News from Canvas - Gradebook change

The most recent Canvas update included news of a new feature added to the gradebook.

According to the Canvas news release, "If an instructor adds an excessive amount of extra points to a student’s grade, Canvas generates an alert notifying that the student was awarded an unusually high grade. This update helps instructors be aware when excessive points are entered in the Gradebook. Excessive points can occur when the amount entered is 50% above the total possible points or when an extra digit is entered (e.g. 500 instead of 50). The alert is also generated if an assignment is given negative points. Alerts only apply to assignments with total points; they do not apply to assignments with no points possible or excused assignments."

The alert will also appear in Speedgrader.

Use Google Calendar appointment slots

Google Apps Learning Center and Google Help have wonderful tutorials on all things Google. Here is a link to a little gem I just discovered - Use Google Calendar appointment slots.

Please note that this feature is available only for Google Apps for Education.

Academic Integrity - Are your students really who you think they are?

Today I'd like to share a blog post on a subject that fills faculty and administrators of online programs with dread - the various ways students can cheat in online courses.

Recently, The Chronicle of Higher Education published an in-depth article relating the methods used by companies that promise to take a student's online course for them for a fee, now dubbed "Contract Cheating." You may find it an intriguing read. Be sure to open and read this while on campus; SVCC has a subscription. Faculty and Staff trying to read the article off campus have not been able to access the document.

We would love to see suggestions in the comments as to how this sort of cheating can be detected.