Changes Coming to Turnitin

As you may know, Turnitin is the plagiarism detection tool integrated within Canvas. The new integration provides greater control over assignment settings and allows access to Feedback Studio. The old Turnitin integration will be disabled on August 10, 2016. At this point, your Turnitin assignments should continue to accept student submissions, but the actual Turnitin tool itself will no longer work. To continue using Turnitin, you will need to re-create your assignments using the new integration process.

Please see the Canvas Guides below for step-by-step instructions for creating a Turnitin Assignment:

How do I create a Turnitin assignment?

Advanced Turnitin Settings

How to Manage Your Turnitin Assignments

Feedback Studio

 Some important points to keep in mind when creating assignments with the new Turnitin tool:

• Turnitin by default does not allow resubmissions.  If you want students to be able to resubmit the assignment, you must set "Originality Report generation and resubmissions" in the Turnitin Optional Settings to either "Generate reports immediately (resubmissions are allowed until due date)" or "Generate reports on due date (resubmissions are allowed until due date)."
   
• If you use a Canvas rubric for an assignment you will have to grade the assignment using SpeedGrader.  If you want to use the Turnitin grading features (Turnitin now includes its own rubrics manager), you will have to create the rubric in Turnitin.

Cloud File Storage Options at UNCG

UNCG offers three different cloud storage options for your files: Google Drive, Box, and Microsoft OneDrive. It can be confusing trying to decide which service to use, so here are brief descriptions of each service.

Google Drive

Google Drive is the file storage solution that comes with the Google suite of products. You can access Google Drive on your laptop at http://drive.uncg.edu. You can also download an app for your smart devices that will let you view your Google Drive. Features of Google Drive:

• unlimited storage space
• integrates with other Google products such as Google Docs and Google Sheets
• You can store your Office files in Google Drive, but to edit them the system will convert them to Google format
• Advanced file sharing features
• Collaborate with others and track changes on documents
• Ability to selectively “sync” files and folders to your computer

Box

Everyone with a UNCG account also has a Box account. The Library currently loads eReserves into Canvas courses through Box. You can access Box at http://box.uncg.edu.

• unlimited for every user
• Configured to meet the “2-Lock rating” requirements for storage of “Moderate risk data” according to the new Data Classification Policy for UNCG
• Web and mobile access to your files anywhere you have an internet connection
• Ability to selectively “sync” files and folders to your computer
• Ability to share files with other users inside and outside UNCG
• Keeps track of multiple versions of your files automatically
• Ability to “lock” documents while editing them, so others cannot accidentally overwrite your work
• Ability to see who has edited and viewed documents you share
• Integration with Microsoft Office to download, edit and upload new versions 

Microsoft OneDrive

Everyone at UNCG can access Microsoft Office 365 online at https://portal.office.com/Home. OneDrive is the file storage solution that comes with Office 365. For more information on Office 365: https://its.uncg.edu/office365/faq/how_to/

• 1 TB of quota
• Your Office 365 files automatically save to OneDrive, and you can share the files with people inside and outside of UNCG
• Configured as a 1-Lock storage service (see Data Classification Policy for UNCG)

Tips for Making Your Canvas Course Accessibility Compliant

What is ADA?

 

Under federal law, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Titles I and II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are the applicable mandates for the university's efforts to provide electronic accessibility to persons with disabilities.

From Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973:

no otherwise qualified handicapped* individual in the United States. . . shall, solely by reason of. . . handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

According to UNCG's OARS office, there are seven general categories for disability related services:

• Blind/Visually Impaired
• Deaf/Hard of Hearing
• Learning Disability/Attention Deficit Disorder
• Medical Impairment
• Mobility Impairment
• Psychiatric Disability
• Speech Impairment

Why Do We Care? 

