LMS

February 2023, LMS

Canvas: March Madness

As we all settle into Canvas, ATS is excited to offer Canvas March Madness – a series of Canvas workshops on Zoom targeting some of the more advanced topics in our new LMS.

Click here for full information on the workshops, and links to join the zoom sessions (no registration required)

Using the SpeedGrader

Learn how to use many faculty members’ favorite Canvas tool – the Speed Grader. SpeedGrader allows you to view and grade student assignment submissions in one place using a simple point scale or complex rubric. Some document assignments can be marked up for feedback directly within the submission. You can also provide feedback to your students with text or media comments.

  • Wednesday, March 1st: 4pm to 5pm
  • Friday, March 3rd: 9am to 10am
  • Tuesday, March 21st: 12pm to 1pm

Using Turnitin with Canvas

Turnitin is fully integrated with Canvas, allowing you to use both the plagiarism checking functionality, and the Feedback Studio.

  • Thursday, March 2nd: 12pm to 1pm
  • Friday, March 17th: 12pm to 1pm

Syllabi and Setting Dates

Many faculty and students like to provide a web-version of their syllabus, and Canvas makes this incredibly easy. Automatically adding all important dates to the Syllabus link in Canvas can keep give your students a one-stop page for up-to-date information on due dates and assignments.

  • Monday, March 13th: 12pm to 1pm

Setting up your Gradebook

Using the Canvas gradebook can save faculty a lot of time, and students a lot of anxiety, but we know that the setup can be overwhelming. This session will walk you through some common gradebook setup and answer many of your questions

  • Wednesday, March 15th: 12pm to 1pm

Using Rubrics

Rubrics are a great assessment tool to help communicate expectations, increase grading efficiency and align your course and assignment with any departmental or external outcomes.

  • Thursday, March 23rd: 12pm to 1pm

Office Hours for Faculty, Staff and TAs

Got questions about Canvas that won’t be covered in our workshops? Join our Zoom Office Hours.

  • Monday, March 27th: 12pm to 1pm
  • Tuesday, March 28th: 9am to 10am
  • Wednesday, March 29th: 4pm to 5pm
  • Thursday, March 30th: 9am to 10am
  • Friday, March 31st: 12pm to 1pm

January 2023, LMS

Canvas at Clark

With the first two weeks of the semester completed, ITS is excited at the adoption and enthusiasm of Clarkies for Canvas.

After 24 months of planning, collaboration with departments across campus, and technical and support work, Clark’s Canvas is currently hosting 642 published courses, 3,975 users and an average of over 115,000 page views daily. Faculty and students have been engaging with the Help Desk and ATS asking great questions about how best to use Canvas for teaching and learning, and we’re excited to see what the future with Canvas holds.

Speaking of the future, while the first two weeks are over, ITS wants to remind you that we’ll continue to be here to support you throughout this first semester, and into the coming years with Canvas. Look for more workshops, office hours and self-paced resources in the near future on our Canvas support page.

In the meantime, our most recent support posts are below:

Students

Check out our top tips to getting comfortable with Canvas,  and don’t hesitate to contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745) with any questions you may have.

Faculty and Staff

Check out the most asked questions by faculty from the first week and as always ATS is available for support at canvas@clarku.edu.

LMS

Canvas: Week 1 FAQs

After an exciting and busy week 1, ATS wanted to share some of the questions that faculty have asked over the last couple of weeks.

How do I modify Module titles to read Week 1, Week 2, etc.?

Click here for instructions on how to modify Module titles.

How do I add a syllabus, file or text to a Module?

Click here for instructions on how to add files or text to Modules.

How do I publish a course?

Click here for instructions on how to publish a course. (Faculty only, not TAs)

How do I publish a module?

Click here for instructions on how to publish a module.

How do I manage my files?

Click here for information on how to manage files.

When will late enroll students see my course?

Once the registrar has processed the student’s enrollment, your new student should see your courses within 12 hours.

