New! Course Prep Boot Camp

Strapped for time, and looking for a guiding hand on all the things you need to do to get a Canvas course up and running for Spring?  Now is your chance! Join us for hands-on workshops broken up between quick demonstrations, and supported work time.

Photo by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels

These sessions are designed for instructors looking to get their Spring 2022 course up and running, but all faculty and staff are welcome. Come with previous content ready to be updated, or moved from paper into Canvas (ie moving a quiz or rubric into a digital form). This series of workshops will provide you the how-to and time to complete specific tasks to get your course set up. Enroll in one, a handful, or all of them; even if it is just for a way to schedule your time.

Getting Started

Monday, January 3: 9:00-10:30 AM | Signup

Building Your Content

Wednesday, January 5: 9:00-10:30 AM | Signup

Assignments and Setting Up Grades

Friday, January 7: 9:00-10:30 AM | Signup

Accessories

Monday, January 10: 9:00-10:30 AM | Signup

Collaborations

Wednesday, January 12: 9:00-10:30 AM | Signup

Wrapping Up

Friday, January 14: 9:00-10:30 AM | Signup

December @ LTC

Congratulations on another successful semester, Warhawks!

The hallways might be a bit quieter over the next few weeks, but the learning never ends at the Learning Technology Center! Below you’ll find a few opportunities to help finish strong and keep the momentum going through to the Spring:

Canvas

Once you’ve marked up your students’ final exams and papers, be sure to check the settings of your gradebook to ensure accuracy and to prepare for a successful transfer to WINS. The LTC will offer multiple sessions for instructors to double-and-triple check final grades:

  • Canvas Grading Lab (12/6/2021, 10am) – Check and double-check grade categories and schemes.
  • Canvas Grade Submission (multiple sessions and times) – transfer grades directly from the Canvas Gradebook to WINS.

Winterim 2022

Spend Winterim at the LTC (in-person or online) with dedicated time and support to complete course preparation for Spring 2022 or for Summer/Fall 2022!

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning – Instructor Use Cases (12/6/2021, 2pm)
Join us as we explore how instructors on our campus integrate the wealth of learning and development resources on subjects ranging from advanced software training to soft-skills development and enrichment.

Over the break, take some time to develop deeper technical abilities, hone soft skills, or start from the beginning with new software, all within LinkedIn Learning. Check out our blog for more information and get started with your learning pathways!

Webex

Cisco Webex continues to evolve and offer new and exciting features that benefit each member of our campus community. Join us this month as we dive deeper into everything Webex!

More Information

Consult our full calendar of events for more information or to register in advance!

New to campus or looking for a refresher? Sign up for “Campus Technology: Resources to Help You Succeed” or check out our on-demand technology orientation to get you started at UW-Whitewater!

The LTC offers individual and small group consultations on a variety of topics and services, please email ltc@uww.edu to learn more and get started! Subscribe to our blog for frequent technology updates and information about our workshops, campus events, and other announcements.

If you require assistance or have questions on campus technology, please feel free to contact the Help Desk. Outside of Help Desk hours, we invite you to search our Knowledge Base for helpful articles on using and troubleshooting campus technology.

Canvas Update (11/20/2021)

On Saturday, November 20, Instructure will deploy the latest release to the Canvas environment. The highlights of this release are listed below. The full release notes are also available.

  • Assignments — Submission Feedback Indicator: In the Assignment Details page, the Show Rubric and View Feedback links indicate when new comments have been added as an annotation or in a rubric.
  • Settings — Settings Tab URL Links: The Account and Course Settings tabs support independent URL references. This change allows users to remain in a specific tab after a Settings page is refreshed. 
  • SpeedGrader – Assignment Text Entry Word Count: The word count for assignment text submissions is displayed in SpeedGrader. 

UW-Whitewater Updates

  • Beginning on December 1st, 2021 all video files that are created and uploaded into Kaltura through Canvas will have caption files automatically generated. For additional details, please review our blog post on this topic.

If you have any questions or concerns about the service pack updates, or even just curious about how they can help you, please contact UW-W Canvas Support.

Winter Course Prep Bootcamp

Strapped for time, and looking for a guiding hand on all the things you need to do to get a Canvas course up and running for Spring?  Now is your chance!  Join us for hands-on workshops broken up between quick demonstrations, and supported work time.

