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Picture of bird on twig in winter with February Updates text written on top

Background photo courtesy of Alice Donovan Rouse on Unsplash
Spring courses are in full swing! And we know you’ve been busy making it all happen, so thank you for your efforts. We’ve got a slew of exciting Zoom updates, a heads-up about a Canvas RCE issue, an update on how Slack piloting is going, and more. Valentine’s Day is coming up, so we hope you’ll have time during the bustle of term startup and swirling world events to treat yourself!
 

Teaching and Learning Remotely

Zoom Updates for Teaching & Learning          

  • Rollback released today, 2/1: Non-verbal feedback, which is now included in meeting reactions, will return to the previous behavior. This means that the Yes, No, Slower, and Faster options persist until the participant or host removes them. 
  • New & enhanced features:
    • Hosts can admit participants from the Waiting Room while within a Breakout Room.
    • If the original host joins after an alternative host, the original host regains control of the meeting. The alternative host becomes a co-host  (if the co-host feature is enabled) or a regular participant.
    • Play MP4 or MOV video files directly into a meeting as shared content. Go to Advanced share options-->choose a video file-->play.
    • Choose to blur the background rather than selecting a specific virtual background.
    • Block or allow participants from specific countries/regions.
    • On the desktop client for macOS, rotate the camera video feed to allow for inverted camera configurations.
    • Share mono or stereo sound when sharing computer audio.
    • Video filters are available in the iOS Zoom mobile app.
    • Zoom meeting information accurately labels the meeting passcode as passcode, instead of password. 
    • Meetings that require registration no longer prompt users to first install the desktop client. Users can simply join the meeting.
       

On the Zoom Roadmap for 2021

  • Pronoun selection
  • Share content into breakout rooms
  • Preview breakout activity
  • Enhancements to quiz and polling
  • Save gallery view/seating chart

Canvas

Known IssueCanvas logo

In the New Rich Content Editor (RCE): if there is an iFrame embedded in a page (e.g. the Course Information box), it can be tricky to place the cursor within the text entry field to add text or other items. The workaround is to switch to the HTML Editor. Instructure has a fix for this in QA, which will be in beta this week and in production in two weeks.

 

In Production

To Be Released 2/20

  • LaTeX equations can be added in any text field in Canvas and are typeset or processed by MathJax. This change allows users to use equations in more areas of Canvas and manage them more efficiently.
  • In the Gradebook, the View menu includes the View Ungraded as Zero option, which allows instructors to view student grades as if all ungraded assignments were worth zero points.
  • The Gradebook importer allows instructors to modify override scores via Gradebook CSV imports
  • The RCE includes a pretty HTML editor in addition to the raw HTML editor.

Panopto

Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere logo
Embed your activities into web pages with newly available embed codes for the Response link, the PollEv page, and Live results. Present a poll within your Canvas site by simply adding the embed code to a page.
 

Qualtrics

Qualtrics official logoQualtrics offers live training and plans to add education-specific content in the near future. How to register for a training:
  • At the login screen choose "Sign in with SSO" (single-sign-on)
  • Enter our case-sensitive Organization ID which is ‘harvard’
  • Enter your official Harvard email address and click Continue

Slack

Slack logoAvailable to all courses in FAS, and in pilot at the other schools, there are now 200+ Spring courses using Slack for teaching and learning!

Upcoming Events

Calendar icon Panopto office hours

Drop in for advice or questions about Panopto!
  • Every Friday from 2/05 to 03/19 at 11am-noon

 

Calendar iconHUIT AT office hours

Drop in for advice on software development or answers to questions about any of Academic Technology's services.
  • 2/12 at 2-3pm
  • 2/26 at 2-3pm

Calendar icon Zoom trainings

Register for or share Zoom's webinars to learn more about creating high-quality online experiences.


Calendar icon Harvard's Executive, Continuing & Online Education Summit

The 2021 Summit brings together Executive, Continuing, Online, and Professional Education colleagues from across the University.
  • This Thursday! 2/4 at 9am-1pm

 

Calendar iconHarvardWIT+ February Meeting

This month features HUIT’s Anne Margulies “The Impact a CIO Can Make on Organizational Culture: a Conversation with Anne Margulies and Donna Tremonte”
  • 2/08 at 3:30pm
Let us know if you have any questions!
—The HUIT Academic Technology Team
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