April 2026 EdTech Tips

In this Issue

Here we go! Read the entire newsletter or jump to the tip you're interested in:

1. Spring forward with the Quercus End-of-Term Checklist

2. Watch a new video, “2026 LEGO Day Challenge”

3. Register for upcoming U of T spring conferences

Don't miss our regular features: Quick tech tip | Faculty questions of the week | Worthwhile clicks from the web | Through our lens

Welcome!

What's happening in the world of FASE EdTech this month? The Education Technology Office (ETO) is kicking off April with Engineering Strategies & Practice (ESP) Design Day 2026, which we will both be supporting and participating in as clients. And with the successful delivery of the final module for the Construction & Development course (as part of the Mining Industry Management Program), we will be turning our attention to supporting faculty as they wrap up their Winter courses (see Tip 01). We’re also working on new blogs and guides inspired by projects that have recently been completed, such as LEGO Day 2026 (see Tip 02) or projects that are now in the post-production phase (see behind-the-scene photos from the most recent sessions in the ETO studio).

What's happening over the next few months? The ETO is preparing for a busy summer of new projects in the early development stage and revisiting internal ETO initiatives including testing AI-integrated tools and updating our technical guides. We’re also looking forward to participating and connecting with colleagues at some of the upcoming conferences across the University (see Tip 03).

If you do one things after reading this newsletter, schedule a consultation with the ETO, if you have additional questions about end-of-term tasks for your Quercus course.

1. Spring forward with the Quercus End-of-Term Checklist

Before your Quercus course closes (one month after the session ends), this 5-step checklist will walk you through everything you need to do, from keeping your records in order to managing access for students and TA/course staff.

1. Review and export the Gradebook

2. Download any lecture recordings you want to retain

3. Unpublish any course content (as needed)

4. Extend the access dates of your course (e.g., if you are running a deferred exam)

5. Send your students a course wrap-up announcement

To explore the full course timeline and what to do at each stage, visit CTSI's Quercus Course Lifecycle page.

Reuse: Are you planning on reusing your course in a future term? Save yourself a full rebuild! You can export your course and import it into a new one (see how do I export a course?). While the copy won't include everything, most of your course structure will come through intact.

2. Watch a new video, “2026 LEGO Day Challenge”

In celebration of International LEGO Day, the Engineering Strategies & Practice team, with support from the First Year Office, the Engineering & Computer Science Library, and the Education Technology Office (ETO), organized a LEGO building challenge for students in the Engineering Library. Over 200 first-year students attended the event and were challenged to design and build a LEGO contraption that had to stay together while travelling down a zipline.

The ETO captured footage of the challenge and interviewed some of the key organizers to explain what the event was about and how building with LEGO fosters collaboration and creative thinking.

Collaborate: Interested in creating your own video? Contact the ETO (fase.edtech@utoronto.ca) to help you brainstorm ideas for creating a re-usable educational video.

Quick tech tip

Generate a QR Code in Microsoft Word

Need a quick QR code for a PowerPoint presentations, document, or handout? If you are using a PC, Microsoft Word has a built-in feature that lets you create one instantly – no internet tools or add-ins needed.

How to do it:

1. Press Ctrl + F9 (or Ctrl + Fn + F9) to insert field code brackets: { }

2. Inside the brackets, type: DISPLAYBARCODE "your-url-here" QR

   Example: {DISPLAYBARCODE "https://edtech.engineering.utoronto.ca" QR}  

3. Right-click the code and select Toggle Field Codes (or press F9 / Fn + F9) to display the QR code directly in your document (see example below).

Tip:

If the QR code doesn’t appear right away, press F9 or Fn + F9 to refresh the field.

TechKnowFile 2026 (May 6-7, 2026): Presented by Information Technology Services, this annual conference brings together the tri-campus community to share ideas, explore the latest in information technology, and build meaningful connections with colleagues. This year's theme is Building Tomorrow Together.

Registration is opening soon.

Absolutely Interdisciplinary 2026 (May 13, 2026): The Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society (SRI) will bring together leading international thinkers from a variety of fields in this annual academic conference dedicated to advancing cross-disciplinary approaches to AI research. Attendees will explore emerging research and discover new areas of inquiry, with each session bringing together researchers from different disciplines to tackle a shared question and spark group discussion.

Tickets are now available for purchase.

Signal to Noise: Tuning In to What Matters in Teaching (May 13-14, 2026). The annual Teaching & Learning Symposium is the premier teaching showcase for the University of Toronto. It is also a signature event for the Offices of the President and Vice-President & Provost, and by extension, CTSI. This year the symposium will explore how to cut through the noise of competing demands, new technologies, and evolving teaching practices to focus on what truly makes a difference for student learning.

Registration is opening soon.

Faculty questions of the week

Each week we answer a real question that we've received about Quercus and other Academic Toolbox and media tools, keeping the questions timely and relevant to you. Select a question to read the full inquiry and response, or browse all previous faculty questions of the week.

Read the faculty question of the week

Can I rename course groups in bulk after students have already submitted assignments? (March 26, 2026)
I used the Group Import tool in Quercus to create 100+ groups in my course, but the naming scheme is inconvenient for TAs and graders. Since students have already submitted assignments through these groups, can I bulk rename them, or would it be better to delete and recreate them with new names?

Why is Quercus applying an incorrect late penalty in the Gradebook, and how can this be fixed? (March 12, 2026)
I have a 10%-per-day late penalty set in Quercus, but some students are receiving higher deductions than expected. For example, on a 9-mark assignment, the penalty should be 0.9 marks per day, but some students were deducted 1.6 marks instead. Why is this happening, and how can I fix it?

New ETO technical guide

How to set up a "best 2 out of 3" question in Crowdmark: This guide explains how to set up and grade a Crowdmark assessment where only the best 2 out of 3 question scores count toward the final grade.

Worthwhile clicks from the web

Looking for something to read/watch/listen to? Each month we round up things that we've interacted with that we think are worth sharing:

• Keep calm & carry on: Patience and perseverance in learning | The Educationalist From the blog: “In a world where we seek quick answers and thrive on instant gratification, cultivating patience almost feels like a luxury. It is often seen as counterintuitive, nostalgic, or even useless. Why wait when everything is moving so fast? But, as I argue in my last post, sometimes it’s worth waiting and pausing precisely because everything is moving so fast.” The author shares reflections and ideas on how educators can help students understand the value of patience and perseverance and actively put effort into these skills.

• The Best Response to AI Is a Library Card | Slow AI From the blog: “The conversation about AI literacy has leapt straight to prompt engineering and responsible use without asking whether the person at the keyboard has the critical literacy to evaluate what the machine produces.” This blog stresses the importance of reading over AI prompting, and why public libraries are worth fighting for.

Through our lens

A picture is worth a thousand words, or at least whatever we can fit in the description! Here are a few photos taken by the ETO team during the past month:

James recording an onion cutting

demo with Prof. Samin Aref

Marisa lighting a self-capture of

Prof. Natalie Enright Jerger

Sunset in the city

(Yun Wu)

Signs of spring on campus

(Anna Limanni)

Mersivity Ball in Bahen

(Inga Breede)

Copyright (C) 2026 U of T Engineering. All rights reserved.

Quick ETO Information
Email: fase.edtech@utoronto.ca
ETO Studio Space: Bahen 3116
ETO Office Space: 256 McCaul, Rms. 204a to 207