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Category: K-State Online

UDOIT is now available in K-State Online

by Information Technology ServicesUDOIT logo

The Universal Design Online content Inspection Tool (pronounced “You Do It”) allows faculty to identify accessibility issues in K-State Online courses. UDOIT will scan a course, generate a report, and provide resources on how to address common accessibility issues specific to the Canvas environment. Continue reading “UDOIT is now available in K-State Online”

Canvas Teacher app available for iOS and Android phones and tablets

by Information Technology Services

The Canvas Teacher app is now available for iOS and Android phones and tablets. The Canvas Teacher app allows teachers to manage their courses and use Canvas more efficiently from a mobile device.

Canvas Teacher replaces the existing Android and iOS SpeedGrader apps. Existing users may continue to use the legacy SpeedGrader app though it will no longer be supported. Additionally, the Android Canvas Teacher Tools app has been discontinued. SpeedGrader will no longer be supported for mobile devices.  SpeedGrader is still available for use and supported in K-State Online, and is included in the new Canvas Teacher app. Continue reading “Canvas Teacher app available for iOS and Android phones and tablets”

Grade submission deadlines for summer 2017

Grades for the summer 2017 term are due by 5 p.m. Friday, August 18. The August 18day after the instructor approves and submits the grades in KSIS they are posted to students’ academic records. Grades are posted every 24 hours so students can view their grades the day after the instructor submits them.

More information about grade submission deadlines are available from the Final Grade Submission Information – Summer 2017 page.  For information about submitting grades from K-State Online to KSIS, see Copy Final Grades from K-State Online to KSIS.

K-State Attendance app

by Information Technology Services

K-State Online Canvas comes with a built-in attendance app called Roll Call. However, many instructors found the app too complicated to use. In response, K-State has developed an alternative attendance app that was released at the beginning of 2017.

The K-State Attendance app has been overwhelmingly accepted and preferred by instructors. During spring 2017, only a couple of courses continued to use Roll Call attendance. Due to the lack of use of Roll Call, a decision has been to permanently retire the feature. Retiring Roll Call will help to declutter the course navigation, and eliminate any confusion of which app to use when taking attendance. Continue reading “K-State Attendance app”

K-State Online August updates

by Information Technology ServicesK-State Online Info graphic

Updates to Canvas were released on Aug. 5. Canvas operates on a monthly release cycle, with features added or updated every three weeks.

To see all the new features and fixed bugs, view the complete August Release Notes. In addition to the Canvas release, Information Technology Services releases updates to services and integrations with K-State Online through the month as necessary. Continue reading “K-State Online August updates”

K-State Online July updates

by Information Technology ServicesK-State Online Info graphic

Updates to Canvas were released on July 15. Canvas operates on a monthly release cycle, with features added or updated every three weeks.

To see all the new features and fixed bugs, view the complete July Release Notes. In addition to the Canvas release, Information Technology Services releases updates to services and integrations with K-State Online through the month as necessary. Continue reading “K-State Online July updates”

Two new features coming to K-State Online July 15

by Information Technology ServicesK-State Online Info graphic

Instructors will see two new features in K-State Online on Saturday, July 15.

The first new feature is the Course Home Page default, which previously went to the Recent Activity Stream. Now, it will default to the Modules page that has two links to help new instructors either Create a new Module or Add existing content through a course import. Instructors can still choose any home page for their course, but the default will be the Modules layout.

Image of Modules home page
Click image to enlarge.

If Modules is set to be the home page but no modules content exists, Canvas will prompt the instructor to either publish a module or choose a different home page layout.

To learn how to change a course home page, view the article How do I change the Course Home Page.

The second new feature is the Course Setup Tutorial. When viewing Canvas course home pages, instructors can view a course setup tutorial, which shows the purpose of the page and what to do next. This course setup tutorial replaces the existing Course Setup Checklist.

The course setup tutorial is shown to new Canvas instructors in new courses. New instructors are defined as users with instructor roles created in an account after the new tutorial feature has been enabled. The course setup tutorial can be collapsed from view and is persistent across Canvas pages, so if the tutorial is collapsed in one page, it will stay collapsed until expanded again.

Image of Course Tutorial
Click image to enlarge.

Instructors can end the tutorial series in any page using the End Tutorial button. However, ending the tutorial in one course applies to all other courses. Instructors can view the tutorial in new courses again at any time by accessing their User Settings page and enabling the Course Setup Tutorial user feature option. To learn more, view the article How do I use the Canvas course setup tutorial as an instructor.

DocViewer now available in K-State Online

by Information Technology ServicesK-State Online Info graphic

DocViewer is now available for use in K-State Online. DocViewer automatically converts common office documents into web-viewable and interactive learning experiences. DocViewer will be available anywhere Canvas currently uses Box for content previews and Crocodoc for annotations.

Crocodoc has been a great product in K-State Online, but will no longer be supported by Box (the parent company) at the end of the year. As a result of this change, Canvas will no longer use Crocodoc. All Canvas accounts have been migrated to DocViewer automatically. This includes your course history with previous documents and annotations.

DocViewer contains all the same document types and all the same annotation types as Crocodoc, with extra benefits including:

  • Modern interface
  • Improved performance (including mobile)
  • Fewer clicks
  • Color options (coming soon)
  • Persistent tool colors within an annotation session (coming soon)

DocViewer also provides a stronger technical foundation to improve existing features, such as contribute to the next version of SpeedGrader. Implementing DocViewer functionality brings numerous future benefits to Canvas including:

  • Improve reliability of document rendering
  • Develop new features and product enhancements
  • Better address hosting needs for international regions
  • Enhance support for assistive technology users

All Canvas accounts will be migrated to DocViewer automatically. This includes your course history with previous documents and annotations.

For step-by-step instructions on how to use DocViewer, view the How do I use DocViewer in Canvas assignments article.

K-State Online June updates

by Information Technology ServicesK-State Online Info graphic

Updates to Canvas were released on June 24. Canvas operates on a monthly release cycle, with features added or updated every three weeks.

To see all the new features and fixed bugs, view the complete June Release Notes. In addition to the Canvas release, Information Technology Services releases updates to services and integrations with K-State Online through the month as necessary. Continue reading “K-State Online June updates”

K-State Online June updates

by Information Technology ServicesK-State Online Info graphic

Updates to Canvas were released on June 3. Canvas operates on a monthly release cycle, with features added or updated every three weeks.

To see all the new features and fixed bugs, view the complete June Release Notes. In addition to the Canvas release, Information Technology Services releases updates to services and integrations with K-State Online through the month as necessary. Continue reading “K-State Online June updates”