Happy Spring! In this month's newsletter, we share useful Canvas gradebook features, updates on Summer and Fall course availability, resources for course planning, and upcoming training opportunities.

Summer/Fall Canvas Course Availability

The planned date for Summer and Fall 2023 courses to appear in Canvas is April 4. If you need to begin working on a Summer or Fall course before then, you can email cidi@usu.edu and request a "build" course—one in which you can start working while you wait for the official course to become available. When the time comes to copy content into your new course(s), the Canvas guide on copying content from one course to another is a good resource.

Useful Canvas Gradebook Features

• New! Submit for Student option: As of this week, teachers can submit an assignment on behalf of a student for any assignment that allows a file upload submission type. To find the option, open the Grade Detail Tray from a gradebook cell.
  
• Gradebook Filter: Above the Canvas gradebook are search boxes where you can filter the gradebook for a single student or assignment. Also, under the dropdown View menu are options to filter students by section or student group, or filter assignments by assignment group or module. Learn more about filtering gradebook rows and columns.
  
• Gradebook Notes Column: The dropdown View menu of the Canvas gradebook also includes an option to enable a Notes column, where you can add useful short-hand information about students that only you can see. Learn more about enabling and using the Notes column.
• Gradebook History: The dropdown Gradebook menu contains a link to the Canvas gradebook history. This feature becomes handy when gradebook errors occur. Learn more about the Canvas gradebook history.

On USU's Shared Value of Balance

This semester, each newsletter has discussed one of the shared USU values that form the basis of upcoming delivery method changes. The five values are student-centered thinking, access, balance, choice, and commitment. This month's value is balance—support for departmental and university goals and effective use of residential campuses, regional centers, and USU's digital presence. At first glance, this goal applies heavily to macro-level decisions about course and resource scheduling. However, it also implies taking a holistic view of teaching and learning. Every course is part of something larger, achieving outcomes that extend beyond the immediate semester. Course planning should take into account bigger-picture considerations. For example, how does the course fit with the courses that come before and after? What does it contribute, and what does it depend on? What are the ultimate needs and goals of the students, and what are their characteristics?

Here are a few resources that may help when planning to teach a course with the big picture in mind:

• Center for Student Analytics Publications, which include student insight reports and impact analyses of various services and programs.
• AAA's USU Enrollments at a Glance visualization, which includes multiple options for filtering enrollments by demographics, discipline, and delivery method.
• Instructions on creating a survey in Canvas, for creating pre-assessments, mid-semester surveys, and exit surveys.
• The university catalog, for identifying how courses fit into a larger program.
• A description of course delivery methods starting Summer 2023, for an understanding of the experience students will anticipate with each delivery type they select.
• Inside Higher Ed's latest Student Voice survey, which provides a recent snapshot of what respondents identified as their primary struggles, concerns, and preferences.

Training Opportunities

• Putting Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Work in the Classroom to Improve Student Outcomes:  This CIDI guest workshop featuring Dr. Ben George of the LAEP department, who will share ideas for incorporating AI tools into course assignments. Register for the AI workshop.
• Last day to apply for Beyond the Diversity Assignment: USU Libraries and the Center for Intersectional Gender Studies and Research is hosting a 6-hour workshop on incorporating critical and inclusive pedgagoy into assigmments and course design. March 24 is the last day to apply. There are several benefits to participation, including a stipend. Learn more and apply for the Diversity Workshop. 
• CIDI Workshops: CIDI continues to host workshops, taught via Zoom, throughout the Spring term. See all topics and register at teach.usu.edu.

Reminder: Kaltura Video Maintenance, Starting April

• Kaltura Videos Not Played for 4+ Years to be Removed: Beginning April 3, videos that are hosted in Kaltura (listed as My Media in Canvas or accessed at mymedia.usu.edu) will be deleted if they have not been played at all for four years or longer. This is to make Kaltura more manageable for users and networking systems. If you have videos in Kaltura that you wish to keep but have not shared or played for years, go to https://mymedia.usu.edu/user/login, login with your A#, and simply play the videos. You do not have to play them all the way through. If you have a large number of videos to save, please contact cidi@usu.edu for help preserving them in bulk.

Contact CIDI

For on-demand support with teaching technologies, contact CIDI at cidi@usu.edu, via chat, or at 435.797.9506. Schedule an appointment with an instructional designer to get help making your courses more engaging, usable, and accessible.

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