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NEWS •

Canvas new feature and handy hints

In this post Emily reports on the latest Canvas feature to enhance feedback to students, reminds you of another useful tool for your practice of groupwork and points to several sources of support.

New on Canvas

Rich Text Editor for Speedgrader Feedback

An exciting new feature in Canvas, is the addition of a cut-down version of the Rich Text editor to let you format your comments in Speedgrader. See an example in the screenshot below. 

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Of course, you should keep accessibility in mind when using it!

  • Keep your formatting sensible. For example, not all students will be able to see colour so combine it with Bold type where appropriate.
  • If using headings, use them in the correct order and remember too much formatting may be worse than none...
  • You can also link to things already on Canvas and/or to websites. When doing so, remember to use descriptive text as links e.g. TEA website rather than Click here for the TEA website.

If you are unsure, don’t forget the Designing for Diverse Learners guidance can help. 

Using screencasts to provide feedback

You can also now provide student feedback in Speedgrader as a screencast. Click the Recording option below the Speedgrader comment box to enable the Screencast option and record yourself scrolling through the student assignment and commenting on parts of it as they are shown on the screen – this video guide will explain further.

More help on feedback is available from this Teaching Essentials page.

Have you tried Buddycheck?

Buddycheck is built into Canvas and allows students to ‘rate’ (and comment on if you want them to) the other members of their group after completing an assessed groupwork project.

It then uses their ratings (and some complex maths) to adjust their grade for the groupwork project to reflect where they contributed more or less than other group members

Why not book a Small Change 1 to 1 session with Emily to find out more?

For more help on groupwork, check out this Teaching Essentials page.

Looking ahead at T2 and your Panopto recordings

Remember– you can schedule your Panopto recordings for T2 so you don’t forget to set these up. If you don’t have time to do this, just log a job through Service Now and we will set the schedule up for you. You just need to provide us with your Module number and let us know whether you want your lectures recording or seminars and workshops too.

Coming Soon: Mentimeter

Mentimeter has changed the way you log in to its PowerPoint add-in and you now need to enter a code – you will find this displayed in a separate browser tab/window.

A new version of the add-in is coming soon – this will allow you to add more question types into PowerPoints but you will no longer be able to create new questions directly in PowerPoint. Instead, you will need to create your questions in Mentimeter first and then add them to your PowerPoint.

If you need any further help using these useful new features, just log a job through Service Now or book a Small Change 1 to 1 support session on Teams.

Previous blogs you may find useful

Canvas quizzes
Buddycheck
Accessibility made easy in Canvas

Photo credit: Drew Beamer on Unsplash

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