Photo by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels

These sessions are designed for instructors looking to get their Spring 2022 course up and running, but all faculty and staff are welcome. If you are interested in designing a course for Summer or Fall 2022, try the Winter Online Blended Institute. Come with previous content ready to be updated, or moved from paper into Canvas (ie moving a quiz or rubric into a digital form). This series of workshops will provide you the how-to and time to complete specific tasks to get your course set up. Enroll in one, a handful, or all of them; even if it is just for a way to schedule your time.

EVENT NAMEDATE/TIMELOCATIONREGISTER
Getting StartedMonday, January 3rd
9:00am – 10:30am
McGraw 19c
and Webex
Signup
Building Your
Content
Wednesday, January 5th
9:00am – 10:30am
McGraw 19c
and Webex
Signup
Assignments and
Setting up Grades
Friday, January 7th
9:00am – 10:30am
McGraw 19c
and Webex
Signup
AccessoriesMonday, January 10th
9:00am – 10:30am
McGraw 19c
and Webex
Signup
CollaborationsWednesday, January 12th
9:00am – 10:30am
McGraw 19c
and Webex
Signup
Wrapping UpFriday, January 14th
9:00am – 10:30am
McGraw 19c
and Webex
Signup

Canvas Update (10/16/2021)

On Saturday, October 16, Instructure will deploy the latest release to the Canvas environment. The highlights of this release are listed below. The full release notes are also available.

  • Navigation – Sticky Navigation Menus: The Account, Course, and User Navigation Menus remain sticky and are always visible on their respective pages.
  • SpeedGrader – Submission Status Label Edits: The SpeedGrader sidebar includes an Edit icon to be used for submission statuses. Statuses can be edited the same way as in the Gradebook. Additionally, adjusting a status in SpeedGrader also applies to the Gradebook.
  • Gradebook – Assignment Search: The Gradebook includes two search fields: one for student names, and one for assignment names. Using the Assignment search field displays any search results that match an assignment in the course.
  • Notifications – Course Notification Customization: Course notification preferences can be customized in a user’s Notifications page.
  • User Settings – Microsoft Immersive Reader: The Microsoft Immersive Reader button can be enabled in User Settings, if not already enabled by the institution. Additionally, the Reader is supported in Assignments, and the Syllabus. 

If you have any questions or concerns about the service pack updates, or even just curious about how they can help you, please contact UW-W Canvas Support.

Canvas Update (09/18/2021)

On Saturday, September 18, Instructure will deploy the latest release to the Canvas environment.  The highlights of this release are listed below.  The full release notes are also available.

  • Rich Content Editor – Accessibility Checker Indicator: When accessibility issues are detected within the Rich Content Editor, the Accessibility Checker automatically displays an indicator. This indicator helps users know about these issues without having to open the Accessibility Checker. Opening the Accessibility Checker will show the number of errors and how to correct each error.
  • New Analytics – Canvas Online Attendance: New Analytics includes an Online Attendance tab, which updates according to criteria set at the account level. Instructors will be able to tell which days a student has done at least one of the following:
    • Accessed a Page in Canvas.
    • Created a Page (if you have provided that permission).
    • Made a Discussion post.
    • Submitted an Assignment.
    • Started and/or submitted a Quiz.
    • Loaded a collaboration to view/edit.

Prior Canvas Updates

It can be really hard to keep up with Canvas releases, so the following are the prominant updates that have happened since the end of spring semester.

  • Assignments – Student Annotated Submissions: Instructors can use annotated document assignment type to upload a document for students to annotate and submit directly in Canvas. This assignment type is included under the online assignment types so that instructors can select additional submission options for students unable to annotate onscreen.
  • Course settings – Section Date Enhancement: A visual change was made to the availability dates option for sections of a course. This update made the visuals of the date settings for the sections match those of the course.
  • SpeedGrader – Comment Library: Comments can be added and saved for reuse within SpeedGrader, allowing individual users to save frequently used comments to be reused across assignments in multiple courses.
  • Canvas – Maintenance Window: Instructure has moved their intermittent maintenance to twice monthly scheduled maintenance windows. Moving forward, maintenance will be performed on the first and third Thursdays of each month, beginning at 1:00am, and running no later than 3:00am. Canvas may be unavailable to users during these windows. All users are able to view maintenance window times through Account then Settings. For additional information, please refer to the Canvas Community discussion.
  • New Quizzes – Multiple Attempts First Score Option: It is now possible to give students multiple attempts on a New Quiz, but retain their first score as their grade.
  • New Quizzes – Item Bank M​​​​​anagement: Item banks can now be shared with the entire account or individual users. When instructors share an item bank, the item bank supports a new View permission, which can be given to a user and provides access to the bank as read only. The user who shares an item bank can continue to specify editing access for other users.
  • New Quizzes – Save and Build Button Workflow: The New Quiz creation page includes both a Save and a Build button. When an instructor creates and enters details for a quiz, the page displays both a Save and a Build button. Previously the page only included the Save button, which counterintuitively launched in the New Quiz editor. 