 

• 5% of UNCG students have some form of learning disability and/or 29% have an attention deficit disorder; hearing impairments comprise 5% of our population, while 2% are visually impaired, 4% are mobility impaired, 14% have medical impairments, and 11% other health impaired. (According to OARS office)
• This is a large potential population to tap into for online courses
• It’s the LAW

 

Place a Statement on Your Syllabus

 

The following is an example statement faculty should include on syllabi:

UNCG seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on a disability must be registered with the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services (OARS) in 215 Elliott University Center, 334-5440, oars.uncg.edu.

Text

 

•  Use built-in paragraph formatting- heading styles
• Use real bullet/number lists instead of typing your own
• Avoid abbreviations, acronyms
• Sans-serif fonts are generally easier to read on a screen
• Do not rely on color to convey meaning; colors should have enough contrast to account for color blindness
• Avoid flashing text (People with photosensitive epilepsy can have seizures triggered by flickering)
• Try to avoid using tables for layout purposes- the cells are read in the order in which they appear in the HTML source code. This is not necessarily the order in which the text is laid out on the screen.

Resource: Juicy Studio Colour Contrast Analyser
(Allows you to check the contrast of two colors using the W3C's color contrast algorithm by specifying the colors directly.)

 

Adding Links in a Canvas Content Page

 

• Avoid phrases like “click here” and “more”
• Use descriptive text for the link instead of the actual URL. A Screen reader will read the entire URL.
• Good Example: Juicy Studio Colour Contrast Analyser
• Listen to a screen reader read a URL as link
• Listen to a better example of link text

To make a link to a file in Canvas:

1. Edit a Content Page.
2. Type some descriptive text for your link.
3. Highlight the text you typed.
4. Go to the Files tab at right and click on the name of your file to create a link.
5. See video below:

OR, for a weblink:

1. Highlight the descriptive text, then click on the link icon box in the text editor
2. Paste the actual link in the URL field
3. Click the “insert link”button and save and publish your page.

PDF Files

Try to avoid scanning documents- this often results in the pages being seen as images instead of text. Acrobat Pro DC has an accessibility tool that will generate an accessibility report, set alternate text, and determine reading order. You can access Adobe Acrobat's accessibility tools either by clicking on the EDIT menu and choosing Accessibility Setup Wizard, or going to Tools > Action Wizard. From the Action List, choose Make Accessible.

Images will need ALT text. This is best if done in the document's native format, such as Word. Information on ALT text is described next.

Resource: Accessibility in Adobe Acrobat

 

Images in Canvas

Images must contain ALT text, which is text that meaningfully describes the image. The ALT text is read by screen readers in place of the image.

To insert ALT text on an image in Canvas, insert the image as usual on a Canvas Content Page. Then, select the image and click the image icon in the formatting tools; type your ALT text in the box. Text must describe the image content in enough detail that a blind person can understand whatever concept the image presents.

Additionally, some people use images of equations in their learning materials. However, when an appropriate markup language exists (such as MathML) use markup rather than images to convey information. Canvas has the option to insert an equation. The image below shows Canvas' equation editor:

Quizzes in Canvas

One of the most frequent disability accommodation requests from students is to have additional time on timed quizzes. To grant additional time on a quiz in Canvas: click on the quiz name, then click the “Moderate this Quiz” link at right. Click the edit icon to the right of a student’s name. You can grant additional attempts as well as extra time for the quiz.

Video in Canvas

 

Video has become a popular way to add content to online courses, and Canvas makes it very easy to record and upload video. However, it is important to realize that all video must have closed-captioning. There are a few options for addressing this for your course:

 

YouTube:

Everyone at UNCG has a YouTube channel. Even if you don't plan to leave your video on YouTube, you can upload it temporarily because YouTube will automatically generate captions for most videos. However, keep in mind:

• Use for your own videos, not copyrighted clips
• Video must be good quality audio and set to public or unlisted
• Quality of captions varies, and will likely need to be edited

Once your captions have been generated, you can leave it the video on YouTube and link or embed the video in Canvas. OR, you can download your video and captions files and upload them directly into Canvas.

