Category Archives: For Instructors

Webex Update (9/15/2020) – Breakout Sessions!

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On Tuesday, September 15, Cisco will deploy additional updates to Webex Meetings. The highlights of these additional features are below. Full release notes are also available. 

Video Breakout Sessions in Webex Meetings
Breakout sessions allow you to place your meeting participants into smaller groups to collaborate and share ideas. Inside of the breakout session is like being in a smaller meeting, complete with audio and video where participants can collaborate and share content, or even ask the host for help from the main session. For more details, you can explore these capabilities in depth. UWW users may have up to 100 breakout sessions per meeting with a maximum of 1,000 meeting participants.

To sign up for a training session on Breakouts please see our calendar.

Be sure anyone participating in a Webex Meeting on a mobile phone or mobile device updates the app on their device. While they will be able to join the meeting, they will not be able to go into a breakout session until they update the app. UWW owned devices will automatically update, but student apps and devices may not.

View of Breakout session tool within Webex Meetings

In-Meeting Cohost Role
As a meeting host, you can now assign other meeting participants as cohosts. Cohosts share your host-level privileges like muting and unmuting other participants, moving participants to or admitting participants from the lobby, and more!

You can assign cohosts on the fly, directly in-meeting, by right-clicking the participant and changing their role to Cohost. You may have as many cohosts in a meeting as you wish.

The following features aren’t currently supported in a breakout session and will be addressed in a future release:

  • Raise hand, People Insights profile, and the notes taker role
  • Closed captioning
  • Recording breakout sessions
  • “Optimize for motion and video” content sharing
  • Sharing web browser or multimedia
  • Annotation and Whiteboard
  • Live streaming
  • Polling
  • Saving chat
  • Users who join from the Webex Meeting web app can’t share content

Grid Layout for Cloud Recordings
With the grid layout becoming the default experience in Webex Meetings, meeting recordings will default to the grid layout in this update for new and existing Webex hosts. This applies to both Webex Meetings and Webex Events. To return to previous settings or make changes to your recording preferences, sign in at uww.webex.com, navigate to Preferences and then select the Recordings tab. Be sure to hit SAVE!

Recording settings in your preferences

Participant Content Sharing
Hosts can now allow the participants to share their screen during scheduled meetings or Personal Rooms meetings.

Additional attendee settings

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

Call: Fall 2020 Institute for Online Teaching

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fall learning
The Call for the Fall 2020 asynchronous Online Teaching Institute is now open.


The UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) is pleased to announce that applications are now open for a Fall 2020 Institute for Online Teaching which will pilot fully asynchronous delivery of the institute. The overall goal of the institute is to align quality course design with best practices in online teaching, preparing faculty for online course development, and teaching in future academic terms.

This Fall Institute is designed to be fully asynchronous and completed over a ten week period. The course models a fully online course including readings, materials, and short homework assignments. Participants will be required to build a fully online unit of a course they could teach.

We will be accepting 25 applicants into the Institute for Online Teaching this fall. Preference will be given to those faculty and full-time instructional academic staff who fully complete the application in a first come, first serve basis and who have not previously completed the Online / Blended teaching Institute since the summer of 2018. Once we accept 25 applicants, we will close the application. Applicants will be emailed regarding their acceptance on Friday, September 18, 2020 and be enrolled in the Canvas course site. Those who complete the Institute will be eligible for a $500 stipend through the UW System Online Learning Initiative.

The application takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. Any incomplete applications may be rejected. We recommend completing the application on a computer, as some questions involve typed responses.

For any additional information or questions, please contact the LTC.
Learning Technology Center
(262) 472-1004
ltc@uww.edu

Apply here: http://uwwhitewater.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bHHZ00F1HaqPU8t

Webex Update (9/8/2020)

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On Tuesday, September 8, Cisco deployed the Webex Meetings 40.9 update. The highlights of this release are listed below. Full release notes are also available. Please note, some of the updates outlined in the full release notes are not yet available. We expect these to launch next Tuesday, September 15.

Optimized Audio and Video Preview
The larger, optimized Audio/Video Preview window makes it easier to look your best and find the settings you need before joining a meeting.

Webex preview window

Updated Controls in Meetings and Events
The look of the controls in Meetings and Events has changed to make them more intuitive and easier to use. Meeting controls are now clearly labeled and located at the bottom of your meeting window, which means you’ll always have them in sight, but without them covering up shared content or video.

