Canvas @ Yale

Canvas Updates for Fall 2021

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Notable changes to the Canvas @ Yale environment, last updated 08/09/2021.

Canvas Updates

Canvas's core functionality is continuously updated throughout the year.  Here are some of the more notable changes you should be aware of. 

Yale Student COVID Training Requirements - NEW PROCESS FOR STUDENTS

For Fall 2021, students returning to campus will need to fill out a compact similar to what was required for Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021.  For the fall 2021 students there will only be one COVID training site and students will need to manually join the course themselves.  Below are the steps and process for students:

NOTE:  The Student COVID Training for Fall will open on August 10, 2021 at 8:00am.

  1. Students will need go to the Student COVID Training: FA21 Enrollment Site
    1. If not already logged into Canvas, the student will be prompted to log into Canvas (click the NetID button and log in with their Yale NetID and Password)
  2. On the enrollment page, click the Enroll in Course button.
Click the Enroll in Course button to be added to the Student COVID Training course.
  1. Students will get a confirmation screen showing that they are now enrolled in the course and at that point they may click the Go to the Course button to view the Student COVID Training course.
Click the Go to the Course button to go to the course and begin your training.
  1. Once in the course, students will need to click on and review the assignment "Fall 2021 Student Return to Campus COVID-19 Training."  You must watch the entire training and complete the final attestation question to receive credit for completing the training.
Click on the Assignment Title to open and complete the require training.

Yale College Early Registration Timeline & Process

For Fall 2021, Yale College students will have an early registration process that begins on April 1, 2021.  The dates listed below are tentative and are subject to change.  For official information about the updated process, please visit the Registration Website and be sure to check out the special page for Registration Upcoming Dates/Deadlines.  

March 29 Fall 21 Yale College Courses ONLY Created in Canvas for instructors to access
April 1 - May 28 Early Registration Period Yale College Students
April 1 Fall 21 Courses appear in Yale Course Search for students to view
April 5 Published Canvas course syllabi appear in Yale Course Search
May 3 Student registration worksheets open / Students appear in the People Tool of their courses
June / July Fall 2021 courses to be created in Canvas for Graduate School and Professional Schools
July 6 Instructors can submit Course Reserves requests through their Canvas course sites
August 2 Canvas course sites will become available to registered Students and Visitors (unless the instructor has already allowed or restricted access)
August 16 Preference Selection opens for new Yale College students
August 20 Preference Selection closes for new Yale College students
August 30 Early registration opens for new Yale College students / Preference selection for discussion & lab sections open for all Yale College students
September 1 Classes begin / Add/Drop period begins for Yale College
September 2 Preference Selection for discussion & lab sections closes for Yale College students
September 3 Open enrollment for remaining discussion & lab section seats for Yale College students
September 15 Add/Drop period ends for Yale College

Student Access to Canvas Courses During Early Registration

Please note that students who register for your course during the early registration open enrollment will appear in your Canvas course site's People tool after May 3rd.  However, by default, registered students WILL NOT have access to Canvas course content and activities until New Student Registration opens in August.  If you want to give your enrolled students early access to your content and activities before then, please check out the help article on How do I change the start and end dates for a course?

FAS Expanded Course Description Template

To provide students additional information about your course during the open enrollment period, an Expanded Course Description template was created for Fall 2020 and will again be available in all Fall 2021 FAS courses (Yale College and GSAS courses in Canvas).

As part of the template, you also have the option to share a Course Welcome Video. A Course Welcome Video provides students an opportunity to hear from you about the class.

Detailed Canvas Course Titles

Starting in Summer 2021, the Canvas course titles have been updated to be more accurate and readable by eliminating truncated words and abbreviations, adding in proper spacing, and removing un-rendered HTML code.  This change should not impact courses in any other way.

Course titles will continue to be formatted as normal with the Primary Course Code, Number, Section and Term followed by the expanded Course Title.  

