As a College of IST faculty member, you are receiving this email to help assist you with Canvas and online learning.
Canvas Updates
Canvas will release its latest updates on April 22th. Not all of the updates may apply to Penn State’s usage of Canvas. Of note from Canvas:
Dashboard View Menu
To switch between Recent Activity and Course Cards, the Dashboard toggle has been updated to a settings drop-down menu. This change helps clarify Dashboard customization and aligns design consistency throughout Canvas.
Information and Image: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-9721-canvas-production-release-notes-2017-04-22
Faculty may read the full updates online.
Peer Evaluation News
As many of you know, CATME will be instituting a user fee starting July 1, 2017. According to the CATME group, a “license fee will be $2.00 per year per unique student who used CATME in the previous academic year from an educational domain; and provides for unlimited student use in the next academic year.”
Currently, World Campus courses primarily use the World Campus Peer Evaluation tool. In light of the CATME news, we are exploring with World Campus if this tool can be used for non-World Campus courses in the future.
If you are an instructor who uses CATME and wishes to continue using it, please contact Dr. Lisa Lenze at llenze@ist.psu.edu. Dr. Lenze is collecting information regarding desired CATME usage within the College.
Spring Statewide Meeting
The next IST Statewide is being held May 8-9. On May 8th, from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. the meeting will take place at the Nittany Lion Inn, Boardroom I. On May 9th, from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in 208 IST Building. Typically interested online instructors only attend the May 9th session. Participants may RSVP online.
Online participation via Zoom will be available for those who wish to attend virtually. Agenda and Zoom details will follow closer to the date.
Join Us for the Next Online Community Luncheon
Please join us for the next Online Community Luncheon on Friday, April 21 at 12:00 p.m. where topics will include peer evaluations. Please feel free to join us online.
If you have any agenda items, please send them to Amy Garbrick at agarbrick@ist.psu.edu.
Last Day for ANGEL
The last day that faculty, students, or staff can access ANGEL course content on their own will be October 31, 2017. Beginning November 1, access to ANGEL courses will be available by request only (read more online). Also, the last day to teach in ANGEL is August 11th.
If you haven’t made the move to Canvas yet, now is the time! Contact the Learning Design Group with any Canvas-related questions!
Summer World Campus Courses
The Learning Design Group has been busy working with faculty preparing for the summer, 2017 semester. Here are some important dates for the upcoming semester:
· By April 24th: The Course Template is copied by LD into your section each semester, about 3 weeks prior to first day of class.
· By May 8th: Your section is published (by LD) so students can view it during IST’s Preview Week
· May 15th: First day of class!
We appreciate the time and efforts of our faculty members and look forward to another semester!