Looking for Your 21-22 Courses?

Looking for your 21-22 courses? Rest assured, they may not be on your dashboard, but they are still there. If you navigate to https://pccsk12.instructure.com/courses and scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll see such courses under “Past Enrollments.”

You can also access your past courses via the Global Navigation Menu:

directions to get to all courses

Past enrollments (such courses) are in read-only format. If you would like to make some edits and updates to your course(s) for current or future usage do the following. Click on the course under Past Enrollments, go to Settings on the Course Navigation Menu and click the “Copy this Course” button.

location of copy course button

When you are ready to import your course material into (one or more of) your 22-23 course(s), follow these directions. https://links.pccsk12.com/import

If you have any questions or can’t locate your 21-22 courses, please submit a tech ticket.

Time to Consider Cross-listing

time to consider cross-listing

As we approach the new school year, those of you who are teaching multiple sections of the same course might consider cross-listing in Canvas. Cross-listing allows you to move section enrollments from individual courses and combine them into one course. This feature is helpful for instructors who teach several sections of the same course and only want to manage course data in one location. So if you are a teacher that has multiple sections of one course or an elementary specialist that has many different sections, cross listing may be a great option for you and a big time saver. However, this action should only be done before a semester starts. Canvas recommends it be done before a course is published. If it is done after a course is published and notably student work has been submitted, that student work will be lost. Review the slideshow below carefully to help you decide if you want to do it. 

Please review this slideshow carefully to review the pros and cons. The slideshow also walks you through the steps to cross-list your courses. Please note that teachers have the ability to cross-list courses but do not have the option to de-crosslist. To de-crosslist sections or for further assistance with cross-listing, submit a tech ticket.

 

Google Assignments Update: Option to Use Canvas Speedgrader

new canvas speedgrader option in google assignments

Google has announced a much-welcome update for Google Assignments in Canvas. Teachers will now have the option to use the Canvas SpeedGrader for submitted Google Assignments. Take a look at the chart to see the potential features of each option.

image of text table of feature options

The use of Google Assignments in Canvas is highly encouraged because you can assign personalized files to students, instead of forcing students to make their own copy (which can lead to students having multiple copies in their Drive and losing track of the correct version). Teachers can also see students’ in-progress work and use originality reports (5 per course). With all of these perks, some teachers did not use Google Assignments because they wanted to be able to use the Canvas Speedgrader and now you can! This feature should  be visible by August 19, 2022. Have a quick look below:

gif of Canvas speedgrader option

Resources:

Panda Pros, Free Canvas Coaching and Support

Canvas is bringing back Panda Pros! Throughout this August and until September 18, Canvas representatives will be available for one-on-one, 45 minute coaching sessions. Panda Pros are available to meet from 9 AM to 6 PM MDT Monday-Sunday! The weekend slots filled up quickly last year. Need some ideas on topics you might address?

  • Module Organization
  • Using Speedgrader
  • Mastering the Rich Content Editor
  • Chatting about how best to use Canvas in your grade level/content area
  • Discuss how well your course meets Instructional Design and Accessibility standards

Get more information here.

You can go to https://www.instructure.com/panda-pros to schedule your appointment (note that times offered are in Mountain Time).

Of course, your Tech Integration Specialists are also happy to meet with you on any of these topics and more. Submit a ticket and we will get back to you!

 

Looking for your Canvas Course?

If you have logged into Canvas recently, you may have had a moment of panic to see that your 21-22 courses are not on your dashboard. Rest assured, they are still there. If you navigate to https://pccsk12.instructure.com/courses and scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll see it the courses under “Past Enrollments.” You can also access these through the Global Navigation Menu:

directions to get to all courses

The courses are currently in read-only format and you’ll be able to import your content into your new course shells in the fall (we’ll publish directions as it gets closer). If you would like to make some edits and updates to you your course. Click on the course under Past Enrollments, go to Settings on the Course Navigation Menu and you’ll see the “Copy this Course” button.

location of copy course button

You can use this Canvas guide for the steps that follow. Once completed, you’ll have a version of your course on your dashboard that you can update and edit and them import that content in the fall.

If you have any questions, please submit a tech ticket.

