Canvas: An Overview of Modules

Below is a link to a helpful article posted by the Canvas administrators. The article provides a brief overview of Modules in Canvas, including what kind of content you can add to a module, how to define completion criteria for modules (requirements), and controlling flow with Modules (prerequisites).

Here is the link to the article:

http://courses.uncg.edu/modules-for-content-flow/

Microsoft: PowerPoint Compared to Sway

Both PowerPoint and Sway are presentation software. All UNCG faculty and staff can access both PowerPoint and Sway through UNCG’s license for Office 365. The link to access Office 365 is located here: https://portal.office.com/Home You can use the Office tools online, or download them for whatever device you are using. Note that Sway is an online-only tool.

At first glance the products are quite similar, so you may wonder why and/or when you would choose to use one over the other. This document offers a brief comparison of the two products.

Sway

Sway is a cloud based program, meaning that to use it, you login to the Office 365 website and create your Sways while online. You do not download the program to your laptop, however there is a Sway app that you can download to use on your smart devices. Sway is also a simpler program than PowerPoint, with fewer controls and formatting options.
 
Sway has a built-in design engine, which means that you will not have a lot of control over the design of your presentation. This, however, can be a good thing because the built-in formatting means that each Sway’s layout is adaptive—it will automatically display correctly on any sized screen (PC, laptop,phone, tablet, etc…). You will probably want to choose Sway is for situations where you are willing to leave most of the design decisions (positioning, colors, layout, fonts, etc.) to Sway. With Sway, you insert pre-existing content and the program creates a web/mobile sway (presentation). There are many different ways to add content to a sway:






Notice above that you can insert content from your Office OneDrive, Flickr, Bing, PicHit, YouTube, Twitter, or you can upload directly. Note that you cannot create visual content, such as charts and graphs, directly within Sway. Sway can also suggest content for you to use. Sway will look at the content you have already added and make suggestions for additional content.
When choosing content from external sources such as Flickr, YouTube, etc... you have to be mindful of potential copyright restrictions on the content.
 
Once you have created your Sway, you can distribute it in a few ways:

1. You can choose to share the Sway only with members of your organization (UNCG). With this option, you can choose to get a link to share, or you can get embed code to place on a web page.
2. You can choose to share with anyone who has the link, in which case people outside of UNCG can access the Sway if they have the link. You can share the link via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc…, or you can get embed code to place on a website.
3. Your final option is to make the sway Public, which means that, whether you use a link or embed code, the sway becomes discoverable on search engines.

 
Here is a short YouTube video overview of Sway:

Check the Office 365 blog for the latest Sway news.

PowerPoint

PowerPoint is available through Office 365, and can be used online or you can download it to your computer. PowerPoint allows you complete control over all aspects of the presentation design, including layout, text, fonts, etc.. This may be especially important if your presentation has to meet specific branding guidelines. 

You can add a wide variety of content to the presentation, includes (but is not limited to): text, images, charts and graphs (which you can create from within PowerPoint), audio and video, equations, screen narrations (which you can record from within PowerPoint), and objects (like full Word docs or Excel spreadsheets). You can also control features such as slide transitions and animations.






Although you have complete control over the appearance of the presentation during the design phase, you are more limited in the output options for your PowerPoint. You can of course save the file as a PowerPoint file and share the file as an email attachment or link on a website, and anyone with PowerPoint or a PowerPoint viewer can watch the presentation. Similarly, you can save the presentation as a PDF, but this option loses all animations, effects, audio, etc.. from the slideshow. You can also save your PowerPoint as a video file. This option too will remove some effects, but will still allow the viewer to click through the slides and listen to any narration.


Recommendations: 

Sway: for presentations that rely heavily on online content; if your viewers will be guiding themselves through your presentation online (best option for online viewing) 

PowerPoint: if you need to create a lot of charts, graphs, etc…; if control over the appearance is very important (branding requirements); if you want narrated slides; if you are presenting live to an audience

Canvas: How to Excuse an Assignment

Sometimes, instructors want to excuse a student from an individual assignment. You can excuse a student from an assignment, graded discussion, or quiz. You can also excuse a student from a group assignment. Excused assignments are not calculated as part of a student's total grade.

When an assignment is excused, the assignment page and the student grade page will show the student that he or she has been excused from the assignment.

Students cannot submit excused assignments.

To excuse a student from an assignment, go to the GRADES area and type EX in the cell where you would normally type the grade. Then press the ENTER key.

For more information, see the Canvas documentation, located here:
http://guides.instructure.com/m/4152/l/386299-how-do-i-excuse-an-assignment-for-a-student-in-the-gradebook

Canvas: New Dashboard User Interface Coming

On December 11th, ITS plans to turn on the new user interface for the dashboard area of Canvas. The dashboard is the main landing page that appears immediately after you log into Canvas. This is the only page that will be affected- the appearance of courses themselves should remain the same.

