Below you will find Word documents with tables to assist faculty in submitting classroom seating charts. These seating charts are designed to be printed and then filled out.
Online Teaching & Technology Blog
Center for Online Learning, Research and Service @ Illinois Springfield
Author: Emily Boles
If you have created a Graded Harmonize Discussion assignment in Canvas, you must enable a due date and a milestone for student work to appear in SpeedGrader.
In the absence of due dates, Milestones, and Auto-Grading, only the students who created a post will have their work displayed in SpeedGrader. Here’s the expected behavior of SpeedGrader:
- SpeedGrader will likely have an incomplete view (ie some students will have activity shown, some will not) if you use it before an assignment is due
- We recommend using the Activity button within Harmonize if you want to review student work prior to the due date as that will always have a complete view
- Harmonize is designed to only make activity viewable in SpeedGrader when we are reasonably sure the student has completed a discussion
- We do this because as soon as we ship the activity to SpeedGrader, the assignment will drop off the student’s ToDo list in Canvas. Our usability research showed that the ToDo list was a critical way the majority of students keep track of what they need to work on.
- Here are the triggers in a discussion for when activity is viewable in SpeedGrader:
| Discussion Configuration | Activity for Single Student Viewable | Activity for All Students Viewable |
| No Milestones | When the student has submitted a post | No guarantee, only if every student submits a post |
| Milestones with No Due Dates | When the student completes all milestone requirements | No guarantee, only if every student completes all milestone requirements |
| Milestones with Due Dates (with or without Auto-Grading enabled) | When the student completes all milestone requirements | When the final Milestone due date has elapsed |
Harmonize Activity Screen
If prefer to not use due dates and milestones, you can still easily grade student activity by viewing the Harmonize Activity screen for your graded assignment. Simply click on the Harmonize Assignment, and then click on the Activity button to the right of your instructions.
All course sections, on-campus and online, access course rosters and retrieve student email addresses in the same way.
To view your course roster:
- Go to the Enterprise Self-Service system.
- Click on UIS.
- Login with your UIS NetID and Password with dual authentication. This is the same information that you use to log into UIS Canvas.
- Click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab across the top of the page.
- Then click on the Faculty Services link.
- Click on Class List Detail or Class List Summary.
- Select the desired semester and class CRN.
- Click on Display Email Addresses. Selected and copy the email address to send email to your students in Outlook.
- To change classes, click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab, Faculty Services link, and Choose a Term and CRN.
List of student email addresses
- Go to the Enterprise Self-Service system.
- Click on UIS.
- Login with your UIS NetID and Password with dual authentication. This is the same information that you use to log into UIS Canvas.
- Click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab across the top of the page.
- Then click on the Faculty Services link.
- Click on Class List Summary
- Select the desired semester and class CRN.
- Click on Display Email Addresses. Selected and copy the email address to send email to your students in Outlook.
- To change classes, click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab, Faculty Services link, and Choose a Term and CRN.
If set your discussions up for students to reply to one or more questions that you post inside the discussion forum, Harmonize discussions are a great tool to consider. Using these question numbers as their post cover graphic can help guide students to click on the question posts and NOT create new posts.
When assigning student facilitators to create posts with their questions, the same is true. Ask them use the question numbers below as their post cover image to help guide students to click on the student-generated questions to create their comments.
Within each zip file, you will find graphics labeled Question 1 through Question 11.
Blue Question Number graphics (.zip file)
The HyFlex (hybrid flexible) learning model is both a teaching format that bridges and blends the physical and digital classrooms and the pedagogy that informs the design of HyFlex learning. Originally conceived by Brian Beatty and his colleagues at San Francisco State University, the HyFlex model provide students more flexibility while maintaining high quality instruction for all students, whether they are joining the course face-to-face, online synchronous (Zoom), or asynchronously online. A short overview of HyFlex is below. View instructional strategies and additional resources on the HyFlex Pedagogy page on the COLRS website.
HyFlex Pedagogy
The approach adheres to four core values or principles, listed here as stated in Brian Beatty’s book, Hybrid-Flexible Course Design: Implementing student-directed hybrid classes (2019):
- Learner Choice: Provide meaningful alternative participation modes and enable students to choose between participation modes daily, weekly, or topically.
- Equivalency: Provide learning activities in all participation modes which lead to equivalent learning outcomes.
- Reusability: Utilize artifacts from learning activities in each participation mode as “learning objects” for all students.
- Accessibility: Equip students with technology skills and equitable access to all participation modes.
Sample HyFlex Lesson Plan
Both on-campus and online courses have the same deadlines for reporting student grades.
To Enter Grades in the Enterprise system:
- Go to the Enterprise Self-Service system.
- Click on UIS.
- Login with your UIS NetID and Password with dual authentication. This is the same information that you use to log into UIS Canvas.
- Click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab across the top of the page.
- Then click on the Faculty Services link.
- Click on Final Grade Entry.
- Select the desired semester and class.
- Enter your grades.
- Click Submit to complete the process.
How can we look and sound our best in Zoom or video presentations? Scott Moomaw, the multimedia specialist for COLRS, shares a few easy hints for making sure your home video productions and Zoom meetings look as good as they possibly can.
In the studio, it is easier to look and sound good. We have the equipment we need: cameras, microphones, lighting, everything to make your presentation its best. But we’re not in the studio right now. We’re all working remotely, trying to do our best with our laptops and virtual conference rooms, but we can still do many things to look our best.
Background
First, be aware of your surroundings. Your background, in particular is important. If you’re unsure about your background, go with something plain — a wall or tidy bookcase. My basement office doubles as the kids’ playroom when I’m not here. I hung a simple curtain rod as a backdrop to provide a bit more of a professional appearance.
Lighting
Be aware of any harsh light sources. Never set yourself up with a window or other bright light source right behind you. Use a desk lamp or another light source to highlight yourself. You don’t want to be a silhouette to your viewers.
Camera Angle
Adjust your camera position so that it’s looking at you straight on. You may need to elevate your laptop for this to work, but an upward facing camera is an awkward angle and can be distracting, even uncomfortable for the viewer.
And there you go. It doesn’t take much to create a pretty drastic improvement in how you come across to your audience.
Canvas is a web-based course management learning system that instructors can use to organize course content. Instructors can manage the content to provide students with supplemental materials in a blended course format or full-course activities organized in Modules for ease of student learning. Canvas contains a multitude of tools, such as collaborations, assignments, and pages for an online class. There are many tools such as the discussions, chat, Zoom, Kaltura video management, and peer reviews, which allow for increased communication and collaboration.
Canvas has a simple file upload process that requires no knowledge of HTML coding. UIS also has the Design Plus tool to enable faculty to create visually appealing and well organized courses to guide users through their coursework.
Canvas has an easy to navigate interface for students on the web and via a mobile app.
Canvas allows faculty members 24/7 access to their course for instructional updates and design.
by Alana Gomoll
Images
Alt Text
Most often, infographics are presented as images. For image-based infographics, the main concerns are alternative text and color contrast. You may be familiar with alternative text, which describes the content of an image to someone using a screen reader. For infographics, alt text involves fully providing the information described by the graphic. Where this should be included depends on where the infographic is being presented.
If it’s in a Word or PowerPoint document, you can right click on the image and choose Edit Alt Text (if you’re in 365 or 2019) or choose Format Picture and find the alt text box in the Layout and Properties tab of the Format menu (For Office 2016).
If you’re including the image as part of an email, and you’re using Outlook, you can include alt text the same way, by right clicking and choosing Edit Alt Text. If you aren’t using Outlook or another client that allows for the inclusion of alt text when inserting images, you should include the text alternative in the email itself, add a link to the alt text, or add it as an attachment.
If you’re posting it on a webpage, you can include the alt text in the image tag as seen below:
<img src="infographic.png" alt="description of the infographic's content"/>
When writing the alt text itself, describe in the logical reading order of the graphic the data described by each element. The form of the element may be omitted if it isn’t important to understanding the image.