Resource: YouTube via Your iSpartan Account


To Edit your YouTube Captions:

1. Go to Video Manager. Click the drop-down arrow beside the video and choose “Subtitles and CC.”
2. When the page loads, under “Published” you should see “English (Automatic).” Click that.
3. The captions will load. Click “Edit” at the bottom and make adjustments to the captions and save.

Library Streaming Video Services:

Jackson Library offers approximately 10 extensive video catalogs to search. These videos can be either linked or embedded within Canvas. The streaming catalogues allow you to use commercial videos without worrying about copyright violations. One important note is that for some videos you have to specifically request closed captioning, which could take awhile to process, so plan early.


Resource: Jackson Library’s Streaming Media Guide

In Summary

• Syllabus: provide a statement for students on how to register with the OARS office
• Text: use built-in formatting tools; don’t rely on colors and tables to convey information
• PDFs: create from original docs instead of scanning; use Acrobat Pro accessibility tools
• Images: add “alt” text
• Quizzes: use “Moderate this Quiz” to grant additional time for students
• Video: video must be captioned

Additional Resources

• Instructure: General Accessibility Guidelines
• Information on Accessibility in Canvas
• UNCG Internet Oversight Committee’s Accessibility Guidelines 
• Assistive Technology: 
  • VoiceOver for OSx 
  • Windows Narrator (screen reader)  
  • Technology for Visually Impaired Students
• Contact your Instructional Technology Consultant for course assistance

Digital ACT Studio and Digital Media Commons

Today's post is about two technology-related resources located in the Library- the Digital Act Studio and the Digital Media Commons (DMC). They are sister centers to the Speaking and Writing Centers, and both are located in the lower level of Jackson Library.

The Digital ACT Studio assists faculty, staff, and students with aesthetic design and storyboarding of projects that incorporate digital media. The staff helps clients think critically about design choices for projects involving digital media such as posters, brochures, ePortfolios, web pages and blogs. Digital media can include but is not limited to PowerPoint, videos, digital photography, animation, audio/podcasts, and infographics. The Studio's work space is flexible- everything is on wheels so the work space can easily be reconfigured to suit the needs of a class, and in addition to the main open space, there are also smaller rooms that can be used for small group work and breakout sessions.

The Digital ACT Studio staff, or "Digiteers," say that they:

Practice a collaborative approach to sessions, where designers and consultants engage in one-on-one conversations about projects.. Our goal is to help people become better designers and to that end, we encourage them to be in control of their projects and to participate actively in their DACTS sessions.

Some of the workshops the Studio can offer individuals or groups include: Storyboarding & Planning, ePortfolio Design, Best Practices for PowerPoint, and Poster Design Through PowerPoint.

Walk-ins are welcome, but the Studio also takes appointments, and especially during busier times like finals, appointments are recommended. The Studio also offers online consulting for distance students, and instructors can schedule a visit for an entire small class. You can find more information about the Digital ACT Studio, view the workshop listings, and request appointments through their website at:

http://digitalactstudio.uncg.edu

Whereas the Digital ACT Studio assists with design concepts and best practices, the Digital Media Commons (DMC) can help with the actual training and use of software and equipment. The DMC is focused primarily on student support. For example, the DMC can help students learn MovieMaker and lighting techniques to create and edit video, and train students on using Adobe Creative Suite to create projects such as digital brochures, newsletters, videos, and ePortfolio material.

The DMC has a large group study area as well as small group work areas, and a 3D lab. There is a small charge (currently 10 cents per gram) for printing items on the 3D printer. The DMC also has media rooms used for individual study or audio/video recording, and computer stations that can be used on a first come/first serve basis. There is a room with a camera and projector where students can practice making a presentation, and also a gaming lab with 4 Xbox 360s and 1 Kinect.

 

The DMC also has what they call the VIA space- the video, imaging, and audio space. This room contains a green screen for recording video, studio photography equipment, fabric backdrops for headshots, and the DMC offers workshops on how to use the equipment correctly.

