We are happy to announce an update to the Celebration of Scholarship event!

Save the date: Wednesday, April 17 from 4:30 – 6:15 p.m. This event will be held in the Science Hall Atrium, after Ignatian Scholarship Day!

Click here to add this event to your digital calendar.

If you are interested in having your scholarship celebrated by colleagues and friends, fill out the Google Form linked here.

Please fill out the form by Wednesday, April 10.

Wine, beer, and light appetizers will be provided.

Submitted by: Tyler Kron-Piatek, Instructional Designer, COLI

Due to cost and reliability concerns, the Center for Online Learning and Innovation is not renewing ScreenPal at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. The last day faculty or staff can use Screenpal is May 14th, 2024.

In the last decade ScreenPal, or previously Screencast-O-Matic, has been a great toolset to help faculty easily record and edit screencast videos. However, since we acquired Screencast-O-Matic, a variety of new video tools have appeared that are more capable and reliable, and are better integrated into our daily web platforms, such as D2L. Plus, ScreenPal has been problematic for users in the past two years due to an awkward licensing procedure. Over the last year, usage of our license has declined. It simply no longer is the best option for Canisius faculty who record screencast videos.

Faculty can record videos using a variety of options:

• Panopto is built into D2L, and provides a web-based recorder and simple editor for making cuts. We find this is the most efficient solution for most faculty and staff, and it can even be available to students in classes.
• Mac users have QuickTime and iMovie.
• PC users can try Clipchamp, a Microsoft Product.
• OBS and Adobe Premiere Pro are advanced options for recording and editing, respectively.

Additional tips, tutorials, and information can be found on the Web-Based Video for Teaching Wiki page.

Submitted by: Tyler Kron-Piatek, Instructional Designer, COLI

Panopto is an easy-to-use video hosting service that Canisius University has contracted with– think of it as a Canisius-branded, private, YouTube. With Panopto integrated into our D2L instance, instructors can use it all without the need to leave D2L. With it’s browser-based recorder, Panopto Capture, faculty can easily record quick lectures, introductory videos, and more. Take a look at some of the tutorials below to get started:

• Get Started with Panopto Capture
• Upload Videos recorded with another application
• Record a video using…
  • the Add Existing Activities Tool (useful for adding videos as Activities in the Content Area)
  • Insert Stuff Tool (useful for installing videos in News Items, Module descriptions, quiz questions, discussion prompts, etc.)
• Use Panopto for Student Video Submissions
• Create in-video quizzes for more interaction with a video

Additional Panopto tutorials can be found on the Panopto Wiki page. Faculty and staff interested in a more hands-on workshop should check out the Faculty Development Opportunities Wiki page. Here, faculty and staff can view COLI’s schedule for various upcoming workshops. The next Panopto Workshop is May 7.

Submitted by: Tyler Kron-Piatek, Instructional Designer, COLI

Next time you are unsure why something is not working or if you simply want a refresher on what is in your classroom, check out the Media Center’s Whats in my classroom? page on the Canisius Wiki.

On this page, the classrooms are arranged by Building Code and Room Number. Additionally, you can view instructions for various tech in classrooms, view classrooms in order, by building, or by different technology levels in the classroom amongst other information.

If you would rather skip the Whats in my classroom? page, you can instead type into the Wiki search bar Building Code space Room Number (OM 108, SH 1008, KC G18, HO 107, HS 112, CT 203, etc.).

Additionally, if you plan on using any of the conference rooms around campus, you can go to What’s in my conference room? page. And make sure to reserve the room on 25Live.

For a quick introduction to finding and using this resource, watch this tutorial video.

Submitted by: Tyler Kron-Piatek, Instructional Designer, COLI

Classroom projector bulbs are surprisingly expensive! Depending on the model they can reach $400.00, and have a limited lifespan. Leaving projectors on, unused, for long periods of time burn these bulbs out, as well as apply heat wear on the projectors themselves, shortening the life of the whole machine.

At the end of your class, event, or other classroom use, if the projector is on, please turn it off. This makes a big budgetary difference, and we’d all rather the college spend money on other things. It’s tempting to leave it on if you think someone will use it later in the day, but classes are canceled or moved frequently enough that this isn’t as helpful as it seems.

Classroom projectors, as well as other classroom technologies are maintained by our Media Center, who are happy to help faculty with classroom IT needs. They have a great guide to all the classrooms on campus, which include instructions on how to operate each projector. The can also record a quick tutorial if you have questions concerning a particular classroom. Email helpdesk@canisius.edu for questions directed toward our Media Center (as well as other IT-related topics.)

Submitted by: Tyler Kron-Piatek, Instructional Designer, COLI