OHIO IT Semester Start Email
Greetings From the Office of Information Technology!
Below, you will find updates to OHIO's teaching and learning technologies for this spring. If you have any questions feel free to email us at ServiceDesk@ohio.edu.
The transition to Canvas is nearly complete. Starting this summer, courses will only be automatically created in Canvas, with no courses loading in Blackboard by default. Learn more below about ways to maximize your use of Canvas.
Create Your Own Manually Created Courses in Canvas
Starting this summer, OHIO instructors can create their own non-academic Canvas courses directly from the Canvas dashboard by selecting ‘Start a New Course’. This new functionality will streamline the process of setting up manually created courses for activities such as continuing education, training, and orientation, eliminating the need for ticket requests and empowering users to leverage Canvas more effectively.
Manually created courses offer several key advantages:
- Flexibility: They are independent of academic terms.
- Reusability: They can be used for various purposes.
- Transition Support: They facilitate the transfer of content from Blackboard to Canvas.
Important Notes:
- Manually created courses cannot be used for any academic credit-bearing instruction. These courses should not host any graded activities and should not be merged/cross-listed with any ‘real’/Peoplesoft-generated courses.
- All manually created courses are eligible for deletion after two years of inactivity.
Learn more about .
Create “Sections” in Canvas for Student Subgroups
Beginning May 12, you will be able to create student “Sections” in Canvas to assign work to subsets of students in your course. Not to be confused with Canvas “Groups” (which allows you to organize students for collaborative work), Sections allow you to divide your class and assign unique work to different subsets of students to work on individually. With Sections, you can provide different versions of the same assignment to specific students without impacting the entire course. Learn more about Canvas Sections and how they impact assignment management.
Discover New Microsoft Assignments Tool in Canvas
Microsoft has added a new integration that will allow instructors to link Teams assignments and grades in your Canvas courses. This new integration will allow instructors to take advantage of Microsoft's AI features for assignments within Canvas that used to be restricted to Teams Classes. Learn more about Microsoft Teams Assignment Integrations.
Prepare for Upcoming Changes to Microsoft Teams Classes and Teams Meeting Integrations in Canvas and Blackboard
Microsoft has announced that the current Teams Meetings and Teams Classes integrations will be retired on June 15, 2025. This change will remove Teams Meetings and Teams Classes links from Canvas and Blackboard.
- Full-summer and first-summer session courses using this integration before June 15 will be minimally impacted. Previously created class and meeting links will no longer be displayed in the Canvas navigation menu but can be re-shared with students.
- Second summer session instructors may need to leverage workarounds outlined by OIT to create Teams Meetings and Teams Classes links outside of Canvas.
Review the help article for information on how to share links and for up-to-date guidance for workarounds.
Consult with an Instructional Technologist
Enhance your use of Canvas (and other tools) by scheduling a consultation with an Instructional Technologist. Get personalized assistance in evaluating and selecting the right technologies and tools for your courses. Improve your skills in using Canvas, Top Hat, and other supported tools. today through Microsoft Bookings.
Get 24/7 Canvas support
Canvas provides 24/7 support to assist both faculty and students with any Canvas-specific issues. You can chat with Canvas experts online or by phone anytime by selecting the “Get Help” icon in the Canvas navigation menu.
As part of the ongoing Canvas LMS implementation project, Blackboard LMS retirement is now in progress. Make sure to review your Blackboard courses to identify any content you want to save, migrate, or delete.
Key Points to Remember:
- Final Deletion Date: All Blackboard content will be permanently deleted by June 2026. This includes all academic courses, manually created courses, and organizations.
- Archiving Process: Starting June 2025, Blackboard content will be archived in a third-party tool. This archive is intended solely for retaining student data for unique circumstances, such as incompletes or grade disputes.
- Save-Migrate-Delete: We encourage you to review your Blackboard content now to determine what needs to be saved, migrated, or deleted to prevent losing access to needed materials.
- Temporary Visibility: During the archiving process, previously archived courses will temporarily reappear in Blackboard for both faculty and students. These courses will only be visible for a short period before being permanently deleted
- Blackboard Organizations and Manually Created Courses: Unlike academic courses, Blackboard organizations and manually created courses will not be archived and will be deleted entirely by June 2026.
For more information and detailed guidance, please refer to the Blackboard Retirement page.
Know Your Classroom
Request Classroom Training
To ensure a smooth start to your semester, classroom technology specialists are available to help you acclimate to your space. Whether you are teaching in a new classroom or have lingering questions from last semester, request a one-on-one to prepare before classes begin.
Optimize Your Classroom Desktop
Based on feedback from the fall Instructor Insights Survey, new desktop images and icons were added to classroom computers during spring 2025. Both Mac and PC desktops were redesigned to create a streamlined experience and provide easier access to the Classroom Help icon and additional software via Self Service (macOS) and Software Center (Windows). Review the Spring 2025 Semester Start email to learn more about how to make your classroom desktop your own.
Provide Feedback on OHIO Classrooms
The Learning Spaces team is seeking your input on OHIO’s classrooms as part of its mission to provide intuitive and supportive classroom environments. Complete the by May 18 to help us identify the classroom tools and configurations that support your success and student learning, pinpoint any barriers to effective teaching, and explore innovative technologies that could enhance the classroom experience for both instructors and students.
Did You Know That...?
