Canvas is Herzing University’s new learning system, designed to make students’ lives easier. Check out these four noteworthy features!
Are you taking advantage of all that Canvas has to offer? Canvas is Herzing University’s new learning system, designed to make students’ lives easier. It’s ranked as one of the top learning platforms for higher education institutions, due to its user-friendly interface and its ability to integrate seamlessly with other tools and platforms.
Are you on the go and need to submit an assignment from your phone? Running late to class and need to send your professor a quick note? With Canvas, it’s easier than ever to stay on top of all of your assignments, communicate with professors and classmates and manage all your to-dos.
Check out these four features that will make your life easier:
1. Canvas Calendar
Your Canvas Calendar allows you to see all of your assignments, exams, events and courses in one place, making it easier for you to stay on task and keep track of your weekly activities. You can choose to view one course at a time, or all courses at once. You can add events and to-do items to your personal calendar at any time by clicking the “Add” button in the navigation bar.
Your professors can also schedule appointments and class events on this calendar, so it’s a great place for you to get instant class updates. Conveniently, the Canvas Calendar can also sync with another calendar on your device, such as Google Calendar or Outlook.
2. Canvas Conversations
Canvas makes communication with your instructors easier with a simple, user-friendly messages feature. Rather than visiting each course page to find your messages with specific instructors, you simply have to click on the inbox on the left side menu to see all of your messages with instructors, tutors and career coaches in one place.
Canvas Conversations works much like an email account, with the ability to reply all, forward messages, include attachments and more. With Canvas, you have access to one central hub for all your course-related communications, so that nothing gets lost in your personal email.
3. Canvas Student App
Canvas designed to be mobile-first, so you can access the website from a mobile browser and still perform many of the functions you would be able to do from your computer, such as submitting assignments, participating in discussions, viewing course materials and accessing your grades.
Canvas also offers a free mobile app called Canvas Student, available for Android and iOS devices. The app also provides access to course calendars, to-do items, notifications, and Conversations messages.
4. Canvas Notifications
Canvas can send you notifications via email, text, or push notifications if you have the mobile app installed on your phone. You can ask Canvas to send you alerts for just about anything, such as when an instructor posts an announcement, when a due date changes, when you get feedback from an instructor, when somebody posts to your discussion post, and a lot more.
You can also choose from four different notification types: notify me right away, daily summary, weekly summary, or don’t send. This is another highly customizable feature that will help you stay on task and up-to-date with everything happening in your courses.
Whether you’re an online student or on-campus, Canvas is a hub for all of your learning activities. By taking advantage of these four features, you can stay connected and on top of your schedule no matter where you are.
Note: While Herzing University is extending mobile friendliness by moving to Canvas, not all of our curriculum is 100 percent mobile friendly, so students may come across an assignment or quiz that cannot be completed on a mobile device. Enrolling in a Herzing University course still requires access to a computer, per our technology requirements.
Let me begin by first and foremost saying that, “A rape is a rape and under no circumstances can ever be justified! Even if a woman roams nude or is habituated to sex, this can be no ground to justify rape”! Even Supreme Court has time and again reiterated this! Yet it is the single biggest misfortune of India that in last 15 to 16 years, only one poor rapist named Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged for rape cum murder of a Class XI girl and that too on circumstantial evidence alone and still he was not given the benefit of doubt! Why this zero tolerance as shown in Dhananjoy Chatterjee’s case not shown in other cases also? Why should we be not ashamed of it?
While lamenting about this, senior and eminent Supreme Court advocate Colin Gonsalves very rightly pointed out that his petition was drafted by prisoners of Tihar jail and we cannot dispute that this was rightly termed as “miscarriage of justice! Why in many other similar cases like that of Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case where a law student studying in LLB who was raped and murdered by her senior was the convict not hanged similarly?
Just because the convict was affluent and powerful! This is just one case I am citing. There are many more such cases where we see that the rich and powerful very easily escape death penalty by hiring a battery of eminent and experienced lawyers and escape with far lesser punishment! All this happens right under the nose of the Supreme Court and still we see nothing changes in last so many years! This is what I find most worrying!
