Using Audio in Canvas Assignments, Instructions, and Quizzes

In a previous post, we demonstrated how instructors can leave audio or video comments on student submissions. Today we will show you some other uses of the Record/Upload Media function in Canvas.

The Record/Upload Media icon appears frequently in Canvas, not only in the Speedgrader!  In fact, it is a standard menu item in the Content Editor window.

This gives you the ability to record your voice and image on nearly any page in Canvas.  Students will first see the recording as a blue box. Once they click on it, it turns into an audio player that they can control.

Here are some example uses:

1. Read a written text aloud for students.   The written text might be an excerpt from a literary text in the target language, or instructions for a major assignment.  Whether in English or the target language, reading the text aloud allows you to use your voice to emphasize certain aspects of the text.  It also supports universal design principles and reading comprehension.  

2. General instructions at the beginning of a quiz. Here you may remind students of how to manage their time or preview the overall structure of the quiz.

3. Audio within a quiz question. You can record your voice asking a question in the target language and students choose the appropriate response; similarly, you could read a statement aloud and students mark true or false.

Watch for a an upcoming post that demonstrates how students can use the Record/Upload Media feature to share audio responses with you and their peers.

Student Presenters as Zoom Co-Hosts

Shared by Zhen Zou, based on his experiences teaching advanced-level Chinese.

In my CHN 5041 class, students are required to do presentations. To give the student presenters more power and control, I make them Co-Hosts in Zoom, just for the particular class session.

As Co-Hosts, the student presenters can share their computer screen with the whole class. In group discussions, they can move from group to group to guide and help with the discussion. They can also answer student questions.

There are other methods of achieving the same outcomes in Zoom, but making the presenters Co-Hosts is the easiest way of giving those students alone the additional control they need. It also conveys their special relationship in the class session.

To do this, simply follow one of the two methods of assigning a Co-Host in a meeting.

Please review the Roles in a Meeting Grid for important information about the difference between a Host and Co-Host. Be aware that Co-Hosts are granted powerful security roles, including the ability to remove regular Participants from the meeting.

Alternate Pathways to Zoom Settings Menu in the Zoom Application

A previous tip demonstrated how to access keyboard shortcuts in Zoom via the green shield icon. Today’s Tip of the Day will show additional pathways via the Zoom application to the Settings menu where keyboard shortcuts and various other options are located.

While not in a Zoom meeting, the settings menu can be accessed from the Zoom application home page. Click on the cog icon in the upper right corner.

During a Zoom meeting, the settings menu can be reached by clicking the caret next to the microphone icon on the Zoom toolbar, and then selecting Audio Settings.

Another route to the settings menu from within a zoom meeting is to click the caret next to the camera icon, and then select Video Settings.

All three of these pathways will bring you to the same settings menu, pictured below.

More tips on Zoom, Canvas, and other topics are on the way!

You Can Choose to Always Allow Screen Sharing in Zoom

Since Zoom first launched at the University of Minnesota last spring, the program has continually pivoted towards security. The host has been given increasingly more power to secure their meetings against unwelcome guests and bad conduct, and the default settings aim for the most secure experience possible.

An example of this security is how participant screen sharing works. The recommendation and default setting is to allow screen sharing by the host only. If the host wants to allow participant screen sharing, he/she can easily change this in-meeting by clicking on the Security button at the bottom of the screen and selecting “Share Screen.” 

However, if you are hosting a class or other event which is dependent on participants’ sharing their screen on a regular basis, it can be an annoyance to remember to enable this feature every meeting. The solution is to change your Zoom settings, which you can do from your Zoom Profile page within the Zoom web interface. After you log in, click on Settings,” then click on “In-Meeting Basics,” and scroll to “Screen sharing.” Toggle the radio button to allow all participants to share. 

Now, as a default, participants will be able to share their screen. You can however, always remove this privilege in-meeting via the security button.

Zoom Keyboard Shortcuts

Zoom keyboard shortcuts can be a useful tool when using another window during a zoom meeting. For example, if while sharing their screen showing a video, an instructor would like to cycle through comments in the chat. Or perhaps the host would like to start or pause recording the meeting without using the zoom toolbar. Zoom keyboard shortcuts, or hotkeys, allow these functions and many more. 

