The Sheridan Center's Digital Learning and Design Team would like to announce updates made in preparation for the Spring 2024 semester. If you have any questions about any of the updates below, please contact us at [email protected].
Canvas Office Hours
For the start of the Spring 2024 semester, DLD will be offering 15-minute Canvas Office Hours. Please use this scheduler link to find and book your session.
Canvas-Integrated Learning Tool Updates
The following Canvas-integrated learning tools were updated in preparation for Spring 2024. Please read the summary for each update to see how this might impact your old Canvas assignments/activities as well as versions you may have copied into your Spring 2024 Canvas sites. Please see below for more details about each tool.
Access Pearson Integration LTI 1.3 (Formally MyLab and Mastering)
Change: Installed Access Person's new LTI 1.3 version
Summary: Access Pearson will no longer support LTI 1.1 and requires LTI 1.3 which has also been renamed. Instructors who are actively utilizing the tool for Spring 2024 have been notified directly.
If you've previously used the Access Pearson tool under the MyLab and Mastering LTI 1.1 name, and need to copy assignments into future Canvas courses, follow these instructions (or contact the publisher vendor) to ensure you have set up the publisher tool correctly.
If you plan on using publisher content in your course and have not already done so, please contact the Brown bookstore.
Panopto Canvas Integration Update
Change: Installed Panopto's new LTI 1.3 version
Summary: In January 2024, the Panopto Tool in Canvas was updated from LTI 1.1 to LTI 1.3 to comply with current security standards and to allow Admins to leverage new features as they are released into production. This update should not impact existing content. If you have any questions or issues, please reach out to Media Services ([email protected]).
Zoom Canvas Integration Update
Change: Installed Zoom's new LTI 1.3 version
Summary: Similar to recent updates to Panopto, Brown's Canvas Zoom LTI app was updated to comply with security standards. This update will also allow Brown to leverage additional and new Zoom features within Canvas.
Note this update will not impact how you schedule, access, or run Zoom meetings. The only changes you may notice is that the option to use your Zoom Personal Meeting ID in the Canvas scheduler is no longer available; instead, a unique Zoom link ID is created for the course meeting. Additionally, the placement of the Zoom application in your Canvas course menu may have changed. If you want to adjust the Zoom menu placement within your course, follow these instructions.
If you do run into any issues, please do not hesitate to email [email protected].
New Canvas-Integrated Learning Tools
Peerceptiv (Extended)
In Fall 2023, Brown conducted a limited pilot of Peerceptiv, a research-backed peer review tool that integrates with Canvas to coordinate student writing submissions and facilitate peer reviews and feedback. For Spring 2024, Peerceptiv is now available enterprise wide for Brown academic courses. Please visit our help article on Peerceptiv for more information.
Slack Course Workspaces
Brown University has procured an enterprise license of Slack. For the initial Fall 2023 roll-out (see the Today@Brown announcement), Slack will only be available to faculty and students enrolled in academic courses via the Slack integration with Canvas. With this Slack-Canvas integration, instructors and TAs can enable and create a Slack Course Workspace where the member list is tied to and controlled by the associated course's Canvas People tool roster.
Please visit our help article on Slack Course Workspaces (via Canvas) for more information.
Updated Feature Options For Canvas
New Course & User Analytics
The New Analytics tool, which will be rolled out to all courses in Summer 2024, provides the instructor with more granular analytics on course/student activity. Please see these articles on New Analytics for details and information about this tool. Instructors who would like to enable this feature immediately can do so by following the steps in this article on how to manage new features for a course.
Discussions Redesign
Instructure has revamped Canvas announcements and discussions, introducing additional features and options. These enhancements encompass a fresh interface for viewing discussion replies, the inclusion of anonymous discussions, and the capability to mention or quote another student in a post.
Similar to The New Analytics tool, Canvas Discussions Redesign will be enabled for all courses beginning Summer 2024. For instructors who would like to opt in now, the Canvas Discussion Redesign interface can be enabled in any Canvas course by following these instructions.
Other Updates
CourseTools Interface Changes
At the end of 2023, OIT updated the interface for CourseTools to meet accessibility standards. The most significant changes include a unified login page, and the navigation menu was relocated from the right-hand side of the page to the top of the table through a dropdown menu. All other CourseTools functionality remains unchanged. For further guidance on using CourseTools, please consult these knowledgebase articles.
Sunsetting Google Jamboard
Google announced that Jamboard will be discontinued at the end of 2024. If you use Jamboard, we encourage you to export any projects that you would like to keep since they will no longer be available after December 31, 2024. All projects will become view-only on October 1, 2024.
Brown's learning technologies team is evaluating other whiteboard tools to recommend before Jamboard is discontinued. We welcome your input if this type of tool is important to your teaching: Digital whiteboard tool feedback.