Department(s):
Academic Technology CenterWe hope everyone had a restful break and is ready to begin 2023! The ATC team is here to help you with C-Term prep. If you have any questions about using the instructional technology tools available at WPI, please reach out to us or schedule a consultation with one of our Academic Technology experts!
What’s New?
Poll Everywhere Login Updates
Poll Everywhere is now accessible for faculty and students to login using WPI credentials. Simply go to https://www.polleverywhere.com and log in with your WPI email address and password to get started.
Canvas Updates
Waitlisted and Unenrolled Students
Need to give a student access to your Canvas site before they are officially added to your Workday roster? Please follow these instructions to use the “Manually Added Student” option in Canvas.
New Canvas Quizzing Tool (Beta Testing)
Canvas is revamping the entire Quizzing tool for 2023! Get a first look at the new tool in this video. Want to learn more about it? Book a Coffee & Canvas session with Lindsey Van Gieson.
Looking for upcoming or past courses in Canvas?
Upcoming courses are available to faculty approximately 6 weeks before they begin.
Past courses remain available to faculty in Canvas for 6 years.
If you do not see an upcoming course on your Dashboard, check in Courses > All Courses and then click the “star” icon to favorite it. (If you want to clean up your Dashboard, click the “star” de-select a course to remove it.)
Past courses cannot be favorited unless the course date is updated in Settings. If you see a course on Workday but not on Canvas, please reach out to us at canvashelp@wpi.edu.
Consultations & ATC-TTL Office Hours
If you’re looking to brush up on an old topic, or learn something new, the ATC-TTL team is here to help! Check out our consultation and training options below.
Canvas
Book a Coffee & Canvas session with Lindsey Van Gieson (lftapper@wpi.edu) to learn how to better utilize Canvas and other edtech tools for a variety of teaching approaches.
For self-service Canvas training, check out our video repository.
Zoom
Zoom-compatible hardware is available in all classrooms on campus, so you can reach your students remotely from any computer.
If you’d like to learn more about Zoom or have any questions, e-mail Jolene Cotnoir (jcotnoir@wpi.edu) to schedule a one-on-one training session that fits your schedule.
For basic Zoom training and other topics, check out our videos on Zoom.
Echo360
Echo360 is the lecture capture system used in classrooms at WPI. If you’d like to learn more about Echo360 or have any questions, e-mail us at echocapture@wpi.edu to schedule a one-on-one training.
For basic Echo360 training, check out our online resources (requires WPI login).
Poll Everywhere, Qualtrics, and Gradescope
If you would like to meet for 30 minutes with Mike Hamilton (mjham@wpi.edu) via Zoom for a consult or training on Poll Everywhere, Gradescope, or Qualtrics you can book online or email Mike.
Pre-Recorded Workshops & Micro-Trainings
Want to work at your own pace? We have pre-recorded workshops available, as well as micro-training sessions where you can learn something new in Canvas, Echo360, or Zoom in 10 minutes or less!
On Demand Trainings - Full 45-minute training session recordings
Micro-Trainings – individual Canvas, Echo360, Zoom topics, learn in 10 minutes or less
Canvas Requests & Support
Canvas is WPI's official course website system to deploy learning materials, assessments, discussions, and grades. If you have a course that exists in Workday, a site will be generated automatically for you within Canvas.
Need changes to your site? Use our form for all Canvas modification requests: https://www.wpi.edu/+canvasrequest
Got a Canvas question or need to report an issue? We’re here to help!
Weekdays 8-5, our team is answering questions at canvashelp@wpi.edu.
We also have 24/7 tech support for Faculty and TAs, just click on “Help” in the left-hand menu of Canvas to call, chat, or email Canvas.
Did you know...
we have a Canvas blog sharing Canvas updates and tech tips?
Web Conferencing
Zoom is WPI’s web conferencing tool accessible from https://wpi.zoom.us.
In addition to screen sharing, video, and audio, Zoom has a robust suite of collaboration tools to allow you to engage with your class in-person and online simultaneously.
Echo360 and Canvas allow automatic deployment of classroom lecture videos and Zoom recordings into your Canvas site!
To learn more about using Zoom to engage with your students, check out the workshops above, or contact Jolene Cotnoir at jcotnoir@wpi.edu.
Video Publishing & Sharing Options
Echo360 is WPI’s lecture capturing tool available in every classroom or from accessing https://www.echo360.org from any computer with your WPI login credentials.
How does Echo360 differ from Zoom? Start here with our Recording Lectures FAQ post and this comparison chart to learn more about each tool.