Canvas Updates You May Have Missed

Canvas update summary

Canvas is always striving to make improvements for users. Just this week they are offering teachers the option to “Message OBSERVERS of Students Who…” Canvas has always had the option to message students who had missing work or scored more/less than, but now teachers will be able to have greater control of the students and observers that get the message.

workflow for messaging observers

Wondering what other cool updates you may have missed from Canvas in 2022? Here’s a quick look:

All Your Tech End-of-Year Posts in One Spot

We hope you have an extremely restful summer. We have posted a few items over the last several weeks and wanted to link highlights here in case you missed any of them.

Canvas

Rest assured, you really don’t need to do anything to your Canvas page. It will roll over to Past Enrollments and you will be able to copy the content into your new course shell. You can check out the slidedeck below (used for an in-person session) to get a little more information about what that looks like and what you could do to create an extra back-up or a version of your course you can work on updating over the summer.

You can also access our blog post on the topic here.

Classroom Technology

Our recommendations for your classroom technology (projectors, doc cams, microphones, etc.) can be found here.

You can also review our suggested laptop maintenance to keep it performing at its best.

Clever Syncing Paused

We’ve already paused Clever syncing so that students can continue to access their current teachers’ Clever pages and digital subscriptions (e.g IXL, BrainPop, Seesaw) via Clever through mid August.

Sharing Digital Content

Whether you are separating from service, working on curriculum, or you are teaching different classes next year there are several options for sharing digital content with colleagues.

Summer Learning

When you are ready to digging into some topics that you may not have had time to explore we have a few ideas.

Summer Vision Board

GoogleEDU Created These Summer Vision Boards 
Here’s some great templates that can be used for vision planning, regardless of season. Just change as needed. Students could also use some of these slides for their own learning during the school year. Helpful stickers included, too.  Google EDU Templates

Have a great summer! If you want to chat with a Technology Integration Specialist over the summer, we are available! Submit a tech ticket if you would like to set up a meeting.

All the resources linked about have also been curated in this Wakelet Collection. https://wke.lt/w/s/iv8Y5-

Be Aware: Google Dictionary Extension

image showing what the use of the extension looks like on a page

A few teachers have noticed that students have access to install the Google Dictionary Chrome Extension. This is an approved and useful educational extension. However, teachers have noticed it being used in online Canvas Quizzes or Google Forms. The extension allows a students to double click on a word and get the definition.

image showing what the use of the extension looks like on a page

If a student clicks “More,” a new tab is opened up with more definitions, synonyms, and usage examples.

If you are going to give an online tests or quizzes, it is important to set expectations with students about what behaviors are permitted and monitor students actively. Here’s what the extension looks like, but keep in mind that extensions can be installed and not pinned. You would need to have a student go here: chrome://extensions/ to determine if it is installed.

Image showing where extension are located in Google chromeAdditionally, it important to work with grade level and department teams to develop “non-Googleable” questions. Not only will this help curb cheating, but more importantly, it will also help teaching and learning progress to greater depths of knowledge.

To find out more about non-Googleable questions, check out these resources:

 

Year-End Canvas Info

Canvas end-of-year tips

The good news is, there isn’t much to worry about with Canvas at the end of the year. It will automatically convert your course to read-only for students and roll your course into Past Enrollments. When next year’s course shell appears you will be able to import last year’s course content with a few clicks.

There are a few things you can do if you’d like to make adjustments to your course over the summer or if you like to have a just-in-case copy. Peruse the items below for more information, save it at this link, or get a PDF copy here.

Canvas New Quizzes Update: Fill in the Blank RCE

Summary

In New Quizzes, this feature allows Instructors to add content as part of the question stem and make portions of the content fillable in the student response.

Change Benefit

This change allows instructors to create fill-in-the-blank questions with rich content such as scientific or mathematical formulas or a table. Additionally, instructors can format fill-in-the-blank questions to appear on separate, distinct lines.

Feature Workflow

new quizzes question editor
New Quizzes question editor

When adding a fill-in-the-blank question, type a statement in the rich content editor and surround a word with backticks to indicate where a student fills in the answer.

fill in the blank answer options
Fill in the Blank Answer Options

In the Answer Type drop-down menu, select the Dropdown option [1], enter the correct answers and distractor answers, if needed. Possible Answer Types include a dropdown, open entry, or word bank [2].

Check out the overview video below.