Finally, the DMC also will check-out equipment for students. Some of the items they offer for check-out include web cams, headsets, camcorders, and tripods.

You can find more information on the DMC at their website:

http://library.uncg.edu/spaces/dmc/

I encourage you to visit the website for more information, and even arrange a tour for yourself. Please also share these resources with your students.

Campus Pack for Canvas

Campus Pack is a suite of tools that integrates with Canvas. Campus Pack provides blogs, wikis, journals, and a robust ePortfolio tool. We only have access to test Campus Pack through March 25, so there isn't time to incorporate the tools into a live course, but if you would like to meet to take a closer look in the test environment, just let me know. If you are at all interested in any of these tools, please send feedback ASAP so that we can encourage ITS to adopt the product.

What Are the Campus Pack Tools? 

  

The Journal is a self-reflective tool in which the default permissions are configured so that the journal is private between the student and the instructor. 

The Blog is a space for students to collaborate on projects and comment on each other’s work.  While posts contain individual entries, the collaboration is centered around instructor feedback, commenting, rating, or voter widgets.  Blogs can be deployed in a course, group, or individual manner.  

The Wiki is a collaborative tool that allows students and instructors to build one or more pages of a course website.  All students or groups can create a collection of pages and share with the course, a group or the entire world. 

If you are not grading the Campus Pack tool, you can add it directly to a Module by clicking the "+" beside the module and choosing to Add External Tool. 
 

If you want to grade the tool, you must add it as an ASSIGNMENT. Under Submission Type, choose External Tool, for the External URL field, browse to find and select Campus Pack from the options that come up. 

 

If you have already made a Blog, Journal, etc in your CP account, you can import an existing Blog, Wiki, or Journal that you have made by selecting the “Copy From Existing” option.

"Add a Shortcut" will create a link to an existing blog, wiki, or journal in your course. Note that this does not copy the tool, it just creates a shortcut link to the existing tool. 

Remember to publish your assignment when you are ready for your students to interact with the assignment.  Publishing your assignment also allows for it to show up in SpeedGrader, making it easier for you to grade the CP assignments. You can see the results in a new browser or click on the URL at the top to see the results within SpeedGrader:

Campus Pack ePortfolio:

Your portfolio will open with some default content areas, or portlets, on the page, such as Latest Activity, Course Membership, and Content Shared with Me. 

To begin adding your own content, click the “Add Portlet” button toward the bottom of the page. When you click this button, you will have several types of possible content options to choose from:

You will likely spend most of your time adding folders and/or Rich Text/HTML Widgets. A folder gives you a block on the page where you can add links to blogs, wikis, and journals. You can add brand new blogs, wikis, and journals, or you can copy blogs, wikis, and journals you have created in classes into your folder. Below are the content options available to you to add to a Folder. Note that you can choose to add blank blogs, journals, etc… from the main list, or you can click the smaller button at the top right to copy (a blog, wiki, etc) from an existing course.

The Rich Content Widget presents you with a text editor that allows you to place a formatted block of text directly on the page. Below is an example of what the Rich Content Widget looks like, shown in the process of my creating two links to place on my page:

In the example below I have added three new portlets: one folder called Resume, in which I created a new wiki for my resume; one Rich Content Widget called “My Websites” that contains two web links; and one Rich Content Widget called “What is Instructional Technology?” that contains formatted text. Note that because the “Resume” portlet is a folder, there is an option to add more content to it (in addition to the one “Anita’s Resume” wiki already linked).

You can delete certain default portlets, such as Course Membership, and you can edit and/or delete the other portlets that you add to the portfolio.You can drag and drop the portlets to rearrange the way they appear on the page.

