Select Page

Simple Ways to Help Bird Conservation

by | Apr 22, 2024 | Staff

Did you know? Canisius alumnus Alex Sidare’s award-winning Honors thesis estimated that 700,000 to more than 2.5 million birds die annually in Western New York (WNY) alone from residential window collisions. When commercial buildings are included in estimates, this would at least double. Recent research suggests these numbers may be underestimates.

One of the ways that our community can be more bird-friendly is by taking part in the national Lights Out effort.

Adopting this practice here in WNY is particularly important as our region is a central place for migratory birds moving through our Niagara River Corridor Globally Significant Important Bird Area. In WNY, we have a particular responsibility for the impact of light pollution given our region’s history in being “The City of Light” – one of the first places to have electricity in the world! Light pollution doesn’t just harm birds either – it plays a huge role in our ecology! 

What can you do to help?

  1. Visit BirdCast (co-developed by Canisius alumnus Kyle Horton!) to see peak migration times when these actions are most important but consider adopting them year-round to protect our local birds as well as those visiting on their migration journey.
  2. Turn off all non-essential (don’t compromise safety) lights and close window blinds between 10:00 pm and dawn from April 15-May 31 and August 15-November 15.
  3. Encourage your communities to adopt these practices (here is a sample letter adapted from National Audubon’s resources – also see https://birdcast.info/science-to-action/lights-out/).
  4. Keep outdoor cats inside at least during peak times of bird activity. We also call attention to the role of outdoor cats in bird mortality annually with a staggering estimate of 1-4 BILLION birds killed by cats in the U.S. alone each year. And like window collisions, this is likely an underestimate. Research also suggests that staying indoors is better for your cat’s health – read more at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/faq-outdoor-cats-and-their-effects-on-birds.

What to do when you find:

Submitted by: Jennifer Lodi-Smith, Professor of Psychology

Summer Online Faculty Development Course

by | Apr 22, 2024 | Staff

Canisius University Logo

The OFDC (Online Faculty Development Course) offered by COLI is for full-time and part-time faculty, whether new to D2L, or experienced with technology for teaching. This five-week mini-course prepares instructors to teach online and hybrid courses. The OFDC provides many practical tips for teaching online but more importantly, helps faculty explore new pedagogies for active learning, social presence, and community in courses on the internet.

Additionally, the updated OFDC offers insights on what Regular and Substantive Interactions (RSI) are and how to incorporate RSI into your courses. It also includes information on Panopto, Canisius’s new video content management system, how it works, and how to best fit Panopto into your courses.

The OFDC can help professors craft engaging, interactive online experiences for students, either for all-online courses, or hybrid courses that feature limited use of the classroom.

Over the summer, we will be offering two courses:

OFDC A: Monday, May 20th-Friday, June 21st

OFDC B: Monday, July 8th-Friday, August 9th

To RSVP, please check out the Faculty Development Opportunities Wiki Page.

Stay tuned to the COLI Blog and the Dome for more sessions!

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

Final Exams in D2L

by | Apr 22, 2024 | Staff

Final exams are fast approaching! It may be useful to review these features of D2L Quizzes and Dropboxes.

D2L Quizzes provides a robust tool to grade quizzes easier and quicker. Some features can help prevent cheating to a degree, like basic question randomization and advanced question randomization. If you want to use questions from a previous exam or quiz, the Question Library lets you copy questions to the mid-term. Additionally, for faster grading, you can connect the Quiz to the gradebook. You can also have your students sign an Academic Integrity Pledge before continuing to the Midterm. Customize the Quiz Result display to show students what questions they got and see where they need to brush up on their studying.

Please note that if you allow automatic grading of your exam, D2L will not automatically grade written responses. Those need to be graded manually. Inform your students that the grade they have immediately after completing the exam is not reflective of their overall grade. If you want to see all of the tutorials on the D2L Quiz tool that COLI has compiled, check the Online Quizzes and Exams in the Quizzes Tool Section.

D2L Dropboxes are a great way to receive student work in various formats but more notably PDFs, Microsoft Office files, JPGs or PNGs. You can also restrict the types of files the dropbox will accept. Attach the dropbox to the grade book or use a D2L Rubric and attach it to the dropbox for faster grading.

For more information on D2L Dropboxes, check out the Collecting Assignments in Dropboxes Section. For tutorials on D2L Rubrics, check out the Using Rubrics Section. If you would prefer, you can also sign up for COLI workshops or sign up for a Consultation with one of COLI’s staff members.

COLI has compiled other resources on the various tool sets in D2L. Check the D2L Self-paced Training for Faculty and Staff Wiki page.

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

ScreenPal Phase Out

by | Apr 22, 2024 | Staff

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

Campus Candids

by | Apr 19, 2024 | Staff

Canisius students took center stage on Wednesday, April 17 for Ignatian Scholarship Day.

The annual event showcases the academic research and creative works of undergraduate and graduate students.

From exploring national threats to pioneering solutions in telemedicine for rural areas, their work reflects the university’s commitment to academic excellence and innovation.

Presentations were held within a conference environment similar to that of a learned society or organization, using the following forms of expression:

•    Poster displays
•    Paper presentations
•    Multi-media presentations
•    Artistic displays
•    Performances

Thank you to all the faculty, staff and administrators who helped make this day such a success for our students.

Submitted by: University Communications

Canisius in the News

by | Apr 19, 2024 | Staff

WKBW-TV Channel 7 interviewed Liz Caffee, director of Academic Talent Search, about the program’s mentoring and support services made available to students in the Buffalo Public School district. Click here to read the story.

Submitted by: University Communications