What is even more deplorable is that our legal system proceeds on an excruciatingly glacial pace for which no one else but our lawmakers are directly responsible! Who are these lawmakers? Those who are elected to Parliament and 45% of them are facing criminal cases including that of rape case! Why should these lawmakers not be barred from entering Parliament until they are finally exonerated not by just lower court but by the top court? How can we expect such lawmakers to make tough laws?
This alone explains why we have all this review petition, curative petition, mercy petition etc which ensures that cases are not decided in time and by the time cases are decided finally the family of victims lose all hope and break down completely! Should we be proud of this? Why there is no mandatory death penalty for rape cases? Who is protecting them?
The Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu very rightly said that, “What happens even after punishment is given (to convicts). We all are witness…appeal, mercy (petition)… can anybody think of having mercy on such people? This kind of violation of dignity of women cannot go on unchallenged. What is required is not a new bill; what is required is political will, administrative skill and then change of mindset and then go for the kill of the social evil.” He has very rightly expressed his utmost unhappiness on the niggardly and glacial pace with which our justice system moves most excruciatingly which completely destroys the morale of the parents and relatives of victims which under no circumstances can ever be justified by anyone! The Vice President has very rightly and eruditely suggested a rethink on the practice of allowing convicts in such heinous crimes to go in for mercy appeals because the death sentence of convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya case, which saw major protests and tougher legislation, were still to be carried out. He also very rightly suggested that photographs of those guilty of crimes against women should be published to instill social stigma and fear in them!
Police encounters in which undertrials are killed cannot be justified. But we saw how just recently in early morning hours of December 6, 2019 when the police killed all the four rape accused in Hyderabad gangrape-cum-murder, there was a national rejoicing as we saw for ourselves in different newschannels and even MPs and Chief Ministers as well as former Chief Ministers welcomed this and a huge crowd of people started throwing flowers on those policemen who killed them! This is mainly because we rarely see rapist being hanged and our legal system proceeds so slowly that many people now have lost faith in the capability of our judicial system to deliver justice in time! This is most dangerous for our country and for this not just Supreme Court but even Parliament which comprises of our lawmakers and many of whom are themselves facing serious crime charges must introspect honestly and make tough laws in this regard including barring all those MPs who are under the scanner!
Why should a civilized society have any soft corner for such “dreaded goons” who indulge in gangrape? Why do our courts display leniency towards such dastardly acts of crime and why mandatory death penalty is not awarded to such “dreaded goons”? Why those committing such dastardly acts are not awarded mandatory death penalty in all such cases where either a child is raped or gang rape is omitted accompanied with murder?
Why in our IPC punishment for gangrape is classified according to age? Why are “minors” who are less than 18 years of age allowed to get away most easily by just spending 3 years at the most in a child reform house? Why should any form of leniency be shown even for “minors” who “brutally vandalise” the very dignity and wellbeing of a female without any fault of her?
Why should those rapists who know how to gangrape be let off just by citing their age factor? How can Centre justify it? How can Parliament justify it? How can any Court justify it?
Why are rapists released for some time on bail? Why the life and safety of victim is not cared for by the police? Why do we see that rapists after coming out of the jail many times corner the girl and then killed her by either burning her as we saw most recently in Unaao in UP where the women was raped in March and then just recently while she was going to a court in Rai Bareli in a rape case was most brutally attacked by 5 men who had earlier raped her and was burnt 90 percent? Still our Parliament will keep dwelling on whether to award death penalty to such rapists or not!
Why women does not feel safe anywhere in India? It is because our politicians, Judges, lawmakers feel most happy and proud to note that in last 15 to 16 years just one poor Dhananjoy Chatterjee is hanged for rape cum murder and do just nothing to ensure that others against whom there is strong evidence also unlike Dhananjoy’s case where evidence was just circumstantial are hanged similarly! Should we be proud of this and does it enhance the reputation of our country in the world?
Under the amended law for rape, no “discretion bomb” in the form of “may” should be left which has been mostly abused in favour of the rape accused and the punishment should only be death and nothing but death so that all those who rape are promptly hanged and not once in 15 or 16 years as we saw in case of Dhananjoy Chatterjee! There should be no life term, no twenty years but only death for gang rape. It is most unfortunate that even under the 2018 amended Section 376D of IPC which prescribes punishment for gang rape we see that the punishment is not less than twenty years but which may extend to life! Why “may extend to life”? Why so much of leniency that even for gang rape we see that punishment starts from twenty years but extends only to life and here too discretionary power rests with Judge which is shameful and what is most shameful is that there is no mention of death penalty even here leave alone making it mandatory? This must change now!
Why different punishment prescribed for gang rape on woman under 16 years of age as prescribed in Section 376DA and that on woman under 12 years of age as prescribed under Section 376DB of IPC? Why only life imprisonment under Section 376DA and not death? Why option of life and death in Section 376DB of IPC?
Why even for repeated offenders there is no mandatory death penalty and why the option of life term is added simultaneously in Section 376E of IPC? All these escape routes must be closed now forever so that rapists are never able to take advantage of the loopholes in our legal system anymore now! But are our politicians, lawmakers and Centre ready to do this or will they be happy with just face saving exercise and lip service? Only time will tell!
The past track record in cases like Nirbhaya and many others are not very inspiring but they can still be rectified! The ball is in court of Centre, lawmakers and Parliament for it is they who enact the law and it is they who ensure that rapists in Nirbhaya case like many others are not hanged even after being convicted by the Supreme Court and even after their review petition gets rejected by Supreme Court as they just sit on mercy petition and don’t decide it soon as we saw in case of killers of former PM late Rajiv Gandhi whose mercy petition kept pending for decades! Should we be proud of this?
Must act now without fail or else our democratic system will crumble and if gang hanging is not done it is people who will then do mob hanging like we are seeing also in many cases! No more excuses! No castration, no jail term, no life term and no minor excuse but only death as they deserve to be hanged at the earliest and killed like mosquitoes! No mercy for them, no review for them and no other escape route for them! Only death!
Why rape cases are not decided within few days or a month? Why sentence is not handed out promptly? Why cases keep pending for decades first in lower courts, then in high court and finally in Supreme Court?
Why can’t this be corrected by our lawmakers by amending law accordingly and setting a fixed time limit for deciding rape cases? Why is time limit not set for deciding review petition? Why is review and curative petition not abolished in heinous crimes like rape and terror?
Why mercy petition is not decided in few days or why should it not be abolished altogether for rape and terror cases? Why only the rights of the accused takes precedence over the rights of the victim? Why even our lawmakers prefer to look the other way on this all important issue as we have been seeing since last 72 years?
It is high time and now concrete steps must be taken on ground to ensure that our penal laws are amended and the most strictest punishment of death penalty be imposed uniformly on all those indulging in gang rape and there should be no “mercy petition” facility for such “dreaded goons” who display the worst form of violence against women whom we all worship in one form or the other like Durga, Gauri, Kali etc or in form of our mother and sister!
Can gangrape of any female accompanied with murder be justified under any circumstances? Can any punishment less than death penalty be ever justified in such cases of heinous crimes? If still Centre says “Yes” then it must immediately abolish death penalty for all types of crimes for it has no right to be on our penal laws if it cannot be awarded to those who indulge in gangrape or even rape accompanied with murder!
What the hell is Centre doing? How long will it keep inviting views from all on this? How long will it shy away from amending our penal laws to make it mandatory for death penalty to be imposed in all cases of rape or gangrape accompanied with murder? How long will female keep getting raped, gangraped and murdered?
Needless to say, this alone explains that why we are even below Pakistan and Bangladesh when it comes to “happiness index”! No time is spared to hang those who commit heinous crimes in Pakistan and Bangladesh. But see what is happening in our country!
Those accused in Nirbhaya gangrape cum murder case have not even been hanged till now seven years later even though Supreme Court has awarded them death penalty and their review petition have also been rejected! They are now availing the facility of “mercy petition” for which no definite time limit is specified for deciding it due to which they remain pending for many years! How can all this be justified by anyone on any ground whatsoever?
Why is gang rape in India not accompanied with gang hanging? Why should they be allowed to escape on any ground whatsoever? Why should they be allowed to escape punishment citing age as a reason? What message are we sending by exempting minors from strictest punishment?
The biggest treachery that our politicians have done with our Constitution is to ensure that heinous crimes like gang rape or rape accompanied with murder, terror crimes funded by foreign countries are not punished with mandatory death penalty and also by not abolishing ‘mercy petition’ privilege for such “dreaded goons” and terrorists! Why our judicial and legal system saves rapists and more crucially gang rapists from being hanged? How many gang rapists have been hanged till now since 1947 till 2019? We all know the answer! We all must be terribly ashamed of it. All Supreme Court Judges and all senior and eminent lawyers whom I would term “legal giants” like Soli J Sorabjee, Harish Salve, Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi among others must introspect on this and give their expert advice to enhance the reputation of judiciary in the eyes of people and restore the waning confidence among the people which is a matter of utmost concern for all of us! We just cannot now afford to sit idle anymore!
On Thursday this week – Dawn, Tiffany and I met to discuss how to progress the evaluation and research side of things. This is all set up in a wiki for the project team.
We worked through the research questions and methodology and revamped the questionnaire so it is more generic. The information sheet needs to be modified now to suit the different research approaches we all agreed on in a previous meeting – see overview. we need to get the changes to the college ethics committee by mid-September.
Next meeting Thursday 7 Aug.
This morning M, D and I observed a Business communication class (n=19) using the Business report module. The class was taken by I who has also been developing the module. We used the feedback sheet from the OIL website (with some slight changes) and got them to fill it out in class which worked really well. It took an average of 30-40 min to work through. Most of them worked through from start to finish.
We also got them to work in pairs and tell each other what they liked and didn’t like, and how they thought the module would be useful for their business report assignment. We got them to write some key things on the whiteboard around these items. They all engaged with the module and we now have several questionnaires to analyse and some potential participants for the research project. In October, after the business report assignments are handed in, we will return to talk to the class and find out whether or how they used the module to write their reports.
One-third of all undergraduate students currently take at least one course online. Here are seven tips to be successful as an online student.
Whether you’re a traditional or non-traditional student, online classes can help you fit your education into your busy life. Many students are discovering the added flexibility of online programs. For example, one-third of all undergraduate students currently take at least one course online, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
While online courses offer many benefits, they’re also different than traditional classes, and it’s important to know what to expect before you get started.
Here are seven success-tips for online students.
1. Be a responsible self-starter
It’s a myth that online classes are easier than on-campus ones. While you’ll have a lot more flexibility in your schedule, the coursework will be just as challenging as an on-campus class. As an online student, you need to hold yourself accountable and have a good sense of personal responsibility. Being a self-starter who can prioritize assignments and plan ahead is key to your success.
2. Make an effort to communicate with your classmates and professors
Even though you likely won’t meet your classmates or instructors in person, there are many ways online students can stay connected and feel like they are a part of the college community. Some students use social media groups to communicate with their classmates, and instructors often make themselves available to online students through video chat or by phone.
At Herzing, both online and on-campus students also have access to Canvas, which is a learning management system designed to help you stay organized. It also has a section called Canvas Conversations, which functions a lot like an email account and allows you to communicate with your classmates and instructors with ease. Check out this this blog post for more tips on using Canvas.
It’s also important to keep up on your emails as an online student, since you don’t have the advantage of hearing important reminders in class. You should check your school email at least once a day so that you don’t miss any important coursework or announcements. Respond to emails as soon as they come in, or you risk forgetting about them.
