Teaching: Learning Technologies

What’s New in CarmenCanvas (MAY 2018)

Web

Release Notes: 5/12, 6/2

For Everyone:

  • The Files tool now has the 3-dot settings menu icon.
  • In DocViewer …
    • You can now annotate image files (BMP, JPEG, JPG, PNG, TIF, and TIFF).
    • Users who are not the author of an annotation can comment on it.
    • Long comments are not truncated after five lines, rather than one.
    • Comments are now aligned with their associated annotations
  • In the Rich Content Editor under the Links tab Course Navigation section, some links have been updated to reflect what’s in Course Navigation (left menu).

For Instructors:

  • In DocViewer, you can now delete any annotations or comments for any user; for example, for peer review assignments.
  • In Gradebook, comments are hidden if an assignment is muted.

For Students:

  • The assignment submission page now shows “Submitted” when you submit an assignment; previously the terminology was “Turned In”.

Canvas Student

Release Notes: 6.2 (Android), 6.2.6 (iOS)

  • Android 6.2
    • Students can now edit pages for which they have been given permission
    • Pages tool has been redesigned for improved usability and accessibility
  • iOS 6.2.6
    • A share button has been added to external URL module items

Canvas Teacher

Release Notes: 1.5 (Android, iOS), 1.6 (iOS)

  • If you have a multi-section course, you can now send section-specific announcements in the app
  • External tools can be opened in Mobile Safari by tapping the Launch External Tool button.
  • User Files
    • You can now access your personal user files via the user menu.
    • The Rich Content Editor now supports attachment from personal user files.
  • Speedgrader supports submitting a grade by tapping the Return key using a mobile keyboard.
  • Android: Discussions with multiple due dates are now labeled with “Multiple Due Dates”.
  • iOS: If you’re encountering issues with the app, you can now tell the app to reset temporary files (i.e. cache) upon next launch under the Settings app.

What’s New In CarmenCanvas (APR 2018)

For a full list of updates, please see the following release notes:

Canvas

For Everyone:

  • Inline file preview box is now taller (400px to 800px)
  • The Rich Content Editor now sports a word counter
  • BUG FIX: Video controls for embedded video files now displays as expected in Firefox

For Students:

  • BUG FIX: Rubrics using criterion ranges now correctly highlights the range that corresponds with the score given

Canvas Student

  • You can now view and access concluded courses that still exist
  • (Android) External tools can be opened outside of the Student app by tapping the Open in Browser icon
  • Redesigned Login (iOS) Announcements, Discussions, Conversations/Inbox (Android), Files, Assignments (iOS), Pages (iOS), and Grades (iOS) pages
  • The Rich Content Editor can now be used to create or reply to announcements

Some of Our Favorite Productivity Features in the Canvas Teacher App

We previewed the Canvas Teacher app last August – since then, the app has truly grown into an powerful tool for managing courses on-the-go. The Canvas Teacher app is available for both smartphones and tablets running iOS or Android, and it is regularly updated by the vendor with new features and bug fixes – the latest version is 1.5 on iOS, and 1.4 on Android (differences between the iOS and Android app).

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Class of 2021 Students Evaluate iPads in the Classroom

The Office of Teaching and Learning surveyed Class of 2021 students regarding their usage, thoughts and opinions of the iPad in and outside of the classroom. As a reminder, the class of 2020 was the first cohort of students equipped with iPads, and we surveyed them earlier last year.

From the survey results, OTL has identified concrete action steps to help resolve the issues reported, as well as to better take advantage of the technology.

Continue reading →

What’s New In CarmenCanvas (As of Mar 31, 2018)

For a full list of updates, please see the following release notes:

For Everyone:

  • Announcements have been updated to have a cleaner and more accessible design.
  • Comment replies in DocViewer are now included in annotated PDF downloads.
  • Individual comments in DocViewer now include an icon that displays the type and color of the annotation.
  • Starting with the 3/31 release, Internet Explorer 11 is now supported at a functional support level – while all features will continue to be supported, there may begin to be visual differences from other browsers.

For Teachers:

  • New features have been added to the Announcements page, including  clearer indication of delayed posting, quick toggle to allow/disallow comments, and section-specific course announcements.
  • The Outcomes functionality in Canvas allows for tracking of student competencies throughout a course and across different activities (assignments, quizzes, etc..) While there isn’t currently a curriculum-wide implementation of Canvas Outcomes, please contact us if you want to learn more. The Outcomes tool now supports bulk import from CSV.

Top Hat doesn’t have to stop when the class session ends

If you are a power user of Top Hat, you may have realized that it is more than an engaging in-class student response tool in that it is also a flexible, on-demand tool for organizing your class sessions. For example, Teaching and Learning has worked with some instructors to upload their PowerPoint slides to Top Hat, where they can insert activities strategically at certain points during the class (for example, for start-of-class and end-of-class knowledge checks/reviews) and present the entire set without having to leave Top Hat.

Top Hat also now supports interactive slides that contain hyperlinks, animations, and embedded videos from YouTube or Vimeo.

The quality learning that takes place in Top Hat does not have to stop when your class session ends. While the “Present” mode makes your Top Hat content available to students in a live setting, the “Homework” and “Review” assign modes allow students to access them outside of the class.

