With continuous updates from Canvas on the grade book we saw a lot of confusion among the instructors and graders. This blog will talk about the recent Canvas update on the grade posting and how you can make the most of the new functionality. The change was implemented to provide more control on posting grades as now it can be posted with respect to sections and features. 

We used to have a mute feature in the previous versions of Canvas grade book where instructors used to mute the assignment, to temporarily hold any grading notifications or comments getting to the students. Instructors sometimes use this feature to hold the grades as long as they are done grading for every student in the class and then release the grades together for an assignment.

This image below shows the working in earlier version of Canvas

On the new version of Canvas grade book, the steps to mute (now called hide/post) an assignment are as follows

1. Go to the Course on Canvas
2. Open grade book.
3. Choose the Assignment you want to start grading
4. Click on the three dots against the assignment name on the right
5. Select Grade Posting Policy
6. A new window appears with two options ‘Automatically’ and ‘Manually’
7. Select Automatically if you want the students to get notified about the grades as you enter grade for the assignment for individual students.                                                                            OR
8. Select Manually to temporarily hold any grading notifications or comments getting to the students and post it all at once when you want.
9. After you made your choice click on ‘Save’.

10. You can make grade updates for students after that.

11. If you selected Manually as your option, when you are ready to post the grades please click on the three dots against the assignment and click on the Post Grades Option.

11. A new window appears with three options- ‘Hidden’, ‘Everyone’, ‘Graded’

12. Hidden is selected by default. You have to select ‘everyone’, if you want everyone to know and see the assignment is graded or select ‘Graded’ just to post the grades to the students with graded submissions.

13. Click on Post.

You can set the entire grade book to post grades manually/automatically instead of doing that individually for every assignment. The steps for that are as follows

1. Click on the Settings icon in the top right corner of the grade book
2. Go to Grade posting Policy Tab and set it to Manually/ Automatically
3. Click on Update.

Below are the clips

Automatically Posting grades

Manually Posting Grades

Canvas now also has a setting where instructor can hide already posted grades this may happen when grader has already displayed grades but suddenly decides they should be hidden to students temporarily.

We can also hide grades from speed grader instead of gradebook

In SpeedGrader, the Mute icon has been replaced by the Visibility icon, and the behavior mimics the previous functionality in hiding grades to students.

In the Visibility menu, select the Hide Grades option [1]. Hiding grades displays the same three options available when hiding grades in the New Gradebook [2]. Select the preferred hidden option and click the Hide option [3].

Post Grades after you are done grading.

Note: These settings will not have any effect on grades that are already posted.

To get more information on the new grade posting feature of Canvas grade book please follow the below link.

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-17587-new-gradebook-and-speedgrader-muting-behavior-changes

References- https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-17587-new-gradebook-and-speedgrader-muting-behavior-changes

Welcome to the new semester, Spartans. We love to see the campus moving and buzzing again. Get ready to kick start the new semester with confidence. We know starting a new semester with new people and environment can sometimes be a little overwhelming. You are being given instructions about so many new things, applications, rules etc. and you may feel a little perplexed.

We understand.

As you take your first classes for this semester, your instructors may talk about different instructional software they will be using throughout the semester to accentuate learning and provisioning a platform for sharing class materials, discussions, teamwork and submissions.

The eCampus team is here for assistance with all the instructional software SJSU offers, like Canvas, Respondus Lockdown Browser, Turn it in, iClicker, Zoom, Qualtrics etc. We can help you if you want to know about these applications and understand how they work. We can help you if you face any issues while working on these platforms.

We also provide Adobe Creative Cloud for free to all the currently enrolled students of SJSU. You can seek assistance for getting an adobe creative on your device and use all the adobe applications.

Okay!! How does it sound, being in a place full of different faces, different thought processes, different needs, staring at you hoping to find answers to some unknown questions? Scary Right?

Yes, Indeed it is. It’s tough being a teacher. Being a graduate student and having years of schooling, I have realized how difficult being a teacher is when I received this opportunity to assist them. Yes, I realized working here at eCampus, how the teachers work hard to help students, how every student in the class they have matters to them, and how important is it for them to make sure every student gets benefits out of their classes.