When will dropped students stop seeing my course?

Once the registrar has processed the student’s drop, within 12 hours your student will be marked as Inactive in your roster and will no longer be able to access your course. There was a delay in removing some students earlier this week, but this has now been resolved.

What does Inactive mean on the People page?

When a student drops your course, they are marked as inactive on the People page and will not show in your gradebook. However you will still be able to access their previous work if necessary.

How do I edit the course navigation menu?

Click here for instructions on how to edit your course navigation menu.

What are Course Cards?

Click here for information on Course Cards (the little squares on your dashboard representing each class)

How do I communicate with my class?

We recommend that faculty use the Canvas Inbox and announcements to communicate with your students. This is an easy to use communication tool for your whole class, TAs  and subgroups of students. Click here for information on the Canvas Inbox.

How do I add my TA to the distribution list?

If you would like to use the class distribution list and include your TAs on communication, you should add your TA to your Canvas course. TAs are added to the distribution list within 2 business days of being added in Canvas. In the meantime, we recommend using the Canvas Inbox or cc’ing your TA on any emails.

Where are my Panopto videos?

In preparation for the move to Canvas, Panopto accounts were merged from our Moodle instance. Logins during this maintenance may have caused ‘split accounts’ for a small number of individuals, which may look like some videos are missing. Contact the Clark University Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu) for assistance and we’ll adjust your account to restore video access.

Will my Zoom Cloud recordings still save in Panopto?

Yes!

LMS

Canvas is Here!

For Spring 2023, you will be using Canvas, not Moodle, for all of your classes that use an LMS. Below are 7 quick things that you can do to prepare for a great semester.

Log in

  • Visit canvas.clarku.edu and log in with your usual Clark account
  • Click on Canvas in ClarkYOU

For best performance, Canvas should be used on the current major releases of Chrome, Firefox or Edge. Canvas does not recommend the use of Safari.

Find your courses

Your Spring 2023 courses will appear on your Canvas dashboard as soon as your faculty member publishes it.

If you don’t see a course on your dashboard, wait until the first day of class and ask your instructor if they will be using Canvas. If everyone else in the class can see the course in Canvas, and it has been at least 24 hours since you registered for the course, contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu | 508 793 7745)

Customize your notifications

Click on “Account” from the navigation menu on the left to find the Notification Settings. Click on the icons on the right to select different options.

 

 

Record your name

Clark is excited to provide access to Name Coach through Canvas, a software that allows you to record an audio clip of your name and listen to others’ pronunciations.

Record your name by clicking on “Account” from the navigation menu on the left and choose “Name Coach”.

 

Upload your profile picture

Put a face to the name by uploading a headshot or chosen avatar. This helps faculty and other students relate to you and remember your great work in Canvas.

Click on “Account” from the navigation menu on the left, click on “Profile”, hover over the profile picture and click the pencil icon.

 

Download the app

The Canvas Student app allow you to do almost everything that you can do in a browser – participate in discussions, watch videos, submit assignments and much more!

Student App: Google | Apple

 

Get help

Canvas has wonderful documentation. Click here to learn more about Canvas. Or of course, you can contact the ITS Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu | 508 793 7745)

December 2022, LMS

Countdown to Canvas

As you (hopefully) know Canvas is coming to Clark for Spring 2023. Over the break, there are some quick and easy things you can do to prepare for next semester.

Everyone

Download the Canvas app

Canvas has robust, easy-to-use apps for mobile devices that allow you to do almost everything that you can do in a browser – participate in discussions, watch videos, submit assignments, grade work and much more!

Record your name pronunciation

Clark is excited to provide access to NameCoach through Canvas, a software that allows you to record an audio clip of your name and listen to others’ pronunciations.

    • Log into Canvas (https://canvas.clarku.edu/)
    • Click on Account
    • Click on NameCoach
    • Click Record Your Name
      • Use your microphone
      • Upload a pre-recorded audio clip
      • Receiving a phone call and record

Take the time to listen to your peers’ pronunciations too.