For example, here is an infographic describing student demographics at UIS and its alt text:
Example ALT Text: Infographic, Snapshot of the UIS Student Body (Fall 2019): UIS has 4275 total students, 66.1 percent of which are onground students, and 33.9 percent are online students. 17.2 percent are transfer students, 62.5 percent are undergrad students, and 37.5 percent are graduate students. 30.9 percent live in college housing. 44.6 percent are part time students and 55.4 percent are full time students. 51.6 percent of students are female and 48.4 percent are male. Residency: 76.6 percent of students are Illinois residents; 14.6 percent are Non-Illinois residents; and 8.7 percent are International students. Age breakdown: 620 students are under 19. 662 students are aged 20 to 21. 827 students are aged 22 to 24. 715 students are aged 25 to 29. 515 students are aged 30 to 34. 366 students are aged 35 to 39. 359 students are aged 40 to 49. 193 students are aged 50 to 64. 18 students are 65 or older. Race breakdown: 2611 students are White. 557 students are Black or African American. 373 students are Non Resident Alien. 348 students are Hispanic or Latino. 197 students are Asian. 134 students are Two or More Races. 47 students are unknown. 6 students are American Indian or Alaskan Native. 2 students are Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
Here, none of the visual elements provided to make the image more engaging to the eye are included, as they are superfluous and are not used in a way to further convey the data expressed. Instead, the statistics are simply described in text, with an effort to make the format they are read in understandable to a listener. If any visual elements are important to the understanding of the infographic, be sure to include those. An example might be if one of the bars of the histogram was colored differently to highlight a certain data value.
In terms of accuracy, try to provide the original statistics if possible. I was able to include specific numbers for the charts at the bottom of the graphic because I had access to the original data that formed this document. If you don’t have such access, approximations are acceptable, but note that you’re providing approximations rather than the actual values in your description.
Color Contrast
The colors used in your infographic should also have significant contrast between them to ensure that sighted individuals with visual impairments can still read the graphic. There are a number of tools that allow you to check the contrast of a foreground and background color like this WCAG color contrast checker, or apply filters to see what an image looks like with different forms of color blindness, like Coblis.
Documents
If the infographic is instead a document like a PDF or PowerPoint that is made up of individual elements, there are other considerations beyond those listed above. Primarily, the elements should read in an order that is not confusing and complements the content.
PowerPoint
The accessibility checker in Office programs is located under File > Info > Check for Issues > Check Accessibility. You can use this to see if there are other issues with the document than are listed here. When you select an issue, there is a description at the bottom of the pane of why the issue occurred and how to fix it.
In PowerPoint, you can see the reading order by opening the Selection Pane (Home > Arrange > Selection Pane). The elements will be read from the bottom to the top of the selection pane. Drag and drop elements within this pane to reorder the way they will read.
For elements like charts, that have data integrated, they will read the data in a tabular format, and don’t require special considerations. Text items should be added in a content block rather than a text box, because text boxes can sometimes have issues with not being read properly. To add more content blocks, open the Slide Master (View > Slide Master) copy a content block on the current layout, and paste it in for as many elements as you need to add.
You can then reapply the layout by choosing it from the Layout dropdown in the Home tab, and add your elements into the content blocks.
Graphical items should have alternate text that describes their content, and if they’re decorative, you can check the “Mark as Decorative” box in the alt text pane.
Checking accessibility in PDF is a little more complicated than other filetypes. There are two tools that you may need to use to ensure an accessible PDF. First, use the Accessibility Check option from the Accessibility tool. The issues will be displayed in the left pane. You can right click and choose Explain, and it will open the Adobe help page explaining the error and how you might fix it.
If you get an issue for Untagged PDF, you need to run the Make Accessible wizard from the Action Center tool. Follow the dialog boxes to complete the wizard. When it asks for the document information, all of the fields are optional except for Title. It will ask if you would like to scan for form fields and the default option is to do so. Don’t choose this option; choose No, Skip this Step. You will likely have a point where it presents you with boxes to add alt text to any images it recognizes. I suggest just choosing Save and Close here, ensuring the reading order is correct, and then going back to alt text at the end by right clicking on one of the alt text issues and choosing Fix.
Similar to PowerPoint, reading order is the most important accessibility concern in PDFs. The easiest way to categorize elements and change their reading order is in the Order panel. You can right click on the left toolbar and choose Order if it isn’t shown already.
Here, each element will have a box around it labeled with a number in the order that they will read aloud to a screen reader. Each element is also listed in order in the left side pane. You can reorder elements within that pane. To regroup elements or change an element’s tag, open the menu at the top of the pane and choose “Show Reading Order Panel”.
This will open a dialog, and you will now be able to drag a box on the document to select elements. You can also click on an existing tagged element to select it as a whole. After you’ve selected what you want to tag, click the corresponding button in the dialog box. One thing to note is this will affect the layering order in the PDF, so an element that reads earlier will be above an element that reads later. If something is decorative and sitting in front of another element, you can tag it as background/artifact and adjust its visual ordering by using the Arrange options in the Edit PDF tool.
PDF Example
This is an example of an accessible PDF infographic. You can see the reading order given by the numbers next to each element. Most of this graphic was simply text, and so didn’t need special considerations beyond ensuring that they read in a logical manner. Each of the pictures has alt text, and the bars of the bar graph are also alt texted with their value, so the bar graph would read the label and then the corresponding value. Note that none of the decorative elements are included in the reading order because their presence is not necessary to understand the information presented.
Regular and substantive feedback on student work encourages academic growth and improvement. It is an important communication channel with your students. In the post below, we will discuss the general structure of grading and feedback in Canvas, as well as link to Canvas documentation on feedback and grading.
When you set up your Canvas Grades (Gradebook) and provide feedback to students, you will be working in three distinct areas of Canvas.
Assignments
The Assignments area of the Canvas lists every graded item in Canvas — assignments, quizzes, and graded discussions. Assignment Groups organize assignments and are used for weighted grades, if required.
This area exactly reflects the Grades (Gradebook) columns.
- How do I use the Assignments Index Page?
- How do I create an online assignment?
- How do I add an assignment group in a course?
- How do I give extra credit in a course?
- How do I publish or unpublish an assignment as an instructor?
- What assignment types can I create in a course?
- How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
- How do I assign a graded discussion to everyone in a course?
- View all Canvas Assignments Guides
Grades (Gradebook)
The Grades (Gradebook) area of Canvas displays individual student grades, instructor feedback, and calculates total grades. The Grades (Gradebook) area has many features for entering, modifying and overriding grades, posting/hiding columns, calculating late work deductions, and messaging students based on grading criteria.
- How do I use the Total column in the Gradebook?
- How do I get to SpeedGrader from the Gradebook?
- How do I enter and edit grades in the Gradebook?
- How do I send a message to students from the Gradebook?
- How do I use the Gradebook?
- View all Canvas Grades Guides
SpeedGrader
The SpeedGrader is the grading interface for online assignments, quizzes, and discussions. The SpeedGrader layout displays student work, any grading rubrics, and feedback options (including annotations, written, audio, or video feedback).
Students access instructor feedback entered in the SpeedGrader through their view of Grades.
Many faculty members have contacted us about how to “unpublish” courses from last semester to manage the courses that appear on their Canvas Dashboard screen.
Courses cannot be unpublished after students have submitted work, but you can customize which active courses you want to show in your Course list and Dashboard. Courses you want to show in the Courses menu are called favorite courses. You can favorite any active course that appears on the course list page.
When no courses are favorited, the courses list automatically displays up to 20 courses alphabetically in the drop-down menu. However, once you have selected at least one course as a favorite, only your favorite courses will appear in the Courses list.
Note: Courses are always listed alphabetically; you cannot reorder your courses manually.
Open Courses
In the blue Global Navigation on the left side of Canvas, click the Courses link [1], then click the All Courses link [2].
Manage Courses
To favorite a course, click the star next to a course [1]. Courses with filled stars show the course is a favorite [2].
In the Dashboard, any courses you have with an instructor role will be listed first, followed by TA roles and any other custom instructor-based roles. Your courses with student roles are listed last.
Note: When you favorite at least one course, the Dashboard will only display favorited courses. Canvas will also continue to automatically favorite new course enrollments.
View Unpublished Courses
Unpublished courses can be identified by a gray background [1] and the Published column [2]. You can favorite unpublished courses.
View Past Enrollments
Depending on course configuration, you may still be able to view your past enrollments after courses have concluded. However, favorited courses are not automatically removed as a favorite. If a past enrollment course still shows as a favorite, users can unfavorite the course by toggling the star icon.
Import the Canvas Commons home page option into your course. Use the notes below to help you customize the home page.
Important Notes:
- Be sure to edit the content on the home page, add your photo, and edit your information on the Instructor Information page, if you choose to use it.
- Update ALL the home page links to the modules in your course. Edit the home page, highlight the module link and/or click on the linked image, click on the Links button > Choose Course Links > Modules > click on the module. the new link to your module. Save the page.
- If you delete the links and insert them again, the button styling will be deleted. Each <a> will need a class style (class=”btn”) added to it again. The link should look be added is below. Canvas will insert all of the link, except the class.
<a class="btn" title="Module 13" href="$CANVAS_OBJECT_REFERENCE$/modules/g058d530cfac3258f9d32f8618205435e" data-api-endpoint="https://uispringfield.instructure.com/api/v1/courses/2880/modules/9700" data-api-returntype="Module">Module 13</a>
- To set a page as the “Front Page” of your course, go to the Page, click on the kebab menu for your selected home page option, and then choose “Use as Front page.” Next, go to the Home link in your course menu, click on the “Choose Home Page” button, and choose “Pages as Front Page.” Be sure to click “Save.”
- You may delete the page and image(s) that you do not need for your course.
- The images on Home Page Option 2 may not appear properly on people using the browser Safari (version 13. 1 or later).
Students may designate a preferred first name, which certain University systems, including Banner, Email, and Canvas, will then use.
In Canvas, the preferred name will appear in place of the legal first name. In Banner, both the legal first name and preferred first name will appear. A preferred first name may take several days to roll out to all systems.
By default, courses for upcoming semesters are set to Unpublished. Instructors can open a course, or make it available, before the start of a term.
Any students enrolled in the course site will not have a Canvas Card for a course on their Dashboard until the instructor “Publishes” the course site.
- Instructors can add other Instructors, TAs or Course Designers to the site and they will be able to access an unpublished course site.
- Instructors cannot message the students through Canvas Inbox if the course site is unpublished.
- Course Announcement emails will not be sent from an unpublished course site
To publish a Canvas course site:
- Go to the course Home Page.
- Under Course Status, click Publish.
- Publishing your course gives your students immediate access to the course site. Note: This is a change from Summer and Fall 2020 course settings.
Once you Publish a Canvas course site, you do not have to publish it again if you add new content. You only have to Publish the site once.
You can Unpublish the course by going to the Home page and clicking Unpublish. This will remove the Dashboard Card link from all student accounts.
To Allow Student Early Access to a Canvas Course
- Go to the Course.
- Click on Settings.
- Click on the Course Details Tab.
- Uncheck the box for “Restrict students from viewing this course before start date.”
- Click Update Course Details.
Note: Once you have graded a student assessment, you can no longer Unpublish the course site.
Canvas New Feature Ideas allow all Canvas users to suggest ideas and rate ideas for new and existing features and fixing bugs in Canvas. Canvas use New Feature Ideas to prioritize work. They have some great pages about starting idea conversations and the Canvas development process.
Who can start an idea?
Any registered user! Your UIS Canvas account allows you to create new ideas and rate or comment on existing ideas. Rating the is the “voting” mechanism that Canvas uses to measure support for an idea.
How do I rate a conversation?
Rating is how you demonstrate just how important an idea conversation is to you.
To rate an idea conversation, click on the “Log in to participate” button in the red banner at the top of the page. Click on the number of stars you wish to rate it, with 1 being low and 5 being the highest importance.
Notes: You must be logged into the Community to rate. Also, you cannot rate your own idea.
Canvas Ideas that we think UIS faculty and staff may wish to rate and move up in the development pipeline:
What do the stages for Canvas Ideas mean?
- Initial Stage: Canvas is reviewing your idea
- Moderating: An idea conversation starter that is incomplete or needs clarification may be placed into Moderating status.
- Open for Conversation: Ideas that are open for conversation allow any Community member to rate or comment on the idea.
- In Development: In Development ideas conversations are currently being worked on or will commence work within the next six months.
- On Beta: On Beta idea conversations have features available in the Beta account of your Canvas environment. Visit How do I access the Canvas beta environment?
- Archived/Not Currently Planned: Archived idea conversations include a comment and provide clear reasons for why the conversation was archived.
- Complete: Complete ideas have features that are implemented and deployed to Canvas.
In Canvas’s New Quizzes tool, partial credit is not available on Matching, Ordering, and Multiple Answer Questions. To adjust student scores for these questions, you can use “fudge points” in the Canvas SpeedGrader. You can also manually override the grade, by entering the correct grade in the total points for the quiz.
Partial credit is given in the Canvas Classic Quizzes tool for these question types.
New quizzes in Canvas have a solid green spaceship logo. Classic quizzes have an outlined spaceship logo.
Canvas users, including UIS faculty and staff, can “vote up” new features and feature changes in Canvas.
If you are developing Canvas assignments that require your students to create and post videos, the following copy and paste resources may be helpful.
Be sure that you have My Media enabled in your course menu (under Settings > Navigation), so that students can record their videos with Kaltura Media.
Student: How to to Record a Video in Kaltura Media
Students can follow the instructions for recording a video with Kaltura Media from UIS ITS.
Student: How to Upload a Video in Kaltura Media
- Go to UIS Canvas.
- Go to a Canvas Course and click on “My Media.”
- Click on “Add New” and then select “Media Upload.”
- Click “Choose a file to upload” and select your file.
- Your video will upload automatically. Depending on the size, this may take a while.
- After your video uploads, edit the name, description, tags (key words), and privacy settings.
- Click “Save” to complete the upload process.
Student: How to Submit a Video Link to a Canvas Assignment
- Find the link to your Kaltura Media video.
- Click on My Media.
- Click on the title of the video you want to share.
- Under the video, click on Actions > Edit.
- Along the bottom of the video player, click on the share button (see image on right).
- Copy the top link to submit to your assignment. It will begin something like this:
https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/[…]
- Navigate to the assignment on UIS Canvas (usually in Assignments or Modules).
- Click on the assignment name.
- Click on “Submit Assignment.”
- Click on the “Website URL” tab.
- Paste the URL into the “Website URL” textbox. Enter any comments.
- Click “Submit Assignment.”
Student: How to Embed a Video in Canvas Assignment
- Navigate to the assignment on UIS Canvas (usually in Assignments or Modules).
- Click on the assignment name.
- Click on “Submit Assignment.”
- Click on the “Text Entry” tab.
- Click on the Apps button, then Embed Kaltura Media.
or click on the Tools menu > Apps > Embed Kaltura Media. - Click on the “Select” button next to the video you wish to submit.
- Enter any comments.
- Click “Submit Assignment.”
Student: How to Submit a Video Link to a Canvas Discussion Post
- Find the link to your Kaltura Media video.
- Click on My Media.
- Click on the title of the video you want to share.
- Under the video, click on Actions > Edit.
- Along the bottom of the video player, click on the share button (see image on right).
- Copy the top link to submit to your assignment. It will begin something like this:
https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/[…]
- Navigate to the discussion on UIS Canvas (usually in Discussion or Modules).
- Click on the discussion name.
- Click on “Reply” to add your post.
- Type the title of your video, highlight the text, and then click on the “Link” button in the Canvas content editor.
- Paste the video URL into the Link text box and click Done.
- Click “Post Reply.”
Student: How to Embed a Video in a Canvas Discussion Post
- Navigate to the assignment on UIS Canvas (usually in Assignments or Modules).
- Click on the discussion name.
- Click on “Reply” to add your post.
- Click on the Apps button, then Embed Kaltura Media.
or click on the Tools menu > Apps > Embed Kaltura Media. - Click on the “Select” button next to the video you wish to submit.
- Click “Post Reply.”
Assignments that ask students to create video presentations can be excellent methods to assess synthesis of course materials or to present original research. Below you will find best practices for setting up student video presentation assignments in Canvas, including some instructions that you can copy and paste to include in your assignment instructions.
But, first, a word about what NOT to do.
Please do not create a Canvas assignment with a submission type of “online” and “Media Recordings” upload. This type of assignment will have the students upload video files directly to Canvas, which will quickly cause your course size to reach its storage limit. After your course meets its storage limit, you will not be able to upload any additional files to your course.