Here is the short process to enable keyboard shortcuts: 

From the home screen during a zoom meeting, click the green shield icon in the upper left corner. 

Next, click the cog/gear icon in the upper right corner. 

Then, select Keyboard Shortcuts on the menu on the left. Finally, check any keyboard shortcuts that you would like enabled. 

There are many different shortcut options that may be useful to you depending on your personal preferences and format of the meeting you host. 

More tips are on the way, including alternate pathways to the settings screen.

Where am I? Check Zoom's tiny green security button

If you’ve ever been in a Zoom meeting as a host or participant, and needed to access the meeting number, password or other key information about the meeting, it’s all there. Click on the tiny green security button on the top left-hand corner of the meeting window. 

This will open a window that displays key information about the meeting, including an invite link in case someone you expected to be present is missing.

In addition, you will also see a small settings button at the top right-hand corner of this window. Click on it as one method of changing a variety of Zoom settings while in-meeting.

Let Students Choose their Breakout Room

 One of the most requested features of breakout rooms is now available in Zoom, as of version 5.3: Students can now move freely among breakout rooms. You might create an activity where students need to find answers to certain questions by engaging with a number of other students one-on-one; or you modify a “speed dating” type activity, where one student remains in each breakout room and others move on their own from room to room, exchanging information; or you might assign names or topics to each breakout room and students can choose which topic they want to discuss. You still retain some oversight and can control the number of students in each room by reassigning them, but they retain the autonomy to move to a different room if they want to.

Here’s how you set this feature up:

Click the Breakout Rooms button in the menubar:

In the Breakout Rooms dialog window you now have a new option: Let participants choose room. Select that option and click “Create”

In the next dialog window click the gear icon to open the options for the breakout room:

Tick the checkbox for the first item “Allow participants to choose room.” You can set other options in this dialog window as well.

Click “Open All Rooms” to open the breakout rooms. 

Students will now have a Breakout Rooms button in their Zoom menu bar and will be invited to “Join a breakout room”:

A window opens where they can choose which room they wish to join:

To join a room they will need to hover over the blue number (indicating the number of participants already in the room).

The number changes into the word “Join." 

Clicking on the word “Join” brings up a dialog box to confirm their choice:

Selecting “Yes” opens the connection to the selected room. 

Students can call up this dialog box any time while breakouts are in session and "Join" a different room.

To label breakout rooms with names or topics, prior to opening the rooms you can “Rename” them in the Breakout Rooms dialog window. To do so, 

1. Click the word “Rename” in the line associated with the room
2. In the box enter a new title or topic. 
3. Click “Yes” to save the new name.

Now students can have a sense of the topic assigned to each room.

Allowing students to move freely from one breakout room to another reinforces student autonomy and saves a great deal of time rearranging breakout rooms so that each student has an opportunity to talk with as many others as possible. 

Note: to avoid confusion, you will need to ensure that all students have updated their Zoom application to at least version 5.3 on their devices. The current version of Zoom as of this writing is 5.4.2. One indication that they will need to upgrade is that they won't see the new "Breakout rooms" button on the Zoom menubar. If they don't see the button, you can assign them to a room manually and ask them to upgrade as soon as possible.

Let us know in the comments how this works for you.

Moving Students from one Breakout Room to another

One successful task type that we often employ in language classes is modeled on the concept of speed dating – one half of the students remain stationary while the other half move in rotation from one partner to the next in line on a timed basis. You might have students discuss a particular topic or interest to gather a variety of opinions, or you might employ a quick survey in which students need to find someone who meets one in a list of criteria and then move on.  

This type of activity can be replicated in a synchronous Zoom session. You can set up an original set of breakout sessions at random and then at regular intervals move one student in each pair on to the next session in line. Here’s how:

Click on the Breakout Rooms icon to start the procedure.

Create enough breakout rooms to accommodate pairs and assign students automatically to these rooms.

