Learn@UW newsletter, week of Apr 10
What’s happening
Top Hat – New Pages Editor released April 7
On April 7, Top Hat transitioned UW–Madison to its New Pages Editor. The New Pages Editor empowers instructors to enhance course materials with several AI-powered features designed to make Pages interactive, engaging, and meet ADA Title II compliance. Most notably, instructors can upload a PDF or Word document and the tool will guide them through steps to make it accessible.
For more information, review this Top Hat article.
Atomic Assessments – Update on April 7
On April 7, Atomic Assessments was updated to 26.04. This release contained a lot of bug fixes. See the Atomic Assessments Release Notes for the full list.
Canvas – SCORM updates in April
Instructure has scheduled two dates for maintenance on the Canvas SCORM component. The first one begins this evening, at 9:00 p.m. During these maintenance windows, Canvas users should anticipate SCORM-reliant course elements being unreliable.
- April 10, 9:00 p.m. (CDT) to April 11, 7:00 a.m. (CDT)
- April 24, 9:00 p.m. (CDT) to April 25, 7:00 a.m. (CDT)
Canvas – Fall courses coming April 13
Canvas course shells for fall 2026 will arrive Monday, April 13. Remember to allow a couple hours for all courses to appear on instructors’ dashboards.
Atomic Assessments – Data Purge, April 15
On April 15, Atomic Assessments will purge older data. They will keep all data created in the last two years and anything with student submissions from the last five years. For more information, review this news Item.
Engage – Order period for FA26
Since UW–Madison launched Engage in 2018, it has saved students millions of dollars on course materials. Instructors can now order Engage materials for fall classes. (The ordering period for summer semester has closed.) See the dates for ordering Engage materials.
Upcoming events
Canvas Training
Canvas: Final Grading Strategies
HelioCampus AC – Q&A
It is time for HelioCampus AC departmental administrators to start thinking about their course surveys. The following training and Q&A sessions are now available to help set up your department (or school) for success.
HelioCampus Q&A
Learn@UW Demystifies AI
This hour-long, fully remote session provides an overview of artificial intelligence for employees of UW–Madison. All faculty and staff are invited to attend any of the following sessions.
Registration is required, and enrollment for each session is capped at 100.
Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring
2026 UW–Madison Teaching & Learning Symposium, May 14
End the academic year on a high note at the Teaching & Learning Symposium on May 14! Keynote speaker Sarah Rose Cavanagh, author of “Mind Over Monsters,” will share how to create learning environments of compassionate challenge.
Breakout sessions and posters will highlight a wide range of topics, including:
- Strategies for large-enrollment courses
- Facilitating class discussions across diverse perspectives
- Using games to promote student engagement and collaboration, and more!
Click here to learn more and to register.
Enhancing Online Education summer programs
Enhancing Online Education helps instructors adopt evidence-based methods for successful online teaching. This summer’s topics are:
- Instructional Materials
- Course Planning
- Course Management
- Fostering Community
- Cultivating Inclusivity