Best Practices for Student Video Submissions
Students have access to record and share videos through Kaltura Media, the UIS video creation and storage solution. Student video projects can be created in Kaltura Media or created else and uploaded to Kaltura Media. Students may share the videos by (1) submitting a URL (web link) to the video to a Canvas Assignment, (2) embedding their video in a text box, or (3) adding a link to the video or embedding the video in a Canvas Discussion.
Create a Canvas Assignment for Student Video Submission
- Click on “Assignments” from the course navigation.
- Click “+Assignment” at the top right corner.
- Name your assignment.
- Enter a description or assignment details in the rich content editor. Be sure to include instructions for how your students can embed or link to their Kaltura Media video to submit their assignment.
- Points – Set the number of points the assignment is worth. If ungraded, enter “0”.
- Assignment Group – Select an assignment group if any have been created.
- Display Grade As – Select the type of grade that shows up in the gradebook and on the students’ view.
- Percentage
- Complete/Incomplete
- Points
- Letter Grade – Uses the grading scheme
- GPA Scale – Uses the grading scheme
- Not Graded – If the assignment has no submission AND is ungraded
- “Do not count this assignment towards the final grade” – Check this box if the assignment has a submission BUT is ungraded.
- Submission Type – Set the submission type to “Online” and check the box for either:
- Text Box – choose if you want students to embed their Kaltura video for you to view. This submission method doesn’t involve extra steps for your students to locate the Kaltura URL.
- Website URL – choose this option if you want students provide a URL to video on Kaltura, YouTube, or other video sharing platforms.
- Group Assignment – Select to designate the assignment as a group assignment.
- Peer Reviews – Select to have students review their peers’ work provide feedback.
- Assign – Select who and when will see the assignment, as well set the due date.
- Click “Save & Publish” to allow student submissions or just “Save” to keep it hidden from students.
Video Submissions to Canvas Discussion Board
By default, students will be able to embed Kaltura Media videos in a discussion post. Follow these directions to create a Canvas Discussion. Be sure to include instructions for how your students can embed or link to their Kaltura Media video in their post.
Transcript for Viewing and editing captions in Kaltura Media in Canvas
Note: All new videos uploaded to Kaltura automatically have captions requested. You do not need to request machine captions. However, the captions do not automatically show on your video. To show your captions, you will need to review and edit them, and then select the button that says Show on Player. See below for instructions.
- Go to Canvas at UIS and go into one of your Canvas courses.
- Click on the My Media button to view all your videos uploaded to Kaltura Media.
- Click on one of your videos to open it.
- Click on Actions, and then Caption and Enrich.
- Scroll down to locate the captions. Click on the Pencil icon to edit. The caption editor will show up in the browser next to your video so that you can view them simultaneously.
- To edit, click in the text of the caption to make edits.
- When you are finished reviewing and editing your captions, click on the Save button. This allows you to come back and finish editing later. At this point, your captions still do not show on your video.
- To publish the captions and make them visible, click on the back button so that you viewing the video again.
- Click Actions, and then Edit.
- Beneath the preview of the video, click on the Captions tab.
- Next to the English captions line, look for the button on the far right to “Show on Player.”
- Once this button is clicked, your students will be able to turn captions on and off by using the CC button the video player.
Kaltura Media is the video management solution at UIS. Faculty and students may upload video from other sources (MS Lync, camcorders or phones) or record web cam and/or screen capture videos through Kaltura Personal Capture. A fantastic feature of Kaltura is the statistics for video use. It will tell you the percentage of your video that each student watch, how many times it was access, and the average view time. Across UIS, the average view time for a video is 7 minutes and 35 seconds, which is on the longer side of the recommended 5-7 minute length for video lectures.
For detailed videos on how to use Kaltura, please see the Kaltura Company’s training videos on Kaltura and Personal Capture.
UIS Kaltura Resources
- Kaltura Status
- Using Personal Capture from ITS covers how to sue the cut and trim tools to edit your video.
- All new videos uploaded to Kaltura will have machine captions created. You have to edit and show the captions to your students before they will be able to see the captions. Learn how to edit and show Captions for Kaltura Videos in Canvas.
- How to Upload Skype for Business (MS Lync) Recordings (PDF) from ITS gives step-by-step instructions for locating recordings and adding them to Kaltura.
- In the post below, you’ll find step-by-step instructions for uploading video to Kaltura.
- Another COLRS blog post covers including Kaltura videos in your Canvas course.
Access and Upload Videos to Kaltura Media
Faculty and students access Kaltura Media through Canvas.
- Go to UIS Canvas.
- Go to a Canvas Course and click on “My Media.”
- Click on “Add New” and then select “Media Upload.”
- Click “Choose a file to upload” and select your file.
- Your video will upload automatically. Depending on the size, this may take a while.
- After your video uploads, edit the name, description, tags (key words), and privacy settings.
- Click “Save” to complete the upload process.
- Follow the steps in this post to add your video a Canvas course.
How do I assess individual contributions?
Use technology. Promote the use of tools that capture individual contributions through versioning. Examples of tools provided by UIS:
- Google Apps for Education includes Google Docs, an online word processor that allows students to collaborate on documents and tracks who has made changes and additions. Students can log into this service with their UIS NetIDs, so there is no need to create an account. Learn more about Google Apps at UIS.
- Blackboard Wikis
Implement peer evaluation. Allow group members to evaluation one another and themselves and incorporate this evaluation into the final grades for the group project.
Instructions to access students enrolled in courses using Self-service (Enterprise):
- Go to the Enterprise Self-Service system.
- Click on UIS.
- Login with your UIS NetID and Password.
- Click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab across the top of the page.
- Click on the Faculty Services link.
- Click on Class List – Summary to view your class roster in a condensed format.
- Click “Display E-mail Addresses” at the bottom of the page.
What can I do in Canvas Inbox?
- Send a message to someone in your course
- Reply to messages from others in your course
- Filter conversations by course or type (read, unread, starred)
- View and reply to assignment submission comments
In the Inbox, you can send a message to one user or multiple users in a course. You course must be published to send messages to currently enrolled students. If students have not yet been added to your course, you can obtain a list of emails for your students in Self-Service and send a message through UIS Webmail.
How do I use Canvas Inbox?
If your recipient list contains more than 100 users, your message will automatically be sent as individual messages to each user. As the sender, you will also be included in the total recipient count.
Notes:
- Currently you cannot send a single message users in multiple courses. You would need to send one message for each course.
- You can also send a message to yourself, but messages can only be viewed in the Sent messages folder.
- You cannot send messages to users in concluded courses.
Open Canvas Inbox
Open Inbox by click on “Inbox” in the blue menu on the left side of the screen in Canvas.
Create a New Canvas Message
Click on the Compose button (a square icon with a pencil on top). A new Canvas Message box will appear.
Choose Recipients
Next to Course, click on the Select Course dropdown menu. If you click on Favorite Courses, you should see your currently active courses in the list.
In the “To” line, click on the Address Book graphic to select your recipients. You can select from
- All in the course
- Teachers (once you click on Teacher, you may select either All Teachers or specific teachers)
- Students (once you click on Students, you may select either either All Students or specific students)
To finish your message enter a Subject, type your message, and click the blue Send button.
In order to prepare students for remote learning this fall, COLRS has create a short orientation module that can be imported into any UIS Canvas course site. The materials have been reviewed by UIS faculty and posted to Canvas Commons for easy inclusion in your course(s).
- Log in to Canvas with your NetID and password.
- Click on Commons in the blue Canvas menu.
- Search the Commons for “Remote Learning at UIS” and click on the green MODULE (for a version that will not hide navigation links in your course) or click on this direct link to the Remote Learning at UIS content.
[Note: the blue course import that will appear during this search will hide your navigation links upon import. We apologize for the work that has caused some faculty. We have created this modules version to prevent that issue. The content is the same.] - Click on Import/Download on the right side of the screen.
- Check the boxes for any courses into which you wish to import the module
- Click “Import into Course.”
The materials are also accessible through the “More” menu in Canvas. Click on the “Remote Learning Orientation” to view the materials.
Guest accounts cannot be created for Canvas. All users must have a NetID to have access to UIS Canvas.
If an instructor or unit needs to provide access to a person who does not have a NetID, the unit may request an External Affiliate UIN and NetID.
