Studio Now Has Automated Captioning!
Creating accessible content is an essential part of effective teaching in higher education. Canvas Studio now offers automatic captioning to make your media files more inclusive and user-friendly. This feature not only enhances accessibility for students with hearing impairments but also supports learning preferences for non-native speakers, visual learners, and others who benefit from captions.
Importing and Exporting Course Content
As part of our course archival process in Canvas, it’s important to ensure that all course materials are securely backed up and easily accessible for future reference. This guide will walk you through the steps to export and import Canvas courses, providing a reliable way to save your course content for subsequent use. Additionally, instructions are included to help you access your files and folders through Microsoft OneDrive using your FSCJ credentials.
Announcing, Simple Syllabus as the FSCJ Approved Syllabus Platform
We are very excited to announce the adoption of Simple Syllabus as FSCJ’s improved process for creating, submitting, and sharing course syllabi. Simple Syllabus will replace the FSCJ Online Syllabus Builder, and instructors are required to use Simple Syllabus for all syllabus creation and submission starting with the Spring 2025 term.
Discussions Bug - Threaded Replies
A recent Canvas update caused some inconsistencies in discussion settings, where certain discussions may have had threading disabled unintentionally. If you created a discussion intending to allow threaded replies but found this option disabled, you can correct it by unchecking the "Disallow Threaded Replies" setting when editing your discussion.
What’s New in Canvas for the Fall 2024 Term?
Recent updates to Canvas include enhancements focused on usability and readability for FSCJ faculty. Key improvements include the option to disallow threaded replies in discussions, visual separators between discussion posts for better clarity, and a generative AI-powered discussion summarization tool. Additionally, the Smart Search feature enhances search functionality, while updates to SpeedGrader and the Gradebook improve grading efficiency with features like draft indicators for comments and streamlined messaging options.
Studio Capture: A New Way to Screen Record in Canvas
Users now have two options for screen recording in Canvas, the traditional Screencast-o-matic that you may already by used to and Studio Capture. Canvas Studio Capture for Chrome and Edge browsers is a new option for integrated screen capture available in Canvas. Studio Capture integrates with your existing webcam and eliminates the need to download a separate screen capture product.
Vodcast Episode 1: Accommodations
Are you confident your Canvas page, assignment, or quiz meets our accessibility standards? Do you know how to easily extend time if a student requests more attempts or additional time for a quiz? How about extending a due date for a student who needs just a few more days to submit? And, while in BigBlueButton, do you know where to customize your experience?
Join Brandi and Jeniah as we discuss simple solutions to each of these common requests.
Introducing the Canvas New User Tutorial: Enhanced Onboarding and Support
The EdTech team is excited to announce something new, informational, and even a little fun! We will be activating a New User Tutorial in Canvas, specifically tailored for our new users and those who may need tips for using various pages in Canvas. This new feature is part of our commitment to ensuring that you have the best possible experience and support as you navigate and utilize Canvas for your teaching needs.
Canvas Course Archival Plan Begins This Fall
As we approach the five-year mark of transitioning to Canvas, the Education Technology team would like to introduce the Canvas Course Archival Plan. This initiative will begin the process of streamlining course archives, ensuring that our digital learning environment remains both efficient and secure. The plan outlined below provides a clear timeline for the archiving and eventual deletion of courses, as well as what you should do to prepare for this project.
BigBlueButton 2.7 Update is Here!
Though not as big as the 2.6 update, BigBlueButton’s 2.7 update is here. This update offers users improved usability, increased engagement, and more performance. Here's a breakdown of what's new in 2.7.