July 2, 2020
This week: Top Hat Integration, Upcoming Canvas Updates, New Webinars!
In this Weekly Update:
TopHat Integration
TopHat integration with Quercus is finally here! For instructors using any kind of formative assessments with the TopHat Classroom Response solution, your grades will be automatically transferred from the Classroom Response system to the Quercus gradebook. Please note that this system is not recommended for summative assessments, and while some instructors have been using TopHat to publish course materials, this method is not recommended. Course materials should be made directly from Quercus as much as possible.
To enable the direct integration of the Classroom Response system to Quercus courses, instructors must submit a written request to their divisional educational technology support team to begin the process. If you're part of the faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, just send an email to us at fase.edtech@utoronto.ca.
Furthermore, students who purchase TopHat access via the U of T Bookstore will recieve a discount over buying it directly from the TopHat website. Instructors should also notify the Bookstore of the pending use of the TopHat Classroom Response system to ensure that the Bookstore has enough access codes available for students to purchase at the discounted price. The Bookstore can be contacted at textinfo@uoftbookstore.com.
Upcoming Canvas Updates
Canvas will be adding more features in their July 18th update:
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Assignments can now be directly shared
- Users can copy individual course items to another course and share individual items with other users
- This change allows users to copy and share content directly in Canvas without a second repository
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Limited assignments: instructors can now limit the number of submissions students can make for an assignment
- In the past students could make an unlimited number of submissions
- Instructor publishing improvements: the Dashboard, Courses menu, and All Courses page now display both published and unpublished courses
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Rubrics have been moved from the Outcomes page and added to the course navigation menu
- Instructors who open the Outcomes page no longer view the Manage Rubrics button
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Course notifications can be customized
- Users can now manage notification preferences within an individual course
- Course-level notifications are enabled by default; users can choose to disable it
- Course notifications will cause an override; any course-level notifications must be modfied within the course, not in the Notifications preference page
New Webinars
We will be hosting a couple of new webinars next week. Drop by if you have the time!
Assessing Student Work and Providing Feedback Through Quercus (PART I)
Date: July 8 @ 2-3pm
This hour-long webinar will provide an overview of assessment tools available in Quercus and review options for providing students with feedback on their work. If you have any questions regarding Assignments, Quizzes, Gradebook, and SpeedGrader on Quercus, this is the webinar for you!
UDL + Quercus: 5 Strategies for Student Engagement & Community Building
Date: July 7 @ 12-1pm
Online teaching can be tough, but this webinar series uses Universal Design for Learning Principles in combination with evidence-based practices and specific Quercus features to help you create a more accessible and inclusive learning experience for your students. Join us for a hands-on exploration of practices and design principles that promote learning for all students!
Interested in more webinars or other drop-in sessions? Be sure to check out our Global Calender to Support Online/Remote Teaching.
Have a Quercus (or EdTech) question? Please contact FASE's EdTech Office.