Example:  SAMP 100 01 (FA21): Full Detailed Title

New and Updated External Applications & Integration

The Poorvu Center is please to announce the following external applications and external application integration are now available to all academic courses through Canvas. For a complete list of external applications, please see the following article.

External Application Name Description
ANTICIPATED: ATI Testing ATI Testing is a platform used for proctoring Medical and Nursing School exams.  
NEW: Qualtrics LTI
Qualtrics is a robust survey tool that can be used for both standard and anonymized surveys.  Yale University's existing survey instance will be integrated with Canvas to allow for the creation of surveys that can be offered through Canvas and, if desired, track who has completed the survey without knowing individual users' results.
NEW: Sapling Learning A product from the Macmillian Learning suite, Sapling Learning is an online homework and instruction tool that is integrated in Canvas but licensed by individual students.  The integration allows instructors to assign work to students through Canvas. 
CONTINUING: Ed Discussions Ed Discussion is a threaded discussion platform. It supports document and image upload, math equations, runnable code, embedded video, and image annotation. Posts can be private or anonymous, and student responses can be ‘endorsed’ by instructors.  Learn more about Ed Discussions and Canvas.
CONTINUING:  Hypothesis Hypothesis is a collaborative annotation tool that allows students to comment on, discuss, and take notes on digital materials.  Hypothesis works on any online page, PDF or EPUB file - through the Canvas integration, Hypothesis can be incorporated in your course as a graded assignment or as an ungraded item in a Module.  Learn more about Hypothesis and Canvas.
CONTINUING:  Lingco (for Language Exams) Lingco is an adaptive language learning and assessment tool.  Lingco provides assessment options for languages that includes powerful AI grading features which can use voice recognition for auto-scoring.  Lingco will be piloted with a small group of language placement exams and other specific language-based activities.  Language instructors can contact the Center for Language study for details.
CONTINUING:  Playposit
PlayPosit aims to increase learner engagement through interactive videos. You can integrate PlayPosit into your courses through the Assignments tool, or the Modules tool in Canvas. Playposit can leverage videos hosted in Panopto, YouTube, or other hosting platforms.

The following improvements have been in place for a while, but are worth mentioning as these tools have seen an increase in user adoption since their implementation.  Two of our existing external applications through integration with Panopto (Media Library) have lead to increase utility and function for those tools that utilize or produce video by providing a common repository for those assets when used in teaching.

External Application Integration Description
Playposit & Panopto (Media Library) Videos stored in a courses Media Library folder within Yale's instance of Panopto are available through Playposit.
Zoom & Panopto (Media Library) When scheduling meetings through the Canvas / Zoom integration, you can now automatically store the recording of that meeting to the Media Library folder for the course you are scheduling from. This is only available for the Zoom integration, and not the Zoom HIPPA integration as access to Zoom cloud recording is required.

Useful Dates and Information

Mid-Semester Feedback Dates:

Mid-Semester Feedback is a tool that is available for instructors to collect feedback in the middle of the term.  The tool is released for a specific pre-defined time (see below) in all participating schools.  You can read more about the Mid-Semester Feedback tool in our help article for instructors and our help article for students.  

NOTE:  Not all professional schools utilize the Mid-Semester Feedback Tool.  If your course does not have the Mid-Semester Feedback Tool, please contact your local school support team for your school's preferred feedback collection mechanism.

Instructor Open
(instructors can begin creating/editing questions)
Wednesday, May 5, 2021 @ 12:00pm
Question Deadline
(instructors must have survey finalized)
Sunday, October 3, 2021 @ 11:59pm
Feedback Opens
(student may begin submitting feedback)
Monday, October 4, 2021 @ 9:00am
Feedback Closed 
(students cannot submit after this date)
Monday, October 18, 2021 @ 10:00pm
Submissions Purged 
(all submissions for the semester will be deleted - instructors should download submissions they want to keep prior to this date)
Wednesday, August 31, 2022 @ 11:59pm
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