An External Affiliate is typically a person who is not an employee, student, or faculty member that requires a UIN and NetID. This could be a visiting scholar, guest, etc. This is not to be confused with a person requiring only WiFi access, which can be provided by other methods. A new request for an External Affiliate status will typically pertain to three types of people
- A person who has an active NetID on any campus, this implies a UIN has previously been assigned.
- A person who previously had an active NetID and/or UIN on any campus, e.g. a graduate 10 years previous, who is now a guest instructor or vendor.
- A person who has never had a relationship with any University of Illinois campus, a new UIN will be required.
A sponsor will have been assigned to assist the requester before this request is initiated. The sponsor must be a university employee that will assist in the submission of the new request and is the point of contact for any questions during the process. The employment status of of the sponsor will be validated at submission time.
The unit sponsor will complete this External Affiliate request form. This form must be completed on campus or while connect to campus by VPN.
The sponsor will be required to provide this information for the affiliate who needs a NetID:
- First Name (Required by i-Card)
- Last Name (Required by i-Card)
- Date of Birth (Required by i-Card)
- Gender (Required by i-Card)
- Personal email address for the affiliate (Utilized for status notifications or for additional information follow-up)
- University email address of sponsor
Optional information
- Middle Name
- UIN (If known from current or previous University relationship)
- NetID (If known from current or previous University relationship)
If a NetID and UIN from a current or previous university relationship is entered, this will expedite the approval process. Otherwise, the iCard office will search for a previously utilized UIN/NetID.
Please note: Enrollments in academic courses are handled automatically and synced hourly with available data from Enterprise/Banner. The instructions below apply to non-teaching courses, such as departmental or committee courses. If you have any questions regarding adding additional people to an academic course, please contact COLRS.
To add a user by NetID, select the login ID button [1].
In the text field [2], enter the NetID for the user. You can copy and paste multiple NetIDs at one time by placing a comma or line break between login IDs.
Select User Details
In the Role drop-down menu [1], assign the user(s) a role for the course based on available course roles.
In the Section drop-down menu [2], assign the user(s) a section in the course.
If you want to limit the user(s) to only interact with other users in their section, click the Can interact… checkbox [3].
Click the Next button [4].
Note: If you are adding multiple users at the same time, all users inherit the same role and section.
Add Existing Users
If Canvas finds an existing user, you can confirm the user before adding the user to the course [1].
The user’s name displays in the page along with the user’s information you used in the user search. Although Canvas may display additional search columns, existing information in a user’s account will not be displayed.
When you are ready, click the Add Users button [2].
If Canvas did not find your intended user, you can click the Start Over button [3].
If you cannot locate a user, they may not yet have a Canvas Account. Please have the user log in to Canvas, which will automatically create their UIS Canvas account.
Your Canvas course will become unavailable to students on the Friday before the next term begins. Instructors do not need to take any steps to close their courses.
UIS has configured single sign-on (SSO) for our Zoom account, you need to use SSO to login on the web and with the Zoom client. Some meetings, like COLRS training workshops, will also require you to login with the SSO to access the Zoom session.
To access a Zoom session that requires you to be logged in with your UIS account:
- Click on the link to join the Zoom session.
- Your computer will prompt you to choose an application. Select zoom.us and click on Open Link. If nothing happens, click on the Download and Run Zoom link on the browser window.
- Your desktop Zoom client will open.
- Click Sign In with SSO.
- Enter your company domain (uis).
You can also click on I don’t know the company domain, then enter your UIS email address. - Click Continue.
You will be redirected to the UIS single sign-on provider to sign in. - After signing in, you will be redirected back to the Zoom Desktop Client. Click Launch Zoom.
While we are scrambling to transition face-to-face courses to remote teaching, we’d like to remind everyone that perfection isn’t necessary.
In the spirit of not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, we offer the following ideas regarding assessments for your consideration.
- Consider one consistent day and time each week when work is due. Make an updated course calendar for students.
- Be creative about assessment. Think about assessing in ways that are appropriate for what you want students to learn. Do you assessments match your higher-level learning objectives?
- Instead of a big exam with 100 question, consider breaking assessments into smaller chunks – quizzes or more focused activities. Many smaller assessments are less stressful for students.
- When you do give exams, provide longer windows during which students can take the exam, rather than just during your normal class time. For example, allow students 2 days to choose an hour to take a test. Allowing a cushion of time for connectivity issues will make your life easier.
- One of the principles of universal design for learning is that what is good for one student is good for all. Captioning, sharing lecture notes and presentations, and creating videos are good practices that help your students with documented disabilities as well as everyone else in your class.
- Rely on those with experience and expertise – the Remote Teaching Faculty Champions and COLRS/ITS staff are here to support your transition. Have conversations and learn some strategies and tools to keep learning going this semester.
Resources:
Everybody Ready for the Big Migration to Online College? Actually, No by Kevin Carey, NYT TheUpshot
Keep Calm and Keep Teaching by Jody Greene
Please do a bad job of putting your course online by Rebecca Barrett-Fox
While we are scrambling to transition face-to-face courses to remote teaching, we’d like to remind everyone that perfection isn’t necessary.
In the spirit of not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, we offer the following ideas for your consideration.
- Flexibility is vital right now. You didn’t sign up for a mid-semester move to remote teaching. Your students didn’t register for an online class. Students are looking to you for guidance and support. Are you treating you students as you would want to be treated in this situation?
- Students likely do not have great internet connections. A large number are doing remote learning on cell phones. Students may be experiencing loss of income, ill family members, and stress about the uncertainty of this situation.
- Let go of teaching your class as you always have. Take a step back and think about your learning objectives. How can you accomplish your learning objectives in this new situation?
- Make the tools you have work to your advantage. Elaborate isn’t necessary.
- Expecting all students to log into Zoom at a particular time is a challenging requirement, at best. Record any live sessions (save recordings to your computer, rather than the cloud; it gives you faster access to the recordings). Upload recordings to Kaltura or YouTube and provide the links to the recordings for students who could not attend. UIS has asked that all synchronous sessions to take place at normal class times to avoid conflicts among classes for students.
- Asynchronous learning has some advantages in fluid, crisis situations. It allows students to work on their classes when their new schedule allows. Consider providing students material to read and then summarize, create an info graphic, find current events articles related to the subject, etc. Engagement sometimes looks different in an online environment, and it can be meaningful and rich. Check out this video from a theater instructor for why asynchronous learning might be your best bet.
- Reconsider creating narrated PowerPoint or talking head videos for three hours a week. Long videos take a lot of bandwidth. Consider short videos (5 minutes or less). Post content in Word or PowerPoint files, too. Reserve synchronous Zoom sessions for discussion and student questions.
Remember, perfection is not necessary. Communicate with students. Simplify where possible. Ask for help when you need it.
Resources:
Everybody Ready for the Big Migration to Online College? Actually, No by Kevin Carey, NYT TheUpshot
Keep Calm and Keep Teaching by Jody Greene
Please do a bad job of putting your course online by Rebecca Barrett-Fox
Zoom is a robust web conferencing platform integrated with Canvas. Faculty can create, schedule, and launch Zoom sessions from within Canvas, and students can easily join those sessions.
Synchronous class meetings for remote teaching should be held during normal on campus meeting times.
Zoom as a Classroom Tool
Zoom can be an excellent platform for delivering lectures, holding class discussions, supporting group work and class debates, and enabling student presentations.
Zoom Usability for Students with Slow or Intermittent Internet Access
Zoom is designed to work on multiple platforms (Mac and Windows, plus mobile devices). Zoom also compresses audio and video feeds to make them work on slower internet connections. Below are some strategies for providing support for students with slow, unreliable, or intermittent internet access, or other circumstances that prevent joining a synchronous session held during normal class meeting times. Being flexible and forgiving will be key to helping all our students continuing their learning.
- Remind students that they can call in to listen and participate.
If they don’t have internet access, they are not excluded from class. Each Zoom meeting will have a phone number and meeting ID that allows participants to call in. - Upload all PowerPoint slides, shared resources, and websites to Canvas.
This can be helpful for students who are calling in. They can download and/or print resources before the synchronous meeting time. - Record the session to the Cloud and post it.
Zoom automatically provides auto-captions for recordings to the cloud. Take advantage of this feature and save some steps. These recordings are saved for six months. If you’d like to keep a lecture for longer periods, upload the recording to Kaltura MyMedia or YouTube. When the recording is uploaded, post it to your Canvas course to provide alternative viewing modes for students who cannot meet at the normal, scheduled class time. Learn about Zoom recordings and uploading to Kaltura. - Provide a “muddiest point” discussion forum for the synchronous session.