If you have any questions or concerns about the service pack updates, or even just curious about how they can help you, please contact UW-W Canvas Support.

New for Fall 2021 – Pathways!

What is a “Pathway”? The LTC offers a wide variety of trainings, but how are they tied together? We have organized our trainings into groups that drive towards common ideas. The “Pathway” courses are designed for users who are already familiar with the basics of tools such as a Canvas (e.g., building a Page) or Webex Teams (e.g., creating a Space). The sessions blend advanced skill development with deeper conceptual discussion into the affordances of more technology-inclusive environments on campus, regardless of whether you are an instructor or not!

Register in advance and be sure to tell your colleagues!

Read below about our two Pathways, Blending My In-Person Course with Online Elements and Creating Dynamic Course Content!

Blending My In-Person Course with Online Elements

This pathways approaches “blended” classrooms from a larger perspective, namely the integration of technology to enhance learning, streamline instructor workload, and maximize student engagement. Instructors will utilize materials created during the 2020 school year to improve face to face, and blended courses. Leveraging recently digitized content, while making small adjustments to it, to engage students and get the most use out of content.

  • Google Apps for Education
    Learn about the different Google Apps for Education you can use to collaborate and file-share on the go! This workshop is an overview of Google Apps including Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Presentations, Forms, Drawing, and Sites. Learn the basics of each program to get you up and running quickly with Google applications.

    September 10, 9:00AM | Register here
    October 19, 1:00PM | Register here (hybrid session)
    November 9, 1:00PM | Register here
    December 1, 9:00AM | Register here (hybrid session)
  • DX1 – Culture: Design for the Student Perspective
    This is the first of a three partworkshop series exploring impacts of Digital Transformation on Higher Education.
    Digital Transformation #1 — Culture: Designing with the Student Perspective in Mind.

    September 14, 3:00PM | Register here
    Learn more about this series from the blog post.
  • Breakouts in Webex Meetings
    Would you like to breakout your meeting participants into smaller groups allowing them to collaborate and share ideas over audio and video? Use Webex Meetings new integrated breakout sessions for workshops, classrooms, or for when you need a moment to talk privately with a few participants, outside of the main meeting. Join this lively class and check out what you can do in breakout sessions as a meeting host, co-host, or attendee.

    September 16, 9:00AM | Register here
    October 8, 9:00AM | Register here
    November 5, 1:00PM | Register here
    December 14, 1:00PM | Register here
  • Improving Navigation
    This session explores modular organization, use cases like the FAQ syllabus, links and tricks to save you time copying courses from one section to another, and other tips to reuse modules.

    September 18, 2:00PM | Register here
    September 21, 1:00PM | Register here
    September 22, 9:00AM | Register here
  • Teaching with Webex (Teams)
    Searching for ways to build community with students in your online class? Looking for a way to facilitate communication and collaboration between your students in your face-to-face class? You may benefit from the Learning Technology Center’s (LTC) “Teaching with Webex.” (Webex is the application formerly known as Webex Teams.)
    The facilitator will provide examples to help participants understand what Webex is (and is not), how it works, and the purpose in using it. We will also provide some examples of instructors who have integrated Webex into their course and some “best practices” for use.

    September 20, 9:00AM | Register here (hybrid session)
    October 7, 3:00PM | Register here
    December 3, 10:00AM | Register here (hybrid session)
  • Canvas Higher Integrity Quizzes
    This session will focus on the things you can do with your quizzes besides monitoring software to improve the integrity of your quizzes. We will use the description area of the assignment to remind students what they can and can’t do during your quizzes, set up timing and randomized questions, use different question types to make looking up answers more difficult, and try to change the focus of questions to application of skills.
    Feel free to review this phenomenal seven minute video to try some of these on your own.