When you are ready, you need to set your portfolio permissions so that others in your class can view the portfolio. To do this, click on the edit wheel icon below your profile image and choose Permissions:

There are three areas of permissions: Owners, Authors, and Viewers. Owners have complete control over your portfolio, so generally you do not want to grant anyone else owner access. Authors can contribute content, which might be useful if the portfolio is being used for a group project. Generally, however, you just want to set permissions for viewers, so that others in the system can view your portfolio. Click on “My Courses” in the first column, then choose the course you want to share with in the second column, and then select the appropriate option from the third column. Click the Add button. Then, select a start and end date for how long your portfolio should be visible. Finally, click the Save & Exit button.

Finally, note that if you click on the edit wheel below your profile image, if you choose “Export,” you will see that you have the option to export your portfolio as a website (in .zip format) so that you can take it with you when you leave UNCG:

Again, if you are interested in using these tools in Canvas, please contact me as soon as possible so that I can pass along the interest to ITS.

Spring Workshops Scheduled

I've scheduled a selection of workshops for the Spring semester. As we come to the end of the main push to migrate to Canvas, I hope to add more variety of topics, so please email me if you have requests.

Campus Pack

ITS is considering adopting Campus Pack, which is a suite of tools that integrates with Canvas. Campus Pack provides blogs, wikis, journals, and a robust ePortfolio tool. If you are at all interested in any of these tools, please come to a session and/or send feedback so that we can encourage ITS to adopt the product. This session will not be hands on because we do not have licenses for multiple users during the trial period for the software. 

Feb. 18th, 9-11am: McIver 140
Feb. 23rd, 10am-12pm: School of Education 221
March 7th, 1-3pm: McIver 140

Introduction to Canvas

This workshop will give participants an overview of some of the basic features and functionality of Canvas. The following topics will be covered: navigation and settings; email and notifications; using modules/pages/files to deliver content; and a brief overview of assignments.

March 10th, 10am-12pm: McIver 140

Canvas Scheduler

This brief session will demonstrate how to use the Canvas Scheduler. Scheduler is a tool for creating student sign-up sheets that can be used for advising, one-on-one appointments, group meetings, TA sessions, and presentation times.

March 17th, 9-10am: McIver 140

Assessment in Canvas

During this workshop we'll take a closer look at some of the details of assessment in Canvas, including: tips for students, quiz and assignment settings, availability settings, weighting grades, rubrics, and SpeedGrader. You will need to have a basic understanding of Canvas before signing up for this workshop. 

April 5th, 1-3pm: McIver 140

Sign UP: 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

  

ArtStor Digital Library: A Brief Overview

UNCG faculty, staff, and students have access to ArtStor, a nonprofit digital library with database of "over 1.6 million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research." Images are collected from a variety of resources, such as  museums, photographers, libraries, scholars, photo archives, and artists and artists' estates. If you are interested in using ArtStor, you need to create an account, and you must register for your account while on campus. Note that ArtStor is NOT a part of UNCG's single sign on, so you will create your account with your UNCG email and a password of your choosing.

You can login to ArtStor at this link: http://library.artstor.org/library/#1

For this blog, I'll try to provide an overview of the most common tools in ArtStor. However, you can always access the full list of support documents and videos here: http://www.artstor.org/support

Overview of the Digital Library

ArtStor contains a variety of resource types, including special collections, manuscripts, and 360-degree panoramas of historical sites. Additionally, UNCG can upload, catalog, and share its own collections. Once you have logged into your ArtStor account, you will be on the digital library page, which looks like this:

 


From this page, you can browse the collections, or type in specific keywords to search. If you click on Advanced Search, you can filter your search by geography, classification, and specific collection. Double-click on an image or item to open it in a larger viewer. You will see several options along the bottom of this image view, including zooming and rotating the image, a print option, a download option, and an option to save the image to an image group within your ArtStor:

 

You can also click on the "i" icon to view all data that has been entered into the system for the item. Once you have created an image group in the system, you can download up to 150 images at once as a .zip file and then import them into PowerPoint. The icons at the top right of the Image Group screen allow you to 1) download images in the group; 2) export images directly to PowerPoint; 3) open a different image group; and 4) view larger thumbnails.

