Upcoming Zoom Features for April 2021

 There are several new features coming to Zoom in April, including enhanced screen annotation for Zoom Meetings and Zoom Video Webinars, auto-shapes on the whiteboard, and added emojis for more meeting interaction!

Vanishing Pen Annotation

Now you can highlight text or objects on the shared screen without having to undo or erase highlight annotations. The Vanishing Pen allows you to highlight text or objects and the highlight will disappear over time which lets you to direct attendees’ attention without needing to constantly undo or erase your annotations.

Whiteboard Auto-shapes on Zoom’s mobile application

Easily create straight lines and perfect shapes when annotating on your tablet device using the Zoom mobile app with Whiteboard Auto-shapes, which automatically corrects your annotations into their intended shape. 

More emoji options for Meeting Reactions

The latest release brings more emoji reactions to the meeting, including the ability to choose a skin tone for your emojis. For larger accounts, the full emoji set must be enabled by admins and account owners.

 

To learn more about any of these features, reach out to Learning Technologies!

 

Coming Soon: JumpStart Trainings!

 Are you interested in learning to teach better and more easily online? Want to know more about accessibility? Consider attending one of Learning Technology's JumpStarts during (tentatively) the week of May 24th through 28th and July 12th through 16th. Watch this space for updates about dates, times, agendas, etc!

Changes to Video Downloads in Kaltura

We recently upgraded our Kaltura player from version two to version three. The primary change for faculty and students are the new downloading options when embedding videos. 

With the changes in the Kaltura player, embedded videos now default to no download capabilities. If you don't want your videos to be downloaded, you don't need to change anything about how you embed your videos.

To Download or Not to Download

Faculty have the options to make their Kaltura videos downloadable so that students can take them on the go or download them when on wifi for a chance to watch later when their connections may not be so stable. 

Some content creators, however, do not want their videos to be downloadable so that their content cannot be shared without their consent. The update allows this decision to be made on a video by video basis.

Which method you choose is up to you, but if you would like to learn how to make your videos downloadable, please read on. 

How to Embed a Kaltura Video with or without Download Capability

If you do want your videos to be downloaded, you can do this by selecting the gear icon next to the embed button within the Embed Kaltura Media window in Canvas, as included below:

Once you select the gear icon, you will be taken to another window called Embed Settings. Kaltura videos default to embedded without download capabilities. If you would like to change this, you will need to locate the Choose Player field and select Canvas Embed with Download Plugin before selecting the Embed button in the upper right, as demonstrated below:

 

After selecting embed, your videos can now be downloaded by students! Let Learning Technologies know if you have any questions.

March Canvas Updates

 

There are some pretty major updates coming to Canvas on March 22nd. Let's dig into them below!

New Feature: Webcam Submissions

When submitting an assignment, students can submit an image of an assignment or project via their computer's webcam. Learn more about it in the following short video from Canvas:

Updated Feature: Course Availability

Course dates can now be set by term, not just by date. Instructors will still be able to use specific dates, but they also have the option to set availability by the standard term dates. The following video covers this feature update:

 

 

Updated Feature: Learning Mastery Filters

Instructors can now filter the Learning Mastery Gradebook to find students whose courses have concluded or are inactive. This is useful for determining which students have mastered content or learning objectives. Watch the Canvas video for more information:

 

 

 

Updated Feature: RCE File Preview Enhancements

When uploading files in the rich content editor, users can now see a preview of the file inline or in an overlay. This change allows users to control the display of the file preview. Previously all file previews opened in a new browser tab. Canvas covers it more fully in the following video:

 

 

 

Updated Feature: SpeedGrader Submission Reassignment

This change allows instructors to provide feedback and reassign an assignment to an individual student, which places the assignment back in the List View Dashboard as another assignment to complete.

For online assignments with a due date, instructors can view a Reassign button in SpeedGrader. If they require a student to redo an assignment, they can reassign the assignment directly to the student from within their grading workflow in SpeedGrader. The instructor must first provide feedback regarding the assignment, which will enable the button. The reassignment does not change the original due date for the student.

Notes

• The Reassign Assignment button is not available for External Tools (LTI), on paper, and no submission assignments.
• The Reassign Assignment button is only available for assignments with due dates.
• If an instructor returns to SpeedGrader after navigating away from the page, the Reassign Assignment button shows that the assignment has been reassigned.
• If the assignment's settings do not allow students to make an additional attempt, the Reassign Assignment shows that the assignment is not able to be reassigned.

When an assignment is reassigned, students see the assignment in the List View Dashboard with the instructor’s feedback. Students can resubmit the assignment and submit for additional feedback from their instructor.

 

 If you have any questions about these changes, please contact Learning Technologies!

How to Annotate a PDF in Canvas

 

Would you like to have your students annotate a PDF for an assignment in class? Turns out there's a simple way to do this, though certain steps may seem counterintuitive. 

