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How to Get the Most Out of Accessibility Checkers

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How to Get the Most Out of Accessibility Checkers

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How to Get the Most Out of Accessibility Checkers

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Join the Canvas shell full of resources.

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Nirmala Kashyap from the Math Department won the last Canvas bag! Thanks for participating from home and posting on our Padlet.

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Neal Erlandsen from Student Services popped by our viewing room and won a Canvas notebook.

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Just pulled Cheryl's name out of the prize box and she won Canvas socks!

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Super excited about the new things happening with New Analytics Beta - hope it's turned on for us soon at SDCCD.

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In this video you will learn how to create and manage group sets and groups in a course.  
(Last updated 2019-05-15)

To view subtitles for this video, click the CC button in the tool bar. 

To leave feedback on this video, please visit community.canvaslms.com/videos/1113

View the script for this tutorial: http://bit.ly/2VrjOwT

Video overviews reflect current feature functionality in Canvas; they are updated based on workflow changes, not on minor or non-functional interface enhancements. Depending on your institution's Canvas theme, the Canvas interface may display differently than shown in this video, but the functionality is the same.

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Professors Laura Pecenco and Mardi Parelmen won Canvas bags in the viewing room! Two more winners will be pulled by 3:00pm - I've add the name of anyone posting here as well!

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Really enjoyed learning about sharing audio feedback! - Laura Pecenco

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Nirmala Kashyap                   Link to slides from ConferZoom for Dynamic Student Conferences      https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Za2wsB5lNGqrwNldubwx_sPRUMbvIpqV-SU3rozvxyQ/edit#slide=id.g35f391192_00

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Nirmala Kashyap                   Link to slides from ConferZoom for Dynamic Student Conferences      https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Za2wsB5lNGqrwNldubwx_sPRUMbvIpqV-SU3rozvxyQ/edit#slide=id.g35f391192_00

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Can · Innovate: ConferZoom for Dynamic Student Conferences

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Slides for ConferZoom for Dynamic Student Conferences

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Slides for ConferZoom for Dynamic Student Conferences

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Can · Innovate: ConferZoom for Dynamic Student Conferences

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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While online discussion is generally deeper and more active than face-to-face discussion, even online discussions can eventually become a drudgery. Nobody likes reading long blocks of text online, yet discussion in an online classroom is text based.

One way to break the monotony is through audio or video-based discussion. The sound of a voice adds interest that is not possible in text discussion. Phil Ice (article referenced below) demonstrated the power of voice when he compared voice feedback on assignments to text feedback. He found a number of advantages to voice feedback:

Improved Ability to Understand Nuance: Students indicated that they were better able to understand the instructor's intent. Students also indicated that instructor encouragement and emphasis were clearer.

Increased Involvement: Students felt less isolated in the online environment and were more motivated to participate when hearing their instructor's voice.

Increased Content Retention: Students reported that they retained audio feedback better than text feedback. Interestingly, they also reported that they retained the course content to which the feedback was related better than with text feedback. These self-reported findings were supported by the fact that students incorporated into their final projects three times as much audio feedback as text feedback.

Increased Instructor Caring: Students interpreted the instructor as caring about them and their work more when they received audio feedback over text feedback. This difference was due to audio feedback coming across as more personal than text feedback.

Video takes this one step forward by providing a visual image along with the voice. A $100 webcam is all you need to start recording video and posting it to discussion.

One particularly good place to use video in the online classroom is during the instructor's wrap-up at the end of each week. I use weekly video posts to provide thoughts on what I believe to be the most important insights to come out of week's discussion. They are also an opportunity to give video shout-outs to students who made interesting points during the week.

Another option is to do video interviews with student on their thoughts concerning the discussion. These can be done with WeToKu, a free service that allows two people with webcams to record an online video on a split screen that shows both participants at once. Students especially like being about to see and hear another student online.

There is no need to worry about production values in creating these recordings. The lighting does not have to be perfect, and there is no need to edit out the "ums" and other comments. Just make sure to avoid the common mistake of looking at the keyboard rather than the camera. Talk to the camera like you would to a friend. Your language will naturally become more expressive than with text comments, and looking away briefly, rolling eyes, and other facial expressions go a long way towards adding interest. These are a lot of fun to make, and a benefit to all involved.

As usual, I welcome your comments, criticisms, and cries of outrage in the comments section of the blog.

Reference:
Ice, P., Curtis, R., Phillips, P. & Wells, J. (2007). Using Asynchronous Audio Feedback to Enhance Teaching Presence and Students' Sense of Community. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(2), 3-25.