3. Studying is still necessary
Some online students don’t think they need to study because they can get away with using notes and other assistance while taking a test at home.
WRONG! Online classes aren’t free-for-alls where anything goes. Online learning software has dramatically improved over the years and many systems incorporate cheating detection technologies to deter students from cheating. Also, it’s not uncommon to be required to have a computer with a webcam so that you can be recorded taking your exam.
Make sure you’re paying attention to lectures, doing your readings, taking notes, and taking advantage of all the academic resources provided to you, just as you would in an on-campus class.
4. Learn to manage your time
When you’re an online student, your regular life doesn’t stop. If you don’t manage your time well, you’re going to struggle in finding a balance between school, work and your other commitments. Create a routine that works for you and helps you stay on top of your schoolwork. For example, if you regularly schedule a time each week to write out your upcoming to-dos, prep meals for work and school and do other housekeeping tasks, you’ll go into the week feeling more confident and organized.
Need some tips on how to get better at time management? Check out this blog post.
5. Get a planner or use a digital calendar
A planner or digital calendar can help keep you organized. Some people like old-fashioned, hand-written reminders, while others like to be able to manage their to-do list on the go in a calendar app on their smartphone. Whichever option you choose, a planner of some form will certainly help you succeed.
6. Find a quiet place to study and work
In order to perform well in a class, you’ll need a quiet place to study and take your exams and quizzes. If you’re a parent, finding a time and place to do your schoolwork can be difficult with children running around. If you have roommates, they could be a bigger distraction than you realize. No matter your situation, you need to find a location that allows you to focus.
Try to find a time at home when you can be alone without distractions, such as when your kids are at school or after they’ve gone to bed. If that’s not possible, see if you can take time out of your schedule to go to your local library. Many libraries have study rooms that you can reserve ahead of time for as long as you need. You’d be amazed at how much work you can get done when you set up a quality study environment.
7. Don’t forget to ask for help
If you are struggling in class, you should use Canvas to get in touch with your instructor and fellow students. Asking for help is a far better solution than struggling in silence. No matter the issue, your instructors can help you work through it and find success. They are there to help you, so don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for assistance!
On Thursday this week – Dawn, Tiffany and I met to discuss how to progress the evaluation and research side of things. This is all set up in a wiki for the project team.
We worked through the research questions and methodology and revamped the questionnaire so it is more generic. The information sheet needs to be modified now to suit the different research approaches we all agreed on in a previous meeting – see overview. we need to get the changes to the college ethics committee by mid-September.
Next meeting Thursday 7 Aug.
This morning M, D and I observed a Business communication class (n=19) using the Business report module. The class was taken by I who has also been developing the module. We used the feedback sheet from the OIL website (with some slight changes) and got them to fill it out in class which worked really well. It took an average of 30-40 min to work through. Most of them worked through from start to finish.
We also got them to work in pairs and tell each other what they liked and didn\’t like, and how they thought the module would be useful for their business report assignment. We got them to write some key things on the whiteboard around these items. They all engaged with the module and we now have several questionnaires to analyse and some potential participants for the research project. In October, after the business report assignments are handed in, we will return to talk to the class and find out whether or how they used the module to write their reports.
In my first post in this series – Getting students\’ attention – I mentioned the use of backchannels. This post should give you more information about the use of backchannels within the classroom.
If you are working in a classroom where your students have internet connected devices, either through wifi or their mobile phone, using a backchannel can have a transformative impact on the way you can use technology with your students.
“Backchannel is the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside the primary group activity or live spoken remarks.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backchannel
Most backchannels are text based and many-to-many, meaning that anyone can type in a message and it is seen by everyone who has access to the chatroom.
Back channels are particularly useful if you are working in a face to face environment where all or pairs/groups of students are working at a computer or if you are delivering live online classes using some form or web conferencing or webinar platform.