Essentially, the new user interface (UI) moves the tabs/links traditionally found along the top of the Canvas screen to the left side of the screen:

The links for Courses, Groups, Calendar, Inbox, and Account have moved from the top area of the screen to the left side of the screen. Additionally, the middle area of the screen will now provide a more visual view for updates within courses you have favorited. The four tabs underneath each course "square" represent the four main Canvas features for student course activity: Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, and Files. 
A line beneath the tab indicates new activity (see the blue line under the Discussions icon for the first course in the above image; click on the image to enlarge).

For more detailed information about the new UI, please see the following article:

http://guides.instructure.com/m/4152/l/420619-how-do-i-use-the-dashboard-new-canvas-ui

Students and eReserves in Canvas

A number of instructors have reported students who are unable to access eReserves in Canvas and have not been able to get immediate assistance from either 6-TECH or the Library. So far, the problem has been that the students (just like with instructors) need to first activate their UNCG Box accounts before accessing eReserves in Canvas (since eReserves are housed in Box).

To activate your UNCG Box account (for faculty, staff and students):

1. Go to http://box.uncg.edu and login with your UNCG credentials (username (NOT full email address) and password). This will activate your personal Box account. Your personal Box account will not show your eReserves- you just need to login here at least once for eReserves purposes, although you may of course continue using your Box account for file sharing and storage once you have activated it, if you would like. 
2. After you have activated your Box account, then access your eReserves like normal through your Canvas course. You may still get a prompt to login to Box, but if so it will be inside of the Canvas course framework.

Please note that you will not be able to access eReserves if you are logged into Canvas via the mobile app on either an iOS or Android device.

Synchronous Learning Management System Study

The University has begun a study to explore options for a synchronous learning management system at UNCG. Very generally speaking, a synchronous learning system is an online system that provides tools for instructors to meet with students online, but in real-time. These tools can include chat, videoconferencing, and screen sharing capabilities. UNCG currently uses Blackboard Collaborate as the primary supported SLMS on campus (Bb Collaborate does integrate with Canvas). The SLMS Study team has selected Webex and Blackboard Collaborate to be piloted during the Fall 2015 semester. The study team expects to deliver a product recommendation to Provost Dunn and Vice Chancellor Clotfelter by November 1, 2015. 

If you are interested in following the progress of the study, you can visit the website at
http://slms.uncg.edu

If you are interested in piloting one of the two systems, please contact me directly (aawarffo@uncg.edu) and I can get you started.

An Easy Way to do Polling with Your Students

Canvas does have an app available for download, Polls for Canvas, which is a very easy way to create polls in your class. Here is the link for detailed documentation on how to use the app:

http://guides.instructure.com/m/22678/l/237896-what-is-the-polls-for-canvas-app

Using the Polls for Canvas app requires a Canvas account, but it also requires students have a smart phone or tablet, which some students do not have. Here is an easy way to create polling in your course that makes use of the "liking" feature in discussion boards:

1. Begin by creating a discussion board in your course.
2. In the options area of the discussion board, check the box to "Allow liking."
3. When you check this box, you will see two additional options:
   1. Only Graders Can Like
   2. Sort by Likes
4. To use the discussion as a poll, do NOT click the box for Only Graders Can Like, because then students will not be able to like (or vote) on the options you provide.
5. You may choose to click the box to Sort by Likes, which will let you quickly see which option is leading in the poll.
      
   
      
   
6. Submit the discussion.
7. Now, go into your discussion and make a separate post for EACH option you want students to be able to vote on in the poll. For example, if the discussion question is "I would like to spend tomorrow's class time going over which of the following from our assignments:", then you would make a separate post for each of the following: "word problems", "linear equations", "quadratic equations"
8. Students then go to the discussion board and like the post for whichever of the three choices they want to go over during class. 

Canvas Summer Workshops

I have scheduled a small number of Canvas workshops for the summer. The workshops are:

1. Canvas Overview for Organization Admins 
2. Making Your Canvas Course More Visually Appealing
3. Introduction to Canvas

All workshops will be held in McIver 140. 

Detailed workshop descriptions, schedule of dates, as well as the link to sign up can be found here:

https://workshops.uncg.edu/workshops-by-category.jsp?cat_id=77003015

If you are interested in a Canvas workshop this summer but are unable to attend one of the sessions above, you can also check the list of Canvas workshops offered by ITS, which can be found here:

https://workshops.uncg.edu/workshops-by-category.jsp?cat_id=77002773

What to Do with Narrated PowerPoints?

