Draft State in Canvas

As we have mentioned in previous posts, Draft State is coming to Canvas and we are busy planning how to best support you as you navigate these exciting changes in Canvas.

Briefly, Draft State allows content in Pages to exist in an unpublished (or draft) state.

Draft State changes are visible only to you [the instructors].

Students will only see pages once you have published them. Unpublished content is invisible to students. 

Please take 5 minutes to watch the video below to get an overview of how to use Draft State in your Canvas course.

Note: Draft State will be enabled, campus wide, beginning July 12, 2014 and will not be turned off once enabled.

In the big picture, these changes are going to make your work inside your Canvas course much easier. However, as we all know change can be, challenging. So, take a few minutes to watch the video and start to get familiar with Draft State.

If you have any specific question we would be happy to speak with you directly, please call 413-565-6880 or email us at online@baypath.edu 

Future Forecast: Green Clouds on the horizon

No, it's not climate change creating Green Clouds.

In fact, Green Clouds will soon be part of your daily forecast as we roll-out Canvas' new Draft State functionality starting July 12, 2014.

Briefly, Draft State will allow content in your Canvas course to exist in an unpublished (draft) state until you click the Green Cloud icon  button and publish your content.

As you create your course content in the Draft State changes you make are visible only to you [the instructors]. Students will only see pages once you have published them, using the Green Cloud icon.
All your unpublished content remains in your control and invisible to students until you are ready to share.

• You will soon have the ability to open a Module and keep specific content 'closed' until you publish it...such as a Discussion, Assignment, Quiz or other Pages.

• Draft State will give you more consistency in the layout and functionality of your Canvas course.

• Canvas' Draft State will give you better global functionality as you work within your online course and enable you to view all the pages in your course,  edit pages, and publish & un-publish pages -all from your course dashboard inside Canvas.

The Draft State changes will soon be second nature to you as you create, manage, and publish content in your Canvas classrooms.  We will be providing more information about Draft State in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
                                                                   

If you have any specific question we would be happy to speak with you directly, please call 413-565-6880 or email us at online@baypath.edu 

Coming to Canvas This Summer

While you enjoy a well-deserved summer break, Canvas will be launching a new Draft State feature and we think you are going to like it. The new Draft State will be officially implemented on July 5, 2014 and we will be offering support to make the transition as seamless as possible.

Draft State allows content in Assignments, Quizzes, Modules, Pages, and Discussions to exist in an unpublished (draft) state. Unpublished content is invisible to students and excluded from grade calculations...until you are ready to 'Publish' your content.

Fast-forward the video below to the 2:05 minute to hear how Draft State will be working in your Canvas courses starting in July.

Once Draft State is enabled you will see changes in:

• Assignments, 
• Quizzes, 
• Modules, 
• Pages, and 
• Discussions 

which will make your interface with Canvas more consistent in layout and functionality.  Additionally, here are some other content-specific changes you’ll see in Draft State:

• Pages will have an Index page and displays page titles
• Individual pages will not include sidebars
• Instructors will be able to select any page to be the front page of their course
• Quizzes will not have to be republished if the content is changed

The Draft State changes will soon be second nature to you as you create and publish your Canvas classrooms.  We will be providing more information about Draft State in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

If you have any specific question we would be happy to speak with you directly, please call 413-565-6880 or email us at online@baypath.edu