Classroom by Lightspeed

Monitor student Chromebooks while students are in your classroom

Created by Scott Aten, August 29, 2023

You will see an older post in this Blog where I introduced Lightspeed Classroom. The website has been updated since that post, so I wanted to update my Blog with this new information.

One of the biggest issues staff have faced since going 1-1, is keeping students on task when in the classroom. The lure of games, internet searches, and videos is too much for some of our students. As a classroom teacher it is challenging to keep these tech savvy students focused on the learning at hand while still making use of the great tool the Chromebooks have become. We now have a tool available to you that should help tip the advantage back into your favor. Lightspeed Classroom is a tool to monitor your students while using their Chromebooks in your classroom during your class period.

Getting started using Lightspeed Classroom
You will want to bookmark this site: https://classroom.relay.school/
Login with Google to access your account and classes. Your classes have been added for you already. If you have any students that are missing or misplaced, please put in a help desk ticket to have this resolved for you.

Helpful Instructions

I have broken down all the parts of this application to make it easy for you to get this up and running in your classroom.

Getting Started (5:41 minutes)
Class Controls (6:34 minutes)
Web Rules Option (7:03 minutes)
Using Groups (3:22 minutes)
Monitoring Students (3:07 minutes)

Recommendations for staff who have been using it

Make sure you unlock the class before they leave your room. You don’t want them to be blocked from cites they may need to access in their next period’s class. (GIS, GPS, GWD)

If something is not working the way you want, don't panic. Just set web rules to none and have students refresh.

Allow Lists
As you will see, you restrict students to an "allowed" list of sites. The teachers that helped pilot this application have started a list of URLs to include in allow lists based on content area as well as by building. You can access this list here and add URLs that are helpful for everyone. Please only add URLs to your building and sites that are beneficial to everyone. Also remember this is a document for the whole district and any changes you make are visible to everyone - not just you.

If you would like me to come and assist you during a TBT or department meeting or even one on one please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you. I am always ready to come help.

[Green Technology Training Center]

[Click here to go to the YouTube Channel]

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Adjusting Due Dates on Imported Canvas Assignments

Adjusting Due Dates on Imported Canvas Assginments

Get due dates in the correct calendar school year

Created by Scott Aten, August 17, 2023

Beginning of the school year means it's time to import content from previous Canvas Courses. One of the great features of Canvas is the ease in which you can bring in content from past courses into your new course. One key step that teacher often skip is shifting the dates of assignments into the new school year. This is best practice when importing assignments into your new Canvas course. Here are the steps...

Importing Content

Open your Canvas course for the new school year.
In the right menu click "Import Existing Content"
This will open the Import Content window. In the Content Type dropdown select "Copy a Canvas Course".
In the "Search for a course" dropdown, select the course that has the content you want to use (last year's course or your sandbox for example).
In the "Content" area choose "Select specific content"
In the Options area check "Adjust events and due dates"
This will open up date options for you that will help shift your assignment due dates into the current school year and approximate correct day.

In the Beginning Date field [1], enter the starting date of the course you are importing (last year the start date would be 8/17/2022) . You can also click the Calendar icon to select a date. In the Change to field [2], enter the new date when you want the course to begin, or click the Calendar icon (this year the date would be 8/22/23).

In the Ending Date field [3], enter the end date of the course you are importing, or click the Calendar icon to select a date (last year end date for a full year course would be 5/26/23). In the Change to field [4], enter the new date when you want the course to end (5/30/24).

Canvas will take the new start and end dates for the course and distribute all assignments with due dates as evenly as possible across the course dates and keep them due on the same day of the week as the original course. If the imported course and the new course vary in course length, assignments will be assigned proportionally. BUT this gets the assignments into the correct school year and you can then edit the assignments if the day is not correct.
Click "Import"
A new Job will be started in your course. Click the "Select Content" button at the end of that Course Copy job.
This opens up the "Select Content" window. You can expand each section by clicking on the arrow in front of each category. Put a check in each item you want to bring into your course. By clicking a module, you will bring in all the pieces of that module including assignment, quizzes, pages, etc that are in the module. This is why building your content in modules is recommended.
Once you have selected all the pieces you want to bring into your new courses, click the "Select Content" button.