Important Teaching and Learning Tool Updates for Autumn 2024
Before you dive into autumn semester, be sure to learn about the latest updates to teaching and learning tools and other technology services from the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI). Learn more about our new proctoring tool, Honorlock; review changes and improvements to CarmenCanvas; check out new features in Mediasite; find out how you and your students can access Adobe Express and Creative Cloud; and so much more.
Ohio State offers several supported and vetted tools to enhance the teaching and learning experience. You can explore these options in the Teaching and Learning Resource Center and visit the Learning Systems page on the it.osu.edu site to find the most recent updates to teaching and learning tools.
CarmenCanvas
Changes to Proctoring Solutions
Following an evaluation of new and existing proctoring tools, a committee of Ohio State faculty, staff, and students recommended continuing use of Respondus Lockdown Browser and onboarding a new tool, Honorlock. This change to Ohio State's proctoring solution was made available in Summer 2024 courses. You can learn more about getting started with Honorlock in the Teaching and Learning Resource Center. If you plan to use the tool in your courses, please share this Honorlock guide with your students.
Given the limitations of any proctoring tool, it is still strongly recommended that instructors strive for authentic assessments that are more likely to motivate students to learn and set them up for success in their future careers. You can learn more about designing assignments that encourage academic integrity in the Teaching and Learning Resource Center.
New Features for Availability and Due Dates
Canvas is working to enhance the Assign To and Due Dates settings. In addition to seeing these options within the edit screen for an individual assignment or quiz, you can now access a flyout menu from the Modules screen. You can assign an entire module to specific students or to one or more sections if you have content that the whole class doesn’t need to see. You can also assign individual items within the module to whomever you select. The same flyout menu has a tab where you can set availability dates for modules and content, making it easier to control when students interact with upcoming course material.
Improvements to Canvas Inbox
Inbox, the email feature in Canvas, has added new features. Now, you can add signatures to your messages and set up automatic Out of Office replies. Learn more about these new Inbox features in the Teaching and Learning Resource Center.
Redesign of Canvas Discussions
The Discussions tool in Canvas has undergone a redesign process. When you click into a discussion, you will see options to sort replies and to view replies in a new split-screen viewer. Among other new features, role labels will make it easier to identify comments from the course instructor and from the person who started the discussion thread. Users can also be “at mentioned” to bring them into a conversation. Find more details about these and other new features in the Canvas Community.
Explore New Quizzes in Your Courses
The New Quizzes tool is available for you to explore! Activating this feature for your course will allow you to choose between Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes when creating a new assessment. In the Teaching and Learning Resource Center, you can view a release timeline and review accessibility considerations. Shortly after you enable New Quizzes in one or more of your courses, you will receive an email with additional accessibility information and resources.
CarmenBooks Update
CarmenBooks, the program that offers digital textbooks and access to publisher homework systems, is now powered by RedShelf. Students will be able to access all their current CarmenBooks titles by selecting the CarmenBooks icon from the global navigation in Canvas or from the CarmenBooks link within a course. Titles from previous semesters can be accessed with the Unizin Engage link within a course.
Manage Participants Features
Be sure to check out new Manage Participants functionality. When selecting this option for your course, you now have access to a more robust feature set, including the ability to add, bulk add, remove and reactivate students; edit roles for individuals in your course; and export your class roster. More features are coming soon, including more bulk actions. These new features live in Aegis, a platform with tools built by OTDI to help manage and support the teaching and learning toolset.
Zoom-Canvas Integration Update
With the latest update to the Zoom-Canvas integration, Zoom will no longer automatically add events to your course calendar in Canvas. This functionality created issues when copying over courses, so it has been disabled. If you would like your Zoom course sessions added to your calendar, you can create recurring calendar events for your course by following these instructions from Canvas.
CarmenZoom
Zoom AI Companion
This semester, we have enabled two new AI features in Zoom. The Meeting Summary feature will email the meeting host (and participants if the host allows) a prose-style summary of the meeting. The Smart Recordings feature inserts chapter markers and provides summaries, key takeaways, and action items for your recorded meetings. Learn more about Meeting Summary and Smart Recordings from Zoom Support.
Added Security for Zoom Recordings
When logging into Zoom, users must be authenticated with their username, password, and multi-factor authentication (Duo). This same level of security now applies to Zoom recordings by default. If you need to share a recording with someone outside Ohio State, you can change this setting on a recording-by-recording basis. Learn more about university guidelines for recording Zoom and Teams meetings.
Remember to Keep Zoom Up-to-date
Be sure you are running the most recent version of Zoom across all your devices. It is always best practice to keep your apps updated for security reasons, and with Zoom it ensures you can take advantage of the latest features. Zoom also requires you to have a recent version of their app installed to join a Zoom call. University-managed devices receive routine updates to Zoom, but you should ensure your personal devices are up to date. Learn more about updating Zoom to the latest version.
