Quick Tip: Avoiding Issues with Taking Carmen Quizzes Using the Canvas Mobile App

We have been receiving reports of issues with Carmen quizzes when using the Canvas mobile app. While we have not been able to confirm this as a technical issue with our on-campus partners as well as the larger Canvas community, we are continuing to investigate and to monitor the situation.

From a student standpoint, here’s what you can do to minimize issues you encounter:

  • Always check quiz instructions before you start. In a timed quiz, the timer does NOT stop when you jump out of a quiz (by switching to another application on an iPad, closing the quiz to return later, and so on). Your quiz attempt will be automatically submitted when the timer runs out or when the quiz closes.
  • Always make sure your version of the Canvas app is up-to-date. The vendor regularly releases updates to the app with bug fixes and feature enhancements. The latest version is 3.18 for iOS, and 5.7 for Android.
  • For open-book quizzes, consider taking the quiz in a browser. While we have not be able to confirm whether switching between apps on a mobile device would cause issues, this is one of the suggestions that we were able to locate on the Canvas Community site.
  • Consider taking your quizzes in single sitting. While you are able to leave a quiz and resume later, you have enough deadlines to keep track of already. Don’t add another one to your already-full plate.
  • Review the late assignment policies of the courses you are taking. Some courses may already provide guidelines for when a quiz issue occurs in the syllabus.
  • Know that we investigate every report of issues related to quizzes and assignments by pulling access records, submission attempts, and other navigation data.
If you suspect that your iPad is misbehaving, feel free to contact us at CVMOTL@osu.edu; while we cannot resolve all issues, we may be able to point you in the right direction.

Kate Midnight join Teaching & Learning

The Office of Teaching & Learning is pleased to announce Kate Midnight officially joined our team today. Faculty are familiar with Kate as ExamSoft support. In her new position, she expands her educational technology expertise to CanvasCarmen, Top Hat, and other applications that enhance instruction. Her office will be in VMC 0076 with Instructional Designer Jay Hsiao. She looks forward to working even more closely with faculty and students.

InstructureCon 2017 Notes from Teaching and Learning

OSU represented at InstructureCon 2017

The Office of Teaching and Learning came back from Instructurecon more knowledgeable, more inspired, and more ready to help with your various concerns with instructional design, learning technologies, and CarmenCanvas!

We will be updating you on the exciting developments with CarmenCanvas that we have learned during the conference, but for now, please see our Sway blog for a snapshot of our experiences!

 

CarmenCanvas Master Shells Ready for Autumn 2017 Edits Next Week (7/3 – 7/7)

The Office of Teaching and Learning has been hard at at work getting your master courses ready, so you can being working on Autumn 2017 content when it’s convenient for you!

Based on your feedback throughout the academic year (our first year with Canvas), we have begun rethinking how we approach master courses and moving to a process that allows for you to work on a master throughout the year for the next offering.
  • Previously, we recommended masters only contain the course structure and content that stays the same each time the course is offered (“evergreen” content).
  • Masters are now recommended to be the most up-to-date staging copy of your course. For example, you would make all of your edits for Autumn 2017 in the master prior to the start of the semester, then we copy the master into the Autumn 2017 shell for your students. (This is the production copy or working copy of the course where students are enrolled and active throughout the semester).

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Teaching and Learning provides Self-Paced Course Design Professional Development Series

The Office of Teaching & Learning has created an online professional development series called “Level Up Your Course.” These self-paced units or modules help you answer the following questions:

  1. How can a learning experience be designed most effectively?
  2. How can a learning experience be designed to be inclusive?
  3. How can technology be integrated into learning experiences?
  4. How does a mobile device, such as the iPad, fit into my teaching workflow?

Throughout the series, you will be introduced to Backward Design and TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) and SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition) models to design/enhance learning activities. You will also consider Universal Design for Learning principles that help develop inclusive learning activities.

Read on for additional information and learn how to get started …

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Friday Tip: Common issues with CarmenConnect on CVM computers

“Help! My CarmenConnect doesn’t work!”