The Muddiest Point is a simple classroom assessment technique to help assess where students are having difficulties. Ask each student to post a quick response to the question: “What was the muddiest point in [synchronous meeting, lecture, discussion, assignment, etc.]?” You might replace “muddiest” with “most unclear” or “most confusing.” This technique also allows students who view the recording later to participate with the rest of the class. Learn more about Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs).
Zoom Accessibility Considerations
Zoom Cloud Recordings are automatically captioned now, and can provide live real-time auto-captions. If you have a student with accommodations in your course, the UIS Office of Disability Services will continue working with the student and all their instructors. Zoom can support live captioning, if required.
Learn our top tips for wrapping up your online course, including the best practices for ensuring good returns on your course evaluations.
The official system of record for your class list is the Enterprise Self-Service system. This is also the system where students register and drop courses and instructors enter midterm and final grades.
- Go to the Enterprise Self-Service system.
- Click on UIS.
- Login with your UIS NetID and Password. This is the same information that you use to log into UIS Canvas.
- Click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab across the top of the page.
- Then click on the Faculty Services link.
- Click on Class List – Summary to view your class roster in a condensed format.
- Select the desired Term from the drop down menu and click Submit.
- Select the desired CRN (course reference number) from the drop down menu and click Submit.
- To view a class list for another section that you are teaching, click on Select a Term & CRN or Select a CRN from the bottom of the page.
The following is from Constructivism and Online Education by Doolittle:
Constructivism is a theory of knowledge acquisition, not a theory of pedagogy; thus, the nexus of constructivism and online education is tentative, at best. Constructivism posits that knowledge acquisition occurs amid four assumptions:
- Knowledge involves active cognizing by the individual.
- Knowledge is adaptive, facilitating individual and social efficacy.
- Knowledge is subjective and self-organized, not objective.
- Knowledge acquisition involves both sociocultural and individual processes.
These four assumptions have led, indirectly, to eight primary pedagogical recommendations:
- Learning should take place in authentic and real-world environments.
- Learning should involve social negotiation and mediation.
- Content and skills should be made relevant to the learner.
- Content and skills should be understood within the framework of the learner’s prior knowledge.
- Students should be assessed formatively, serving to inform future learning experiences.
- Students should be encouraged to become self-regulatory, self-mediated, and self-aware.
- Teachers serve primarily as guides and facilitators of learning, not instructors.
- Teachers should provide for and encourage multiple perspectives and representations of content.
The question then arises, can an online medium support this pedagogy that is based on the constructivist assumptions?
More on Constructivism
- Read all of Doolittle’s Constructivism and Online Education information including Types of Constructivism, Constructivist Pedagogy, etc.
Explore the new Adobe Slate and Voice iPad apps, which allow you to tell stories. Slate allows you to create scrolling stories from pictures and text. Voice helps you to create videos from text and images with background music and transitions. Beyond being attractive, these stories are mobile-friendly!
The apps are currently FREE to download. Slate is also available for use through a web browser on your desktop, though handout focuses on the iPad app only (they work in the same manner). You will need to create a free Adobe ID in order to use these tools.
Consider this tool for use in presenting course content and for student presentations. Topics included: navigating and building projects with the apps, importing photos, importing text, project privacy, making projects accessible, and including projects in Blackboard courses.
Videos can enhance your course by offering examples, explanations of concepts, and can be a visual for your students to refer to when learning new content.
There are several ways to add video to your course:
Hollywood movies or documentaries (copyrighted)
Brookens Library has many films freely available through film collections to which the campus subscribes. If you find a video you would like to include, contact the library for help linking to it in your Blackboard site.
If the film you wish to show is not available in these collections, it may be available in the library’s film collection or available for purchase. The library can work with you to find obtain copyright clearance for the film.
You can also request that your students find a film at a local library or video store. Contact your Brookens Library Liaison for help teaching your students to use the WorldCat database to find films at their local library.
Free videos from the Web
YouTube and Ted.com are just two of many great sites for free video on the Web. The embed codes provided by sites like these make it easy to add the videos to Blackboard. The Library of Congress created a National Screening Room collection of American films from 1890 to 1999.
To embed a video player from Ted.com or YouTube.com in your Blackboard course site:
- Copy the embed code from the video website.
- Go to your Canvas course.
- Edit the page in which you wish to add the video or create a new page.
- Below the rich content editor (text box), click on the HTML button — “<>” — to view the code.
- Paste the embed code you previously copied.
- Click Save or Save and Publish.
Create your own video
Check out a digital video camera from ITS or record your screen using Camtasia Relay. Once you have created your video, you need to put up for your students to see it.
Please upload the video to Kaltura Media through Canvas. Learn more about Kaltura Media here.
Hints about videos in online courses
- Remember that large files can take a long time to download if a student has dial up internet service. Please be careful not to upload videos directly into your Blackboard course. Always link from an outside source as stated above.
- Videos should supplement content. Use videos to explain text book content more in depth, create examples of concepts, and extend the learning environment with outside curriculum resources.
- Other purposes for video in your course might be:
- Introduce yourself to students
- Student presentations
- Specific examples of past projects
- Feedback on assignments
Keeping abreast of current and future workforce trends provide insight and ideas for new and enhanced skill development options when updating or creating new academic course content. According to Deloitte Insight’s, The Future of Work article and video, the paradigm-shifting forces such as cognitive technologies and the open talent economy are reshaping the future workforce, driving many organizations to reconsider how they design jobs, organize work, and plan for future growth. Review the figure below for a quick comparison of changing workforce rules that need to be adopted for leading, organizing, motivating, managing, and engaging the 21st-century workforce.
On the Learn, Lead, Grow blog, Matt Bergman shared 4 Tips for Using Video More Effectively. These tips are easy to integrate!
The WCET Frontiers Blog featured Dr. Katie Linder, Oregon State University Ecampus, who discussed a national research project on student use of closed captions and transcriptions. The Oregon State University Ecampus Research unit and 3Play Media worked together to conduct a national study on student uses and perceptions of closed captions and transcriptions.
The important results show that while these resources are not yet widely available, many students, even those who may not need these resources as an accommodation, are able to use transcriptions and captions to increase their success.
Narrated lectures, when properly structured and brief, can be a good tool to deliver course content to your students.
Chunk Your Content
We recommend that you “chunk” your lectures into smaller manageable pieces no longer than 5-7 minutes. Chunking accomplishes three things for you. First, by breaking the lectures into brief topics, the likelihood of being able reuse a lecture in another course increases. Second, it is easier to update or re-record a single short video than a longer video. Third, it is easier for your students to find time to sit and concentrate for less than 10 minutes.
Write a Script
Remember to write a script for your lectures. It will help keep you from using verbal fillers and keep your videos brief, but more importantly, the script gives an alternative content piece to present to students who cannot hear your lecture and for visually impaired students. It is also very easy to create captions for your lecture by using the YouTube caption editor.
Use Images & Visual Explanations
Narrated PowerPoint lectures give you the opportunity to present your materials in a visual way, and can help you reach students who are visual learners. Try to include images that enhance your lecture. Replace text descriptions with visual representations of your topic — flow charts, graphs, diagrams, photographs, artwork, maps. Visuals will add value to your lecture and help to keep you from reading every word on your slide — something that students could easily do for themselves.
Creating video lectures using PowerPoint
- How to create narrated video lectures in PowerPoint
- Kaltura Media Overview (Video management tool at UIS)
- Adding Kaltura Media Videos to Courses Sites
Voice Training
Aerobics for your voice: Tips for sounding better on-air (NPR Article)
If you have your original PowerPoint and Audio files, you can convert them to videos that can be uploaded to Kaltura.
- First, convert the PowerPoint and audio files to an .mp4 video using PowerPoint. If you do not have audio files outside of the PowerPoint/Articulate proprietary format, the audio files can be exported for this process.
- After the video file has been uploaded to Kaltura, you may add chapters to the video to mimic the table of contents feature in Articulate.