Mediasite Improvements
OTDI has been working on strategic enhancements to Mediasite, the university’s media platform. This summer, browser-based recording was enabled. This new feature lets users record audio, video and screen content conveniently from a web browser, with no need for hardware or special software. Automated captioning is also enabled by default for all recordings. Keep in mind, AI captioning still needs to be reviewed to ensure full accessibility. Viewers of your content will see a disclaimer that the captions were auto-generated, but you can remove this disclaimer after editing your captions. Remember, when embedding Mediasite content in your course, it is best to use the integration that is built into Canvas. This will provide your students with the best viewing experience.
Top Hat Student Preview
If you are using the polling tool Top Hat in your course, you may notice a new feature. As an instructor, you will now be able to preview what your students will see during a class presentation. This feature is a great way to ensure you have formatted your questions correctly and gives you a glimpse into the student experience. Learn more about using this feature from Top Hat.
Recording and Proctoring Waiver for Minors
Students under the age of 18 must have a waiver on file signed by a parent or guardian to allow them to interact with instructional tools that use a student’s web camera and microphone, as well as tools that require consent to download and install on a student’s device. In addition, minors without this waiver on file will have Zoom accounts with limited functionality—mainly, they will be unable to host meetings of their own without parental consent. If you are teaching a course with at least one student under the age of 18 who does NOT have this waiver on file, you will receive an email from the Registrar’s office with further instructions and considerations.
Connect to eduroam
Over the summer, osuwireless officially retired and we completed the transition to eduroam as the primary secure network for Ohio State students, faculty and staff. Students, faculty and staff can connect their devices to eduroam today by visiting wireless.osu.edu and selecting Connect to eduroam. One of the great benefits of this transition is that users will no longer have to update their Wi-Fi connection each time they update their Ohio State password – the certificate connection on eduroam lasts for five years! By connecting to eduroam, you also join a growing group of eduroam users and can visit institutions throughout the world while maintaining a secure Wi-Fi connection.
Needs-Based Technology Loan Program
The Student Technology Loan Program (STLP) has been serving students at Ohio State by offering short- and long-term loans of Surface Go and iPad Air technology kits. To better serve students with the greatest need, STLP will reserve loan eligibility for students who have limited technology access and identified financial needs. Going forward, only students who have filled out FAFSA and received financial aid will be eligible to request a loaner device. Students can request a loaner device through ScholarshipUniverse, where students can apply for financial aid.
Classroom Updates
New Learning Spaces Directory
Not sure which classroom will suit your needs? Be sure to check out the new Learning Spaces Directory for faculty, staff and students. This site can help you find the right classroom or study space, and each listing includes photos and specs on what’s available in the space.
How to access Adobe Express and Creative Cloud
Adobe Express is available for free to all Ohio State students, faculty and staff. Adobe Express is an all-in-one web app for photos, videos, documents and graphic design. In addition, Adobe Creative Cloud is available for free in Digital Unions, public computer labs, and computer lab classrooms. Ohio State students, faculty, and staff can also purchase an annual license at a discounted rate. Learn more about the capabilities of Adobe tools and find out if they may enhance your students’ learning experience.
Change to Lab Computer Login
Over the summer, we updated the way users log into certain computers around campus. Students will log into OTDI-managed Windows computers with their lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu and password. Faculty and staff will log in with their lastname.#@osu.edu and password. All users receive a Duo push after entering their Ohio State credentials. Learn more at the it.osu.edu site.
AI.osu.edu
Generative AI is a rapidly evolving technology that Ohio State is actively exploring, and we now have a website as a central resource. AI.osu.edu provides information on current AI initiatives, tools, and guidelines for incorporating AI into academic and professional work. The site includes learning materials and sections detailing approved AI tools, policies, and instructional resources. We encourage contributions to the site to ensure it remains a comprehensive and up-to-date resource for the Ohio State community.
Email and Storage Changes
Ohio State is adjusting storage allowances for email, OneDrive and Teams to manage costs due to Microsoft's education licensing price changes. New storage limits will affect all faculty, staff and students. Email forwarding policies also will change due to these increasing costs and new security measures by external email providers that have been causing messages to be blocked. How this affects you depends on your role at the university.
Changes to Microsoft Flip
If you have been using Flip, the video discussion platform, please take note that some changes from Microsoft will affect your ability to use this tool. Flip is no longer a separate application; it has been integrated into Microsoft Teams for Education. Learn more about this change from the College of Arts and Sciences and discover options that could meet your particular use cases.