If CarmenConnect is behaving, the first course of action is to run the Adobe Connect Diagnostic Test that is provided. There are four main issues that the diagnostic test looks for:

  • Flash Player version test: If this category fails on your test, please contact VIS.
  • Adobe Connect Connection Test and Connection Speed Test: If these categories fail, it’s likely due to an error in either the service or the overall infrastructure. Please contact VIS and/or main campus 8-Help for assistance
  • Adobe Connect Add-in Test: The add-in is required for more resource-intensive functionalities, such as screen sharing. If this category fails, please click the “Install Add-In” button to resolve the issue.

“Help! My CarmenConnect still doesn’t work … in Chrome!”

As of December of 2016, Google Chrome blocks most Flash content by default. For most users, using Internet Explorer 11 or Mozilla Firefox for CarmenConnect is currently recommended.

 

New in CarmenCanvas: DocViewer replaces Crocodoc

Context: CarmenCanvas is constantly improving, thanks to its rapid release cycle. Currently, content preview and annotations in CarmenCanvas are powered by Box/Crocodoc. As of this week’s Canvas update, DocViewer has replaced all instances where Box/Crocodoc is used.

Here are some advantages of DocViewer over Box/Crocodoc

  • More modern looks and feel
  • Better performance
  • Better accessibility
  • And since this is a vendor-developed tool, it is better integrated with Canvas and allows for better extensibility.

If you have not used SpeedGrader and its excellent annotation functionalities (Web, iPad) before, now it’s time to take a look! SpeedGrader is great for not only grading, but also leaving feedback for students.

Sneak preview: The vendor has been working on a dedicated app for instructors called Canvas Teacher, which will benefit from the DocViewer transition! More information will be available following the annual Canvas conference.

(More information about DocViewer)

Summertime is Building Time

During the school year things are so busy that ideas to improve your course or build your teaching skill set sometimes go unaddressed. But during the Summer, when things slow down, The Office of Teaching and Learning is just heating up. We are working to put together a schedule of professional development opportunities for the summer including:
  • Course Development Workshops
  • Active Learning Strategies
  • Writing Effective Test Questions
  • Writing a Learning Outcome
  • Ed Tech Training Sessions
Are there things you would especially like to learn more about? Drop us an email at CVM-edtechhelp@osu.edu or leave a comment below.

Faculty and staff from College of Veterinary Medicine attend annual Excellence in Teaching and Learning Conference

 

A total of 10 faculty and staff members from the College of Veterinary Medicine attended the University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT) Annual Conference on Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

In particular, Dr. Jerome Masty serves on the Executive Council of Ohio State’s Academy of Teaching, and Dr. Katy Proudfoot shared her experiences participating in UCAT’s Course Design Learning Community (CDLC) in a breakout session.

Dr. Sandra Diaz’s Takeaway: “What stayed with me was what Dr. Drake said … ‘We should be talking about teaching as a privilege and not as a load.”

Amanda Fark’s Takeaway: “The specific sessions I attended were applicable and practical, but beyond that, connecting with the teaching and learning community was what I found to be most valuable.”

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College of veterinary medicine to be represented at the upcoming Innovate: Impact conference

From the official website: Ohio State’s Office of Distance Education and eLearning invites you to the Ohio Union for Innovate, an annual conference bringing together educators, administrators, and tech industry professionals to explore recent advancements, best practices, and provocative approaches to teaching and learning with technology.  With Impact as our theme for 2017, we’re sharing innovations that let educators re-imagine their instruction without sacrificing pedagogical quality and rigor.

CVM will be represented in 2 sessions:

  • In Global One Health: Innovative Approaches to Education, Training and ResearchDr. Maria Belu (Veterinary Preventive Medicine), Dr. Shu-Hua Wang (Wexner Medical Center), and Sarah Waibel (DVM candidate) will “share how they are utilizing innovative tools for mobile data collection and surveillance that help them overcome language barriers, mitigate delays in information gathering, and engage with geographically distant partners and their communities in a more interactive and collaborative manner. “
  • In Find My Idea, Dr. Darrell Ward (Wexner Medical Center) and Jay Hsiao will showcase their text-based games that they have produced as part of the first OSU eXperience Play (OSU-XP) cohort.