11/23/2024

• Quick Tip - Student To-Do List
• What's New with Webcourses@UCF
  
• Webcourses@UCF Support Hours
• Multi-factor Authentication - Now in Webcourses@UCF
• Spotlight Video - ProctorHub Retiring in August
• Accessibility Tip - Watch Your Inbox for SAS Alerts
• Faculty Multimedia Center - FMC Training Room
• Design with Quality in Mind - Non-Academic Services and Resources
  
• Cost Saving Opportunities for Students

The to-do list in Webcourses@UCF is commonly used by students to manage their tasks.  It’s also a powerful way to help your students know what they need to do in your course. The to-do list is automatically populated by items with due dates, but you can add items for your courses.

Here are two tips for making the most out of the student to-do list:

• For ungraded Discussion Boards, always check the “Add to student to-do” box. This ensures that contributing to the forum shows up on students’ radar.
• On any page that needs to be reviewed by a particular date, check the “Add to student to-do” box. For example, if you’d like students to read your syllabus the first week of classes, create a Page for your syllabus and check the “Add to student to-do” before saving.
  

The next Canvas production update, scheduled for May 20, includes the following new features: 

SpeedGrader Quick Link - A link to SpeedGrader has been added to the Options menus for Assignments, Graded Discussions, Modules, Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes. This update provides quick access to SpeedGrader from various locations within Canvas. 

Rich Content Editor - Users can now drag and drop or paste multiple files. 

New Quizzes – The Rich Content Editor (RCE) is now available in New Quizzes. This update provides instructors with the ability to utilize the accessibility checker on questions and instructions, add media recordings within New Quizzes, and access to the math editor, and change the view between HTML editor and classic view for advanced users. Additionally, this update provides students with the ability to record audio and video within the RCE of a New Quiz. 

For more information, visit the Canvas Release Notes. 

Webcourses@UCF Support summer semester hours will remain the same as fall and spring semester support hours.

• Monday – Friday, 7am-10pm
• Saturday & Sunday, 9am-6pm

As part of the University's ongoing efforts to enhance the security of our network and academic data, UCF IT has implemented Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) protection for all faculty, staff, and students signing into Webcourses@UCF. 

Some students may be experiencing an issue with the new MFA requirement. If a student contacts you about login issues, please direct them to the Webcourses MFA Enrollment and Sign-In Options.

As this process is new for students, we recommend you share the video below with your students, which demonstrates how they will use the Microsoft Authenticator app on their mobile device to access Webcourses@UCF.  

We say our goodbyes to ProctorHub, and welcome Respondus, an integrated proctoring solution for your online assessments. On Monday, August 14th, ProctorHub is set to retire. If you are currently using ProctorHub, we encourage you to migrate to the Respondus Monitor and LockDown Browser prior to ProctorHub’s decommissioning.

For instructors teaching this summer, now is a crucial time to check for messages from Student Accessibility Services (SAS) regarding students enrolled in your courses who have accessibility needs.

We ask that when you receive a message from SAS, you read it right away for guidance on next steps and respond as soon as possible. Your prompt engagement helps ensure that your instructional content in Webcourses@UCF supports students in a timely manner and encourages all studentsnot just those connected with SASto remain enrolled in your course.

Don’t have a request for accommodation, but want to ensure your content is accessible anyway? Visit Online Course Accessibility Resources for proactive accessibility and UDL resources.

FREE rent! Everyone loves new spaces, especially when they are free to use. The training room located within the Faculty Multimedia Center in Classroom Building 1 – Room 202 is one of the best kept secrets on campus for faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants.

Our space is primed to hold your department meetings, workshops, curriculum meetings and more. Breakout groups are a breeze with plush office chairs and four whiteboard-friendly tables—each with their own computer capable of screensharing with the entire room.

There are numerous university services and resources available to students to support their success both in and out of the classroom, and it can help if they are reminded of that within an individual course. Check out Identify Non-Academic Services and Resources for tips on providing your students this valuable information in your online course materials.

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 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. 

Elizabeth Brendel Horn, MFA, Associate Professor, Theater Department, College of Arts & Humanities, was awarded the Barbara Truman Award for Excellence in Blended Teaching by the Center for Distributed Learning (CDL) and the 2023 Truman Award Faculty Review Committee. Dr. Horn received this award for demonstrating excellence in blended teaching in her course, THE2305, Script Analysis for Theater.

2023 Honorable Mentions were awarded to the following:

• Morris Beato, PT, DPT, School of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health Professions and Sciences
• Karen Ehrhart, Ph.D., Department of Management, College of Business

The Truman Award recipient will have the option to display a digital badge in the online course for which the submission is based.

Open Educational Resources

UCF Faculty can take advantage of open educational resources (OER) to increase access and equity in the classroom.