Important Updates for UCC Staff
Providing Timetable Information to Students
Due to the uncertain nature of the year ahead, the service that students ordinarily use to view module timetables (MyTimetable) has been withdraw in UCC. On 5th August 2020, the Deputy President and Registrar emailed all students with this information, and further advised them that their individual timetables will be available in canvas following their registration.
Accordingly, for AY20/21, Module Co-Ordinators will need to use Canvas to provide details of any scheduled events (lectures, tutorials, labs etc), so that this information can be shared easily with students.
Below are options for using Canvas to share timetable information. We recommend where possible using the Canvas Calendar function for communicating timetables to student. If there is a particularly reason you need to use a different method, then Canvas should remain the primary communication point.
Please note that a live FAQ MS Teams event will be held on Wednesday 2nd September to outline the three options listed here. You can join this event by clicking here.
The situation brought about by the current pandemic is dynamic, requiring a more local and efficient approach to the management and updating of timetable details. Using Canvas ensures that students are fully aware through a single interface about all their course requirements.
The Canvas Calendar provides daily, weekly, and monthly view of all items that include a scheduled date. This includes items that are automatically added (such as due dates for graded assignments) as well as any events that are added by lecturers such as lectures, tutorials, labs etc. The calendar collates the details from all courses that a student is registered on, so will allow them to easily view all events and activities relevant to their programme. All events from the courses that you are teaching on will appear in your own calendar on Canvas also.
Module calendar information should be made available as soon as possible, including a descriptive subtitle (lab, tutorial, etc), the Room location or ‘Online’. If Online, note the format, e.g. a live MS Teams event or prerecorded lecture on Panopto, and including links where relevant. A typical Canvas Calendar entry might read, for example:
‘AB1001: Lecture 1, Online - MS Teams event’, or
‘AB1001: Lecture 1, Boole 4’.
How do I do this?
Full details on how to use the Canvas Calendar function are available within the Teaching with Canvas course here.
To support staff in using Canvas Calendar, please note the following supports are available:
You may decide to make timetable information available to students outside of Canvas, but with Canvas as the primary point of information.
For example, a School might create a timetable on their school website through the CMS and link that from a Canvas Announcement.
The significant disadvantage to students is that they will not see their timetable information on their Canvas Calendar, and if the timetable changes, you will need to notify students of these changes.
If you are hosting timetable information outside of Canvas, you should agree this with the Programme Director or Head of School, as they have an oversight roll on programme level timetable quality.
How do I do this?
You can create a Canvas announcement by following the steps outlined here.
You may decide to create a timetable as a document or other file type and upload it to a course in Canvas. The challenge with this is potentially having to update multiple documents.
The significant disadvantage to students is that they will not see their timetable information on their Canvas Calendar, and if the timetable changes, you will need to notify students of these changes.
How do I do this?
Information on how to upload files to Canvas is contained on this page.