Online Teaching & Technology Blog

Center for Online Learning, Research and Service @ Illinois Springfield

Category: Course Management

What is Canvas?

March 23, 2021 / / Comments Off on What is Canvas?

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.

Obtain Email Addresses for Students in Your Course

August 11, 2020 / / Comments Off on Obtain Email Addresses for Students in Your Course

Instructions to access students enrolled in courses using Self-service (Enterprise): 

  1. Go to the Enterprise Self-Service system.
  2. Click on UIS.
  3. Login with your UIS NetID and Password. 
  4. Click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab across the top of the page.
  5. Click on the Faculty Services link.
  6. Click on Class List – Summary to view your class roster in a condensed format. 
  7. Click “Display E-mail Addresses” at the bottom of the page.

View Your Roster and Enter Grades

September 10, 2019 / / Comments Off on View Your Roster and Enter Grades

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.

To Enter Grades in the Enterprise system:

  1. Go to the Enterprise Self-Service system.
  2. Click on UIS.
  3. Login with your UIS NetID and Password. This is the same information that you use to log into UIS Webmail.
  4. Click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab across the top of the page.
  5. Then click on the Faculty Services link.
  6. Click on Class List – Summary to view your class roster in a condensed format.
  7. Select the desired Term from the drop down menu and click Submit.
  8. Select the desired CRN (course reference number) from the drop down menu and click Submit.
  9. 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.

Teaching Tips from UIS Faculty

November 7, 2017 / / Comments Off on Teaching Tips from UIS Faculty

Experienced UIS Faculty shared their teaching experiences as part of the 2017 Faculty Teaching & Learning Academy at UIS.  This program was administered by the Provost’s Office at UIS.

 

UIS Blackboard Archive Policy

April 22, 2015 / / Comments Off on UIS Blackboard Archive Policy

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

File Storage Options at UIS

December 17, 2014 / / Comments Off on File Storage Options at UIS

Where’s the best place to store your class files, research projects, and other important documents?  You have many file storage options, including Box, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Kaltura.  ITS has created a useful matrix comparing the benefits and limits of each data storage service available at UIS.

Source: http://www.uis.edu/informationtechnologyservices/wp-content/uploads/sites/106/2013/04/Storage-Matrix-Screenshot1.jpg

Additional information can be found on their website.

 

Recommended Software Applications and Plug-ins

November 9, 2014 / / Comments Off on Recommended Software Applications and Plug-ins

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.

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

Winzip

File Readers and Viewers

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Submit Final Grades

July 3, 2014 / / Comments Off on Submit Final Grades

Both on-campus and online courses have the same deadlines for reporting student grades.

To Enter Grades in the Enterprise system:

  1. Go to the Enterprise Self-Service system.
  2. Click on UIS.
  3. Login with your UIS NetID and Password. This is the same information that you use to log into UIS Webmail.
  4. Click on the Faculty & Advisor Services tab across the top of the page.
  5. Then click on the Faculty Services link.
  6. Click on Final Grade Entry.
  7. Select the desired semester and class.
  8. Enter your grades.
  9. Click Submit to complete the process.

Accessing Moodle at UIS

April 10, 2013 / / Comments Off on Accessing Moodle at UIS

UIS maintains an instance of Moodle for faculty and staff use at https://uistraining1.uis.edu/login/index.php

If you have a UIS NetID, you may access the Moodle site by click on the “Continue” button on the right side of the Moodle home page.

If you are a guest user of the Moodle system, your UIS contact will send you instructions for accessing the site.

Time Management in the Online Classroom

April 10, 2013 / / Comments Off on Time Management in the Online Classroom

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.

Copying Content from Another Instructor’s Course Site

April 4, 2013 / / Comments Off on Copying Content from Another Instructor’s Course Site

If you are a new instructor and need to have materials copied from another instructor’s course site, you will need to have instructor permissions in both sites. Please contact your department chair and/or the previous instructor for permissions. Once you have instructor-level access to the course site, you may copy the materials into your empty Blackboard course site.

Canvas Course Sites for Tutorials, Projects, & Other Needs

April 4, 2013 / / Comments Off on Canvas Course Sites for Tutorials, Projects, & Other Needs

Canvas course sites are not automatically created for tutorials or graduate projects. If you would like a Canvas course site for one-on-one work with a student, please contact COLRS.  If applicable, please provide the course name and course number.

Canvas course sites can also be created for department uses, campus committees, and campus organizations.  UIS faculty or staff members can contact COLRS to make a request.

Gold Courses

April 4, 2013 / / Comments Off on Gold Courses

A Gold Course is special type of course site that is named “GOLD – Name of your course” and is identified with a “999” prefix.  A Gold Course is never deleted and is backed up daily.

How do I use a Gold Course?

  • Gold Courses can be used to develop and update your course content.  Editing your content in a Gold Course rather than a teaching course site preserves your student’s work in case of grade challenges.
  • Gold Courses are ‘clean’ versions of your courses.  Students are never enrolled and you will never teach within a Gold Course.
  • Gold Courses can be copied into the empty Blackboard course sites that are created for your course sections each semester.
  • Hint: Make your content unavailable (hidden from students) in your Gold Course. When you copy to your course shells (empty Blackboard site for the semester), you simply have to release it.

How do I get a Gold course?

Contact COLRS to request the creation of a Gold Course. We will need to know the name, department, course number of the course (CHE 301 or ART 441).  Also, if you would like an existing course copied into your Gold Course’s shell, please let us know the semester and section of the originating course.

One Gold Course may be requested for each course format you teach: 8-week, 16-week, online, blended, and on-ground.

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