Body
THIS IS NOT THE CURRENT EDITION OF THE OAT UPDATE
Browse all OAT Updates
Welcome to the latest issue of the OAT Update, produced by the Office of Academic Technology at CSU Stanislaus.
New Announcements
Reminders
Browse all OAT Updates
New Announcements
Designing and Measuring Student Learning Objectives in Canvas
Join OAT on Tuesday, May 2 from 1-2 pm to learn about Canvas's Outcomes tool and how to implement it in your summer class! Outcomes are the way Canvas enables instructors to create and assess all kinds of learning objectives. The results of these assessments can be used in a variety of ways, such as in the Learning Mastery Gradebook which gives an instructor one type of insight of individual student achievement. Outcomes can also be used to provide assessment data to departments or other university organizations (e.g., for program accreditation purposes).
Registration
A view of the Learning Mastery Grade Book in a Canvas course:
Registration
Return to top
Canvas enhancement: Submit assignment file on behalf of a student
In Canvas assignments, it is now possible for an instructor to submit a file on behalf of a student. This feature is available automatically in every course to the instructor(s). Instructors can submit a single file or multiple files.
How to submit
- Open the Grades page of the course
- Click into the student's cell in the appropriate assignment column and then click the "->" icon to open the details tray
- Click "Submit for Student"
- Choose the file to upload and submit
Note: The instructor's name will be noted as the submitter of the file in the grade details, not the student's name.
Limitations
- Only works with regular Canvas assignments, not Turnitin or other External Tools assignments
- A File Upload submission type must be allowed to submit an assignment on behalf of a student. Other submission types are acceptable in the settings, in addition to File Upload, but File Upload must be an option.
- Instructors cannot type a submission into a text box for the student.
Canvas documentation
Return to top
Reminders
Turnitin and AI Writing Detection Now Available
A preview version of Turnitin's AI writing detection tool is now present as part of Turnitin's standard similarity report. AI writing detection is enabled automatically in all reports and Instructors won't need to make any modifications to their Turnitin work flows or existing assignments. AI checking cannot be disabled at this time.
In addition to tracking sources of similarity among Turnitin's archive of student writing, the amount (e.g. 75%) of writing likely written by AI will also be indicated to the instructor for each submission (see screen shot, right). The AI score is hidden from students.
Importantly, Turnitin's technology does not make a determination or judgement of academic misconduct. It is present merely as another data point for instructors to use in their evaluation of student writing.
Turnitin AI Links
Download the FAQ
What about false positives?
Why you need to include AI writing in your honor code and curriculum
Turnitin information about AI detection
Recording: CSU - Turnitin webinar on AI in academic integrity (also see Google Slides)
Return to top
Canvas Gradebook Enhancements
Instructors can now opt-in to preview coming enhancements to the gradebook in Canvas. These changes aim to improve and streamline using the gradebook. Among the enhancements:
- Easier access to export your gradebook
- More instant filters of the gradebook data + custom filters
- Specialized/uncommon gradebook tools moved to a settings sub-menu
1. Easier access to export your gradebook
Exporting the gradebook is now a menu-button placed directly on the main gradebook page. The same choices continue to exist for exporting.
(click to enlarge)
2. More instant filters of the gradebook data + custom filters
Canvas has enhanced the ways you can filter and hone-in on the gradebook data that is important to you. The new Apply Filters tool is now directly on the main page and contains more default choices. PLUS: create and manage your own filters!
(click to enlarge)
3. Specialized/uncommon gradebook options moved to a settings sub-menu
To keep the interface cleaner, various specialized viewing tools of the gradebook have been collected under a "View Options" sub-menu of the gradebook "cog wheel" settings.
(click to enlarge)
How to Opt-in to Gradebook Enhancements
In your course, go to Settings > Feature Options. Next, scroll down to "Enhanced Gradebook Filters" and click the "X" icon. Choose "Enable". The changes are immediately available in Grades page of the course.
(click to enlarge)
Looking ahead...
The Enhanced Gradebook Filters setting will be automatically enabled for all courses on August 16, 2023.
Have feedback about the feature? Canvas is still actively developing it, so feel free to contact oat@csustan.edu with your thoughts.
Return to top
CSU Online Course Services Summer Training
The Online Course Services (OCS) division of the Chancellor's Office is offering a full slate of FREE professional development opportunities this summer. Courses are generally three weeks long and are completed asynchronously online. Time commitment is approximately 15-20 hours per course.
Summer Session 1: May 29 - June 18, 2023
Summer Session 2: June 26 - July 23, 2023 (four week session due to July 3-9 break for facilitators)
Summer Session 3: July 24 - August 13, 2023
OCS Course Catalog
CSU Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT)
- Introduction to Teaching Online Using QLT
- Advanced QLT Course in Teaching Online
- Reviewing Courses Using the QLT Rubric
Quality Matters (QM)
- Applying the Quality Matters (QM) Rubric
- Designing Your Online Course
- Improving Your Online Course
Complete course details and registration information
Return to top
Using Student View in Canvas Courses
Canvas's "Student View" is a great tool for getting a quick sense of what your students can see and do in your courses.
