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Shelby Scanlon, Communication Coordinator
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In this edition of CIRT News, you will find information about tools and strategies for student interactions that support inclusivity. Remaining committed to inclusivity in our approach to student success and faculty needs must be a high priority. Our Digital Thinking piece introduces you to a new Zoom accessibility feature. Continue reading to learn more about establishing an instructor presence to support community connectedness and togetherness in our Best Practices. Check out our Canvas Feature Spotlight on the Canvas Inbox to enhance your presence. The Canvas News section contains policy updates and information about the new student response system TopHat. It is important to note Canvas administrators will delete Summer 2017 courses during the December 2022 intercession.
For more articles, including announcements, best practices, and tips & tricks, be sure to check out our CIRT Knowledge Base. We are constantly adding new and relevant content to support you better.
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We invite you to view the CIRT 2022 Annual Report. In it, you will find information on achievements, initiatives, and activity data for the past year, as well as planned initiatives and goals for the coming year.
In the coming year, CIRT will identify additional opportunities to support institutional goals using Canvas, expand support for faculty adoption and creation of OERs, develop recommended tools and services matrices to better inform faculty, operationalize the strategies identified to improve Canvas content accessibility, and open a new and expanded Video Studio.
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Grading Rescue
12:00pm - 1:00pm Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Ally: Canvas Accessibilty Tool
1:00pm - 2:00pm Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Creating Accessible Electronic Document
11:00am - 12:00pm Thursday, December 8, 2022
Effective Online Office Hours
3:00pm - 4:00pm Monday, December 12, 2022
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New Zoom Accessibility Feature – Sign Language Interpretation
Wendy Poag, Coordinator of Accessibility
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The newest Zoom version creates a more accessible environment for sign language interpretation. For Zoom users who are part of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, this feature will make it easier for sign language interpreters to stay visible on the screen by allowing interpreters to provide their own video channel. Participants can view the interpreter channel and resize or relocate the video window as needed.
Prerequisites for Using Sign Language Interpretation Feature:
- Sign language interpretation must be enabled in the account settings for both the host and participant
- The host must have a Zoom account
- The host must select the sign language interpretation check box when scheduling a meeting or webinar
- The host must use the most recent Zoom desktop client, currently Windows or macOS version 5.11.3
- The participant must also use the most recent Zoom desktop client version, currently Windows or macOS version 5.11.3. They can also use the most recent Zoom mobile app, currently version 5.12.0, or the Zoom web client
Limitations of the Sign Language Interpretation Feature:
- This feature does not offer sign language interpreters; hosts must provide and assign users as sign language interpreters in the meeting or webinar.
- At this time, the recording will not include sign language interpreters’ videos.
- Hosts cannot use this feature with Personal Meeting IDs (PMI). Hosts must generate the meeting or webinar ID automatically to include the sign language interpretation view.
- Hosts must join the meeting or webinar through the Zoom desktop client to manage and initiate interpretation. They cannot join using other clients, such as the Zoom mobile app or web client.
- This feature must be selected when scheduling a meeting or webinar and thus cannot be used for an instant meeting.
Check out our recent blog for more detailed information about using this feature, or contact Wendy Poag, Coordinator of Accessibility, for support with Zoom accessibility features.
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Establishing a Strong Presence
Jamie Chaires, Senior Instructional Designer
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In the September 2022 issue, CIRT News introduced the 9 Principles for Online Teaching developed by the Distance Learning Committee to establish best practices for online teaching at UNF. In this issue, we will focus on the first principle, establishing a strong presence.
Presence refers to an impression of community connectedness, togetherness, and awareness created by expressing strategic thoughts, feelings, and actions through an online medium. How will you convey your instructor presence to students? Adding videos, links to articles and websites, and other rich subject matter content provides students with various forms of content you have curated, but what’s your perspective? Here are some ideas to support the delivery of your information to students.
Make your voice heard in the course content. Talk to students (ex. You will…), not about students (ex. Students will…) using conversational language. Just as you would talk to students in the face-to-face classroom using non-formal, everyday language, make sure your voice is also present in the online environment. Provide students with instructions on what you want them to do and why. In the face-to-face classroom, you wouldn’t pass out a worksheet or PowerPoint slides and give no explanation as to its purpose, so you shouldn’t do that in the online environment either. Adult learners are motivated by knowing why they are being asked to do something or why it matters.
