It’s been a strong start to the semester with 96% of UMW instructors using the Canvas LMS system for their course delivery. We’ve had some bumps along the way but we’re headed in a good direction. I wanted to let you know that Instructure has created a new Help Center to better serve their community of users, http://help.instructure.com . It’s made up of three different components:
- Canvas Community (http://community.instructure.com) – In the community there is a ‘listserv-like’ forum called ‘Ask a Question’ that is moderated by Canvas experts called ‘Coaches.’ All of the community is invited to participate. It is open for subscription so you can keep a tab on the discussions that are happening in the community.
- Canvas Guides (http://guides.instructure.com) – Canvas Guides is a great new source for all the latest documentation on Canvas and replaces the wiki. You’ll find guides for students, teachers and admins, along with some other miscellaneous information.
- Product Release Notes (http://help.instructure.com/forums/337224-product-release-notes) – One week prior to each product release, upcoming Canvas features will be posted. Feel free to subscribe if you’d like to be the first to know what’s coming to Canvas.
Have an idea that will improve the LMS? You can Request a Feature in the Help Center as well!
For example, many of you found it frustrating that grades were released as instructors entered them in the Gradebook or Speedgrader, automatically registering a ZERO for students whose grades had not yet been entered. Thanks to community feedback, this was recently corrected with the option to “Mute Assignment” until grading was complete. Instructors can now enter their grades and release them all at once if Mute Assignment has been selected. So if you’d like to see a change or have an idea of a new feature, submit it to the community board so others may vote on it and move it up the line to Instructure designers.
As always, please let me know of any issues, questions or concerns you may have with Canvas at UMW. Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated as we continue to tweak the system for a successful implementation.
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