Fall 2018 Updates for Learn@UW Tools

Wed August 29, 2018

In time for the new academic year, Learn@UW-Madison has rolled out new features and updates for Canvas, Kaltura MediaSpace and Blackboard Collaborate. Since many have been implemented over the summer, some users may already be familiar with the changes. If not, highlights are below with links to more details.

Canvas Updates

  • The Official Syllabus tool has been introduced to allow you to enter your official UW-Madison course syllabus in Canvas.
  • Making it easier to search, Canvas course codes and names now include term such as “FA18” for this semester.
  • The “Teacher” role has been replaced by three instructor roles – “Principal Instructor,” “Supervisory Instructor,” and “Auxiliary Instructor” – based on new Student Information System (SIS) classifications.
  • An Honors Optional section has been added that automatically populates with students enrolled in the course for Honors and allows instructors to assign and track Honors-specific coursework.
  • People can now view submitted requests and status updates that the Canvas Feature Request Working Group received through the Canvas feature request form. Many of the requests are currently being voted on in the Canvas Community so we encourage you to help raise priority on those.
  • The Learn@UW-Madison team can fulfill emergency data recovery requests for both D2L and Moodle through January 2019.

Kaltura MediaSpace Updates

  • Chop & Splice is a new capability for the Kaltura Video Editing Tool that allows users to quickly and easily remove pieces from the middle of their media, such as intermissions, technical glitches or other wanted content.
  • The new Elastic Search offers more robust searching capabilities including partial searches, synonyms and stop words, results from media metadata (captions, quizzes, comments, slides, etc.), Asian languages support, and faceted search.
  • The Learn@UW-Madison team has released new forms for users to request bulk changes such as adding collaborators, changing media ownership, and downloading media.

Blackboard Collaborate Update

  • Blackboard Collaborate or Blackboard Collaborate Ultra are now labeled within Canvas as “BBCollaborate Original” and “BBCollaborate Ultra.” Previously labeled “Ultra Conference,” BBCollaborate Ultra is still automatically included on the sidebar. “BBCollaborate Original” needs to be added even if you had previously added it under the old label of “BBCollaborate.”

Learn@UW-Madison provides technical and consultative support for the Learn@UW suite of learning technologies including Canvas, AEFIS and Kaltura MediaSpace. Additionally, the team provides limited support and manages vendor contracts for Blackboard Collaborate, Piazza and Top Hat.

The Learn@UW-Madison team is available to consult with you on selecting and using the right learning technology to improve student success. The team also provides guides to help instructors begin incorporating technology into their courses. This guide about available learning technologies on campus provides an overview while guides are also available about the pedagogical uses of student response systems like Top Hat, web conferencing tools like Blackboard Collaborate, and online discussions using tools like Canvas and Piazza.

Learn@UW-Madison delivers a twice-monthly e-newsletter providing technical updates about the suite of tools managed by the Learn@UW-Madison team. To join the list, email join-luwmad-newsletter@lists.wisc.edu.