How to set up the assignment

To create a PDF annotation assignment, you'll create a new assignment and add the PDF to it. Include any directions necessary for the completion of the assignment, assign points, and assign the assignment to all students or the correct group of students.

You will want to choose the assignment submission type of Online and then choose File Upload. You can further restrict this so that students can only upload a PDF. Then save and publish the assignment. You can watch all these steps in the video below:

 

How students complete the assignment

Student will complete the assignment by first downloading the PDF and then submitting the blank PDF. (Remember I said this would seem counterintuitive?) The student will then go to Submission Details in the upper right hand corner and then select View Feedback on the next screen. This will then open the submitted PDF.

In order to enlarge the PDF for annotation, the students should then select the full-screen button (it looks like a diagonally pointing arrow) and then they will have access to the annotation tools. They can highlight text, add text to the PDF or use the strikethrough function, use a paintbrush, create a box around something, or add a comment that will show outside of the document. Sizes and colors can be altered on most of these functions. 

Once the student is finished with his or her annotation, they can leave the full-screen view, close the PDF, and choose Resubmit Assignment to complete the assignment.

So there you have it! Can you think of a reason why you might use this functionality? Try it out! And as always, if you have questions, don't hesitate to contact Learning Technologies!

Live Proctoring via Respondus LockDown Browser

 

A new beta function from Respondus LockDown Browser allows instructors to conduct their own live proctoring via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and other video systems. For smaller classes, this allows instructors to directly observe their students during exams. 

While there is no technical limit to the number of students who can use this system, the logistics of logging everyone in, taking attendance, observing students, and tracking when students have completed the exam can become overwhelming in courses over 20-25 students. 

The video below is from Respondus and introduces their new functionality:

 

December Updates to Canvas

There will be some changes coming to Canvas over the winter break that of which we wanted to make our faculty and staff aware. 

Rich Content Editor

Starting after finals week, Canvas will be transitioning all users to the "new" Rich Content Editor (RCE) that has been available as an option for several months. This will change the look of the editor from the classic version to the enhanced version. 

 

Classic version:

 

Enhanced version:

 

 

As you can tell, there are several changes to the enhanced content editor. According to Instructure, the main changes are these:

 

• The Rich Content Editor expands to the full width of the browser and can also be expanded into full screen mode
• The toolbar includes a condensed, more intuitive look
• Toolbar menus are grouped by common icons and interactions
• The content sidebar only displays when linking to other parts of Canvas, accessing Canvas files, or accessing uploaded media
• Image and media additions include drag and drop; images include an Unsplash search and content auto-scaling
• When content in a browser window is long enough to require a scroll bar, the Rich Content Editor menu bar is fixed at the top of the browser window.
• The Keyboard shortcut, Accessibility Checker, and HTML Editor icons have moved to the bottom of the editor next to the word count. Additionally, the Rich Content Editor window can be resized using the Move handle below the window, and the window can be expanded to full screen.

Many of you may have opted to switch to the enhanced RCE earlier in the year. For those who haven't, it will be rolled out to all users over the break, so keep an eye out! For more information on the RCE, scroll through the RCE UI Overview for a breakdown of how each button and menu will function.   

Canvas Push Notifications

We are all frequently being overwhelmed by digital communication these days. Reading emails, getting texts, notifications from apps, all of these can clog up our senses. 

 

According to Instructure, "students spend 89% of their time on native mobile apps and just 11% of their time in mobile browsers, and surveys show students prefer using apps on their smartphones instead of being pointed to mobile websites. In fact, nearly one million students downloaded the Canvas Student App in March and April of 2020 alone." They add that push notifications "appear in a student’s notification tray, where today’s youth check dozens of times daily."

 

In an attempt to help clear some of the noise, Canvas is streamlining its push notifications. These send messages out to students when something happens in their course in Canvas. Starting January 16th, a more condensed version of push notification will be available. These notifications include:

Announcements

• New Announcement
• Announcement Reply

Assignments 

• Assignment Created
• Submission Graded
• Assignment Due Date Changed
• Submission Comment
• Submission Needs Grading
• Submission Comment for Teacher
• Submission Grade Changed
• Assignment Changed
• Annotation Notification
• Assignment Due Date Override Changed
• Peer Review Invitation
• Rubric Assessment Submission Reminder
• Upcoming Assignment Alert
• Annotation Teacher Notification
• Assignment Unmuted
• Quiz Regrade Finished

Events 

• New Event Created
• Event Date Changed
• Appointment Group Published
• Appointment Group Updated
• Appointment Group Deleted
• Appointment Canceled by User
• Appointment Deleted for User

Conversations

• Conversation Message (new conversation or reply)

Conferences

• Web Conference Invitation

Collaborations

• Collaboration Invitation

Conclusion 

As always, if you have any questions about these changes or any other Canvas utilities, please contact our Learning Tech office. We're here to help!