Start Packing! 6 Tips for the Canvas Move

It’s time to start planning your move.

It seems like a daunting task, but take another look at the transition timeline – you have enough time to pack up and move to your new course home. The key is to plan and be smart about what you pack and how you stay organized!

The infographic below highlights 6 important things to consider and start working on (and Tip 7 is get a librarian involved to help you find accessible course assets if your scanned copies are at all illegible or incompatible with screen readers).

So let’s get started. Take a good look at these 6 tips and plan your move. Want to see more of Canvas? It’s not quite ready or decorated for company yet, but go ahead and peek into the live environment at https://widener.instructure.com/

Any questions, please reach out to canvasteam@widener.edu

It’s Canvas

We are excited to announce that Widener University has signed on with Instructure to use Canvas LMS as our University standard. [Trigger confetti!]

We are confident in this decision because so many of you helped to make it. Faculty Council TIRC guided our selection process, and then dozens of faculty members attended product demonstrations or experimented with trial versions of the finalists. The feedback was consistent: both our instructors and our project team consistently agreed that Canvas was the best platform for us.

What now?

Much of the summer will be spent bringing Canvas to life for Widener. We will need to work out all the technical processes for integrating with our administrative systems, design its initial look and feel, and develop our in-house technical expertise. Consequently, only a small number of courses will use Canvas for the Fall 2017 semester. The coming academic year will be filled with activities to support migration of courses from Campus Cruiser and WebStudy.

For more information…

We know you will have many questions, only some of which we have the answers for today. Project leader Joanne Caione-Keating posted some initial information on permanent pages here (http://itsnews.widener.edu/canvas). Please bookmark the location and return there often for updates. In the meantime, you can email your questions to the project team at the address canvasteam@widener.edu.

Whom do I contact if I have a technical problem with my computer while using Canvas?

You can also submit a ticket to ITS support via x1047 or http://quickticket.widener.edu/

What web browser should I use to access Canvas?

Check the Canvas Community for Supported Web Browsers

Why we are switching to Canvas LMS?

For information, visit https://itsnews.widener.edu/canvas/

Will I still need Cruiser?

Will I still need CampusCruiser? What will happen to my offices, committees, clubs, and WebAdvisor?

The switch over to Canvas is for the Classes segment of CampusCruiser only and not the entire portal. Your university business, including WebAdvisor, does not change with the Canvas transition.

When will Canvas be integrated with rosters from Student Planning?

As of Fall 2017, we are fully integrated. Course rosters are set to update automatically, so you will not add users manually. You can, however, still use the +People feature to add additional users (including co-teachers, librarians, and other liaisons, etc.) to your course. For more details on adding people to your course, visit the Canvas Guide: https://guides.instructure.com/m/4152/l/40729-how-do-i-add-users-to-a-course.

When do I have to start using Canvas for my courses?

Likely, Fall 2018. All courses became available for Canvas in Spring 2018, so faculty may teach in either Canvas or CampusCruiser during Spring and Summer 2018. Adopting Canvas during Spring and Summer semesters is highly encouraged because CampusCrusier will no longer be available for classes once we cut over. For more information on the transition timeline, visit https://itsnews.widener.edu/canvas/timeline/

How students complete course evals

How will students complete course evaluations in Canvas?

This information will be updated as soon as we have determined the application we are integrating into Canvas. Until then, the Evals in CampusCruiser will remain available.

Is Widener offering any training to help faculty make the transition to Canvas?

- We’ve published a page called Quick Steps for Your First Canvas Course on the ITS News blog.
- To start learning how to build a course, in addition to accessing training on your own or using the Canvas guides, you can sign up for a variety of 90-minute on-campus “viewing parties” with Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT) in the FISHtank using our online registration form. The viewing parties consist of 60 minute interactive training plus 30 minutes of hands on TLT support for Canvas implementation.