OIT is engaged in two tool evaluation projects. Learn more about the:
Reminders
Get Classroom Assistance
The Classroom Assistance Ticket System is available to help with any classroom-related issues. The (C.A.T.S.) provides one form to submit technology, maintenance, temperature, or furniture requests for your classroom.
Teaching and Learning Technologies Advisory Community Expansion
The Teaching and Learning Technologies Advisory Community has expanded to include OHIO IT’s Learning Spaces. The advisory community now focuses on the digital tools used to support students and instructors and the physical spaces used for instruction. The advisory community, which meets monthly, allows instructors, staff, and students to provide feedback, ask questions, and learn about current and upcoming classroom initiatives. Join us for the next meeting to learn more.
Previous Semester Start Emails
Spring 2025 Semester Start Email
Prepare Your Courses in the LMS
As a reminder, all instructors must follow the guidance put forth from their college or department regarding which LMS to use this semester. The Spring 2025 semester is the last period that courses will automatically appear in Blackboard to support the few remaining programs that still leverage that system according to their college’s plans.
Continue to only publish your course in the LMS your college/department decided to use. Publishing the same course in both systems (Canvas and Blackboard) will generate confusing messages to students.
Suggestions and Premade Materials
Although the vast majority of OHIO courses will be using Canvas this spring and most students are now familiar with Canvas, it’s important to help students find their way to your course at the beginning of the semester.
Consider sending students an email with course information and include a short LMS tutorial on your first day of class. (Here’s an .) You can also that points students to Canvas, without publishing the Blackboard course. This helps if you work with teaching or graduate assistants who may not remember to share LMS information with students at the beginning of the semester.
Need Canvas Help?
ĢƵ University will be hosting several workshops and office hour sessions in January to support instructors' continuing transition and effective teaching in Canvas. Workshops are being held on several OHIO campuses and participants can attend onsite or remotely. To learn more or add these to your calendar, visit the visit the and search “Canvas.
Make Your Course More Accessible
Take advantage of the accessibility tools within OHIO’s teaching technologies.
- Canvas: When adding content directly to Canvas using the rich text editor, always before publishing.
- Panopto: in all Panopto videos.
- Qualtrics: Before publishing a Qualtrics survey, and implement any recommended changes.
- Library Resources: If you use University Libraries resources as reading materials, share a permalink to the item rather than downloading a PDF to share. Sharing this way can increase students’ access options and helps Libraries track the use of resources.
Monthly Learning Series
Beginning in 2025, the OHIO Digital Accessibility Network (OHIO-DAN) will start a new series of monthly learning sessions. These sessions will focus on making accessibility manageable and helping everyone build lasting habits that make a difference. More details will be shared on the so be sure to join to receive more updates!
Exam security is a priority for many faculty, regardless of teaching modality. Online assessments provide students the opportunity to test from anywhere. As you prepare your assessments for this semester, consider utilizing Top Hat, Canvas or Proctortrack. Explore what each of these tools has to offer.
- Top Hat: provide a lockdown browser environment for testing that increases exam security but still allows students the freedom to use their own device, in a location they choose, at no cost. Top Hat monitored exams cannot be scheduled for a specific date and time. The exams will need to be started manually, and an exam passcode will need to be shared with students to gain access.
- Canvas: Canvas quizzes support , and also provide a during exams. Please note that the student log is a helpful reference, but Canvas advises faculty not to use it as an official academic integrity tool.
- Proctortrack: is a fee-based online proctoring tool that uses AI monitoring to observe student behavior throughout an exam. Students or departments are required to pay to use this proctoring service, which is $6-$15 per test depending on the level of proctoring enabled by the instructor.
Panopto Updates
Panopto has undergone updates to increase accessibility. By default, captions will now be enabled for all new videos. Additionally, students can now download transcripts from new videos. Learn more about
Athens Classroom Technology Updates
During the fall semester, several classrooms were updated, guided by the five-year refresh cycle of the Classroom Improvement Initiative. The updates were designed to maintain classroom functionality with minimal changes in the teaching and learning experience. If you have any issues in these or any classroom spaces, please submit a (C.A.T.S.) ticket.
- Central Classrooms: 211, 310, 313, 403
- Patton: 105, 209, 210, 232, 234, 306, 307, 308, 327, 333, 336
- Stocker: 103
See the for information on future technology updates.
Did You Know That You Can...?
Make Your Classroom Desktop Your Own
1. Customize your classroom desktop
You can personalize the desktop icons on any classroom computer. While these settings won't transfer to other classroom computers, they will be saved on each individual computer you save them to as long as you log in at least once every 14 days. This allows you to create a consistent teaching environment in each room you use.
2. Install additional software
If you are using a University-managed device, you can access and save more software options.
- Windows users –
- Mac users -
There are also options, via , to access an remotely without installing the software on your device.
These options ensure that you have the tools you need, regardless of where you are.
3. Request a technology review for new software:
If you've identified a technology solution to use outside of OHIO IT’s offerings, you can submit a to have your solution vetted by our technology experts. This process ensures that new software is accessible for OHIO users and meets our security standards.
Reminders
Red Cap
Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) is a secure, web-based application for building and managing online surveys and databases for research applications. is ideal for projects collecting data in community settings and in multi-site projects such as clinical trials. All OHIO instructors and current students can use REDCap for their research needs.
Athens Classroom Help Tickets
The (C.A.T.S.) continues to streamline the Athens classroom support experience by providing help through one ticket form. If you encounter a technology, maintenance, temperature, or furniture issue in your classroom, please submit a C.A.T.S. ticket and we’ll assist as soon as possible.