Announcing Hypothesis

We are excited to announce that Widener University now has a license with Hypothesis, a social annotation tool installed directly into Canvas. Adding Hypothesis to readings in Canvas supports student success by placing active discussion right on top of course readings, enabling students and teachers to add comments and start conversations in the margins of texts. This integration works seamlessly with Canvas modules, assignments, and the SpeedGrader!

If you would like to get started, below are some resources to implement Hypothesis in your Canvas courses:

Here are a few general Hypothesis resources, all of which could also be shared with students:

If you have any questions about our partnership with Hypothesis, please reach out!

Video Captioning Service- Now Available!

Our goal is a simple yet important one: Make instructional video content more accessible. A collaboration of TLT, Library, and Disability Services is working on this process for proposal submission, review, and selection. Limited funding for video captioning and transcription services has been granted for the upcoming academic year, so get your proposals ready!

Things you need to know:
  • The proposals are semester based. To be considered for 19/Fall courses, you will need to submit a proposal by August 8, 2019. Mid-semester proposal will be considered if funding permits.
  • Based on funding limitations, we cannot guarantee all proposals will be accepted. Priorities will be based on the content frequency (required over several semesters or across multiple courses), the number of students in the course(s), the quality of the audio/video (compliance with best practices of instructional video), etc. For more details, please see the scoring rubric.
  • Two-step review: Once proposals are accepted to move on to the next steps, faculty members will be provided a Cielo24 account along with steps and a checklist for pre-upload review. At that point, faculty will be able to upload their proposed video to the platform for final review (The video uploads will be in a queue for our authorization, on the Cielo24 platform).
Additional Considerations:
  • Our team will also provide support for faculty to better apply instructional videos in their teaching. For example,
    • TLT office will provide consultation on video editing and best video practices and tools.
    • Wolfgram Memorial Library will provide information about copyright, fair use, and existing alternate content that may be more recent or otherwise helpful, etc.

 

Here is the first step – submit your proposal through this link.

 

Also, please visit the Instructional Media and Video course on Canvas for more information on best practices, multimedia tools, and copyright and fair use practices.

News and Notes from TLT – Summer 2019

In this issue: 
  • Fall ‘19 Courses in Canvas 
  • Inactive vs. Deleted Students 
  • NEW Canvas add-ins: Poll Everywhere and Screencast-O-Matic 
  • Accessible Course Content (coming soon: Video Captions and Transcripts) 
Fall ‘19 Course Load Date – Available in Canvas by the end of the day on June 18th. 
  • To customize your dashboard – in the Courses tab, select the star next to the courses you want to see on your dashboard 
  • If you are interested in getting a head start building your courses, create a Master Class and import the content once courses are loaded. Videos and Guide. 
  • When it’s time to import your course content, be sure to “select specific content”. This will not only prevent duplications, but also prevent unwanted content/settings to transfer.
    • IMPORTANT: If you chose to import ALL, including course “Settings”, and have manually altered course dates in your previous course, those old dates WILL transfer. This may prevent students from participating in your course
“Inactive Students”   

Beginning June 10, 2019, any student who is removed from a course after the start date will be listed as “inactive” in Canvas, instead of disappearing completely. This improvement will allow you to retain submissions, attendance information, etc. within the course. 

Coming Soon! Poll Everywhere in Canvas starting Fall ‘19 

Poll Everywhere will soon be integrated into Canvas. You will be able to: 

  • Import your course roster, automatically giving your students a participant account 
  • Send scores from your poll to the Canvas gradebook
  • Add polls into your course Modules
  • For more information or to get an account, email TLToffice@widener.edu.
*NEW* Screencast-O-Matic in Canvas 

Did you know you can screen capture within your Canvas course? The Screencast-O-Matic integration has been added university wide, allowing you to create instructional videos with a few simple clicks. 

Accessibility 

As you prepare your courses, keep accessibility in mind. For more information on creating an accessible Canvas course and creating accessible documents check out the Digital Accessibility course in Canvas

Coming Soon! Video Captioning 

Widener will soon be offering video captioning through Cielo24. If you have instructional videos and want to learn more about the new captioning service, email captions@widener.edu.

News and Notes from TLT – Spring 2019

As the Spring ‘19 semester winds down, it is time for another TLT update…  

Canvas Course Uploads 

Summer ‘19 Courses- Your Summer ‘19 courses were added into Canvas this week.  Now that your courses are loaded, you are able to import your content from a previous semester or from your Master Class. For more information on building and maintaining Master Classes, view the guide and short videos.  

Fall ‘19 Courses– Your Fall ‘19 courses will be loaded into Canvas 10 weeks prior to the start of the semester. You do not need to wait for the upload to build your courses. Simply create a Master Class now and you will be ready to import your course content!  

TLT-led Workshops 

New dates and times, PLUS a new session on utilizing classroom technology! Sign Up Here       

(Hint: Here is the full LIS Event Calendar– Bookmark This Page!)

*Spring ‘19 Breakfast Series*  How Can I Engage My Students in Canvas and Beyond?

Come join TLT for a light fare breakfast during this three-part series to increase student engagement in your Canvas courses. Sign up to attend any or all of these workshops, in any order you wish.

a. Engagement: Student Teamwork

Collaborations, Groups/ group assignments, Wiki pages, Flipgrid 

b. Engagement: Constructive Feedback  

SpeedGrader, Audio and Video, Journaling, PollEverywhere 

c. Engagement: Rubrics and Grades  

Experiencing Rubrics, Turnitin (new Plagiarism Framework)New Gradebook 

Making the Canvas Commons Work for You 

Did you know you can share instructional resources (rubrics, quizzes, pages, etc.) with your colleagues within Canvas? 

“Commons is a learning object repository that enables educators to find, import, and share resources.” In this session, you will explore the free content available to you and learn how to create and utilize a shared resource center for your faculty groups. 

*New*  Getting Comfortable with Your Classroom Technology 

Do you know… 

     How to black out projection without turning off the classroom projector?       How to take advantage of the dozens of Zoom ready rooms?                                   How to incorporate screen sharing from students? 

Topics covered:

  • Classroom controls 
  • Zoom 
  • PrideShare 
  • Tips and tricks 
Training feedback from your colleagues… 

“Real time polling can be an effective pedagogical tool to gauge what students know or don’t know before you begin a subject, and to assess what they’ve learned after you’ve covered something. I had been using Kahoot! but found it to be a little goofy for college level classes and a little difficult to integrate into power point presentations. PollEverywhere offers a more professional presentation and is much easier to utilize in presentations. Following the TLT training I was able to convert my polls from Kahoot! to PollEverywhere, and given the ease of PollEverywhere, am working to add more polls to my presentations.” 

~Stu Eimer, Associate Professor, Sociology 

“My attendance to a workshop on Canvas’ different capabilities regarding Student Teamwork was excellent. I used it almost immediately as I was trying to schedule my field work with students. We went right to “Collaborations” and were able to create a shared document, just like a google doc, that met our needs perfectly. So easy and convenient. And I would never have known that capability was there without our Teaching and Learning Technologies team.” 

~Nadine McHenry, Professor, Education 

“I highly recommend the Canvas training sessions!  I thought I had my Canvas courses working pretty well, but Jessica taught me how to use groups much more effectively- uncovering functionality I never knew existed.” 

~Mark Paterson, Clinical Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy