There's a few questions here...!! :)

[barmstrong6]

I have a few questions:

1.)  Has anyone integrated a google docs link created in Collaborations into a page, assignment or discussion in Canvas, and actually had success is using this strategy?  I did it in my sandbox and it did work in 'presentation view' in google docs... but I haven't deployed it into a course.  So would just appreciate hearing from folks, before I proceed.

2.) I am pretty sure that discussions, collaborations and teams in the people area are three distinctly separate features and neer the twain shall meet...    I think that the only intersection would be to add the google docs link I mentioned above into either a page, discussion or assignment.  But that to integrate team activity in Canvas, that has to be done either by using people/teams, or setting up the groups through the collaborations area.  I hope this question makes sense.

3.) Can anyone speak to the advantages of the grade book tray and what it can do that is different from what it does currently?

4.)  Does the functionality of requirements and pre-requisites only apply to modules?  I have read up on this and played in my sandbox, and I don't see that I could add a video link to either a page, or an assignment, and have it be required to watch it prior to taking a quiz through the requirements function in Canvas.  This is what the faculty has requested but I don't see it is possible...  there are multiple videos and quizzes so they'd need to be added within the module, not at the module level... 

Thank you in advance for your time in responding!

[snugent]

1. This would depend the permissions assigned to the document in Google Docs. In Google Docs you can get a shareable link. This could be an issue because with shareable links the document is public and if the students are not logged in to Canvas or GoogleDocs they will be anonymous. 

2. I am not really sure what you are asking here. The groups feature is designed to give student group members access to similar communication tools that allow them to create their own discussions, collaborations, and conferences. 

3. The grade detail tray is designed to make it easier to enter grades especially for those instructors who are just using the assignment feature to create gradebook columns. The detail tray allows instructors to quickly move from student to student or assignment to assignment. This is also where you change the status of an assignment for individual student. 

• How do I enter and edit grades in the New Gradebook?

4. With requirements on pages you can choose view or mark as done. You are correct it doesn't definitely mean that the student actually viewed the content on the page. I like the mark as done option because it requires action on the student's part. So basically the student is saying yes I viewed content on this page. 

• How do I add requirements to a module?

If you have SCORM compliant third party tool such as Camtasia, you can create a video with questions and this can be exported as SCORM package that can be imported into Canvas as an assignment. The questions can be anywhere in the timeline of the video so student would have to answer the questions. I believe there are other software packages that can do this as well but I am only familiar with Camtasia. 

• How do I import SCORM files as an assignment?
• Quizzing & Surveys | Camtasia | TechSmith 

[barmstrong6]

Thank you Susan for your time in responding.

[ellenbcutler]

Most of this is way out of my league, but I will go with a comment on Google docs in Collaborations.

I created a semester-long assignment where each week students had to create one (1) Jeopardy-style question based on the readings. (Purpose was to get them to do readings more attentively and also begin creating an inventory of questions for a planned Jeopardy game on the last day.) My main problem at the outset was twofold: 1) How to collect the questions and 2) how to grade the questions. With advice from the #canvascommunity‌ I settled on the following. After some initial bugs, it worked pretty well.

I set up a spread sheet in Google docs under Collaboration. Each week was on a tab. Columns had headings: student name, reading consulted, Jeopardy category, clue, question, and then a comment field for me to use. The most significant problem is that Canvas does not always play nicely with Google and it occasionally too several tries to get the spreadsheet to open. That was hanging up students but I got them to just chill a bit and keep trying. So the spreadsheet was step #1.

Step #2 was to type or cut-and-paste the question with its associated fields into an assignment link to which I had attached rubric for grading. This allowed me to quickly get grades into the gradebook.

In terms of my end, this wasn't nearly as cumbersome as it might sound. I would open both the spreadsheet and the speedgrader for the assignment, list students by who submitted soonest, review and comment on the spreadsheet (copying the comment), flip back to the speedgrader, paste the comment into the comment box, tick the boxes on the rubric and move on to the next. 

