February 2024

Upcoming changes to tools integrated with Canvas

In spring 2024, a number of changes are coming to tools integrated with Canvas. While the Office of Information Technology’s (OIT’s) Academic Technology team tries to minimize impacts on instructors and students, vendors sometimes make changes that are beyond the University's control. Visit the Upcoming Changes to Tools page for up-to-date information on when these integration upgrades are scheduled.

Canvas Updates

Proctorio’s Disable Extensions Tile on by default

Proctorio's Disable Extensions tile is now on by default in Proctorio Settings for all new quizzes. This option prompts test takers to disable extensions in the same way they're directed to close tabs and disconnect monitors. The feature targets extensions like iTranscript, which deliver answers to students within a quiz. Proctorio maintains a list of extensions that provide accessibility enhancements and exempts these legitimate extensions from being disabled. 

If you know of an extension that ought to be exempt from being disabled in a proctored quiz, contact [email protected], and we will work with the vendor to ensure the appropriate extensions are exempt.

Kaltura Updates

Kaltura maintenance event February 17-18, 2024

Kaltura will be performing maintenance on Saturday, February 17 at 11:00 p.m. to Sunday, February 18 at 2:00 p.m. CST. During this period, users may experience slowness or errors in Kaltura in Canvas and MediaSpace, but no downtime is expected. Status updates for Kaltura and other academic technologies can always be found on the University of Minnesota System Status page (systemstatus.umn.edu). 

Join the AI Community of Practice

University of Minnesota faculty and staff looking for a space to learn and share about Generative AI can join the AI Community of Practice. This is a system-wide Google Group that shares scholarly articles, editorials, kudos for colleagues, teaching resources, and much more in a low-stakes, informal space. The group plans to meet monthly via Zoom for informal, loosely-facilitated informational conversations with practitioners, researchers, technologists, instructors, and the AI-curious.

Know Where to Find Help with Academic Technology and Instructional Design

Recent faculty focus group feedback indicated some confusion on how to find help with the various technologies that instructors use. Whether you are a seasoned instructor or if this is your first time teaching a course at UMN, everyone reaches a point where they need some guidance.

• Wondering how to create a learning activity that runs smoothly? Have some course design questions?

  • Teams of academic technology experts and instructional designers are here to help you. These teams are placed both centrally to support anyone across the system campuses and housed in a specific college or department. The Academic Technology Contacts page lists the support teams that exist throughout the various colleges and system campuses. This list is updated regularly so that instructors can find the best place to reach out for course design help when it is needed.

• Is a technology not working as expected? 

  • Contact Technology Help, which is a 24/7, 365 days-of-the-year help center reachable by phone, chat, or email. If they are unable to solve your technology issue immediately, they will route the issue to the appropriate team who will follow up with you within a business day to resolve your issue.

All of these teams work together behind the scenes, keeping each other informed of issues and providing support such as the Canvas Clinic, which is held before each semester. Read about the type of services the Canvas Clinic provides.

Join Accessibility Ambassadors for continued professional development opportunities

Learning about accessibility is an ongoing journey for all of us. Join Accessibility Ambassadors, a group of UMN employees from across all campuses who are passionate about making UMN a more accessible and inclusive place. The group hosts events to teach, advocate, and discuss digital accessibility topics and strive to be resources for the UMN community. They welcome ideas for presentations from the community. 

• To learn about more accessibility-related events at UMN and find recordings from past events, please visit Accessible U: Attend Events and View Recordings.
• For more information about the Ambassadors, join the Google Group or contact [email protected].

Join us for these learning opportunities to use technology effectively in your teaching:

FeedbackFruits community exploration and evaluation

Available asynchronously online anytime February–May

The University is piloting the full FeedbackFruits Tool Suite through May 2024. Beginning in February 2024, ATSS will facilitate an asynchronous, semi-structured community exploration of 11 new tools. This community exploration will allow users to try out each tool from the student perspective and provide feedback on their experience with the tools. Instructors, staff, and students at all five UMN campuses are invited to participate. Register for this course.

Using Media in Course Design

Anytime (self-paced, online)

In Using Media in Course Design, participants will learn how instructors can increase student engagement and enhance learning experiences, how to create focused video content, and how to integrate video resources into learning activities. 

Canvas: Integrate Media with Kaltura

Anytime (self-paced, online)

Video and audio is everywhere in our society today and can be a powerful tool for teaching and learning. But to use it effectively, it is important to create and manage media strategically and efficiently. This workshop explores the use of Kaltura, the cloud-based media management system available to all faculty and students to use in courses. 

Check out more events across all TeachingSupport partners.