Hello << Test First Name >> << Test Last Name >>,
What's happening in the world of FASE EdTech this month? The ETO is thrilled to announce the launch of our new website later this month! We're making a big move from Drupal to FASE's WordPress multi-site installation. Our new site will highlight the ETO's core values and the wide range of services we offer. Stay tuned for a fresh design that will continue to highlight the work we do, such as producing reusable educational videos (see Tip 02). Along with a revamped website, we have also switched platforms for podcasting. All future episodes of the MADE for U of T podcast will be published on Spotify, starting with the latest episode, #12 (see Tip 03).
What's happening over the next few months? With the successful delivery of the Economics and Finance (E&F) course, we're excited to start developing the next course for the Mining Industry Management Program (MIMP): Construction & Development. Starting a new course also gives us an opportunity to reflect on our current processes and identify any improvements that can be made to streamline production and enhance collaboration with the MIMP instructors.
If you do one thing after reading this newsletter, confirm that you've completed the Quercus End-of-Term Checklist (see Tip 01).
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1. Wrap up your course with the Quercus End-of-Term Checklist
Use this 5-step checklist to complete some end-of-term tasks for record-keeping and to manage student or TA/course staff access to your Quercus course after the end of the course (1 month after the session end).
- Review and export the Gradebook
- Download any lecture recordings you want to retain
- Unpublish any course content (as needed)
- Extend the access dates of your course (e.g., if you are running a deferred exam)
- Send your students a course wrap-up announcement
For a timeline of events for your Quercus course and a list of suggested tasks for each point in that timeline, review CTSI's Quercus Course Life Cycle information.
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Reuse: Planning to reuse your course again in the future? You don't need to rebuild! You can export your course and import it into a new course (see how do I export a course?). While not everything is included in this course copy, the majority of the structure is and will save you the time for rebuilding.
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2. Watch a new video, Conservation of Angular Momentum
The ETO recently published a new video, Conservation of Angular Momentum and features a figure skater to demonstrate the effect. We did this one a little different; you might be surprised to hear that we did not do any of the filming! Instead, Professor Jazinizadeh was the one who filmed all the footage. We provided her guidance on how to best capture video and audio using the equipment that was available to her and how to capture footage that would ensure flexibility in post-production. In post-production, we incorporated motion graphics and soundtracks that helped make the video both informative and fun to watch.
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Prof. Fatemeh Jazinizadeh was interested in connecting her course content to real life and collaborated with the ETO to self-record the footage for this video.
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Watch: Interested in creating your own video? Consider contacting the ETO (fase.edtech@utoronto.ca) to help you brainstorm ideas for creating a re-usable educational video.
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3. Listen to the new podcast episode, Developing online courses
A new podcast episode on a new podcast platform (Spotify)! In the 12th episode of MADE for U of T (see all episodes), we hear from LinkedIn Learning instructor and author, Curtis Frye, who shares some of his experience developing online courses, and how his approach has evolved over time.
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Join: If you're interested in joining the conversation, please fill out the Request to Join M.A.D.E. form and you'll be added as soon as possible. Can't wait to see you there!
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4. Register for upcoming U of T spring conferences
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The IT@UofT Conference is back on May 6-7, 2025, at St. George campus. The theme for this year, "Metamorphosis: Transforming Tomorrow," emphasizes innovation, leadership, and digital transformation.
May 6-7 | In-Person | Register Now!
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The annual Teaching & Learning Symposium (TLS) is a teaching showcase, hosted by the Offices of the President, Vice-President & Provost, and CTSI. This year, TLS will celebrate current practices and explore new paths to strengthen individuals and better support our work with students and communities.
May 12-13 | Online & In-Person | Registration opens April 14
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Attend: Looking for a conference focused on Engineering Education? The Canadian Engineering Education Association’s (CEEA-ACÉG) 2025 conference takes place in Montréal from June 18-21, 2025. The conference's theme this year is the Engineer of Tomorrow: Innovation, Sustainability, and Ethics in a Constantly Evolving World. A few days following is the 2025 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference, which is also happening in Montréal from June 22-25, 2025.
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Faculty questions of the week
Each week we answer a real question that we've received about Quercus and other Academic Toolbox tools, keeping the questions timely and relevant to you. You can select on the question to read the full inquiry and response or see all previous faculty questions of the week.
Read the faculty questions of the week
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Why can't my students see upcoming discussions on the Discussions page? (March 20, 2025) | I know the students can’t open the discussions until their scheduled availability date, but they should still appear in the Discussions list.
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Can students see my feedback in SpeedGrader before grades are released? (March 13, 2025) | I sometimes leave internal notes as in-text comments before finalizing my feedback, and I’m concerned about students seeing these prematurely.
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New (or updated) ETO technical guides
We usually update our technical guides as questions come in, changes are made to systems, or as we come up to certain dates in the academic calendar.
Here's what we've been up to over the past month:
- How do I make changes to group membership during the course? (NEW!) Some group memberships in Quercus may need to be adjusted after group work has already started. One common question we’ve received this semester is how instructors can make these changes without affecting grading or student work. To address this, we’ve created a guide to help instructors navigate the process. The guide explains two options - cloning a new group set or changing an existing group - for adjusting group memberships mid-course. It also outlines recommendations to avoid issues with past and future group assignment submissions and grades, as well as troubleshooting common problems when adjusting group memberships.
- How can I request access to REDCap? (Updated) We have updated the guide for requesting an account for the University of Toronto's recommended survey and data analysis tool, REDCap, based on Dr. Qin Liu's suggestion. REDCap can be used for both academic research and administrative purposes, and there is no cost to university staff or departments. Before accessing REDCap, an account must be requested from the Divisional REDCap administrator. This updated version of the guide outlines the most current process for requesting an account at FASE and also provides practical resources for using REDCap.
- Quercus Start-of-Term Checklist for Instructors (Updated). Updated section 8: Set Up Assessments and Gradebook to include message about Group Assignments copied over from other courses. The message reminds instructors to manually re-select the correct Group Set when copying group assignments from a previous course, even if the Group Set has the same name, to ensure group submissions function correctly. The updated text also links to a Faculty Question of the Week where instructors can learn more about potential issues that can occur when the Group Set is not properly updated: Why does my group assignment show individual submissions in SpeedGrader?
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Curious about the photos in the banner?
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This month's banner images are a few photos taken by the ETO team during the past month:
Row 01: Left: Favourite used bookstore (Inga Breede)
Row 01: Right: Robin sighting on Philosopher's Walk (Maggie Laidlaw)
Row 02: Left: Big fog in the city (James Zhan)
Row 02: Right: Winter Station at Woodbine Beach (Allison Van Beek)
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