From my  point of view it seems almost impossible to use the Collaborations in a way that can be linked to the grading mechanism directly. This work-around is probably not perfect but my technophobic and computer-semi-literate self was able to manage. 

Don't know if this is relevant to your problem exactly, but may it will help.

Oh, and the Cubism Jeopardy was a hoot! More learning problems associated with the template I used, but then all my learning curves tend to be steep. 

[kyoung]

Ellen,

Have you thought about using Google forms as an embEdded survey to collect the AJeopardy data?  This is really easy to do and can make the student interface cleaner.

The answers all feed to a spreadsheet anyway.  ThisLso allows you to control the categories.

[ellenbcutler]

No, Kristina, I hadn’t. Largely because I have no idea what you mean by using Google forms as an embedded survey to collect the data. ☹ Truly computer stupid her and barely able to manage Canvas for the most routine tasks. I was pretty darned amazed that I got this process to work.

So you say it is “easy.” Possibly, but probably not for me. At any rate, how exactly would I learn how to use Google forms as an embedded survey and how would that connect to the grade book?

Not being rude, truly. I just need instructions for everything in the simplest English possible with every step (probably starting with “boot up computer”) laid out one at a time. I would certainly love to learn how to do this.

Thanks! E.

[kyoung]

Ellen,

I’m a wanna be journeyman at this, too.  I get a tad obsessive so eventually figure things out.

So, I’m on my iPad right now but will try to break it down.  

First, create the Google form.  That means going to your Drive, clicking new, then clicking Survey.  In your survey, order the questions you’d like, capturing the student emails and asking their names as a required question.  I like leveraging pull downs where I can, but short answer questions work.

Once you have created the survey template for all questions, make sure that you have marked “required” for each question that will be graded.

Click Share the survey.

One of your options is Embed.  Click this.

Copy the HTML code.

Open a page in Canvas.  Click HTML instead of Rich Text. Paste the code and save.

If the survey comes out narrow, reopen the page, click HTML and change the width to 95%.

Now, for grading, I can only speculate since if I want it graded I use Quiz functions.  However, I do know that you can import spreadsheet/CSV files to the grade book.

I will be in front of a computer in a few hours, so I can do a vid or screenshot if you like.

[kyoung]

@Ellen,

I suspect you'll need to raise the volume on this, but I recorded in real time and it was quick.

This video has been deleted

[ellenbcutler]

I am really sorry, Kristina, but a recording? I don’t see it? Is there an attachment? I was really not kidding about computer stupid.

E.

[ellenbcutler]

Sorry Kristina, the link didn’t come through on your response but it did when other people like and commented.

E.

[kyoung]

It might still have been rendering. A refresh should work.

Kristina Young, (she, her)

Honors/Global Studies Program Coordinator and Professor Humanities

F1-20,

6501 South 19th Street

Tacoma, WA 98466

Phone: 253.566.5330

Email: kyoung@tacomacc.edu<mailto:kyoung@tacomacc.edu>

Honors email: honors@tacomacc.edu<mailto:honors@tacomacc.edu>

[cid:04142663-9bf6-41d1-aa13-ac01d01323e8]

[ellenbcutler]

Sky, I appreciate all help. Clearly I will have to walk through the survey thing because verbally it makes not sense at all. And then there is the thing that every student has to go to the “survey” once a week and produced the question. Then import the survey to the gradebook? Yikes.

And while in principle I know what html code is in practice I don’t. And open what page in Canvas? Any page? Some specific page?

I am not even apprentice level yet; journeyman is a skill beyond imagining.

E.

[kona]

For the grade tray, I'd recommend checking out the following - https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-16034-grade-detail-tray 

Hope this is helpful! Kona

[barmstrong6]

Thanks for everyones contributions to this post!  It's great to know about google forms as am embedded survey, as well as knowing there are some 'wonky' issues that can arise.   Thank you again everyone!