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News

OnCourse: New Courses Database

OnCourse is intended to be improved and refined, but still familiar to existing Courses Database users. The basic point of entry is still the section list by quarter. Click a header (quarter or curriculum) to see the report filters and narrow down to what you are interested in. These are some of the improvements:

  • We’ve made the instructor view simpler and more consistent.
  • Notes are a more prominent and active part of OnCourse.
  • OnCourse has refined reporting for Area Chairs.
  • There is no “public view” of course information. Only authorized users can open this database.

Remote Help During Winter Break

Our Tech Center help desk will shift back to online operations during the holiday break. We are still available for in-person help by appointment only.

This change will happen during finals week, Thursday, December 16th. We will return on Monday, January 3rd.

Please feel free to submit help requests to our system 24/7:  https://coehelp.uw.edu/

Improving Prospective Student Experience with our Website

Our website plays a vital role in interacting and engaging prospective students, and we want them to quickly find the program they are looking for. As part of this initiative, we will be working with Evolving Web (a consultant group with a significant portfolio in User Experience analysis) to improve our public website experience. We will be reaching out to multiple members of our community (faculty and students) to gather feedback and test some ideas. We will greatly appreciate all your help and support during this process!

Canvas New Quizzes Pilot

UW-IT has been following the development of Canvas New Quizzes, a “quizzing engine” that integrates with the Canvas learning platform, and is now ready to pilot this feature with some classes at UW. The goal of the pilot is to learn how to best support faculty through this transition.

Are you interested in piloting New Quizzes in your Winter ‘22 course? New Quizzes offers improved options for accommodations and some new questions types, such as ordering, formula, and stimulus.

If you are interested, please read this more detailed invitation to pilot New Quizzes. 

CoE Canvas Template Available for Winter 2022 Courses

If you would like to learn more about the CoE Canvas template or have it added to your Winter 2022 course shell, please email edhelp@uw.edu.  The template consists of a home page, module structure, and a few resource and sample pages. Please also contact us for any support needs related to updating a previously taught course that uses this template!

Accessibility Support: Readable PDFs

As you start the Autumn quarter, don’t forget that the CoE Technology Center can help you make your course materials more accessible for all students! Remediated PDFs are accessible to students who use assistive technologies like screen readers, and they’re also beneficial because any student can use Canvas to download an audio version! If you’re assigning scanned chapters, or PDFs of articles without an available full-text version online, we can make them screen-readable. If you are interested in this service, please email edhelp@uw.edu with your request! Due to the time-consuming nature of PDF remediation, the turnaround time is usually several weeks.

New Multi-function Printers

We have new printers across Miller Hall! As part of our renewal cycle, we have updated printers. The newer models have a nicer interface while keeping the same functionality as the older ones. Some people may need updated drivers, so please contact us if you are experimenting any problems with the change.

Personal Voice Amplifiers

The personal Voice Amplifiers will soon be available for faculty who participated in our survey last month. If you did not participate, we have some available to loan from our help desk. Please open a ticket to schedule a time to pick up yours.

Hypothesis is Available!

After a three-quarter pilot, Hypothesis collaborative annotation tool is now available in all UW Canvas courses. Adding Hypothesis to course readings in Canvas supports student success by embedding active discussion directly in the reading, enabling students and teachers to add comments and start conversations in the margins of texts.

Learn more about using Hypothesis in your course.

Classroom Technology Updates

We keep working on making our new podiums easier to use (Classrooms 104, 112, 212, 320 and 411). We have updated the training videos to reflect the latest changes we made over the summer. We are here to help you with any questions you may have, and we will be happy to give you a quick introduction in how to make the best of the updated tech.