Request Echo360 Lecture Capture
Lecture Capture is back to opt-in this academic year. To request Echo360 lecture capture, please fill out the opt-in/request form.
Microphone Requests
Each classroom is equipped with a gooseneck microphone on the podium. To request a wireless lavaliere microphone, please fill out this request form and the ATC will prepare one for you and follow-up via email when it is ready to be picked up.
Lecture Capture-Zoom Integration
If you record using Zoom in a classroom, you can still use Echo360 by setting up an automatic connection which enables your Zoom recordings to be stored in your Echo360 library. We strongly recommend setting this up as Zoom recordings are deleted after 100 days.
Learn how to set up the automatic ingest of your Zoom cloud recordings in this Echo360-Zoom Connection blog post.
Storing Videos & Lectures
Are you maxing out your Canvas storage? Learn more about options for streaming your lectures and uploading video or other media that connect into Canvas for a seamless experience for you and your students.
For more information or to request training on Echo360, email echocapture@wpi.edu
Classroom Engagement & Research Survey Tools
Poll Everywhere is a web-based polling solution where students use their phone, tablets, and laptops to answer questions used for lecture engagement. You can even use it in Zoom!
Poll Everywhere is now accessible for faculty and students to login using WPI credentials. Simply go to https://www.polleverywhere.com and log in with your WPI email address and password to get started.
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Instructions for your students if you are connecting to Canvas
Will your students be creating surveys and collecting data?
WPI has a site license for the fully featured Qualtrics suite. No need to use "free" online services for your surveys!
Looking for another way to efficiently assess and grade STEM work?
WPI now has a license for Gradescope. Gradescope is a browser-based tool that supports online, paper-based, and blended assignments, and cuts down grading time for science, math, and programming assessments. You can find more information in this FAQ Guide.
If you don't have a Gradescope account, you can create one on their homepage. We recommend using these short videos and the searchable Help Center to get started. The Gradescope team also hosts regular online workshops.
Join our WPI Learning Community for Gradescope to learn more and to access documentation in our Team notebook.
Interested in enhancing your online class discussions?
WPI has a free license to use FlipGrid, which allows for video discussion boards that can be enabled directly within Canvas. Learn more about FlipGrid.
Engagement through social annotation with Perusall
Perusall is a tool integrated into Canvas that facilitates student engagement with reading assignments through social annotation and reflection. Interested in learning more? Check out this overview of Perusall. Have you tried Perusall in your class? Let us know what you think!
Sign up for an upcoming Perusall training offered Jan 6, 9, 23, and Feb 6.
Incorporating Course Flexibility in C-Term
Still thinking about how you can support your students who might need more flexibility in C-Term? Wondering about “blended,” “flipped” or other teaching approaches?
Check out this infographic overview and consider consulting with one of our Instructional Designers to help identify what asynchronous and synchronous teaching and learning activities you might consider incorporating into your course using either Echo360 or Zoom.
Feel free to reach out anytime to schedule a consultation with the Technology for Teaching and Learning team at atc-ttl@wpi.edu.
15th Annual Transforming the Teaching & Learning Environment Online Conference
Transforming the Teaching & Learning Environment is a totally virtual conference (not hosted by WPI). Now in its 15th year, the conference offers the opportunity to engage with experts from around the world. The ATC has registered for an institutional license for anyone with an @WPI.EDU email address to participate.
The conference begins on Monday, February 6th and concludes on Friday, February 17th. Each weekday will be 6 one-hour sessions using Zoom as the delivery platform. Participants will be able to interact with presenters and other attendees.
To see the schedule, go to the conference website and click on 2023 Schedule of Sessions. Note that the times listed are for the Central Time Zone.
To join a session, click on the Zoom link (Join Session) adjacent to the session title. Zoom will require you to “register” for the session. After providing basic information (name, institution, WPI email), you’ll go to a second page with the link to the session.
Each session will be recorded. Usually within an hour after the conclusion of each day’s sessions, the recordings will be available. You’ll know the recording is available because the “Join Session” link will have changed to “View Recording”. The recordings will be available for at least one month after the conclusion of the conference.
Contact Us
Got a question or a problem? E-mail atc-ttl@wpi.edu and we'll help find a solution!
The Technology for Teaching and Learning team is available M-F, 8am-5pm.
Please check out our other resources:
Canvas Blog - Get important Canvas updates, new features, and help resources
TTL Blog - Academic technology resources, workshops, and discover new tech tools
Follow us on Twitter: @atc_ttl
Check out the ATC’s Accessibility & UDL in Canvas site for more ways to make your course site & videos accessible to all users.