Teaching requires you to have a job skill that combines the expertise required for many jobs. You should be a great presenter, an actor, an entertainer, a reporter, an examiner, a motivator, an artist, and the list goes on and why not? We have examples below to prove that:

Great Teachers
A teacher who changed my life

We at eCampus provide resources to give your teaching skills just the right garnishing so that it can be showcased the right way to the world.  When you have the passion to teach, why not just make it worth the while, why not enjoy doing it by getting the best out of it.

The Active Learning Certificate Program gives a nudge to your existing skills and also helps to endorse them.  The program consists of varied workshops to help you know more about how to approach teaching in ways that engage your students. The focus is on implementing activities in your class to improve participation and collaboration and not just simply sit and listen the lectures.

The topics addressed in each workshop gives you the elixir of exemplary teaching. The program helps you understand the habits of mind, strategies to deepen student collaborations, recommendations of ways to induce brainstorming, build connections, techniques for using groups effectively in class, methods behind the art of explaining concepts by real world examples, ideas for managing the class timing, references for preparing tests the optimal way, strategies for improving class outcomes, and additional tips.

This program was offered this spring, and we had a diverse cohort of instructors who participated and took a step closer to support their passion for teaching. View the list of faculty members who joined the program during Spring 2019:

Participating faculty members Spring 2019

We know you would really go further and beyond to make your efforts bring better results, so why not start by taking this extra mile of joining the Active Learning Certificate Program and get the classroom that is challenging, interactive, creative and aware. Sounds interesting right?

Teddy is a senior undergraduate student studying Communications and Global Leadership and Innovation. He specializes in media studies and marketing and is expected to graduate in May 2019. He is the Marketing and Design Student Assistant here at eCampus. I am so glad that I got a chance to meet and work with Teddy. He welcomed me to the team and showed me what it means to be a team player.

He creates visuals like photos, flyers, videos and designs for the departments. His job is to market eCampus events to the 40,000+ SJSU students, faculty and staff. He also manages our social media content on multiple platforms and work as a contributor for our eCampus blogs.

Having him on the team makes a huge difference because he is motivating and a great listener. The way he communicates upcoming events and announcements with our team is inspiring. Teddy has been with eCampus longer than all of us (about a year) and he took on the leadership role of helping us get adjusted to the work environment and culture. One can just get awed by the creativity he has within himself. His output is impressive, to say the least. His passion for creating content and marketing is always on full display in our office. “I love that I am able to be my full creative self. This position was created for me when I first got hired, because I have both design and marketing backgrounds. I create marketing campaigns and design for eCampus which allows me to push myself to newer heights. Collaborating with Adobe and with the university for various events and projects has allowed me to network and work with people who are innovative and encouraging. In almost a year, I have grown so much in my knowledge of my craft. I also enjoy being part of a very diverse and inclusive team. I can count on my co-workers for insight, help and encouragement when I need it.”

When he is working on a design or successfully finished a marketing campaign he humbly says, “I did a little something-something”. He is not only a great person to work with but a wonderful human being to be around. He would go above and beyond to help people in all possible ways.

He plans on working for an advertising/media company that is diverse, innovative and inclusive. He also wants to help create content that is representative of his reality and that makes people feel included.

When asked about his dream job he said, “My dream job would is to be a Chief Content Officer for a major media company or maybe even create my own media company. I want to change the way marginalized folks are represented. I want to help create stories and worlds where new narratives are being told.”

He is a person you can always count on. When he is not working or creating content, he is outdoors taking pictures. “Photography has always been a passion of mine and I am blessed that eCampus allows me to incorporate it into my work”. His personality really comes across in his shots. He took headshots of all student employees so that we can use it for professional matters. Teddy took all the pictures you see on our eCampus social media platforms. His work in photography captures a million unspoken words. When asked about photography he says, “I love walking around and taking pictures of things that catch my eye. It’s a passion of mine to capture something beautiful and immortalize it in a picture”.

It’s impressive how he sees work through from conception to completion. He has a brilliant sense for marketing and communication. I have seen him bring together people from different backgrounds and have them collectively work together. Teddy’s talents are only going to grow from here and we know we’re going to witness huge achievements from him in the future.