- The final step in any video creation for use at UIS is to be sure a transcript
Excelsior Online Writing Lab (OWL)
About
The Excelsior Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a highly-interactive, publicly-available and media-rich online writing lab designed to help students make the transition to college-level writing. In 2014, the Excelsior OWL – ESL Writing Online Workshop (WOW) won the 2013 Distance Education Award by the National University Technology Network (NUTN).
The Excelsior OWL offers videos, interactive PDFs, video games, quizzes, Prezis
Home Page and Learning Areas
From the Excelsior OWL Home Page you can access all of the learning areas, as well as “Additional Resources” found in the header, and “Acknowledgements”, found in the footer.
Each learning area has its own landing page, with access to the content, as well as the “How to Use OWL” and “Additional Resources” pages. Depending on the learning area, there may be additional options available on the landing page.
Page Navigation – How to Use the OWL
Once inside a learning area, you will see the online writing lab menu on the left side of the screen. The active learning area is highlighted, at which point all of the topics for that learning area are displayed below it. Some of the topics have multiple sections.
Quizzes
The built-in quizzes allow students to check their understanding of a particular section of the OWL. Examples include – paraphrasing quiz, punctuation, and digital writing.
ESL-WOW
For ESL students using the ESL-WOW area of the OWL, they will learn to:
- Generate Ideas
- Develop a Thesis
- Map Ideas
- Revise, Cite
- Edit and Polish
Ideas for using the Excelsior OWL for online or blended classes
- Send students to individual links within the OWL
For example, if students are to provide an annotated bibliography, provide a link to the Annotated Bibliography page. Another example, the Literature review section, which includes a prezi.
- Refer students back to the OWL in your feedback
For example, if the student has provided a weak thesis statement, you may provide a link to the Thesis section, or a specific section (such as Stating your Thesis) within the Thesis section.
- Support student understanding of plagiarism
The Avoiding Plagiarism section of the OWL provides a thorough overview of the topic of plagiarism. With audio, video, and supporting documentation, students will develop a keen understanding of what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. The pre-test and post-test provide a method for students to track their progress.
The New York Public Library’s digital collections are vast. In early January 2016, they added more than 180,000 of its public-domain holdings to the digital collection. Visitors will find maps, posters, manuscripts, sheet music, drawings, photographs, letters, ancient texts, all available as high-resolution downloads. “These changes are intended to facilitate sharing, research and reuse by scholars, artists, educators, technologists, publishers, and Internet users of all kinds,” the library says in a statement.
Documents range from literary manuscripts and sheet music to maps, atlases, and stereoscopic views. The library also notes that the documents include Farm Security Administration photographs, papers from Founding Fathers, WPA-era art by African-American artists, the 16th-century Handscrolls of the Tales of Genji, and illuminated manuscripts from the Medieval Ages and the Renaissance.
The materials can be viewed and downloaded at the Digital Collections site.
Having trouble imagining what 180,000 images might look like? The NYPL also created a visualization of all the materials, sorted by date, genre, collection or even color.
Other cool projects that the NYPL has created — to fuel inspiration for others to use their open API of the collection:
- a game based on public-domain mansion floor plans
- a comparison of 1911 street photos with 2015 Google Street View images
- a trip planner based on a guide to where black visitors would be welcomed in the 1930s-1960s
A sampling of the newly-available high-res images from the NYPL:
A lithograph of New Orleans, by the artist Henry Lewis and the lithographer Arnz and Co., is among the more than 180,000 public domain items now available for high-resolution download from the New York Public Library.
The public domain release includes more than 40,000 stereoscopic views — like this one of female prospectors in 1898. B.W. Kilburn/New York Public Library
“Muhammad and Abu Bakr are feted by Umm Ma’badah’s tribe,” from a 16th-century illuminated manuscript depicting the life of the prophet Muhammad.
An early-20th century photo by Edwin Levick, “Uncle Sam, host. Immigrants being served a free meal at Ellis Island,” is part of the NYPL’s photography collection.
The NYPL’s digital holdings include the papers of notable Americans: letters from Walt Whitman, journals by Nathaniel Hawthorne, receipts from Alexander Hamilton – and George Washington’s recipe for “small beer.”
(A transcription of Washington’s recipe is available here.)
The NYPL’s digital collections include a number of maps in the public domain, like this 1672 world map by Pieter Goos.
The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act) of 2002 is an amendment to the Copyright Act of 1976 that addresses online education. It is sometimes referred to as Section 110(2) of the copyright law.
TEACH Act resources:
- Section 110(2) of the copyright law
- Copyright Clearance Center’s summary of the TEACH Act
Fair use is the right of the public to reproduce portions of a copyrighted work without permission for purposes such as scholarly criticism, parody, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
Fair use resources:
- Section 107 of the Copyright Act – lists the four factors that courts use when determining whether a use of a copyrighted work is fair use
- An explanation of fair use and a checklist by Columbia University Libraries/Information Services
Public domain works have expired copyrights or were never protected by copyright law. You do not need permission to use or copy public domain works. Examples include U.S. government works, laws, and work published in the U.S. prior to 1923.
Public domain resources:
- Definition of public domain on copyright.gov
- Public Domain FAQs by the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Creative Commons (CC) licenses help creators of content retain copyright while allowing others to copy, distribute, and make some uses of their work. Creative Commons licensing works with copyright, not in place of it, when you want to grant certain rights in your copyrighted work. All CC licenses require users to attribute the original creator of a work.
Creative Commons resources:
- Watch a video to learn more about CC licenses
- See creativecommons.org to learn more, use a license-choosing tool for your own work, or search for creative commons work
The United States government states “Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.” Source: Copyright in General by www.copyright.gov.
Copyright law resources:
- The full text of the Copyright Law of the United States
- Copyright in General by www.copyright.gov
- Frequently Asked Questions About Copyright by www.copyright.gov
- As an example of how one institution helps its faculty interpret copyright law, see the faculty guide for posting materials online by Columbia University Libraries/Information Services
As an ongoing effort to ensure that Blackboard runs as quickly and as efficiently as possible, a Blackboard Archival Policy will go into effect July 1, 2015.
The Blackboard subcommittee (comprised of representatives from ITS, COLRS, and online coordinators) researched practices of other universities, consulted with the Registrar, and proposed a recommendation to the Academic Technology Committee as well as the Campus Senate. Both groups endorsed the policy.
Courses will be retained on Blackboard for 3 years, on a single server (http://bb.uis.edu), after which they will be purged. As of Fall 2015, the courses available in Blackboard will be Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Summer 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Summer 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, and Summer 2015. All older courses will be purged.
Moving forward, each semester the oldest courses will be deleted from Blackboard, keeping the course load at 3 years. Faculty will receive a reminder prior to the deletion.
Please be aware that there are options for retaining course content longer than three years. Instructions for each option are linked below.
- Use Blackboard’s built-in tool for archiving courses
- The Export/Archive Course tool creates a zip file that contains all the content for the course.
- Save the .zip file to your UIS Box.com or Google Drive storage space
- The zip file can be then be re-imported into Blackboard at a later time, if needed
- Request a GOLD course from COLRS
- Many faculty already take advantage of GOLD courses, which serve as a template. GOLD courses are not taught from; they are merely a course shell where faculty can keep updated content that can easily be copied to live course as needed.
Read the policy approved by the Academic Technology Committee and the Campus Senate. If you have any questions, please contact COLRS at colrs@uis.edu or Kara McElwrath at kmcel2@uis.edu.
Quickly access this post with http://go.uis.edu/bbarchive
- First, open your PowerPoint presentation.
- Make sure the presentation is saved as a Macro-Enabled PowerPoint Presentation (.pptm)
- For each slide you wish to narrate:
- Go to the slide.
- Click ‘Insert’ -> ‘Media’ -> ‘Audio’ -> ’Record Audio’.
- To begin recording, click the record button. It has a red circle.
- Read the content for that slide. Make sure to speak into your microphone.
- To stop recording, click the stop button. It has a blue square.
- Optional: To test that your recording sounds acceptable, click the play button. It has a green triangle.
- Click ‘OK’ when finished to complete the recording for the slide.
- Repeat these steps for each slide you wish to narrate.
- Go to the slide.
- Finally, you can export to video when audio recording has been completed.
- Click ‘File’ -> ‘Export’ -> ‘Create a Video’.
- For the video quality, select ‘Computer & HD Displays’ to ensure the highest quality.