If you're like many faculty, you like the idea of narrated PowerPoints as a way to convey a lot of information to students in an easy and interactive format. However, the situation becomes more complicated when it comes to getting narrated PowerPoints online. Narrating a PowerPoint usually creates a huge file, which can cause problems for how to store the file online, as well for how it will play for students in an online environment. At this point there are a few options that you can consider when planning to move narrated PowerPoints online.  

Note: If your goal is to create a multimedia product with an end result similar to the feel of narrated slides, but you have not yet committed to PowerPoint, you may want to consider using a product such as Screencast-O-Matic, a free cloud-based tool that captures screen changes, including mouse movements and clicks and allows voice narration up to 15 minutes in length. There are also numerous mobile apps available for download that will also easily record narration to slides and/or screen recordings. For more information, see my articles on Flipping Your Classroom and Apps for Education.

If you already have narrated PowerPoint files or are committed to staying with PowerPoint, here are some options for getting your narrated presentation to work online: 

Upload as Video Directly in Canvas

To go this route, the most important first thing to keep in mind is that you need to keep your files at 500mb or less. If you have already created your narrated files, you may need to break them up into multiple smaller files. What I like about this method is that you do everything with the software you already have- PowerPoint and Canvas. I also like that it keeps your course materials in the same place, Canvas, rather than requiring you to load and then keep track of some of your material in a different system. Also, this method uploads a video via the media recorder in Canvas, which does not count against your Canvas course size quota!

1. Open your narrated file in PowerPoint and choose "Save As." Look at your Save As options. Depending on your version of PowerPoint, you should have a movie format (possibly .wmv, .mov, or .mp4). Choose to save your narrated file as whichever movie format option your version allows. This will give you a movie file and allow you to upload it into the media recorder in Canvas (and remember this will not count against your Canvas course quota!).
2. Now, go into your Canvas course. Click on the Modules link and pick whatever module where you want to add the PowerPoint video. Click the PLUS sign and choose to add a CONTENT PAGE. Choose NEW PAGE in the box and then give it a name relevant to the PowerPoint. Click ADD ITEM.
3. Now you will see the page in your module. Click on its name and click the big EDIT button. Look at your formatting buttons above the text box and find the one toward the right that looks like a film strip. Click that and then click the second tab to UPLOAD MEDIA. Click SELECT VIDEO FILE and browse your computer to find your PowerPoint video file and select it. You'll see where the system takes a minute to convert the video, and then you can Submit the page.

The Upload Media icon looks like a green filmstrip.

Once you click the Upload Media icon, you can browse for your PPT video file.

Don't forget to Publish your page so the students can view it. Also, it will take several minutes after you publish the video for it to really be finished converting. If you click on it before it's finished, the system will tell you it hasn't finished converting it and to check back in a few minutes.

Load Files as PowerPoint SHOW Files in Box

This method does not require you to use any additional software/products, though you will have to load the files into Box, an online file sharing system. You also should not have to worry about file size if you go this route. However, understand that students will download your files if you choose this method, and some instructors are not comfortable with that. You should be somewhat familiar with how Box works to use this method, because you will need to understand how to set sharing permissions on your files.

1. Open your narrated file in PowerPoint and choose "Save As" and choose to save the file as a PowerPoint show (.ppsx). This means that when the file is opened, it will automatically open in a presentation mode and play audio.
2.  Login to your Box account and upload the .ppsx file into a folder. Box will not "preview" a PowerPoint show, so remember that students will have to download the file before viewing.  
3. Click the Share link beside the folder that contains your file(s) and copy the EMBED code for the file. Make sure that your other settings (such as expiration) are appropriate.
4. Now, log into Canvas and create a Page under a Module. Edit the page and click the "HTML Editor" link. Paste the Embed code into the text box and Save.
5. Box embedded inside Canvas may prompt you to log in with your UNCG credentials (even though you are already logged into Canvas) or drag a cloud into position on the screen as a security measure, but overall this method is reliable. Students should see a list of your Box files when they view the Canvas page.

Paste the Box folder embed code in the HTML view of a Canvas Page.

Once you have embedded the Box code, students will see a list of all files in your Box folder.

Upload as a Movie to YouTube

All University faculty, staff, and students can setup a YouTube channel in connection with their UNCG email accounts. Using YouTube is advantageous because it is a streaming video server and therefore can handle video very well. In addition, YouTube has the ability to do some basic closed captioning for your movies, which we are required to do to meet ADA guidelines.

