Blackboard and Moodle will no longer be options for instruction after the spring semester. The official end of our licenses providing access to Blackboard and Moodle is June 30. Please make sure you have extracted all content from all classes for rebuilding in Canvas by then.
This week the final 4-week online MiraCosta Introduction to Teaching with Canvas class begins. Learn more and sign up if you’re interested.
For those who have signed up, watch for an email later today or tomorrow on how to get started.
Next week I’ll start sending more detailed tips about moving classes into Canvas for those who still have that work ahead of them.
Jim Julius, Ed.D. Faculty Director, Online Education
Here is a video, from Dr. Robert Kelley, that covers how faculty can selectively subscribe to a discussion board in Canvas (choosing immediate or daily/weekly summary). The hack is to use a separate student Canvas account, with notifications set up in the student account as desired (immediate or daily/weekly summary).
For example, this approach has application for faculty who would like to provide an ‘Ask A Question’ discussion board for their class (and receive notifications in their inbox for request for help) without being notified all the time for any discussion board post.
MiraCosta’s Canvas system may be accessed at miracosta.instructure.com – faculty and students log in with their SURF username and password. You’ll also find a button to log into Canvas at miracosta.edu/online. See below for many great resources to help you learn to use Canvas, and earn MiraCosta Flex credit along the way.
MiraCosta Canvas tutorials – locally created guides on key Canvas features and how Canvas works with SURF
24-7 Canvas hotline for faculty: 1-833-345-2890
Questions about how Canvas works specifically at MiraCosta? Contact Karen Turpin, Online Instructional Technologist: kturpin@miracosta.edu / 760-795-6787
Do you think Canvas might be down or experiencing errors? Check the Canvas Status website.
Canvas Course Design (video, 50 min.) 1/13/17 In-person workshop presented by Billy Gunn
Flex Credit is available for viewing MiraCosta workshop videos. This is a pre-approved activity (in the Other Activities category Conferences and Presentations).
Canvas Accessibility Workshops
Please refer to the following resources to assist with Canvas accessibility:
What does a Canvas class look like? Well, there are a number of approaches to designing a class in Canvas. Check out some short videos by MiraCosta faculty. And then go behind the scenes – in Canvas – to learn more!
Canvas Student Orientation – this open Canvas course can also be a good way for faculty to introduce themselves to Canvas from the student perspective. Faculty are also welcome to link directly to this resource within their own Canvas classes to help their students learn key features of Canvas.
Flex Credit is available for time spent engaging with any of the above resources. This is a pre-approved activity (in the Other Activities category Conferences and Presentations).
And often starting with a Google search is the quickest path to finding something really useful!
Again, Flex Credit is available for time spent engaging with any of the above resources.
Canvas Faculty and Student Support
MiraCosta’s Online Education department provides support for faculty using Canvas, and MiraCosta’s Student Help Desk provides support for students in Canvas classes.
When local support is unavailable, including evenings and weekends, Canvas provides technical support for faculty and students at the following phone numbers.
Faculty: 1-833-345-2890 Students: 1-877-884-1673
Canvas has excellent “Getting Started” guides for faculty and for students. See above for more faculty training resources.
Faculty and students can also create a helpdesk ticket for support from within Canvas by clicking on the Tech Help icon and then selecting Report a Problem.
Many other LTI tools (“Apps”) are available – some have been made available institutionally and you can see those in the Navigation tab of Course Settings; others can be enabled by faculty individually; you can see those in the Apps tab of Course Settings. See the Canvas Guide on the App Center to learn more.
Workarounds
Canvas does not have a dedicated journaling tool. It is possible to use Canvas tools to provide students with a place to submit their writings or reflections at various points throughout the semester. This is done by creating a series of assignments within the same assignment group.
MiraCosta College took on a comprehensive Course Management System evaluation in spring 2016 that led to the selection of Canvas. The college then transitioned away from Blackboard and Moodle and to Canvas during 2016-17 and 2017-18. Starting in summer 2018, Canvas is the sole supported course management system for MiraCosta classes.
One of MiraCosta’s early Canvas adopters, music professor Christy Coobatis, says this about using Canvas in spring 2017:
Has been an extremely successful semester because of it!
Both students and I loved the program.
I have more and clearer communication than ever before!
Another, Adult High School professor Julie Cord, says:
I am in LOVE with Canvas and I truly feel it has helped support my students and my teaching already in very substantial ways.
All spring 2017 classes are available to faculty now in both Blackboard and Canvas. MiraCosta will support Blackboard, Moodle, and Canvas through spring of 2018, with full conversion to Canvas by summer 2018. (Faculty who wish to use Moodle for any classes should request those from Karen Korstad – kkorstad@miracosta.edu).
Please see the TIC page on Canvas for lots of great resources if you wish to begin learning about Canvas. A number of MiraCosta faculty have been teaching Canvas pilot classes this fall, including the Canvas Transition Team of Billy Gunn, Curry Mitchell, Gail Meinhold, Leola McClure, and Robert Kelley. They are currently developing training resources to share with all faculty, and we will soon release a list of Canvas introduction/open lab sessions to be held this fall. We are also planning an all-day Canvas workshop for the first day of Flex week in January (Friday the 13th).
