"Canvas Clues and Cues" Newsletter Installment 4

July 18, 2013

"Canvas Clues and Cues"
Installment 4 / Monday, July 15

Your Questions Answered

• How do I determine last date of attendance (LDA) in an online class?

To determine LDA, you should look at the last time the student participated in the online class. That can be the last test taken, discussion post, submission of assignment or even an email to you. You can check the login history but logging in is not synonymous with attendance for an online class, it has to be defined by participation. Students who come to a face-to-face class can sit and do nothing and it still counts, but it's not that easy in an online class. This definition is actually recommended by the federal government to determine class participation (i.e. attendance).

Feature Focus

Ending Your Course – By default, Canvas allows students to be able to continue accessing courses (view only) even after the course ends (what Canvas calls "concluded"). We have strongly requested that Canvas update this feature to allow multiple options, as have many other colleges. However, until this happens, we have concluded that the best work-around is to hide the left navigation bar so that when students access the course, there will be no way to view the content. To learn how to hide the items on the navigation bar, use this Canvas guide and video.

Also, Canvas uses a "request feature" method to help them determine which items they focus on for development. Items that get the most votes rise to the top of the priority list. You can log into Canvas and click on "Me Too" to cast your vote to limit student access to concluded courses.

Online Teaching Best Practices

Here's a great article from Magna Publications: "Eight Roles of an Effective Online Teacher."

Resources

For assistance with your Canvas questions, please feel free to contact the OpenCampus team at 352-395-7344 or opencampus@sfcollege.edu. Also, find more resources and info at the Center for Academic Technologies website.

Previous installments of "Canvas Clues and Cues" can be found online.

If you have any questions or suggestions about what to include in future installments, please contact Lisa Ciardulli at 352-395-5817 or lisa.ciardulli@sfcollege.edu.