    September 29, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    October 7, 2021, 10:00AM | Register here
    Note: To get the most out of this session, we recommend that you are already familiar with the following tools: Quizzes
  • Suggestions for Effective Webex Meetings & Events
    Do you know how to schedule a Webex Meeting and/or Event, but are looking to make them more smooth, efficient, productive, and comfortable? We’ll cover some pre-meeting details that can help as well as and facilitation techniques to help you and your attendees have better virtual meeting experiences. We’ll focus on tips and tricks found in Webex Meetings and Events to take your baseline skills to the next level.

    October 15, 2:00PM | Register here
    November 16, 3:00PM | Register here
    December 7, 1:00PM | Register here
  • Interactive Polling with Slido
    Polls are a great way for hosts to get input from meeting participants. Use them to engage your audience, test knowledge, and ask for feedback. Webex Meetings now has an interactive polling feature built right into the meeting so you can easily engage with your participants.
    In this session, you’ll learn how to:
    • Create, edit, delete and activate a poll, quiz or survey;
    • Share the poll;
    • View poll results and reset a poll;
    • Export and share poll results after a meeting;
    • Add guest collaborators; and
    • Access your Slido account from https://slido.com and manage your polls.

    October 26, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 3, 10:00AM | Register here
  • What Students Want in Canvas
    There are many good ways to set up a course. This training will focus on making a series of small, easy, and optional, shifts from your current course design to a setup backed by feedback from student panels conducted right here at UW-Whitewater.

    November 3, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    November 9, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    Note: To get the most out of this session, we recommend that you are already familiar with the following tools: Assignments, Announcements, Pages, Modules, Rubrics.
“Arrows showing up (Blender)” by FutUndBeidl is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Creating Dynamic Course Content

Instructors will be able to create Canvas content that uses embedded video, active links to content both inside of and out of the Canvas course, and/or utilizes other campus supported technologies, while remaining accessible for all users. Dynamic course content has been shown to improve student engagement. This pathway will explore ways that instructors can produce and recycle dynamic, multimodal and multimedia course materials that strengthens student content interactions.

  • “Next-Level” Design in Canvas – Chunking and Modular Design
    This session explores modular organization, use cases like the FAQ syllabus, links and tricks to save you time copying courses from one section to another, and other tips to reuse modules.

    September 24:  1:00-3:00PM | Register here
  • “Next-Level” Design in Canvas – Navigation and Gating
    This session explores how faculty use gating and timed releases, prerequisites in Canvas, and use cases when – and when not — to use these techniques.

    October 8: 1:00PM-3:00PM | Register here
  • “Next-Level” Multimedia – Creative Use Cases
    This session explores how faculty use multimedia in creative ways, from intro videos to weekly video “to-do” lists, to short podcasts.  We will also explore how to incorporate multimedia into student assignments, video presentations, and discussion boards.

    October 22:  1:00-3:00PM | Register here
  • Campus Technology Resources to Help You Succeed
    The goal of this session is to create awareness of the campus-supported communication, collaboration, and work productivity tools that apply to all staff and introduce participants to support resources. This session will be particularly helpful to those new to campus, however, all staff may benefit from hearing about technology tools they might not be aware of or changes to technology that make the tools more useful for their work.

    September 8, 9:00AM | Register here (hybrid session)
    October 21, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 27, 1:00PM | Register here (hybrid session)
  • Google Apps for Education
    Learn about the different Google Apps for Education you can use to collaborate and file-share on the go! This workshop is an overview of Google Apps including Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Presentations, Forms, Drawing, and Sites. Learn the basics of each program to get you up and running quickly with Google applications.

    September 10, 9:00AM | Register here
    October 19, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 9, 1:00PM | Register here
    December 1, 9:00AM | Register here
  • Better Courses Through Better Pages:
    Have you moved past the basics of how to get content into Canvas, and looking for a simple way to improve the learning experience for your students? This synchronous training is meant as a supplement to our asynchronous, self-paced resource designed to help instructors take lengthy modules, and turn them into sleek pages.
    Not only is the content of the course about how to create more engaging pages, it also demonstrates simple steps you can take to do this with your own courses, by showing the transition from a typical course design to one based on a more dynamic page.

