Summer Updates!

Good Morning ESU Canvas Community!

The latest Canvas update – scheduled for June 3^rd - includes several new features related to the Rich Content Editor, Grades, Course Announcements, and more.

PRODUCT RELEASE

·         June 3^rd Detailed Release Notes

DOCUMENT PREVIEW IS CHANGING!

The third party company known as “Box” is deprecating their Crocodoc product at the end of the year. You know Crocodoc as the content previewer in Speedgrader. All the major LMS companies that rely on Crocodoc have been building alternative products in response. Sometime between June 14^th and June 24^th Instructure (Canvas) will release the replacement to Crocodoc. You can read more about the new Document Previewer.

SUMMER UPDATES

Several enhancements have been implemented for the start of summer courses:

·         We added Microsoft Office365, OneDrive, OneNote, and Google Drive/Apps capabilities to all courses. These tools provide easier access to cloud-based documents and journaling. Students can also collaborate on cloud documents using these resources.

·         Vericite (plagiarism detection) has been added as a test product until mid-August. You will find it listed as a checkbox when you create an assignment. If you are teaching this summer, we strongly encourage you to try Vericite rather than Turnitin. We are considering moving to Vericite as a replacement to Turnitin and would welcome your feedback.

·         Adobe Connect will be discontinued on July 1 in favor of Zoom. ESU participated in a voluntary Zoom pilot sponsored by KanREN (Kansas Research and Educational Network) about 2 years ago to gauge faculty interest in an improved statewide webconferencing product. With very little solicitation, Zoom usage skyrocketed. The adoption rate has been tremendous with over 320 faculty, staff, student, and GA Host accounts created in that 2-year period. Zoom is used by KSU, KU, FHSU, JCCC, BCC, HCC, Tabor, and scores of Kansas municipalities and academic organizations, to name a few. Hence, IT made the decision to adopt Zoom as our webconferencing platform.

CANVAS TIPS/TRICKS:

Do you want to make document annotation in the Speedgrader a little easier? The ESU Math Department makes extensive use of Wacom graphing tablets that allow faculty to use a stylus to markup student submissions. This is particularly useful for quantitative assignments where the faculty want to see a problem resolved in a series of steps. These tablets include a screen and writing pen that allows for a more natural notation process – versus a mouse that can be less dexterous. If interested, let one of the Instructional Designers know and we can arrange for a demonstration.

BLOG AND TWITTER FEED

If you want more information about anything you read here, check out our blog at http://emporiastate.blogspot.com/ or follow us on Twitter @esulearningtech.