Clear and easy-to-find meeting controls

Contextual Option Menus
Audio settings and camera settings can now be conveniently accessed in the menus at the right of their respective mute and camera buttons.

An easier way to adjust your setting

Consolidated Panel Controls
Panel controls (like Participants, Chat, and Q&A) can be found towards the right, where the panel opens.

Panel controls

Additional Virtual Background Improvements and Support
Cisco has added more virtual background images to choose from in your Meetings and Events. The virtual background feature is now supported on Macs with dual-core processors.

Virtual background preset images

Other Updates to Note:
-Users of Amazon Echo Show or Google Home Hub Smart Display devices will now be able to use Webex Meetings on these devices. Amazon Echo Show devices will be able to display meeting and recording lists, as well as play back recordings. Google Nest Hub devices will be able to display meeting and recording lists, play back recordings, and schedule meetings.
–Facebook Portal users will now be able to leverage their Webex Meetings app directly from all Facebook Portal devices! The experience will match what currently exists in the Android app.
–Cisco is officially retiring Support for Internet Explorer 10 and Windows 7. While users on these platforms won’t be prevented from joining or starting meetings, Cisco will no longer provide bug fixes or updates for this operating system and browser going forward.

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

Summer Flexible Blended Faculty Development Workshop Series Fall 2020 “Reprise”

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The Learning Technology Center’s (LTC) 2020 Summer Flexible Blended Faculty Development Workshop Series was one of the most popular offerings in LTC history!

Given the popularity of this series, we have put together a fall “reprise” of this series highlighting many of the most popular sessions in a shorter format. The “Blending Face-to-Face and Online Assessment” sessions are even all available in one day on Friday, September 11th.

Planning for Flexibility:

Using Technology for Learning in the Physical and Online Classroom (Thursday, September 10th at 9:00 am)

Blending Face-to-Face and Online Assessment:

Assignment Options (Friday, September 11th at 9:00 am)

Peer Review of Student Work (Friday, September 11th at 10:00 am)

Exams & Quizzes (Friday, September 11th at 11:00 am)

The Blended Class:

Instructor Presentation of Content Part I (Tuesday, September 15th at 9:00 am)

Instructor Presentation of Content Part II (Wednesday, September 16th at 9:00 am)

Student Presentations (Friday, September 18th at 9:00 am)

Student-Student Interaction (Monday, September 21st at 9:00 am)

These sessions are applicable to instructors teaching online, hybrid, remote, HyFlex, or even potentially traditional face-to-face.

If you have any questions, please contact icit-techpilots@uww.edu

[RESOLVED] Canvas Embedded Video Issue

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RESOLVED 4/22/2021: The issue has now been resolved and videos can once again be embedded into Canvas without issue.

UPDATE: Thank you for your patience with the embedded video issue. There are a number of technical upgrades that have to happen before this issue can be fully resolved. We are currently on target to have this issue resolved by the end of the Spring 2021 semester.

With the latest versions of Google Chrome and Safari, an issue can occur when videos from Rev (http://streaming.uww.edu) are embedded inside of your Canvas course.

We are currently working on a solution. In the meantime, please use one of the following workarounds:

Workaround 1: Use a web browser other than Google Chrome or Safari to access the video in the Canvas course.

Workaround 2: Login to streaming.uww.edu first, and then load the link in Canvas. This will allow the video to load as expected in Canvas. This does work in both Google Chrome and Safari.

Workaround 3: The issue is only impacting videos that are embedded in Canvas. As a workaround, you could change the embedded video to be a link instead. Instructions are available at: https://spaces.uww.edu/x/F4Gc

If you have additional questions about this issue, please contact the Learning Technology Center.

HyFlex Teaching “Office Hours”

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If you are teaching in a HyFlex or video-enhanced classroom this fall, the Learning Technology Center is offering “office hours” during the first three weeks of September for assisting you with any questions or ideas relating to teaching in a HyFlex style.

The dates and times, with sign up links, are below:
(please note that you will need to sign in with your UWW credentials in order to register)

Friday, September 4th at 1:00 PM
Friday, September 4th at 2:00 PM

Friday, September 11th at 1:00 PM
Friday, September 11th at 2:00 PM

Friday, September 18th at 1:00 PM
Friday, September 18th at 2:00 PM

If you have any questions about these “office hours,” please contact the Learning Technology Center.