  • Review: This mode releases content to students on a non-graded basis. When you assign a question to students for review, they will be able to respond to it and see the correct answer, but you will not have a way to tell who has completed it and how they did. This mode is great for displaying items such as learning materials, practice questions, and activities that have already taken place in class.
  • Homework: This mode releases content to students on a graded basis. When you assign a question to students for homework, their responses will be automatically graded and recorded in the gradebook. This mode is great for items like out-of-class activities that are not available in Carmen; for example, “Click on Target” and “Word Answers” (for word cloud purposes) or activities that you intended to get to during class but didn’t quite make it.

Just like in Carmen, you are able to create differentiated experiences by assigning different items to different students. You can also schedule future activities and/or offer timed activities by adjusting item availability. (More Information)

As always, for all things Top Hat, please feel free to consult with Teaching and Learning.

Top Hat Inside and Outside the Classroom

Having remote attendees during lectures makes it especially important for instructors to incorporate engaging, interactive activities. These activities allow you to check if your remote participants are attending and actively listening.

In fact, these are some of the same concerns that active learning strategies aim to address during face-to-face class meetings. If you hold in-person class sessions and expect students to attend, you may want to offer them experiences not available by watching lecture captures.

In particular, one of the active learning tools Teaching and Learning supports is Top Hat. By default, when you present a Top Hat question in class, all students who are enrolled in the Top Hat course can see and respond to it, regardless of their physical location. If it is important to you that students are participating in your Top Hat questions from approved locations only, please schedule a time to brainstorm with us.

Did you know that Top Hat also supports activities that can be completed outside of the classroom? For example, you can assign to your students slides that you have uploaded to Top Hat and questions you have asked during a class session for review purposes. You can also assign content that students complete out-of-class as homework. If you do assign graded content in Top Hat, please work with Teaching and Learning to transfer the scores back to Carmen.

For more information:

Using Zoom, CarmenConnect for Online Conferencing and Synchronous Learning Experiences

Did you know after 8 minutes of lecture, college students begin to fade out? If they are intensely focused, that increases to about 20 minutes.

Due to clinical skills lab construction, some lectures that currently take place in the VMC have been moved to the Goss auditorium. Goss’s smaller size has necessitated live streaming core lectures to the AT Lab overflow location, and VIS has worked to implement a solution with the Zoom conference tool. While Zoom is not currently among OSU’s officially-supported online conferencing tools, both VIS and OTL have found it to be a great alternative that can be easy to set up and use.

If you have used CarmenConnect before, you will be familiar with Zoom online conferencing features, including audio and video, text chat, screen share, breakout rooms, as well as ongoing and scheduled meeting rooms. In particular, breakout rooms are a great way to implement group work and discussions in a online, asynchronous setting, where students are expected to connect individually.

Compared to free Zoom accounts, CarmenConnect does have the following advantages:

  • Cleared by OCIO Cybersecurity for data element classifications up to S2 (Internal).
  • Supports session recordings directly stored in the cloud with a sharable link.
  • No time limit for meetings with 2+ participants.
  • No technical or arbitrary limit to the number of concurrent attendees allowed that we are aware of.

While Zoom is currently a temporary solution to the CVM classroom situation, you may find online conferencing tools appropriate for other synchronous education experiences, such as bringing outside expertise into your classrooms. For example, Professional Development 3-B invites an outside expert to speak about animal law via Zoom.

If you ever run into a situation where you cannot be physically present in class, or if you are interested in other educational applications of online conferencing tools, please feel free to contact cvmotl@osu.edu for some ideas! For general business-related conferencing needs, please consult vishelp@osu.edu.

For more information:

Transforming PowerPoint into Standalone Learning Modules

Other posts in the series:

  • Creating Custom (Talking-Head) Videos with MediaSite

In this installment, we would like to show you how to turn your existing PowerPoint presentations into standalone learning modules.

(Before you start, please make sure that you have the latest versions of PowerPoint on your devices; CVM PCs should come with Office 2016, which is the latest release version.)

Continue reading →

What’s New In CarmenCanvas (As of Feb 17, 2018)

(For a full list of updates, please see release notes from 1/27/18 and 2/17/18)

For Everyone

  • In Inbox
    • The course menu is now an autocomplete menu, which should make finding the course that you’d like to message much easier.
    • The “new message” icon has been updated.
  • In SpeedGrader DocViewer
    • Free text annotations can now have either a white or transparent background. You can also now adjust the text size. 
    • Multi-page documents can now be navigated using the forward/backward pagination links, or by typing in specific page numbers
  • In the Rich Content Editor, you can now indicate images as being “decorative”; decorative images are those that do not necessarily contribute to the content, and as such you do not need to input alt text.
  • There is now a distinction between the “settings” (i.e. gear) and “options” (i.e. three dots) icons.
    • The Settings icon contains selections that would actively change how the page is displayed.
    • The Options icon contains selections that link to additional functionality or other Canvas areas.
  • The file download icon in Modules has been updated to a paperclip/attachment icon.

For Instructors Only

  • You can now leave individual feedback in group assignments that are individually graded.
  • There is now an additional “Student View” icon on the course home page.
  • In the New Gradebook
    • You can now enter grades as percentages or according to a grading scheme; previously, you could only enter point values.
    • “Muted” and “Unpublished” statuses are now indicated with text in the assignment column header.