Resources:
A video discussion example from my class. Watch it here >>

Free Technology 4 Teachers, 47 Alternatives to YouTube. Go here >>

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Improve Feedback with Audio and Video Commentary - Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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While online discussion is generally deeper and more active than face-to-face discussion, even online discussions can eventually become a drudgery. Nobody likes reading long blocks of text online, yet discussion in an online classroom is text based. Read more Improve Feedback with Audio and Video Commentary ›

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Listening to  how to give audio feedback - basic equipment needs.  Resources here: Audio Feedback

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This presentation was about more than a (productive) rubric! Great ideas re: using Twitter or in-Canvas features to create community.

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Sample form for student info

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Getting to Know You Survey

A humanizing element for online courses. Sends the cue, "I want to know how I can support you."

When we teach online, it can be easy to relate to students as mere names on a screen. But each name on our screen is actually a real human who brings a wealth of experiences, challenges, and aspirations to your class. Humanized online teaching leverages students' lived experiences as the context of your curriculum. This involves intentionally designing a class that is built to ensure you know your students as real people and are prepared to utilize your knowledge of their lives to adapt your teaching and support their success. A Getting to Know You Survey in week one is an important part of fostering trust and laying the foundation for the instructor-student relationship you will leverage to challenge students and hold them all to the same high expectations.

Developing & Implementing Your Survey

It is important that you clearly inform students that the information they share in their survey response will be seen only by you and that you will use the information to support them. Some of our favorite questions are:

What would you like me to call you?

Do you have any pronunciation tips for saying your name (Provide an option to record an audio or video response!)

I may leave feedback in video format for you. Does that work for you?

When you use Canvas (our online platform), will you mainly use your phone, a laptop/computer, or something else? (This can be especially helpful for troubleshooting but also very illuminating, in general, to start to understand how many students are mobile-dependent.)

In one word, how are you feeling about this class?

What is the one thing that is most likely to interfere with your success in this class?

What are your aspirations in life?

What can I do to support you?

Is there anything else you would like to share at this point or anything you'd like to ask me?

To develop your survey, you may simply choose to use the survey tool provided within your learning management system. If you use Canvas, follow this How to Create a Survey instructor guide for assistance. Alternative options for survey tools include Google Forms or Microsoft Forms.

Sample Survey - You will find a sample Getting to Know You Survey in the Canvas Commons shared by Mike Smedshammer of Modesto Junior College. Just search using this keyword: #HumanizingSTEM. This template can easily be imported into your Canvas course and customized as desired.

Adapting Your Teaching

Use this survey to identify your high opportunity students - those who will benefit most from your high touch interactions - and adapt your teaching throughout the term. In week one, I review every student's response. I also turn on the Notes column in my Canvas gradebook. The Notes columns is a simple feature but can be a game changer. The details an instructor types into the notes column are only visible to the instructor, not to students. This provides a very simple way to keep pertinent details about students very visible to you as you review students' contributions and provide feedback during the term. The details I type into the Notes field in week one for all students are:

1. Their response to the question, "In one word, how are you feeling about this class?" I type that word in all caps. Then I look over the list and insert a red heart emoji (copied from Emojipedia.com) into the Notes field for each student who shared a word that indicates an emotion that could be a barrier to their learning. These are my high opportunity students who I reach out to right away with a positive, welcoming, and affirming video message. With a warm smile, I tell them I am here to support them and that I will be in this journey with them.

2. Details about how to pronounce their name, if any are provided

3. A summary of their response to this question, "What is one thing that may interfere with your success in this class?" From that one question, I have learned so much - students awaiting surgery, students who are pregnant and would deliver their babies during the term, students caring for ailing family members, students who are single parents working full-time and will be doing their coursework while their families sleep. It illuminates the context that matters most to students. And when their instructor cares about this context, they care more about the class.

During the term, if a student has not logged in or has missed an assignment, I review my notes from their survey response and reach out with a personalized message. Use a subject line that conveys concern like, "Carlos, is everything ok on your end?" as opposed to something like, "Missing Work." See the different cues these two subject lines send? In your message, reference details shared in the survey and affirm the students' ability, as well as effort. For example, "I remember you shared that your father has been ill. How is he doing? I imagine juggling our course on top of this stressful situation is extremely difficult. I'm looking at your work and it's clear you've been working hard and have mastered many of the skills we are now building on. Would you be available to speak with me this week via phone or Zoom so we can put a plan together?"

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Sample Student Info Form - MICHELLE PACANSKY-BROCK

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Getting to Know You Survey A humanizing element for online courses. Sends the cue, "I want to know how I can support you." When we teach online, it can be easy to relate to students as mere names on a screen. But each name on our screen is actually a real human who brings a...

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Kona's slides are linked here:

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Keynote: Integrating Compassion into Your Teaching - Online Network of Educators

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We are having a great time talking about some of these high-impact practices in the keynote.

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Can't wait to hear everyone's takeaways! Post here and I'll add your name to the raffle for prizes!