From Chaos to Clarity: How Canvas Gradebook Filters Can Help You

Submitted by Marisa Sullivan on
At this point in the semester, your Gradebook in Canvas has probably gathered quite a few assignment columns. The presentation of columns can seem cluttered, especially when viewing all student work in your Gradebook. While it is not hard to navigate your Canvas Gradebook, the Filters feature can help to improve clarity, organization, and ease of grading. Filters allow you to narrow your Gradebook view to specific: Modules (i.e., Week 2) Assignment Groups (i.e, Exams) Status (i.e., Missing, Late

Tools for Your Canvas Toolbox

Submitted by Alan Brown on
Moving into the heart of the Spring semester, the Instructional Technologies team would like to highlight a few tips and time-saving strategies that can be applied as you use Canvas as an instructor. Our goal is to provide tools that you can add to your Canvas toolbox as you become a more efficient, effective, and expert Canvas user. For each tool, view the video demonstration and access the quick reference guide for additional information and links to supplementary resources. Emojis in Module

Tying up the Canvas Bow on Fall 2023 and Looking Ahead to Spring 2024

Submitted by Amy Netzel on
As we approach the final days of 2023, Instructional Technologies is taking a moment to reflect on the incredible journey we've undertaken alongside Durham Tech's dedicated faculty. The past year has been a whirlwind of change, with the Sakai-to-Canvas transition standing out as a testament to your hard work and adaptability. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for the crucial role you play in ensuring the success of Durham Tech's students (and fellow faculty members) on Canvas. Today’s

Canvas Zen: 3 Easy Solutions for 3 Frustrating Problems

Submitted by Marisa Sullivan on
As we become more familiar with Canvas, we have received lots of great questions about using the LMS. In learning more about Canvas together, some common issues have emerged from faculty. These have the potential to cause frustration and some moments of panic. The good news is that each of these issues has an easy and quick fix. To help you avoid these panicky moments, please review the problems and solutions below. HELP…I gave an extension to a student on a quiz (or assignment or discussion)

Boosting Your Canvas Skills with Canvas Special Topics Webinars

Submitted by Amy Netzel on
Earlier this semester, Instructional Technologies teamed up with Erin Mahoney-Ross, a Canvas expert from Instructure, to deliver a series of webinars on selected Canvas topics. The topics were carefully curated to help broaden faculty’s awareness of Canvas’s tools and capabilities, as well as help provide a better understanding of the student experience on Canvas. If you missed the live webinars, we’ve prepared “on-demand” webinar recordings that are available to you at any time. Grab your

Exploring Three New Canvas Features

Submitted by Amy Netzel on
It’s been a few months since we last posted to the blog, but we know how hard you’ve been working to get Durham Tech’s first Fall Semester on Canvas off the ground! We’d like to thank you for all the thoughtful questions you’ve sent to us over these past few weeks and months at canvashelp@durhamtech.edu, and we encourage you to continue to send your questions to that email address. Hearing what has been on your minds regarding using Canvas and setting up your courses has underscored for us the

Start-of-Semester Tips for Canvas

Submitted by Karen McPhaul on
With the new semester just days away, we can feel it in the air – everyone is working super hard to be ready to teach on Canvas. The list below can help you make sure you have critical items covered. 1. Set up the required Course Entry Quiz Starting this summer, all instructors must use a standard, pre-written Course Entry Quiz in their online and hybrid/blended courses on Canvas for determining student entry into the course. Instructors must import the standard Course Entry Quiz into their

Updates on the Sakai-to-Canvas Transition

Submitted by Karen McPhaul on
Instructional Technologies is busily preparing for the upcoming transition from Sakai to Canvas. In this post, we provide some quick updates on where we are in the process and a heads up about more information that will be coming your way soon. What’s happened so far Here’s a quick summary of what Instructional Technologies has been doing in January and February… Setting up and configuring Canvas for Durham Tech. Integrating Canvas with Durham Tech’s student information system (Colleague) to

Sakai-to-Canvas FAQ for Instructors

Submitted by Karen McPhaul on
Instructional Technologies is pleased to announce that Durham Tech has selected Canvas as its learning management system to replace Sakai. Please read on for details about how this decision was reached and plans for making the transition from Sakai to Canvas. Why is Durham Tech leaving Sakai? Sakai has served Durham Tech well for 10 years. However, due to the large number of institutions leaving Sakai, we’ve become concerned about its future viability. Also, newer systems offer a more modern

The Evaluations Have Begun: Reporting Out on The LMS Task Force’s Work

Submitted by Amy Netzel on
In our very first blog post, Why Durham Tech is Evaluating Alternatives to Sakai, and What to Expect, we shared that a Learning Management System Evaluation (LMS) Task Force had been formed at Durham Tech and that its charge is to carefully review Moodle and Canvas to determine which of these two learning management systems will best meet the needs of Durham Tech’s students and faculty. Over the past few weeks, the LMS Task Force began its work by first deciding upon the evaluation measures it