蜜桃影视

Distance Education February 2025 Newsletter


There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.

Colin Powell

Canvas Updates


Stay up to date on the latest Canvas rollouts, updates, enhancements, and new Learning Tools (LTI) additions in this dedicated section of our newsletter. Here, you will find brief summaries of recent changes, new features, resources, and tips to help you make the most of Canvas.
  • Announcements: Disabling Comments

    Enabling the "Disable comments on announcements" setting in Course Settings will automatically disable all comment and threaded reply options on the Announcements Edit page for consistency.

    Read more about .

  • Announcements: Respond Before Reviewing Replies

    A new checkbox has been added to the Announcement Edit page, requiring participants to respond to the topic before viewing other replies.

    Read more about .

  • Discussions: Peer Review Text Update

    The label for the date when automatic peer reviews are assigned in Discussions has changed from "Reviews Due" to "Assign Reviews" to ensure consistent language with peer-reviewed assignments.

    Read more about .

  • New Quizzes: Reduce Answer Choices

    Instructors can moderate a student鈥檚 quiz by removing one answer choice from multiple-choice questions with four or more options to decrease the cognitive load. This feature has been delayed in production as of December 18, 2024.

    Read more about .

  • New Quizzes: Student Analysis Reports

    Instructors can now generate a Student Analysis Report for New Quizzes, offering detailed insights such as time elapsed, submission attempts, student responses, and points earned. A future update will include all attempts by students.

    Read more about .

  • Rich Content Editor: Immersive Reader

    The Microsoft Immersive Reader is now available in the Rich Content Editor across Canvas, providing improved accessibility and reading support. This tool enhances readability with features such as text-to-speech, customizable font sizes, background colors, and line spacing adjustments.

    Read more about .

    Read more about .

  • Canvas Integration: Atomic Search

    Atomic Search has been successfully integrated into Canvas, enabling users to perform advanced searches across courses, discussions, files, and more. This tool improves content discoverability, making it easier for students and instructors to find relevant materials quickly.

    Read more about .

Student Tips for Success


These tips are designed to empower educators in guiding students towards their fullest potential. We can create a supportive environment where every student can succeed and grow!
  • Your Instructors Want to Hear from You!
    Effective communication with instructors is key to academic success in online learning. Reach out via Canvas Inbox or during virtual office hours - our 蜜桃影视 instructors are here to support your learning! Proactive communication clarifies course materials, expectations, and assignments.
  • Stay Engaged: Tag Classmates in Canvas Discussions

    Actively contributing to Discussions in Canvas enhances your understanding of material and fosters a collaborative learning environment. Using the new @mention feature allows you to tag instructors and classmates, notifying them of new comments and questions.

    View the .

  • Canvas Mobile App: Stay Connected on the Go

    The Canvas Student App provides easy access to your course content. Check grades, participate in informal, ungraded discussions, and receive Canvas notifications from your mobile device!

    Learn more about the .

  • Best Practices: When to Use Canvas in Google Chrome

    Always use the Google Chrome browser on a laptop or desktop for high-stakes activities. These include taking quizzes, submitting assignments, participating in graded discussions, and accessing external tools like Access Pearson.

    iPad users should open external tools via the Chrome mobile app rather than Safari.

Accessibility Techniques


Explore practical techniques, tools, and insights on how to make your course content more accessible to our student population. Together, we can break barriers and build a more inclusive digital learning environment.
  • Documents

    All documents whether it is a Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or PDF filetype must be accessible or have an alternative accessible document if used for educational content. In doing so, it is important to keep in mind that documents should contain the following:

    • Hierarchical heading structure
    • Alt text for images (if applicable)
    • Text formatting methods (Example: using semantic lists)
    • Accurate reading order according to presentation
    • High contrast text, backgrounds, and graphics
    • etc.

    If you need assistance making your documents accessible, do not hesitate to reach out to the Accessibility Technician at jbush@taftcollege.edu.

  • Pope Tech

    Pope Tech is an accessibility tool integrated into Canvas with the sole purpose of assisting you create more accessible course content. While using the Rich Content Editor in Canvas, select the Pope Tech tool labeled "Accessibility Guide" located in the footer. The Pope Tech Accessibility Guide side panel will open and allow you to fix any programmatically determined accessibility issues.

    This is significant to our students' success in online courses as it can relieve students of barriers and prevent disengagement!

  • Color Contrast

    The biggest accessibility issue in our current courses is low color contrast at 37.88% of all issues (Spring 2025 PopeTech Dashboards). Content with low color contrast can result in illegible text or illegible significant images for people with visual impairments such as color blindness or low vision.

    To improve the color contrast in your course(s), you can utilize the Canvas Accessibility Checker, the PopeTech Accessibility Guide, or the DesignPLUS Accessibility Checker:

    • Learn how to 
    • Learn how to 

Upcoming Events


Stay up to date on upcoming Lunch and Learns, Skill-Ups, workshops, and trainings. We invite you to connect, learn and grow!

Coming Soon!

Feedback and Suggestions


If you have any feedback or suggestions for our department's semi-annual newsletter, please email or call the Dean of Instruction, Jaime Lopez, at jlopez@taftcollege.edu or call at (661)763-7845.

Supporting Documents


February 2025 Newsletter (DOCX)