Let’s pack up our stuff, and prepare to make the move to our new online home, Canvas! What do you do when you prepare to move? Plan, clean, pack, and make the move! In this four-part series, we will share some tips for making the transition easier. In case you missed it, check out Part One (Planning) , Part Two (Cleaning) , and Part Three (Packing) of the series. Moving! It's finally here! This phase we will cover the importing of your Blackboard zip file, and locating the SOLS Template. Stay tuned to future blog posts that will provide tips for structuring your Canvas course, essentially unpacking in your new course home! Import Zip File If you chose to download your own zip file of your Blackboard course, you will now need to import the zip file into your newly created Canvas course. Here's the step by step instructions on how to do this. SOLS Template in Canvas We get asked often if we have a template to use in a Canvas course, in case you want to start fr...

Let’s pack up our stuff, and prepare to make the move to our new online home, Canvas! What do you do when you prepare to move? Plan, clean, pack, and make the move! In this four-part series, we will share some tips for making the transition easier. In case you missed it, check out Parts One and Two of the series, about Planning  and Cleaning , respectively.  Packing All finished with cleaning up your Blackboard course ? Next step is to pack up! This phase includes exporting your Blackboard materials to save them and how to request a Canvas course. Export You can either ask the University Technology Office (UTO) to export your Blackboard course into Canvas when you request your new course (see section below, "Request a Canvas Course"), or you can export the Blackboard course into a zip file that you save to your computer or in the cloud. You can even do both if you'd like!  We recommend keeping your Blackboard materials in a zip file on your own computer o...

Let’s pack up our stuff, and prepare to make the move to our new online home, Canvas! What do you do when you prepare to move? Plan, clean, pack, and make the move! In this four-part series, we will share some tips for making the transition easier.  In case you missed it, check out Part One of the series, all about Planning . Today's post is all about cleaning up Blackboard, because why bring along stuff you don't need or use? Cleaning   In this second phase of the moving cycle, we discuss how to clean-up before you make the move to Canvas! It will help you in the future to only have moved what is essential, rather than moving everything.  First, we’ll cover the items that will not transfer to Canvas from Blackboard. Then, we will share the top six areas you need to consider cleaning up before you move your Blackboard course to Canvas. What will not transfer Most things will transfer from Blackboard to Canvas, but it is good to be mindful of those that do not....

In this week's TeachTech Webinar, we were lucky to have Jason Neenos from UTO and Lynda Mae from Psychology lead us through a presentation on using gamification and competition to engage students in the content of the course. Dr. Mae discussed the use of dopamine in the brain, and how our best students are intrinsically motivated through achievement, mastery and status. This works well for leaderboards in video games, and can be used in our classrooms. She uses a unique number for each student that only they can identify in order to provide a FERPA-approved leader board. Competitive Activities can include in-class practice exams, and quick formative checks of new material. It provides not only feedback to students, but also the instructor as to what topics may need additional review or more time for instruction. Jason Neenos wrapped up the webinar with information and a demonstration with Kahoots , a terrific quizzing tool that students can use their smart phones and la...

Let’s pack up our stuff, and prepare to make the move to our new online home, Canvas! What do you do when you prepare to move? Plan, clean, pack, and make the move! In this four-part series, we will share some tips for making the transition easier. Planning  When you’re moving, you want to make sure you know all the tasks that should be done to make the move. The planning phase of the move to Canvas includes knowing dates, resources, and training sessions that are available. You will also want to request a DEV “sandbox” Canvas course , so that you can begin to get to know Canvas and even move over one of your Blackboard courses (we will cover this in parts 3 and 4 of this series). Here's a checklist for you to plan your move to Canvas! Important Dates for Canvas November 16, 2018 - Last day to request migration of Spring A O-courses.  March 16, 2019  - Last day to request a copy of a Blackboard course to Blackboard. May 6, 2019  - Last day to teach ...

Our October webinar was hosted by Jen Mansfield and Andrew Salcido, who joined us from the Fulton School of Engineering at ASU. Both shared that future engineers need to be able to engage constructively with peers - be it in a room full of fellow students or in a online setting! To address this fundamental skill, learning activities are purposely designed to foster thoughtful conversations across the engineering curriculum. click on slide The first part of the webinar focused on creating quality online discussions for courses with small and large enrollment. Helpful strategies that were shared include: (a) engaging prompts; (b) providing structure & roles; and (c) setting expectations. In addition, the audience shared a few examples from different subject areas, such as engineering and history. The second part of the webinar focus on 'Tips & Trick' for Canvas, ASU's new LMS. Instructors and students can now subscribe to and participate in discussions i...

Today's blog is written by Logan Gin, PhD Student in Biology and Society, and member of Sara Brownell's Biology Education Research Lab What are bridge programs? The transition to college can be difficult for students from a variety of different backgrounds as they attempt to adjust to the rigor of college courses, adapt to a novel university setting, and become members of a university community. Summer bridge programs, sometimes called boot camps or early start programs, have been developed as a way to ease the academic and social transition to college. They are intensive experiences for incoming students that can provide early exposure to the opportunities, knowledge, and skills it takes to succeed in college. How can bridge programs help STEM students? Surprisingly, there is limited research on the goals and effectiveness of bridge programs. A recent review of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) bridge programs (Ashley, Cooper, Cala, and Brownell, 2017)...

Why do we use images in online courses? To make the course "pop"? To support the topic we’re trying to convey, or perhaps to engage students visually? Presenting information fluidly, with one concept leading to or building upon another is essential for learning. Students now expect to dive into the topic and find multiple resources of information at their fingertips. Using interactive images allows you to provide course content to students in a more visually engaging way than a simple list of links.  If you’re looking for a creative way to visually display resources, readings, videos, and more, I suggest trying an interactive image, by using an innovative tool in your online or hybrid courses called Thinglink . Here's an example of using an interactive image to introduce a science topic. How would you use interactive images in an online-only course? Embed it into a Page within a Module on Canvas. Students can then hover and click on links on interactive image right ...

This week's webinar focused on some great new features in Canvas! Jason Neenos from UTO, shared a number of features that make life easier for both faculty and students. He started with a discussion about best practices for taking attendance, and showed the Attendance Button in Canvas. We also talked about how Canvas did a great job of integrating Google Docs , Spreadsheets and Slides into the coursepage. When faculty embed these types of documents, they can easily update them, so they are always current. This is especially helpful with a syllabus. After a short discussion on accepting late work, we learned about how Canvas easily allows instructors to add different due dates for individuals and sections. He also demonstrated how easy it is to have a late policy integrated into any assignment. For example, after the instructor is done grading, Canvas can automatically deduct points for missed deadlines. He wrapped up with the "What IF?" feature that allows st...

Today's blog is written by Virginia Downing, Academic Success Manager and member of Sara Brownell's Biology Education Research Lab, Arizona State University When it comes to increasing student learning in college classes, active learning practices have been strongly recommended as a way to build students’ content knowledge. One common instructional practice in active learning classrooms is having students use clickers – handheld response devices – to answer instructor posed questions. Clickers allow all students in the class to be able to answer a question and the instructors can see how the class as a whole answered the question. By having students actively engage with the subject matter by answering questions, studies have shown that on average students learn more and fail less in these active learning courses compared to traditional lecture courses. However, what has yet to be explored in detail is how active learning practices like clickers may increase feelings of an...

Today's blog is written by Sara Brownell , PhD, Associate Professor School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. We all know the reputation of science instructors as unapproachable and boring. Yet they don’t have to be. One easy way for science instructors to connect better to students is to tell a joke – or two- in the classroom! A new study published by our research group in PLOS ONE explored student perceptions of college science instructor’s use of humor by surveying over 1600 students from 25 different college science classes. Overwhelmingly, students appreciated when instructors tried to be funny; in fact, 99% of students appreciated instructor use of humor! However, the type of humor seemed to matter for students. If the instructor told a joke that was perceived as offensive, then students related less to the instructor and felt as though they did not belong as much in class. However, when an instructor tells jokes that students think are funny, they be...