- For timings and narrations, select ‘Use Recorded Timings and Narrations’ to ensure your recordings are included in the video.
- Optional: If you have slides without narration, you can adjust the default duration of 5 seconds for these slides.
- Click ‘Create Video’. You can name your video and select where to save it.
- Click ‘File’ -> ‘Export’ -> ‘Create a Video’.
Now that you’ve created your video, follow these instructions to upload the video to Kalutra through Blackboard.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research completes research “conducts rigorous research and disseminates its findings to address the needs of women, promote public dialog, and strengthen families, communities, and societies” (source).
In November 2014, IWPR published a fact sheet on college students who are also parents, and over a quart of them are. Read the students who are parents fact sheet
- Why Open Education Matters
- Dramatically Bringing Down the Cost of Education with OER: How Open Education Resources Unlock the Door to Free Learning
- Opening the Curriculum: Open Education Resources in U.S. Higher Education, 2014: Babson Survey Research Group
- Why Openness in Higher Education: a book chapter from Game Changers
Cable Green, Director of Global Learning at Creative Commons, led a discussion of “eTextbooks and Open Educational Resources” to help University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) student leaders understand the local and global education opportunities when digital content, the internet and open licensing are combined. View the recording of Cable Green’s lecture.Movie Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
Software Applications & Plug-ins
Use the links below to obtain and install any plug-ins or viewers needed for your courses. When you download software, be sure to obtain the latest (final) version.
- Java
- Web Browsers
- Screen Reading Software
- Audio and Media Players
- File Compression
- File Readers and Viewers
Software Available to UIS Students
Information Technology Services provides many instructional software applications and digital resources for UIS students free of charge. For instance, Microsoft Office 365 is availalbe to UIS students for FREE.
In addition, UIS students may purchase reduced price software through the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Software WebStore offers discounted software to UIS faculty, students, and staff, including anti-virus, Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, WinZip, and more.
Web Browsers
Screen Reading Software
Natural Reader
A free screen reading software that allows you to listen to any text on your PC.
Audio and Media Players
File Compression
File Readers and Viewers
E-Reserves are a way of placing documents on hold and linking them in your course for your students to observe for a short period of time. These items can supplement your online instruction and can offer your students a plethera of information that can enhance their online learning experience.
Reserve resources and review the Library policies for E-Reserves
Ideas for including E-Reserves in your course include:
- Streaming media to offer examples of concepts
- Journal articles used for example and research
- Case studies for course application and assessment
SoftChalk is a tool to help enhance text-based lectures. It allows instructors to “chunk” their content into smaller pages, add images, flashcards, graded or self-test quizzes, and more. Learn more about SoftChalk.
Instructors may access SoftChalk using Citrix Virtual Desktop. View instructions for installing and using the Virtual Desktop app.
Beginning in Fall 2014, faculty may reserve time in the COLRS Faculty Video Recording Studio to record lectures or interviews. The room is equipped with a high quality video camera, lighting, microphone, green screen, and a computer for editing videos with Camtasia Studio.
Please contact COLRS to discuss your project.
Turnitin is plagiarism detection software available to faculty at UIS. To learn more about using Turnitin as a student, please see the TurnItIn QuickStart Guide.
You may also find the Turnitin Manual for Students (pdf) a helpful resource.
Sustaining Students: Retention Strategies in an Online Program
by Emily Boles, Barbara Cass, Carrie Levin, Raymond E. Schroeder, and Sharon McCurdy Smith
Published on Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Key Takeaways
- With students spread across 47 states and a dozen countries, the University of Illinois at Springfield faces a significant challenge in promoting student persistence.
- Program coordinators who know each student majoring in their online degree program keep in close touch with those students to assure that their learning and academic planning needs are met.
- Online student peer mentors who model best student practices and serve as a liaison between students and faculty members provide effective support in selected classes.
- These and other approaches have resulted in an online course completion rate that hovers just two to three percent below the on-campus completion rate, and the degree-completion rate among online students is equally strong.
Read the complete article at: http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/sustaining-students-retention-strategies-online-program
Adding TEC-VARIETY is the latest book by Curt Bonk of Indiana University, written in collaboration with Elaine Khoo, from the University of Waikato in New Zealand.
It is an OPEN book, which means it is freely available online. Download your copy at http://tec-variety.com/
Endorsement:
“What a grand book! This is going to be a highly valuable resource for countless instructors and designers in online learning. “Adding TEC-VARIETY” is unique in that it combines the theoretical and pedagogical foundations of effective learning with 100 easy-to-implement activities that promote the engagement of online students in deep learning. These strategies can instantly breathe life into courses that fail to tap the enthusiasm and imagination of students. TEC-VARIETY has become a handbook for my design of engagement in online classes.”
Ray Schroeder, Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning and Founding Director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service (COLRS), University of Illinois Springfield
Kaltura Media is a media management tool built into Canvas. Recordings made with Capture are automatically published to Kaltura. You may also upload videos you’ve created with other tools to Kaltura. Learn More about Kaltura and Personal Capture.
Accurate captions (99% accurate) for all videos are required by law. Learn how to caption your videos in Kaltura Media.
Embed in any Canvas Rich Content Editor (Page, Quiz, Discussion, Assignment)
- Log in to Canvas.
- Go to your Canvas course.
- Create or edit any page, quiz, discussion topic, or assignment — any area in which there is access to the Rich Content Editor.
- Click on the Apps button (looks like an electrical plug) on the far right side. You may need to click on the “More” button to see it.
- On the Select App screen, choose Embed Kaltura
- Click on “Add New” to upload or create a video
OR click “Select” next to the video you want to add. - The video will be embedded in the content editor.
- Click “Save” or “Save and Publish” when you are done editing your content.
Laurel Newman, Te-Wei Wang and Marcel Yoder led an excellent discussion about time management in online teaching. Watch the recorded Blackboard Collaborate session to learn their strategies.
We spend a lot of time developing materials and courses in Blackboard. ITS performs a daily backup for “gold” and current semester courses, but it is a good idea to backup a course for yourself after major updates to content or grades. You can use the Export or Archive tool to create a backup that can be restored by COLRS should the need arise.
What’s the difference between archiving and exporting a course?
When exporting a course package you select the items from the course that you want to include. Archiving includes all of the user material and data submitted in that course. Each process generates a .zip file that can be imported into Blackboard to restore content. Contact COLRS to have your content restored.
To Archive a Course:
- Go to the Control Panel
- Click on the chevron next to “Packages and Utilities” to expand menu
- Click on “Export/Archive Course”
- Click the “Archive” button
- Choose option to include gradebook, click Submit
To Export a Course:
- Follow steps 1-3 above
- Click the “Export” button
- Choose items to include in Export package
- Wait a few moments, then refresh page
- Right click on Export File, Save As, Click OK
When the .zip is saved to your computer, it is a good idea to save it in Box.com or Google Drive services from UIS.
When should we use group work?
In the Faculty Focus article “How to Design Effective Online Group Work Activities,” Mary Bart writes that we should “design tasks that are truly collaborative, meaning the students will benefit more from doing the activity as a group than doing it alone.” Her articles goes on to quote Jean Mandernach:
“Too often we give students an activity and call it group work when in reality it’s something they could do on their own. Then we get frustrated when they don’t work together and just do the work on their own.”
The article recommends group work for assignments for which:
- “There’s no right answer, such as debates, or research on controversial issues.”
- “There are multiple perspectives, such as analyzing current events, cultural comparisons, or case studies.”
- “There are too many resources for one person to evaluate, so a jigsaw puzzle approach is needed with each student responsible for one part.”
Be sure to check out the “Online Group Work Instructor Checklist” at the end of the article.
This video covers how to us the controls for Impatica lectures. It covers the especially important method for switching between Flash and HTML5 mode for viewing the lecture in different browsers. If you create narrated lectures using Impatica software, you may want to share this video with your students.
http://blended.online.ucf.edu/
“Based upon proven research and informed by practical experience, this Blended Learning Toolkit will offer guidance, examples, professional development, and other resources to help you prepare your own blended learning courses and programs.”
Some UIS instructors may require proctored exams. When a UIS online student needs to take an exam, he or she will be required to make arrangements in advance for the exam to be proctored (supervised).
COLRS offers some forms that may be helpful for instructors and students in arranging for proctors. Please see the Online Teaching at UIS: Proctored Exams page for more information.
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