1. Open your narrated file in PowerPoint and choose "Save As." Look at your Save As options. Depending on your version of PowerPoint, you should have a movie format (possibly .wmv, .mov, or .mp4). Choose to save your narrated file as whichever movie format option your version allows. This will give you a movie file and allow you to upload it into YouTube. 
2. See this web page for more info on UNCG YouTube accounts: http://its.uncg.edu/iSpartan/YouTube/ (Note that if your video is longer than 15 minutes, you will have to enable some additional features.)
3. Once you have uploaded your video to your YouTube channel, you can simply copy the URL address, then go to Canvas and create a Page under a Module. Edit the Page and paste the YouTube URL directly into the text box. Canvas will automatically convert the URL to embed the video into the page for you.
4. A couple of notes: when uploading to YouTube, you must pay particular attention to copyright, because YouTube does monitor for copyright infringement. If you plan to use any imagery (PowerPoint or otherwise) with copyrighted material on it, even it meets fair use guidelines, you will be better off uploading directly into Canvas. Also, pay attention to how you list your videos on YouTube- generally you should set them to be either private or unlisted. You can also upload .mov and .wmv versions of your narrated PowerPoint in Box and these video files should play within Box. However, generally Box is not the preferred method for hosting video so you should only consider this if you are concerned about the file size, copyright issues, or privacy concerns of your file making the other methods described above not preferable.

One final note: there are websites and software products available (such as Impatica) that will convert narrated PowerPoints to web friendly formats. However, these products and websites have terms of service agreements that have not been approved for use by the University.

Are Organizations Available in Canvas?

Please note: the following is taken from an ITS announcement about the availability/migration of organizations on campus.
-----------------------------------------------------------

The LMS team is now creating organizations in Canvas. However, depending on the requirements of your organization, we are recommending other tools that might work better for you than Canvas.

If your organization is mainly used as an email distribution list, we recommend that you use Google Groups for your organization. Google Groups is functionally a moderated email list.  You can have a group created and then you can manage the list, either subscribing members or allowing subscriptions, allowing one way or two way discussion/posting, etc. Learn more about Google Groups at: http://its.uncg.edu/iSpartan/Groups/.

If your organization is mainly used for sharing documents, Google Drive or Box might be better alternatives. For more information, see: http://its.uncg.edu/ispartan/Drive/ and http://its.uncg.edu/box/. The main differences here are that Google Drive offers unlimited storage and synchronous collaborative editing of documents, whereas Box has a 50Gb quota and is rated to store data classified by UNCG up to minimal, low and moderate risk.

If you use your organization as a website, Google Sites allow you to create a custom website which can be used to post material, including announcements.  Individuals can subscribe to the site, and thus receive notifications when the site has been updated. Learn more at: http://its.uncg.edu/iSpartan/Sites/.

If you do wish to have an organization in Canvas, visit this request form: http://its.uncg.edu/Canvas/Organization_Request. A Canvas organization may work best for you if you want to maintain certain LMS tools such as discussion boards and quizzes/surveys.

For information about migrating your current Blackboard Organization, please visit our documents:

• Moving from Blackboard to a Google Group
• Moving from Blackboard to Box or Google Drive
• Moving from Blackboard to a Google Site
• Moving from Blackboard to Canvas

Spring 2015 Canvas Training

As you all know, UNCG is in the process of migrating from Blackboard to Canvas for the University’s learning management system. ITS expects everyone to be transitioned to Canvas before Spring 2016, as Blackboard will be decommissioned that semester. With that as the goal, I have scheduled training sessions for this Spring (to be offered in McIver 140). Because I am the only primary support person for all of the College during this transition, I will not be able to meet with everyone individually, so my hope is that departments can receive training around the same time and then help each other somewhat in making the transition. If your department would like to arrange for a personalized training session (perhaps during a faculty meeting) please contact me directly to schedule a time. If you feel that you absolutely cannot begin the transition to Canvas in the Spring and would like to opt-out until Summer or Fall, you MUST email me to let me know (aawarffo@uncg.edu). This is true even if you previously opted out for Spring. ITS plans to make Canvas the default for all courses for Summer and Fall semesters, so if you do not email me to let me know otherwise, your course shells will be created in Canvas.

Here is the link where you can view the schedule of workshops and sign up:

http://goo.gl/forms/BsKPy4oQmW

Please make a note of the date and time of your workshop- these workshops are not open to the rest of campus and therefore are not listed on the main UNCG workshops website. If your schedule will not accommodate for any of the workshops scheduled, then you may also choose to stop by the Canvas drop-in support hours offered by ITS. Those offerings can be viewed here:

https://workshops.uncg.edu/workshops-by-category.jsp?cat_id=77002773

        

Finally, if you would like to review any of the support documentation in advance of a workshop, you can find that information linked here:

http://aas.uncg.edu/itc/help/lms.html

I look forward to seeing you in the workshops!