W&L Zoom web portal at wlu.zoom.us.

But you can then import that meeting into Canvas, by clicking on the 3 vertical buttons next to “Schedule a New Meeting”:

screenshot of how to import a Zoom meeting into the Canvas-Zoom interface

and entering the Meeting ID. When you import the meeting, it will then be treated as if you’d created that Zoom meeting within Canvas. Students will receive notifications in Canvas and through their W&L email and an event with the Zoom information will be added to the course calendar.

Questions? Need help? Contact the ITS Information Desk at 540.458.4357 or help@wlu.edu.