Canvas training webinars for October are now available to book online. We will be continuing to run online training webinars until Semester 2 next year. Sessions include:
We start 2020 with our new VLE, Canvas, and a rich array of digital learning tools that can be used to support teaching. There are so many possibilities and it could easily be overwhelming.
This is a short post to begin to answer one of the questions I heard last week “What tools should I invest in?”.
But, let’s back up a bit, before considering tools we need to think about what we want these tools to help us to achieve? Way back in 1998 Anderson and Garrison described three more common types of interaction involving students:
Let’s use this to come up with our list…
Your starting point here is Canvas itself. You can present information on pages, embed documents, link to resources on library reading list, include videos, audio and ReCap recordings.
Go to tool #1 has to be Canvas itself.
Linked to this is tool #2 Canvas quizzes.
Canvas support a wide range of question types: multiple choice, gap fill, short answer, matching, multiple answer. Quizzes can help students practice skills, check their learning and encourage them revisit material.
For short PowerPoint narrations the easiest place to start is the recording features that come as part of ReCap. We tend to think of ReCap as a lecture recording tool, but there is also a fabulous ReCap Personal Capture tool that you can use to record yourself, and publish in Canvas. There are several bonuses with using ReCap – you have the ability to do make simple edits, you can use automatic speech recognition to generate captions, and students have the ability pause, rewind and make notes on the recordings that you publish. ReCap personal capture comes in as tool #3 – you can install on your computer, or if you prefer you can use the new browser based recorder – Panopto Capture (beta).
Outside the limited amount of PiP time you are likely to be meeting your students online. For synchronous meetings there is increasingly little to choose from between Zoom and Teams – the only significant factor being that Zoom permits people to connect by phone – so supports those on lower bandwidth.
Now is a great time to become confident with the online meeting tool you are planning on using throughout your module. I’ll leave it to you if #4 for you is Teams or Zoom – it would be sensible to settle on one, for you and your students. Teams could be a strong contender if you plan to use this as a collaboration space over the module/stage, in which case do review the article on Building an online community using Teams.
Once you setting on your meeting tool, now is a great time to explore options for using whiteboards, polling, breakout rooms in these spaces and to begin to plan active online sessions.
For tool #5 I’d go with Canvas Discussions – these are easy to use, work really well in the Canvas Student and Teacher apps and are great for Q&A sessions, introductions, crowd-sourcing activities, and of course discussions!
Learning at university is a social! There are huge limitations on what we can do in person – but what can we do to help learning be as social as it can be? This isn’t so much about tools, but about the activities we design in: break out room discussions, group tasks, peer reviews, debates – things that might start in a timetabled session and then spill out.
For synchronous meetings and study sessions all our students have access to Zoom and Teams. We can model how to use these, build students’ confidence in these spaces and show them how they can collaborate in Microsoft 365 collaborative spaces (Word documents, OneNote…). I’ve already mentioned Teams and Zoom (#4), so for tool #6 I’ll pitch for Microsoft 365 with an emphasis on collaboration.
These are my top 5 tools, you may have a different list. What have I missed out?
We are getting closer to the 31 July 2020 when all access to Blackboard ends for colleagues and students and we go fully live with Canvas.
There are 5 key steps which will help colleagues to prepare for the transition date and for course delivery next academic year:
More information about each of these steps, as well as links to support, can be found on the Canvas website.
Don’t forget Canvas 24/7 support is available to all colleagues and students for any of your ‘How do I’ Canvas questions direct from the Canvas Help Menu or via telephone on + 44 808 189 2336.
Continue your Canvas journey with this webinar which will explain how to use a range of collaboration and communication tools within Canvas.
You will learn about:
Who should attend?
This workshop would suit all staff who are required to use Canvas to communicate and collaborate with students and/or other colleagues.
This post provides some further information on how the move to Canvas affects Numbas tests.
Numbas tests are attached to a particular course in a VLE, and therefore will not be moved across when we change from Blackboard to Canvas. Tests will need to be set up again for the new academic year, which is no bad thing as you will need to make some decisions about the set up in Canvas. See the section How do I create a Numbas test in Canvas? below.
Remember that Numbas tests are prepared on the Numbas Editor (the Public Editor is at numbas.mathcentre.ac.uk). This means that you can redeploy your existing test in Canvas.
If you require scores from Numbas tests deployed in Blackboard then you should access these before the close down of Blackboard on July 31st.
However, the Numbas LTI tool will continue to have a record of attempts. A request can be sent to numbas@ncl.ac.uk if you need access to data after the close down of Blackboard.
Numbas can be deployed in Canvas in two ways:
| Numbas module item | Numbas assignment | |
| Add Numbas content | ✅ | ✅ |
| Record student scores | ✅ | ✅ |
| Hide from calendar, to do list, etc | ✅ | |
| Restrict by date | ✅ | |
| Add scores to Gradebook | ✅ | |
| Use as a pre-requisite | ✅ |
The following videos demonstrate the set up of each. For full step-by-step instructions see the Canvas Orientation Course.
In the following video, I add a Numbas test as a module item in Canvas:
In the following video I set up Numbas as an assignment in Canvas:
You can now book onto one hour webinars which will cover the core functionality and exciting new features of Canvas, providing colleagues with the skills and knowledge to set up their Canvas courses ready for the 2020/21 academic year. All sessions are available to book on Elements.
