11/22/2024

• Quick Tip - Announcements
  
• What's New with Webcourses@UCF
• Video Tip - New Quizzes
• New Quizzes - Enroll in Self-Paced Course
• Design with Quality in Mind - Select Technology Tools that Support Objectives
  
• Faculty Multimedia Center - Panopto Orientation
• Kelvin's Corner - Research Review
  

A great tip is to have your recent announcements show up on your Course Home Page, so students see them as soon as they log on to your course. You can also set the number of announcements that are displayed on your home page to minimize cluttering your space. Go to Settings, Course Details, click the “more options” link, and then select the “Show recent announcements on course home page” option.

For detailed instructions, visit the Canvas Instructor Guide “How do I show recent announcements in the Course Home Page?”

This weekend's update is light and not relevant to most users at UCF.

Did you know you can also view release notes in Webcourses@UCF? Go to Help on the global navigation bar. These abbreviated release notes describe new and updated features added to the Canvas interface. The Help Menu displays the last ten release notes posted for the instructor role.

View the July 16, 2022 Canvas Release Notes →

In this video you will learn how to migrate your Classic Webcourses@UCF quizzes to New Quizzes.

Webcourses@UCF will be migrating to the new quizzing engine beginning Spring 2023. To get a head-start on your quiz migration or to learn more about New Quizzes, we ask that you enroll in a self-paced course or contact Webcourses@UCF Support to request a training session for yourself or your department.

To learn more about the new quizzing tool, important timelines, resources, and to enroll in a self-paced online introduction course, visit the New Quizzes Migration page. 

As you continue to look for ways to improve your online and blended courses, check out the other posts in Design with Quality in Mind, a growing collection of brief articles based on UCF’s Quality and High-Quality Course Reviews, that describe ways to support all students to succeed in your online courses.  

The Faculty Multimedia Center (FMC) is offering Panopto Orientations/Workshops for Faculty interested in using the platform:

• Monday, August 8th, 9-10 a.m.
• Thursday, August 11th, 3-4 p.m.
• Monday, August 15th, 12-1 p.m.

One of Panopto’s new features is the ability to easily assign a video recording assignment to your students, quickly review, and then finish with SpeedGrader. It’s secure, easy for the students,  and requires no additional software or complicated log in processes. Students simply use their web browser to record!

Though we will be answering questions during the orientation, we will be available afterwards for personalized help you may need. If you would like to attend, simply email the Faculty Multimedia Center at fmc@ucf.edu and specify the session you’d like to attend.

Students from minoritized populations can struggle to overcome obstacles presented by traditional higher education practices. Kelvin recommends “Research Review: Educational Technologies and Their Impact on Student Success for Racial and Ethnic Groups of Interest” (by DETA and WCET), a robust report featuring literature-based practices that will benefit students. For example, the use of group activities where students can collaborate and connect with each other in blended and online courses ensures student success and is supported by research.

Kelvin Thompson is the Executive Director for the Center for Distributed Learning. He is always finding, sharing, recommending interesting and insightful resources about teaching and learning.