HyFlex Training Opportunities

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We have scheduled the following HyFlex Training Opportunities. These courses are designed for the instructors who are teaching in the video enabled HyFlex Classrooms listed below. If you are not teaching on those rooms and have questions on classroom technology please attended one of our General Classroom Technology Training Sessions.

Video Enabled HyFlex Rooms
Heide: HE112, HE113, HE216, HE309
Hyer: HY213, HY215
Hyland: HH1300, HH1311, HH2300, HH2305, HH2307, HH2311, HH2319
McGraw: MG115, MG117
Rock Campus: AH106, HS06, HS23, WM130
Roseman: RS1040
Upham: UH140, UH141
Williams Center: WC183A, WC183C
Winther: WH2005, WH2008, WH2014, WH2015, WH2016, WH3002, WH3006, WH3013

We created a 5 minute video that will give you a quick example of what the HyFlex perspective will be from all audiences: in-person students, remote students, instructor, and the recorded presentation for later viewing.

HyFlex Technology Training Overview – (60 Minutes Virtual)

Prerequisite: None

This workshop will go over how to use the technology in the video enabled rooms on campus. This session will provide a first person view of how the equipment will work, what buttons to push on the touch panel, and how to connect up your laptop and microphone.

HyFlex Technology Training Hands-On – (60 Minutes In-Person)

Prerequisite: HyFlex Technology Training Overview

This session has no formal agenda and will allow attendees a hands-on opportunity to try out the equipment in a video enabled room. ICIT staff will be on hand during the training session to answer questions and demonstrate as needed. Sessions are limited to a max of 6 people each.

Getting Started with Teaching in a “HyFlex” Style – (45 Minutes Virtual)

Prerequisite: None

In this session we will consider different teaching and learning approaches consistent with the HyFlex framework. Please note that this session focuses on teaching practices that could be used in a HyFlex or video-enhanced classroom, as well as potentially in “Hybrid” or “Remote” courses. This session is not a classroom technology training session, which is available separately.

If you have any questions about these trainings, please contact the Learning Technology Center.

Canvas Update (08/15/2020)

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On Saturday, August 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.

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

Tracking Student Progress in Alternate Formats (8/14/20)

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As we near the beginning of the fall semester, you might be wondering how you can keep track of your students’ progress while also navigating the changing learning environment. Please consider joining the Learning Technology Center for a session on tracking student progress in alternate formats. The session description is below:

If you are new to teaching online, hybrid, remote, or any format other than face-to-face, you might be concerned about how you can tell whether your students understand the course material and how you can chart their progress. Join us for a discussion and demonstration on how you can keep track of your students’ progress when teaching in alternate delivery formats.

If you are interested, please register. You will need to login with your UWW credentials to register.

If you have any questions about this session, please contact us at icit-techpilots@uww.edu

Webex Update (08/04/2020)

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On Tuesday, August 4, Cisco deployed the Webex Meetings 40.8 update. The highlights of this release are listed below. Full release notes are also available.

  • Music Mode in Meetings and Events. Music mode optimizes the audio processing of the selected microphone source for music. This allows a richer audio experience when transmitting music with the main video benefiting virtual concerts and music lessons. When this mode is disabled, the application will optimize the audio processing for speech. The Music mode icon appears near the top right corner of the client when active.
  • Spacebar Push to Talk. When muted, you can now hold the spacebar down to momentarily unmute. Simply press and hold the spacebar when you want to talk. You’ll see an indicator that you are temporarily unmuted. Release the spacebar to go back on to mute.
  • Video Layout Enhancements for the Desktop App. The “Grid View” is now the default when on content is being shared. Your self-view is now shown as part of the other participant videos for a more natural experience. You can still float your self-view if preferred.
  • Virtual Backgrounds. On Windows and Mac, users can now select a virtual background. For best results, use images that are 1280 x 720 or larger.
  • Meeting Audio / Video Improvements. The Speaker, Microphone and Camera settings dialog has been improved to easily allow testing of selected device.
  • Host Key Removed from Emails. For improved security, the host key will be removed from scheduler emails. The host key will be changed to a link accessible to the configured hosts of the meeting.
  • VDI Enhancements. Webex now supports dual monitor setup for Windows virtual desktops. Enhancements were also made to deliver the most optimized experience to users of the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) client.
  • Webex Meetings for Android Updates.
    • Added Virtual and Blur Background Support
    • Hosts can now start live streaming
    • Host Mute/Un-Mute Control Improvements

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