    September 14, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 2, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 10, 9:00AM | Register here
    Or, check out this on-demand course: https://uwwtw.instructure.com/enroll/DFPGRA
  • Faster Grading With Better Feedback:
    Be prepared to edit an upcoming assessment in this hands-on session. We will focus on transforming existing quiz questions into tools able to remediate student misconceptions, and point them back to the relevant materials in your course. We will also go through updating rubrics to include targeted feedback about specific reasons students lose points. We will also go over the new Comment Library available in SpeedGrader.

    September 28, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    October 6, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    October 14, 2021, 2:00PM | Register here
    October 27, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    November 16, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    November 17, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    Note: To get the most out of this session, we recommend that you are already familiar with the following tools: Assignments, Rubrics, Quizzes.
  • What Students Want in Canvas“:
    There are many good ways to set up a course. This training will focus on making a series of small, easy, and optional, shifts from your current course design to a setup backed by feedback from student panels conducted right here at UW-Whitewater.

    November 3, 2021, 9:00AM | Register here
    November 9, 2021, 1:00PM | Register here
    Note: To get the most out of this session, we recommend that you are already familiar with the following tools: Assignments, Announcements, Pages, Modules, Rubrics.

Canvas Update (07/17/2021)

On Saturday, July 17, Instructure will deploy the latest release to the Canvas environment.  The highlights of this release are listed below.  The full release notes are also available.

  • SpeedGrader – Comment Library: Comments can be added and saved for reuse within SpeedGrader, allowing individual users to save frequently used comments to be reused across assignments in multiple courses.
  • New Quizzes – Item Bank M​​​​​anagement: Item banks can now be shared with the entire account or individual users. When instructors share an item bank, the item bank supports a new View permission, which can be given to a user and provides access to the bank as read only. The user who shares an item bank can continue to specify editing access for other users.
  • Canvas – Maintenance Window: Instructure has moved their intermittent maintenance to twice monthly scheduled maintenance windows. Moving forward, maintenance will be performed on the first and third Thursdays of each month, beginning at 1:00am, and running no later than 3:00am. Canvas may be unavailable to users during these windows. All users are able to view maintenance window times through Account then Settings. For additional information, please refer to the Canvas Community discussion.

If you have any questions or concerns about the service pack updates, please contact UW-W Canvas Support.

Canvas Update (05/15/2021)

On Saturday, May 15, Instructure will deploy the latest release to the Canvas environment.  The highlights of this release are listed below.  The full release notes are also available.

  • Assignments – Student Annotated Submissions: Instructors can use annotated document assignment type to upload a document for students to annotate and submit directly in Canvas. This assignment type is included under the online assignment types so that instructors can select additional submission options for students unable to annotate onscreen.
  • New Quizzes – Save and Build Button Workflow: The New Quiz creation page includes both a Save and a Build button. When an instructor creates and enters details for a quiz, the page displays both a Save and a Build button. Previously the page only included the Save button, which counterintuitively launched in the New Quiz editor. 

UW-Whitewater Updates

Planned Data Center Outage, May 21: Due to a state-initiated project, a temporary power shut-off of the UW-W data center will be required to complete planned maintenance at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 21st, with a targeted return to full service by 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 22nd. During this maintenance window, all IT services, applications, and web pages will be unavailable so please plan accordingly.

If you have any questions or concerns about the service pack updates, please contact UW-W Canvas Support.

Canvas to WINS Final Grade Submission

Each semester, grades need to be entered into WINS. While many instructors do this manually, Canvas can help automate some of the steps for you. The Learning Technology Center is providing training on the three steps needed to push grades from Canvas so they can be accepted in WINS.

The Spring 2021 WINS Grades Roster will be open on May 10 and close at noon on May 18. We have scheduled 60 minute hands on training sessions if you are interested in receiving live support.

Date/TimeLocationRegister
Wednesday, May 12th
2:00pm – 3:00pm
WebexRegistration
Thursday, May 13th
3:00am – 4:00pm
WebexRegistration
Monday, May 17th
10:00am – 11:00am
WebexRegistration
Monday, May 17th
2:00pm – 3:00pm
WebexRegistration

If you have any questions or concerns about this update, please contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.