You can find details of sessions below and further information and resources are available at services.ncl.ac.uk/digitallearning/canvas/colleagues/ (including answers to Canvas FAQs) and on NUConnect.
A one hour introduction suitable for all staff.
Begin your Canvas journey with this workshop which will explain how to navigate the key areas of Canvas and how to utilise Canvas to provide engaging learning materials and communicate with students.
Sign up to Canvas Fundamentals.
For Professional Service colleagues who will be responsible for supporting Canvas in their academic unit.
Sign up to the Canvas PS session.
You will learn about:
Sign up to Canvas Assignments.
You will learn:
We know that the demands on colleagues mean that many may not be able to engage with the training opportunities at this time. The team will be offering a comprehensive programme of webinars throughout the summer, so we hope that if you wish to participate in a webinar you will be able to do so at a time that fits with all your other commitments.
You can also find out more about the range of self help resources available on the Canvas website.
For any queries get in touch at Canvas@ncl.ac.uk
As many of you know, the University will be moving to Canvas on the 1 August 2020 and all use of Blackboard will end on the 31st July.
We know colleagues across the University are working incredibly hard at the moment to implement the remote delivery and assessment of the University’s programmes. We have therefore postponed the start of the workshops for colleagues in academic units from this week, until after the Easter break.
The way we are delivering this support is also changing. The face-to-face workshops we had intended to deliver will not now take place. These will be replaced by a programme of shorter webinars, supported by a range of online resources. We have arranged these webinars so that in total, there will be the same number of spaces available on webinars as we had planned to deliver in face-to-face workshops. As with the face-to-face workshops, there is no requirement to attend these webinars if your preference is to get familiar with Canvas via the other online resources we are providing.
We know that the demands on colleagues means that many will not be able to engage with the training opportunities at this time. We will be offering a comprehensive programme of webinars throughout the summer, so that if you wish to participate in a webinar you will be able to do so at a time that fits with all your other commitments.
If you are unable to attend a webinar, you also have access to the Canvas Online Orientation Course available on the dashboard when you log in to Canvas. This has been designed by University colleagues to support you in using the key features and tools in Canvas and there are a number of self-check quizzes for you to check your understanding as you work through each section.
If you have any queries please contact the Canvas implementation team.
All Learning and Teaching colleagues can now log in to Canvas, our new Virtual Learning Environment, which will be replacing Blackboard from 1st August 2020. This is an exciting milestone as we transition to Canvas and with access to a personal sandbox (practice) course and an online Canvas Orientation course, colleagues have an early opportunity to familiarise themselves with the platform.
Go to https://canvas.ncl.ac.uk and log in with your nid@newcastle.ac.uk account. Once you have access you will see your personal sandbox (practice) course and the Canvas Orientation course on your Canvas dashboard. Please do not use Internet Explorer as this browser is not supported by Canvas.
To support you with the transition from Blackboard to Canvas and to help you to get the most out of Canvas, a comprehensive suite of training has been developed including Canvas Fundamentals, Professional Service sessions, Assignments and Quizzes and more.
Sessions taking place throughout April-June are now available to book. There will be further sessions released in March to run from July 2020 onwards.
If you are based at our London, Malaysia or Singapore campuses and are unable to attend face to face training sessions in Newcastle, we are working with colleagues at each campus to organise suitable sessions, which will be communicated to you shortly.
Further information regarding PGR access to training will also be communicated soon.
In addition to training, the following support is available:
If you have any queries about any of this information or would like to speak with a member of the project team, please contact canvas@ncl.ac.uk.
We are excited to announce the launch of a new Digital Learning website go.ncl.ac.uk/digitallearning
This new site brings together the digital learning activities taking place across the University, providing you with information, step by step guides and ideas to help you to get the most out of digital technologies for learning, teaching and assessment.
Visit the site to find out about:
Canvas– the University’s exciting new Virtual Learning Environment replacing Blackboard from 1st August 2020. Staff and students can find project updates, information about the support available, answers to FAQs and upcoming events.
TEL Services, lots of information about our centrally supported technologies and systems, digital exams and access to TEL guides providing you with step by step instructions.
Blended Learning, if you want to explore online educational materials and collaborative learning opportunities with traditional face-to-face delivery, visit these pages for inspiration and support.
We will be continuing to update the site with resources so please let us know if there is anything else you would like to see that can support you in your role. Get in touch at LTDS@ncl.ac.uk.
Canvas is the University’s new Virtual Learning Environment replacing Blackboard from August 2020. This Roadshow event will showcase this new platform and the benefits it offers to students and colleagues.
This is your opportunity to meet Canvas colleagues who will be on-site for this event, see live demonstrations of the fantastic features Canvas provides and get involved in discussions with the Canvas and Newcastle University Project team.
There will be an opportunity to ask questions during the sessions, but if you wish you can also pre-submit any questions you would like the teams to answer by emailing canvas@ncl.ac.uk.
Some of the sessions are tailored to specific audiences so please sign up to the most appropriate session for you. Please register now to attend.
The lntroduction to Canvas sessions will be livestreamed for those unable to attend in person. You can access the livestreaming links below:
Introduction to Canvas, 20th January 2020 10:00-11:00
Introduction to Canvas, 21st January 2020 9.30-10:30
Introduction to Canvas, 21st January 2020 14:00-15:00
Introduction to Canvas, 22nd January 2020 10:00-11:00
We really look forward to seeing you at one of these events.