Read: How do I view a course as a test student using Student View?
It has important limitations though. Student View mimics a student user, but it is not a full Canvas user account (with an email address). Be sure to understand what Student View can and cannot tell you.
Student View Can:
- Preview the layout of your course, in terms of what is visible and what is not, including course navigation and modules
- Open a simple Canvas assignment to submit a file or a URL
- Be graded on its submissions, with its grades appearing in the Grades page of the course like any other student's
- Take a quiz and submit, and be graded on non-objective question types
- Post and reply to discussions that use Canvas's built-in discussions tool
Student View Cannot:
- Be used to test anything related to an External Tool, where you are connecting your Canvas course to a third-party web site. This includes Turnitin, Discussions Plus, VoiceThread, Hypothesis, and discipline-specific textbook tools (McGraw-Hill, Pearson, etc.).
- Access and interact with an assignment where "External Tool" is set as the Submission Type
- Access and interact with a link in a module that connects to an External Tool.
Testing External Tools: What to do?
Because Student View cannot be used with external tools, the simple fact is instructors do not have a way to view and test those tools in Canvas, as students. However, such testing is not necessary from a technical perspective. Each tool provider has documentation showing exactly what students will see. If your instructor view of the external tool from Canvas works as expected, you can trust that the student's view also works as intended. If you have further questions, contact the tool provider.
Return to top
Ally Accessibility Gauges
Ally is the automated accessibility checking tool that is installed within Stan State's Canvas system. This tool makes it easy to spot accessibility issues with your course materials and ensure access for all students. There are two main purposes of the Ally tool:
- Scan every piece of content/document/image in a course and gauge its accessibility. Instructors are then guided through steps to address the accessibility issues. The severity of issues (and the lack of issues at all!) are indicated by a color-coded system of gauges.
- Provide students with alternate formats for most content, and even language translations in some cases. Alternate formats may be PDF versions of documents, spoken audio versions of documents, etc.
Gauge Colors & Access
Ally uses a small gauge icon next to each piece of content or image to represent its accessibility status. The colors correspond to those on a traffic stop light:
The gauges are only visible to instructors. Students never see the accessibility status of an item. Instead, they only see a small "download" icon next to each item that allows them to access alternative formats for the item.
More Information
Learn more about Ally and accessibility.
Return to top
Canvas Teacher App
It's the Modern Era™, so everything has an app, even for Canvas instructors. In addition to the app for Students, instructors can install the Teachers app to help manage courses when you're not in front of a laptop or desktop computer.
Use the Teacher app for the following situations:
- Create a course Announcement (will be pushed to students based on their account notification preferences)
- Send a message to a specific student or class (will be pushed to students based on their account notification preferences)
- View your course and/or module content
- Grade submitted assignments and discussion posts
The Canvas Instructor guides have full details on the capabilities of the app (available in the app stores for iOS and Android)
Return to top
Don't Delete Students' Work: Using Differentiated Due Dates in Canvas
One of the most common misunderstanding of any graded activity in Canvas is the Assign To field, where Due Dates and Until Dates are configured. That field allows you to specify who an activity is assigned to. By default, Canvas selects Everyone, but it's best to think of this selection as merely one possible "window", and you can have any number of differentiated windows for the activity in order to meet the submission needs of your course.
Don't Change! Do Add!
When you need to give someone a specific due date on an existing activity (perhaps as an extension), it's all too easy to change the "Everyone" in the Assign To area to just the specific student and then modify the dates. Panic usually ensues once you're done because any previous submissions to that activity suddenly seem to be deleted from Canvas!
However, all you've done by changing the "Everyone" window is to unassign the activity to everyone else. Because it's now unassigned, Canvas has no need to display anything for anyone else, even if they'd previously submitted. Without an assignment window, those student(s) aren't responsible for the activity at all, and so Canvas doesn't show those students in SpeedGrader. This is why they seem to have been deleted.
The solution is simple:
- Never change the existing Everyone field.
- Always add another window to the assignment to match the requirements for the specific student. Click the +Add button below the existing window to create a new window. From there, click in the Assign To field and select the students who will be governed by this window. You can add as many specific students as you want. Thanks to differentiated assignments, Canvas will keep the existing window in place and no submissions will go missing.
- Phew!
Questions or comments? Contact oat@csustan.edu.
2022-23 Faculty Ambassadors for Canvas
This year, OAT is again sponsoring the FAC program, which makes experienced Canvas instructors available to each college, as a supplement to OAT staff. Instructors may find it more helpful to work with other instructors in their general discipline on questions related to Canvas, and are encouraged to contact these individuals.
2022-23 Ambassadors
Return to top