Click "Open all rooms" to open the rooms.

When the designated time is up, you can move one student from each room manually to the next room. 

By the student’s name, click “Assign” A list of available rooms will pop up. Select the next room in line. The student will automatically be moved to the next room. Repeat the process as often as needed.

 

Getting students to talk with one another to fulfill a specific task can actually be easier in a synchronous virtual environment than in the physical.

Post any experiences or suggestions you have with this technique in the comments below.

 

Giving Feedback in Canvas Using Audio or Video

In our online teaching environment this year, most student work is submitted via Canvas, our Learning Management System.  When creating an assignment in Canvas, instructors can choose a variety of settings, such as awarding points, marking complete or incomplete, including a rubric, including the assignment in a weighted category, or excluding the assignments from the course grade calculation.  Regardless of what kind of grade you assign to a student submission, you may want to provide additional feedback.  In Canvas, you can do this in multiple ways:  1) typed online text; 2) uploaded text or image files; 3) speech to text comments; 4) audio only comments; and 5) video comments.  All of these methods can be accessed by the instructor in the Speedgrader.  

You are likely familiar with leaving written comments in Speedgrader, whether it is a short "Good Job!" or a longer narrative.  This is quick and easy.  Leaving audio feedback, however, is ALSO quick and easy, and has several benefits:

• You can model pronunciation or intonation of spoken language
• Through your voice, you can convey a supportive attitude or laugh with your students
• Your feedback feels more personable and direct
• You give your hands and wrist a break by using your voice and break up the repetitive nature of grading assignments

How to record audio or video feedback in the speedgrader

1. Click on the insert audio/video icon

  

2. You will now see the audio / video interface.  You have the option of uploading a file recorded elsewhere, but in most cases, you will record it now.

3. Decide whether you want to leave audio feedback or video feedback.  For audio only, click NO VIDEO.  To include your image, select the camera.     

4. Click START RECORDING.  The clock will countdown 3-2-1, and then you start talking!  When you are done, click FINISH.

5. At this point, you can preview your recording and save it, or start over.

6. Once you click on SAVE, the comment is automatically submitted. You do not need to click the Submit button again, unless you want to add another type of feedback.

  

How do students see my feedback?

When we take time to provide our students with feedback - in any form - we want them to pay attention to it.  At a minimum, we want them to see or hear it; ideally, they will reflect on it and plan how to incorporate it in their subsequent work.  You should know, however, that students do not automatically see or hear the feedback we provide through Canvas.  It is up to them to click on the icon that will reveal the feedback!!!  NO written comments nor any other kind of feedback appears directly on the grades page in student view.  So how do students see or hear our feedback?

   1. Students click on Grades in the Canvas navigation.

2. Then they see a list of assignments, with the due date, status, points earned, points possible, and possibly, a feedback icon.

3. After students click on the Feedback Icon, they will see any written or recorded comments from the instructor.

4.  Students can also access your feedback by clicking on the title of the assignment.  This will lead them to their original submission that looks like what the instructor sees in the Speedgrader.

Fast and Easy Video Editing using QuickTime on a Mac

Perhaps you've known that you can easily remove the beginning or ending of a video using QuickTime. But did you know that you can quickly edit out a section in the middle? Just follow the instructions below.

First open your video in QuickTime:

1. Find your video file
2. Right-click the file
3. From the context menu select Open With > QuickTime Player.

Trim the beginning or end or both

1. In QuickTime select Edit > Trim from the menu
2. You'll now see a series of video frames representing your entire video
3. Drag the yellow handle on either end of the video. The area outside of the yellow handle is the area that will be trimmed.
4. To make a more precise edit, click and hold the handle to see individual frames
5. Click Trim and save your file

Trim from the middle of a video

1. From the menu select View > Show Clips
2. Advance video to where you would like to make the edit
3. From the menu select Edit > Split Clip
4. Click on the new clip that you would like to Trim
5. Drag the yellow handle to shorten the video. The area outside of the yellow handle is the area that will be trimmed.
6. Click Trim
7. Then click Done and save your file