    • Log into Canvas (https://canvas.clarku.edu/)
    • Open your course
    • Click on NameCoach (in the left menu)
    • Play pronunciations of classmates’ names
      • At the start, there may not be many listed. Encourage your peers to record to make this tool useful for everyone.

Upload your profile picture

Put a face to the name by uploading a headshot or chosen avatar. This helps faculty and other students relate to you and remember your great work in Canvas.

    • Log into Canvas (https://canvas.clarku.edu/)
    • Click on Account
    • Click on Profile
    • Hover over the profile picture and click the pencil icon
    • Follow the prompts

Faculty

ATS is here to help with the transition to Canvas, and we’re excited that so many of you have already reached out for help, attended workshops and office hours, and are busy preparing your Spring classes. Check out our resources below, and don’t hesitate to contact canvas@clarku.edu with questions.

LMS

Eight Steps to Canvas

Log In

Canvas works best using Chrome, Firefox or Edge, or by accessing it via the Canvas apps on your mobile devices.

Some users have reported issues navigating Canvas using Safari (a common Mac/iPhone/iPad browser). If you do encounter a problem with Safari, (or Chrome or Firefox) clearing your browser history/cache files can help. Once clear, restart your browser, and log back into Canvas.

Check out your Spring 2023 courses

Spring 2023 courses are now available for faculty to begin working on.

Once you log into Canvas, you will be brought to your Dashboard, which displays a selection of your courses. Most users will see their Spring 2023 courses there. Click here for a quick video about how to manage your Dashboard. Alternatively, select “Courses” from the left-side navigation menu and click All Courses.

Don’t see one of your Spring 2023 courses? Let us know at canvas@clarku.edu.

Check out your imported Moodle courses

All curricular courses currently available in Moodle except Summer 2022 and Fall 2022 have already been imported to Canvas. You can see them on your Dashboard, or your All Courses listing. They are unpublished, and will say “ATS Imported” and the title is appended with “Imported”.

Fall and Summer 2022 courses will be imported the week of January 3, 2023, to capture any final changes made by faculty to their course in Moodle.

If you need to import your Fall or Summer course prior to this date, click here for instructions on how to move courses from Moodle to Canvas, or contact canvas@clarku.edu.

Import Content to your Spring Course

As you begin to work on your Spring 2023 course, you may want to import content from another Canvas course – such as those imported from Moodle. Click here for a quick video about how to import content between Moodle courses.

Please note that all courses will include some template materials that you may want to delete. Refer to the “tips and tricks” link in the Moodle to Canvas comparison section below for more information.

Consider the Moodle to Canvas Comparison

Most of the content imported from Moodle into Canvas will look very similar, though some will require you to consider alternative tools in Canvas. For example, if you used lessons in Moodle, you’ll need to convert those lessons to Mastery Paths or use pages and activities within a Module to build out your lesson. We’ve compiled some tips and tricks to help you with Moodle imports here.

Click here for a more comprehensive comparison, and feel free to reach out to your ATS liaison for help.

Publish your Course

In Moodle, you activated a course by enabling it, and when you were ready for students to see the course, you made it visible. In Canvas, you have the ability to publish and unpublish courses, as well as content within your courses, to control what is visible and what is not.

Remember that Teachers and TAs are able to access an unpublished course site, but you must publish a course in order to be able to email students through Canvas, send course announcements, or allow your students to see your course. 

To publish or unpublish a course: Open your course, look for the Course Status buttons to the right, and when you’re ready, click the Publish button (green indicates it is published).

To publish or unpublish specific content within your course: Look for the Publish/Unpublish button in the upper-right corner of a page or activity. If you’re using Modules, this button will appear to the right of the item. Simply click the button to change the status.