Backchannels help to solve a number of common classroom problems
Distraction
I often describe a backchannel as the communication that happens between your students in the classroom every time to turn your back on them. The advantage of using a backchannel tool is that you can capture the intercommunication, be part of it and make it a constructive rather than a distracting part of the class.
Democratisation of learning
Backchannels democratise the classroom or lecture room, at least for periods of time, and enable everyone to contribute what they know about the point or topic being discussed.
Giving students links to online resources
If you want students to investigate a website, do an online task, watch a video or complete a digital worksheet, you simply use the back channel, paste in the link and they can access the materials simply by clicking the link and opening it in a new tab. This saves a lot of time and gets students directly to the sites you want them to access rather than leaving them struggling to write down long URLs and type them into the browser address bar.
Getting all students to respond to questions
You can type in questions and get students to respond through the backchannel. Using this method all students are able to participate and respond to questions rather than the first one to put up their hand. This also gives less outspoken students the opportunity to respond.
Setting and reinforcing clear task
When you set tasks for students to do you can back them up by also typing your instructions into the backchannel. This gives them something to refer back to and also helps to reinforce your verbal instructions. This can reduce wasted time going round the class helping weaker students get on task.
Brainstorming
You can get students brainstorming ideas, suggestions, vocabulary, opinions or anything else through the back channel. This way everyone\’s contribution can be collected, shared and acknowledged.
Enabling students to share knowledge
Students get share what they know about any topic or ask a question at any point during lesson, even when you are presenting, without disrupting the flow of the class.
Socialisation with students
Students can socialise and you can socialise with students within the back channel. Just spending a few minutes at the start of the lesson asking questions and finding out what students are up to can really help to engage with your students.
Developing written fluency
Interacting with students in a chatroom also gives students an opportunity to develop their written fluency through genuine communication.
Saving notes from the class
The script from a backchannel can be saved and downloaded, so this is a great form of collaborative note taking. At the end of the class each student can edit their own version of the text to ensure they keep the parts that they feel are relevant.
Some problems with back channels
Safety
As always we should take our students\’ online safety very seriously when using any form of computer mediated communication that allows students or others to communicate with our students. Some back channel tools require registration and this adds a greater element of security to the platform as users are more traceable, though student registration can add an extra layer of time management and friction to the setup process.
If you decide to use a back channel that doesn\’t require registration then it\’s better to make sure you create a new one each lesson and only leave it live for only a short time.
Behaviour
When you first start to use a back channel you may have some initial behaviour problems, especially with younger less mature students. Try to stay level headed when you deal with this. As the use of the back channel becomes more common place your students will get used to using it in a more responsible way, especially if they realise their comments can be traced back to them.
Class size
If you have really large classes and lots of students are contributing comments it may get hard to keep up with all the interaction. Having a more complex backchannel tool like Backchannel Chat can help you to manage this more effectively.
Chaos
Reading back through the text from a back channel can seem like reading through chaos to someone who wasn’t there at the time. Backchannel records will need to be edited to be useful, but this is a good review activity for students.
Backchannel tools
Here are a number of tools you can use to create a backchannel in your classroom. TodaysMeet:https://todaysmeet.com/ TodaysMeet is one of the simplest and easiest to use tools, and also one that’s free and very reliable. It doesn’t require registration by you or the students so it’s really quick to set up and get students into, but if you want that extra security you can register for a free account, which will also enable you to save your chat transcripts.
Backchannel Chat:http://www.backchannelchat.com/ Backchannel Chat is a bit more sophisticated and enables students to choose avatars for the chat and more importantly it enables you the teacher to pin a question or message to the top of the chatroom stream so that it doesn’t disappear as students respond. There is both a free version (which is limited to 30 students) as well as paid versions which have larger limits and other features like file adding attachments and personalising avatars with students’ own picture.
Chatzy: http://www.chatzy.com/ Chatzy offers two options; A quick chat room which you can set up quite quickly and simply (more like TodaysMeet, or a more complex virtual classroom which you can configure to allow students to add various types of online media too, such as images and videos.
Check it out
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