Smeal Academy Newsletter: Canvas Discussion Redesign Edition
The Smeal Academy is brought to you by the eLearning Design & Innovation Group (eLDIG) at the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. The goal of the Smeal Academy is to equip the Smeal community with best practices and strategies for teaching and learning with technology to support Smeal’s business education and research needs.
Photo by Sergey Zolkin on Unsplash
Canvas Redesigned Discussions and Announcements
On May 7, Canvas’ Discussions and Announcements Redesign will be forced on for all Penn State courses. There is no migration or transition needed from the old format to the new one, but this change will affect the look and feel of Canvas discussions and announcements.
You can learn more about this update by listening to this week’s new podcast, Meet the eLDIG Team – Heidi Watson-Held, Instructional Designer, by clicking below! Smeal Academy Podcasts will be released weekly and housed on our eLDIG website, or follow the Smeal Academy Podcast on your preferred podcatcher!
Smeal Academy will also focus on this change in our session on April 23rd. Details are below!
Book Club Reminder – Sign Up by April 22nd
This year’s summer read is Sara Rose Cavanagh’s The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion (2016). A limited number of paperback copies of the book are available from the Schreyer Institute on a first-come, first-serve basis by completing this sign-up form by April 22nd. Electronic copies are available at no cost through Penn State Libraries at catalog.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/22100755.
Upcoming Smeal Academy Sessions
- Discussions & Announcements Redesign: Worth the chatter?
Have you heard? On May 7, Canvas’ Discussions and Announcements Redesign will be forced on for all Penn State courses. There is no migration or transition needed from the old discussion format to the new one, but this change will affect the look and feel of Canvas discussions. Join us to learn more about this important change to Canvas! Join us on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. EST via Zoom. - Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Business Education and Research Reading and Discussion Group – John Liechty, Facilitator
Join us for the fourth session of a Smeal series on the role of artificial intelligence in our teaching and research, which will focus on our shared commitment to preparing leaders to leverage artificial intelligence responsibly in business. John will share some trends in fields related to Marketing and how they impact his approach to teaching at Smeal. Join us on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. EST via Zoom.
NOTE: Recordings and resources from previous Smeal Academy sessions can be found on our eLDIG Website.
eLDIG ID Tips
- Tip #1: Try Canvas Discussions Redesign
In their podcast conversation, Heidi and Chris talked about the redesign of Canvas Discussions. Would you like to see what it looks like? You can try it now! Canvas has instructions posted online. Then listen to the Smeal Academy podcast and attend our Smeal Academy session on April 23rd! - Tip #2: Opt Out of Canvas Archiving
Penn State IT will perform its regular archiving of older Canvas courses on May 29th. You may choose to delay courses from being archived by using the in-Canvas Course Archive Manager tool. Archiving on May 29 includes:- All LionPATH courses taught prior to and including Spring 2023 (LionPATH term 2231)
- All LionPATH courses that you may have previously opted out of archiving between Fall 2022 (LionPATH term 2228) and before, inclusive
Non-LionPATH courses, including Master, Manually Created, and Sandbox courses will not be archived. Use Canvas’s Course Archive Manager to opt out.
Contact Us
Email us at eldig@smeal.psu.edu or fill out the eLDIG Contact form and we will be in touch.