Add your TAs

Open your course, and click on People from the left-side course navigation menu. Click click the +People button in the upper-right corner. Enter the TA’s Clark email address, select the TA role, then click Next and follow the prompts. If the TA was successfully added, they will receive a course invitation in their Clark email.

 

Ask for Help

ATS is here to help and we’re excited to help you transition to Canvas.

Workshops, and Office Hours: ATS is running multiple workshops and office hours a week for faculty, staff and students to help everyone get familiar with Canvas. No registration required, and all session are available on Zoom. More dates are being added all the time! Click here for a full listing of dates and times.

Departmental Training: We would also be more than happy to come and offer dedicated, focused training for your department’s faculty and staff over the next couple of months. Please reach out to canvas@clarku.edu to schedule training.

Email: Email canvas@clarku.edu with any of your Canvas questions, to schedule consultations, or just say hi!

LMS, October 2022

Canvas: Log on and Learn

ITS is excited to announce that Canvas is now available for all Clarkies to log into and explore, in preparation for full launch in the Spring semester.

Step 1: Log in

There are three easy ways to log into Canvas

To log in

Use your usual Clark account information to log in.

Step 2: Look around

When you log in, you will have access to a number of training options.

  • A welcome tour
  • A welcome message with useful links for faculty and students
  • Enrollment in training classes
    • All users have access to Passport to Canvas: Student training
    • Faculty and Staff have access to Growing with Canvas: Teacher training

Step 3: Learn more

ATS is excited to offer a wide range of training for faculty, staff and students. Click here for more information including dates.

Getting Started and Best Practices Workshops: Multiple dates

ATS is running multiple workshops a week for faculty, staff and students to help everyone get familiar with Canvas. No registration required, and all session are available on Zoom. More dates are being added all the time! Click here for a full listing of dates and times.

Departmental Workshops: At your convenience

We would be more than happy to come and offer dedicated, focused training for your department’s faculty and staff over the next couple of months. Please reach out to canvas@clarku.edu to schedule training.

Asking for Help: Multiple opportunities

Students: Contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu, 508-793-7745) for any questions about Canvas

Faculty and Staff: Email canvas@clarku.edu with any of your Canvas questions, or join us for one of our many ATS Canvas Office Hours.

LMS, September 2022

Canvas is Coming

As announced in June, Clark is replacing Moodle with Canvas. Starting in Spring 2023, all courses will begin using Canvas as the Learning Management System (LMS). Click here for more information about this project.

Since our announcement over the summer, ITS has been busy working with faculty, students and staff, to prepare Canvas for our Fall 2022 pilot. This semester, as part of the pilot we have 97 courses, with 60 faculty and over 1700 student enrollments. ITS and much of the campus is getting lots of experience in making Canvas the best possible LMS for Clark.

As we move closer to our full campus launch for Spring 2023, here are some important dates for all community members to note.

Log into Canvas: The week of October 3rd

  • All students, faculty and staff will be able to log into Canvas via ClarkYou or directly via https://canvas.clarku.edu with their Clark Account credentials. When you first log in, you will have access to a faculty and/or student training course to help you prepare for Spring semester.

Faculty: Hear From Your Peers: October 14th, 12pm to 1pm

  • ATS will host a faculty webinar panel with Deb Robertson, Kristina Wilson and other faculty teaching in Canvas during the pilot. Learn more how pilot faculty have adapted to Canvas, and hear their advice. Click here to register.

Courses migrated from Moodle: The week of October 17th

  • Courses from Spring 2022 and prior (that are currently available in Moodle) will be migrated to Canvas and available for faculty to access and use in future courses.
    • Summer 2022 and Fall 2022 courses from Moodle will be available in Canvas in early January 2023 to ensure the content moved is as complete as possible. If you need to migrate this content sooner, please contact helpdesk@clarku.edu for instructions.

Spring Shells available in Canvas: The week of November 14th 

  • Spring 2023 shells will be available to faculty to build in Canvas approximately 7 days after registration opens.

