Canvas Updates and Computer Science Education Week

This week's edition features 4 quick pieces of information regarding Canvas and an all-in-1 resource on how you can celebrate Computer Science Education week in your classroom, regardless of your subject area.

 Updated/Reminders of Canvas Features  

1. 🆕Student To-Do List- Students will now see that they only have a To-Do List on their dashboards. The Coming Up list has been eliminated. Students must remove announcements, non- collected assignment due dates, and events from their dashboards themselves. In the image to the right, the Lab 2 and Day 4 skills review will not automatically clear from the To-Do list since they are events/non-collected work.



2. 🛎️Calendar- Just a reminder, the calendar should be used to list assignment due dates, homework reminders, and key course events. Putting a daily agenda on the calendar creates clutter and confusion. This is especially true considering the  changes to the To-Do list described above. One great alternative to using a calendar event or assignment for daily lesson information is to use a whole class or section specific announcement. Here are directions (make sure to see the area where you select which sections).


3. 🔜Course Cards- Beginning 12/8, teachers and students will have the ability to rearrange their course cards to an order of their liking. Users can simply pick up a course card and drag it into a position of their choice. See it in action here.

4. ℹ️ Canvas, There is an App for That!- Remember, if any Canvas iOS or Android app is being used, the user must search for Pennridge in the app via our url: pennridge.instructure.com

(Note: A Special Student Dashboard Announcement will be made soon informing students of these updates.)

Celebrate Computer Science Education Week Dec 3-9, 2018

5. 💻Computer Science For All: Hour of Code is a fantastic resource to introduce yourself and your students to coding. They have a wide-variety of hour long tutorials related to coding that have meaningful, interdisciplinary connections. For example, students in a social studies class can create a Map Tour App. In a science class, students can code to create a Public Service Announcement regarding plastic waste. Keep the website in mind for the week before winter break. You are likely to find a worthwhile, curriculum-based activity that will help you fight the inevitable pre-break distraction!

If you need help implementing any of these ideas, do not hesitate to reach out!
Cara
cgurysh@pennridge.org