A Canvas update from Dr. Gibson...

Good Afternoon ESU Canvas Community!

Product Release: The latest 3-week product sprint (update) will be released on Saturday, April 2^nd. New features in this update are listed in detail below. They include improvements to Assignments, Gradebook, Quizzes, SpeedGrader, People, and several other features.

April 2^nd  Detailed Release Notes & Screencast

New Canvas Interface is Coming!

Another reminder that the new Canvas interface is right around the corner - Tuesday, May 17^th - following grade submission. (Sometime between 3:00 and 5:00 pm.) This is not an optional update. We chose May 17th to reduce the impact on spring and summer courses. This interface will mirror the mobile version of Canvas with a completely revised dashboard and user experience. It is designed to support newer touch interface devices, such as the Microsoft Surface. However, your course content will not be impacted. You can learn more about the interface by following this link. Or, you can watch a video that illustrates the new user experience. Dr. Anna Catterson, Mark Summey, and Joe Kern will be offering workshops on the new interface in May. Refer to our Blog for specific information and a timeline.

7 Things You Should Know about Digital Badging

This month we look at Digital Badging and Micro-Credentials: 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Badging. Learning Technologies is piloting a new Digital Badging initiative starting in April. This will be a year-long pilot program with approximately 10-15 faculty and staff, and multiple students. Badging can be used both inside and outside of Canvas. Students can add earned badges to social media sites such as LinkedIn. Possible applications include Healthy Hornets, Library Research Skills, and the Honors Program. Watch for more information about this exciting new pilot program. Contact Dr. Anna Catterson at x5107 for more information.

Lesser Known Tips and Tricks: Adding Library Resources to Your Canvas Course

There are a number of methods to add library resources into your Canvas course. While we provide a simple sidebar link, you can build much more meaningful resources that are contextualized for your curriculum. For example:

• Add the Ask a Librarian widget directly inside your course
• Add embedded links to books and articles.
• Add a customized LibGuide for any particular subject matter. 
• Add a Library Liaison into your course with a specific “Librarian” role we created. 

Refer to http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/about-the-library/staff-directory.html for the name of your Liaison and more information.

7 Things...Digital Badges

Learning Technologies has started a new series of articles titled "7 Things You Should Know About...". Each month, we have been developing new topics of interest and would like to continue to do so. If you have a topic of interest that you would like to learn more about, give us an email and let us know what ideas you have at acatters@emporia.edu.

We recently published another article in our March volume on Digital Badges - hope you enjoy!

7 Things You Should Know About Digital Badges

Canvas Community Update 3/9

Good Afternoon ESU Canvas Community!

Product Release: The latest 3-week product sprint (update) will be released on Saturday, March 12^th. New features in this update are listed in detail below. They include improvements to Analytics, Assignments, Course Settings, Calendar, Course Imports, Dashboard, People, Quizzes, and several other features.

March 12^th  Detailed Release Notes & Screencast

New Canvas Interface is Coming!

Another reminder that the new Canvas interface is right around the corner - Tuesday, May 17^th - following grade submission. This is not an optional update. We chose May 17th to reduce the impact on spring and summer courses. This interface will mirror the mobile version of Canvas with a completely revised dashboard and user experience. It is designed to support newer touch interface devices, such as the Microsoft Surface. You can learn more about the interface by following this link. Or, you can watch a video that illustrates the new user experience. Dr. Anna Catterson, Mark Summey, and Joe Kern will be offering workshops on the new interface following Spring Break. Refer to our Blog for specific information and a timeline.

7 Things You Should Know…..

We’ve started a new monthly series called “7 Things You Should Know….”. Each month we’ll introduce a new topic on a variety of emergent technologies in higher education. This month we look at 3D Printing and 3D Scanning: 7 Things You Should Know About 3D Scanning and Printing. You can see a demonstration of 3D scanning and printing in VH109.

Lesser Known Tips and Tricks

We just became aware of a Microsoft product that looks pretty interesting. It’s called “Mix” and it is free. Mix is an add-in for PowerPoint that provides multimedia-like functionality, such as inline voice and video – similar to lecture capture. You store your presentations in the cloud. See https://mix.office.com/en-us/Home for more details. Several campuses are blending Mix and Canvas.

Thanks,

Rob

Canvas User Interface Overview/Timeline

CANVAS USER INTERFACE CHANGE 

Project Plan Overview 

Why is it Changing?
Instructure is changing the interface of its flagship product on July 9, 2016 to conform to its mobile version. This provides both a responsive design (device agnostic) and a consistency in usability. This is a mandatory change that ESU has postponed for nearly a year.

What to Expect in the Interface Change?
The main menu will move from the top of the page (horizontal) to the left side of the page (vertical). There will be a sub menu that appears from the left. The Canvas Dashboard will adopt a “mobile” look. Current courses will appear as tiles in the main window. The tiles will allow access by clicking or by touch (on platforms with touch capability.)

Timeline for Change

• First Email Announcement to be sent the week of March 7th.(Already developed and approved.) 
• Bi-weekly Email announcements following Spring Break. 
• Training sessions starting in late March through May (After Spring Break). 
• UI Changeover: Tuesday, May 16th following grade submission. 

Training Plan 

• Links to video tutorials on blog and website 
• Open learning sessions in VH 
• Demonstrations during embedded ID sessions/Department meetings. 
• Component/Third-Party Testing Preliminary tests shows no issues with third-party integrations, such as Panopto, Adobe Connect, and Kaltura. 
• The login page and photo roster will need to be fixed. Brian Morgan will work with Mark Summey to make those corrections. 

Communication Strategy

• Students: Direct Email. 
• Faculty: Embedded ID Sessions; Departmental Meetings; Open Sessions; 3 week Email updates; and direct Email. 
• Memorial Union Mainstreet sessions. 
• WAW Library ELC/Learning Commons.