   
Clicking the "Share" tab at the top of the page and choosing "Generate Image Group URL" will give you several different options for sharing your image group with members of your institution (UNCG):
 

I recommend clicking the option for "Full screen viewer (no pop-up window)" instead of "Half screen viewer" because the half screen viewer loads in a pop-up window, which may not work for all users.

Shared Shelf

Shared Shelf is the media management tool inside ArtStor that allows you to upload your own items into the system. Shared Shelf allows you to:

•  Upload your own images, PDFs, audio, and video
• Assign permissions based on role
• Allow multiple users to simultaneously work on projects
• Easily share your collections

In order to gain access to Shared Shelf, you must contact UNCG's designated ArtStor administrator. The contact information for UNCG's administrator is listed on the right-hand side of the main page that appears after you login to the system.
    
Note: I have noticed that ArtStor times you out of the system after a fairly brief time period, so if you are working back and forth between multiple programs, you may find yourself having to login to ArtStor multiple times. Also, sometimes the system seems to operate quite slowly, so be prepared for that as well.

Sharing with Students

 

Add to Canvas:

After some testing, it appears that the best way to add your ArtStor images to Canvas is to:

1. Do the export to PowerPoint and then add the PowerPoint file directly to Canvas, or 
2. Copy the share link from the "Share" tab (mentioned above) and make sure to check the option for "Full Screen Viewer (no popup window)." Then, add a Content Page to a Canvas Module. Edit the page and insert the link you copied onto the page by clicking the "insert link" icon for the text editor box and pasting the link into the web address field. 

 

Direct Login to ArtStor:

Alternatively, you can have your students go directly to the ArtStor website and login there to view your materials. here are the instructions:

1. To access the ARTstor Digital Library: go to artstor.org and click on the “Enter Here” link on the upper-right corner. You will need to register with your UNCG email as your login ID. Choose a unique password, and fill in the required information. To access ARTstor for the first time, you MUST be using a computer connected to the network at UNCG (Jackson Library, labs on campus, etc). You can log in remotely to ARTstor from anywhere for up to 120 days after verifying through UNCG servers. After that period, you must log in to the account on campus to renew the account for another 120 days.
2. To find your Instructor’s Class Folder: Instructors may save image groups into password-protected folders and make these available those enrolled in their courses. To access folders click the red "Open" button in the middle of the front page of the Digital Library. Your instructor will have a folder under Institutional Folders. Under the instructor folder are the Courses. Within the Course Folder will be the lectures, study images, etc. 
3. To access password-protected folders (passwords will be provided by your instructor): In the ARTstor navigation bar, click Access > Unlock Password Protected Folder, and enter the password. After unlocking the folder, it will be available to view for your use. 
4. Viewing and Studying with Images: Images in the Digital Library can be used in a variety of ways within the Image Viewer window. You can pan and zoom in the Image Viewer window, which is accessed when double clicking on a thumbnail in the image group you are viewing. 
5. To download a single image: 1) Open the desired image in the Image Viewer window, whether the full view of the work or a detail. When the desired view is displayed, click the “save” button in the lower, right corner. 2) You will be prompted to read ARTstor’s Terms & Conditions of Use. Click Accept and choose a location to save the image in your computer’s directory. 3) Two files will be saved. One is a .jpg of the image; the other is an .html document with the image information. 
6. Printing a single image: 1) Open the desired image in the Image Viewer, whether the full view of the work or a detail. When the desired view is displayed, click the “Print” button in the lower, right corner. 2) Two pages will print. One page shows the image, the other page shows the image information. 
7. Printing an image group: While viewing an image group, click on Share, which is a drop-down menu at top of the page. By clicking the option "Print Image Group," you can view a separate printable window with thumbnails and detailed information. You can view the full record, or the thumbnails with or without notes. This option is useful for study purposes or as a flash-card function.
8. Mobile access: You can also view Artstor on your mobile device. For more information: http://help.artstor.org/wiki/index.php/ARTstor_Mobile