Faculty, TA, Staff and Student Training: Ongoing

We know that moving to a new LMS can be both exciting and scary, but we’re here to help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your favorite ATS or ITS person for a conversation and to learn more about how we can help.

LMS, March 2022

Come Play with Blackboard and Canvas

Spring is an exciting time for the LMS Evaluation process.

March: Candidate demonstrations

During March, Blackboard and Canvas both offered two online demonstrations – one each for students, and for faculty/staff. Initial feedback was that many people were impressed with the modern user-interfaces, the mobile applications, the accessibility features, and the grading options. We also heard some important critical feedback about both candidates, all of which will help us make the right decision for Clark. If you missed the demonstrations, all four are now available on our LMS Evaluation webpage.

April: Experience the candidates first-hand

Now that you’ve seen what the candidates can do – it’s time to see what you can do with the candidates. As the next phase, we’d like to invite members of the Clark community to experience Blackboard and Canvas first-hand. We know that seeing a polished presentation from a vendor is very different from learning and using a system. By having our volunteer faculty, staff and students log into a test environment and interact with the tools in a real way, we can learn much more about a candidate’s suitability for Clark.

If you would like to experience Blackboard and/or Canvas first-hand, click here to register your interest. Once we receive your request we will email you within 5 business days with more information about how to log into the test environment.

Let us know what you think

Regardless of your level of participation in the LMS Evaluation process, ITS is interested in hearing your thoughts, concerns and questions. We know that the possibility of a change in LMS is both exciting and scary. We’re eager to listen to any of your opinions, answer any of your questions and take your perspective into consideration as Clark makes this important decision. Feel free to reach out to Joanne Dolan (jodolan@clarku.edu) directly, or to the Help Desk (helpdesk@clarku.edu)

February 2022, LMS

Canvas and Blackboard and Moodle, Oh My!

We’re excited to announce that the LMS Evaluation project (click here for more information) is moving to a new phase – candidate demonstrations and evaluation.

Last Fall many of you were generous with your time and opinions about Moodle and your hopes for the future when it came to Learning Management Systems. With over 100 responses to our survey, and many departmental and student-group discussions, ITS and the LMS Evaluation Steering Committee, would like to say thank you! We’ve analyzed all of ideas and we’re currently preparing a short report to share the major themes of that feedback.

Based on that feedback, and on internal research, Clark is hosting two Learning Management System providers to offer virtual demonstrations to our campus community. These two LMSs are candidates for replacing Moodle as Clark’s LMS, phased in over the next 2 years, so we’re excited to see what they might offer you as you teach, learn and work with technology. Most of all, we’re eager to see if you think either of these systems have a place at Clark.

ITS is inviting you to attend these demonstrations. If your schedule allows, we recommend attending one demonstration from each candidate.

Click here to register to attend any of the candidate demonstrations. All sessions will be recorded.

Canvas

Canvas is an LMS offered by the company Instructure. It is usually cloud-hosted. It is currently the market leader in higher education with a share of 34% of US and Canadian institutions. Click here for more information on Canvas.

  • Student-focused demonstration: Thursday, March 17th, 3pm – 4pm
  • Faculty/Staff-focused demonstration: Wednesday, March 23rd, 1:30pm – 3pm

Blackboard Learn

Blackboard Learn is an LMS offered by the company Blackboard. Its current iteration is called Blackboard Learn Ultra and is usually cloud-hosted. Blackboard Learn (Ultra and previous iterations) have a 21% share of of US and Canadian higher education institutions. Click here for more information on Blackboard Learn.

  • Student-focused demonstration: Thursday, Thursday, March 24th, 3pm – 4pm
  • Faculty/Staff-focused demonstration: Tuesday, March 15th, 2pm – 3:30pm

Click here for more information on the LMS Evaluation process and timeline, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Joanne Dolan, Director for Academic Technology at jodolan@clarku.edu