What’s Happening?
Canvas – Discussions/Announcements Redesign Coming July 20
On July 20, all Canvas courses will begin using the redesigned version of “Discussions/Announcements.” For the past several semesters, using the redesigned versions of Discussions and Announcements in Canvas has been an option but not mandatory. As of July 20, it will become mandatory.
This redesign has a notable impact on the appearance and behavior of both the Canvas Discussions and Announcements. Because this change occurs in the middle of Summer 2024, it will impact in-progress summer classes using Canvas.
For courses that would like to use the new Discussions and Announcements tools prior to July 20, these can be enabled under a course’s settings. More information is available on this Canvas community document.
For an overview of the new Discussions and Announcements tools, please review this Canvas Release document.
Honorlock – Working with Scan ID When Name on ID and Name on Roster Are Different
In Honorlock, the Scan ID feature reads a student’s ID card to verify their identity. In instances where the the student’s name on the ID card does not match the student’s name in Canvas, Honorlock may prevent the student from accessing the exam. This situation often impacts students with changes in martial status or LGBTQIA students.
To address these situations, instructors may now use the Honorlock Accommodations field to request that Honorlock accept multiple names for students who require that accommodation. For further instructions, please refer to this Honorlock Knowledgebase document.
Canvas – Changes to Librarian Role
Earlier this year, Learn@UW–Madison collaborated with a subcommittee from the Instructional Technologists Group (ITG) to explore improvements to Canvas course-level roles.
The result is a plan to create three new Canvas course-level roles and expand the permissions of an existing role — that of Librarian.
Since the Librarian role is already a known quantity, and some colleges and departments already incorporate it in their course management strategy, we want to start spreading the word.
By the start of fall 2024, the Librarian role will have additional abilities to “view and edit grades”, and “view student submissions”. The KB on Canvas course-level roles has already been updated to reflect this future state.
Upcoming Events
HelioCampus AC Training
HelioCampus AC is UW–Madison’s enterprise course evaluation platform. The following training sessions are intended for our 150+ HelioCampus AC school and departmental administrators.
Click here to register for any of the sessions.
Clean Up NEW!
Running HelioCampus AC surveys for multiple years may result in a lot of “clutter”: outdated survey forms, defunct survey schedules, unwanted (unexpected?) survey instances. This new “Clean Up” session provides the opportunity to explore your school or department’s HelioCampus AC dashboards, and consider effective strategies to reclaim control of the content.
Q&A
These two 30-minute drop-in sessions are informal, open-door times for anyone to bring any HelioCampus AC questions to the Learn@UW–Madison team.
Canvas Non-Credit Community of Practice, Aug. 21
Join us for an engaging Community of Practice event on August 21st at 10:30 am! Discover invaluable Tips & Tricks for utilizing Canvas and enhancing your teaching/training experience. Don’t miss out—expand your Canvas skills and connect with fellow educators! No registration necessary. You can find a link to the meeting on the flyer, or visit the SharePoint Board for the Non-Credit Community of Practice. Join our growing community!
We are constantly seeking new members for the Non-Credit Community of Practice SharePoint board. Request access today to stay updated on all events and valuable information available. Use the SharePoint Board link to navigate to the page and on the right side of the page, select Join this Community. If you already have a MySite, the community you just joined will be added to your list of followed sites.
Learn@UW–Madison – Tools Training in August
Canvas Training
Canvas – Getting Started
- Monday, August 19, 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
- Tuesday, August 20, 10:00 am to 11:30 am
- Monday, August 26, 10:00 am to 11:30 am
Canvas – Assessment Tools
Canvas – Gradebook
Canvas – Managing Files
Canvas – Tips & Tricks, Parts 1 & 2
- Part 1 of 2 – Thursday, August 22, 10:00 am to 11:00 am
- Part 2 of 2 – Thursday, August 22, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
- Part 1 of 2 – Thursday, August 29, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
- Part 2 of 2 – Thursday, August 29, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm