Resources for Starting Your Courses Remotely

Welcome back from what we hope was a wonderful and relaxing winter break. Due to the recent announcement from Chancellor Haefner that DU will begin with two weeks of online classes and meetings, the OTL will be fully remote during that time. We are still here to support you and have several virtual opportunities and resources.

As you prepare to return to the classroom after our remote start, revisit the helpful tips in our Returning to the Classroom handout that will continue to apply this upcoming term. DU is currently in alert level yellow, but please keep monitoring the DU COVID-19 website for the most recent updates.

Visit our blog No sweat remote start: Top tips for success to read more about how you can effectively begin your classes online. Review our many other asynchronous resources for helpful support:


January Drop-In Hours

Join us during our upcoming drop-in hours for support with:
  • Importing and updating Canvas course content
  • Developing and uploading your syllabus
  • Designing your assessments
  • Incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into your courses
  • And more!

Monday, January 3, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 4, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 5, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Monday, January 10, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Don't forget that you can also schedule a 1:1 with an OTL Instructional Designer, or reach out to otl@du.edu with questions.

Check the OTL Events Calendar for more information and to discover other upcoming events!
Student Accommodation Support

As students begin to send their Letters of Approved Accommodations (LOAA) for this term, please consider making an appointment with Ellen Hogan, the Accessibility Technologist for Learning and Instruction. Ellen is happy to answer any questions you may have about implementing accommodations or navigating the Faculty Accommodate Portal. You can book an appointment or email Ellen directly at Ellen.Hogan@du.edu. More information about the student accommodation process can be found in the Faculty Accommodate User Guide and the Disability Services Program Student Handbook.
Canvas Updates and Reminders

Don't forget to publish!

Once your winter course is ready, don't forget to publish your Canvas course to provide access to your students. You have the capability to publish your course at any time between now and the start of the term.


Using Zoom in your Canvas Course

Using Zoom from within your Canvas course provides many advantages, such as:
  • Scheduling recurring class Zoom meetings within Canvas
  • Accessing Zoom class attendance and poll reports
  • Starting Zoom meetings within Canvas
  • Organizing recurring meetings and Cloud recordings
  • Automatic posting of Canvas Zoom meetings to the student Canvas calendar

Learn more about how to use Zoom in your Canvas course in our Knowledge Base.


New Quizzes Now Available

DU's Learning Management System (LMS) will be replacing the current quiz functionality known as “Classic Quizzes” with an update called Canvas New Quizzes. This is an update to Canvas that is being directed by Instructure, the company that designs/maintains Canvas LMS software. Learn more about New Quizzes in our new blog Canvas Update: What's New About "New Quizzes" and our Knowledge Base article, Canvas: New Quizzes v. Classic Quizzes Feature Comparison.
 
Faculty can now use the functionality of both New and Classic quizzes. When an instructor goes to create a new quiz they will be presented with the option of creating a New or Classic Quiz, and both types can be used in a course. Information on using New Quizzes can be found in our Knowledge Base article How to create a quiz using Canvas New Quizzes.

The current quiz functionality will be available to Instructors until July 2022 after which Instructure will start to restrict some features in Classic Quizzes as updated in the New Quizzes Launch Timeline. While instructors will be able to create/edit Classic Quizzes until July 2022, Instructure will eventually remove all Classic Quiz functionality. Currently this is slated for June 2023. We recommend that faculty migrate any Classic Quizzes in their course to New Quizzes before the deprecation date of June 2023. Information on this can be found in the OTL Knowledge Base: How do I migrate a Classic Quiz to New Quizzes? You can also visit Instructure’s New Quizzes FAQ page.
Teaching with Canvas Short Course starts January 10

Over the month of January, we are offering the Teaching with Canvas Short Course for all instructors interested in advancing their Canvas skills and knowledge.

The short course contains readings, assignments, and multimedia to help participants learn how to design and facilitate courses using Canvas effectively. All classes, even if there is a face-to-face component, will require a robust online presence, and the resources and tools in this course will help with the creation of those components. The course will run from January 10 until January 31 and is entirely self-paced. Instructors who complete all course requirements will receive a stipend. Please contact Lexi Schlosser with any questions.

Teaching Resources

This OTL web page contains important links, resources, checklists, and FAQs to help you as you prepare for this upcoming winter term.

This tool kit provides practical steps for readying your courses, no matter the modality. From Canvas basics to hyflex considerations, and complete with worksheets to guide you, this toolkit is a great starting point for course planning.

This Knowledge Base article provides helpful tips and tricks you can use as you create pre-recorded videos, lectures, and demonstrations to enhance the asynchronous components of your course. You can also learn more about the various tools you can use to create your videos, such as Zoom and Kaltura.