Show your face. You can use videos for announcements, discussion boards, lectures, and many other reasons to communicate with students. Even though some people may feel a little anxious about being on camera, it creates a more engaging and exciting video when you include yourself in the view. Students will see you as someone participating in the course and as the content expert. Turn on your webcam and keep your videos short and relevant to students.
Give personalized feedback. When students receive no feedback on their assignments, it can feel like there isn’t a teacher present in the class, and it is running on autopilot. Use the Speedgrader in Canvas to provide students personalized feedback on their assignments via document annotation, video, and/or audio.
If you have examples of how you establish a strong presence in your online teaching, we would love to hear from you! We are currently looking for UNF faculty interested in creating short videos that provide concrete examples of the nine principles. Please contact Rozy Parlette at rozy.parlette@unf.edu if you have any questions.
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Canvas Inbox
Katie Commissaris, Knowledge Specialist
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Whether your course is face-to-face, hybrid, or fully online, maintaining clear and consistent avenues of communication is paramount to student success. While Canvas incorporates a variety of features that can be used to disseminate information, the Canvas Inbox can be leveraged to facilitate two-way communication between instructors and students.
The Inbox operates similarly to traditional email in that messages can be sent to individuals or groups. However, many instructors prefer the Canvas Inbox messaging system over traditional email because Canvas takes care of the organizational piece for you. Contacts are automatically generated based on Canvas course enrollment. Distribution lists are organized by user type and, if applicable, course section or student group, making selecting recipients quick and easy. Incoming and outgoing messages are automatically cataloged by course for instant organization. Assignment submission comments are archived in the Inbox and on the associated assignment.
As mentioned in our previous Best Practices for Communication in Canvas, any Canvas user can click the Inbox from the global navigation menu to read or send messages. Meanwhile, instructors can also find one of the most helpful messaging tools in a less expected location - the gradebook! To provide timely and personalized feedback for an assignment, instructors can access Grades and opt to send messages to students who have not yet submitted, have not been graded, or scored more or less than a designated point value on an assignment. In coordination with other communication efforts, the messaging feature in Grades serves to enhance instructor presence and support student progress in online courses.
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Policy and Canvas Updates
Michael Russo, Joseph Stewart, Sabrina Whittaker, and Katie Commissaris
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Policy Update
Canvas Data and Account Retention
Summer 2017 courses will be deleted during the December 2022 intersession.
Term-based courses created in UNF’s Canvas LMS are retained for five years after the end of the term in which the course section was offered. Once the retention period passes, the term-based course is deleted during the next intersession, including all content and records of student activity.
Questions about the Canvas Data and Account Retention Policies can be directed to cirtlab@unf.edu.
LMS Usage Policies
The LMS Usage Policies assist the University in maintaining compliance with applicable policy, procedures, and law; these policies address important considerations in the use of the LMS at UNF. They can now be found on our recently updated Policies page.
Top Hat Replaces Turning Point Clickers
In consultation with current users and the Campus Technology Committee, the University has identified Top Hat as its new student response system. Top Hat will become the standard response system effective Summer 2023 and support for Turning Point will end. In addition to providing a cloud-based response and attendance system, TopHat offers instructors the ability to create interactive homework assignments and quizzing. Please contact CIRT at cirtlab@unf.edu for more information.
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Tanem Coskun | Instructional Design Assistant
Tanem holds a Master of Science in higher education administration with a focus on student affairs and a Master of Education in educational leadership with a concentration in educational technology, both from the University of North Florida. Since 2018, she gained experience working with students and faculty as a Telepresence Technician involved in student/faculty training and creating visual documents. Her long-term goal is to continue working in the educational technology industry for many more years to come. Tanem also enjoys reading, writing, listing to music, creating arts and crafts, learning more about graphic design, and spending time with her Pomeranian.
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Conor Caldwell | Instructional Design Assistant
Conor is a Jacksonville Beach native pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design & digital media. He spends most of his time drawing, sculpting, or creating digital art. Conor also loves music, animation, and being outdoors.
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Craig Pedroza | CIRT Tech
Craig moved from the Philippines to Jacksonville at a young age. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in film and production. Craig has won awards and created works ranging from full-scripted big-budget productions to documentaries to video marketing and pitching for companies. Some of his favorite past times are listening to old jazz while going night-driving and drifting through cafes trying to write something new.
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Norman Vo | CIRT Tech
Norman works as a CIRT Tech at the University of North Florida and is currently obtaining his Bachelor of Science in civil engineering. In his free time, Norman likes to skate and watch movies.
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CIRT News is published four times a year by the Center for Instruction and Research Technology at the University of North Florida.
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