We’re back with another installment on printing! Luna might be out of order, but you can still print from the kiosk across from the Help Desk at 614 E. Daniels Street, 4th floor.
When printing at the kiosk, change the printer location to Mimas. Mimas is located down the hall in the Multipurpose Room – ask one of us at the Help Desk if you ‘re having trouble locating it.
You can also print to Mimas from Papercut, as well as to the other printers on the 4th and 5th floors and at 501 E. Daniel. To learn more about the public printers and where they live, check out this Knowledge Base page.
Last but not least, you also have the option to connect your computer to the printers to be able to print directly from your computer when you are in the building. Instructions for how to install the printers on Mac are here and PC are here! Always feel free to drop by the Help Desk if you need assistance with installing printers or have any other questions.
For more tips and guidance on printing, including troubleshooting, copying, and printing with staples, visit our page on iSchool Connect or check out the iSchool Knowledge Base.
Inspired by a real call to the Help Desk! This week’s Tech Tip will show you how to change the settings on your Windows computer to open certain file types in set apps by default. For example, if you want to open a PDF in Adobe, but your computer is set you default open PDFs in Adobe, it may instead have been defaulted to open in web browser
Navigate to “Settings” which can always be found in the Windows Logo Start menu on the bottom left corner.
From the list of Settings pages, select “Apps” and on the Apps settings page, select “Default apps.” From here, you can change the default of the more frequently used apps, such as email application, web browsers, and media players.
On the bottom of the page, there is the “Choose default apps by file type.” On the following page, there should be a much longer version of the previous page, but organized by file type rather than web browser, email, media player, etc. Scroll to the file type you would like to open in a particular app, and change the default by selecting one of the apps on your device that appear among the options.
If you do not see the app you want to use, you may need to download that app first. (I.e., if you don’t have Adobe Acrobat, you can’t select Adobe Acrobat until the app is installed.)
You may also go back a page, and below “Choose default apps by file type” you can choose similar menus to sort through, such as “Set default by app”.
This one’s for the professors and anyone else running a Canvas course site, especially if you’re having a hard time transferring content from one semester to the other. If you follow our guide, you’ll have one less hurdle to worry about.
Rubric of original semester to next semester, and from external link to internal/course link
Links created by copy+pasting from the address bar are external links, and usually work just fine on Canvas. However, these external links will default to the course page where they were originally taken from. i.e., the course page associated with the initial link. This can complicate updates to or transferring content from those links to new Canvas Course pages for future semesters.
Links that access your Canvas Course page, and are made using the Text Editor’s “Course Links” option are internal/Course links and work better for keeping your Canvas up to date with new semesters and any alterations you might make. These internal links will not be stumped as course pages update from semester to semester.
TL;DR It’s important to use internal/Course links using the Canvas Text Editor Tool when making your Canvas Course Site. If you don’t do this, and instead take the more familiar method of copy+pasting external links from the address bar, those links will lead back to the semester they were originally made in, leaving students scratching their heads as to why the link leads to an unpublished course site that they can’t access.
LibGuides is an easy-to-use Content Management System used by thousands of libraries worldwide. Librarians and instructors use it to curate knowledge and share information by creating online Guides on any topic, subject, course, on any process, on anything.
You can use LibGuides to create subject, course, or topic guides, use as your library website, store your A-Z lists for easy reuse, create internal guides documenting workflows & procedures, create and maintain staff profile pages, LibGuides is multilingual too, and mobile and tablet-friendly.
I personally like the How-To guides for library resources. If you’re library has a program or tool you’re interested in, you might search their website for a LibGuide on how to access and use said resource. You can learn more in springshare’s tutorial here.
Here’s the UIUC Library listing of Libguides: https://guides.library.illinois.edu/?b=t
Video captions in Illinois Media Space are added in English but there may be times that you wish to add captions in another language, too. You can do this by downloading the captions file from Media Space and then paste them into Word or a similar text file to translate. Once you are done translating the captions into the desired language, go back to the video page in Media Space and click “edit” under the “Actions” heading. Click on “captions” and then select “Upload captions file.” You’ll be able to select the language of the translated captions to be added to the video. After you save the captions to the video file, users will be able to select the language of the captions when they view the video.
When you’re using Canvas to access Zoom meetings for online classes and other class materials, you may encounter some issues wherein pop-ups are blocked by your browser security settings. From browser to browser, there are different ways of fixing this issue so that you may access your Zoom meeting for an online class. The blocked Zoom meeting link pop-up is a common issue, especially when a browser is updated.
Firefox: There is a small shield icon on the left of the address bar. Clicking on this shield icon will open up a menu which you can then turn off/on “enhanced tracking protections” which, when turned off, will place a slash mark across the shield icon. In this state, you should be able to open up Zoom links from Canvas.
Alternatively, you may access more advanced security settings in Firefox from the “burger” icon to the far right of the address bar, which consists of three horizontal lines stacked atop each other. From this icon, select “settings” and “privacy & security” to clear cookies (which can often interfere with Canvas and Zoom). You may also change the level of security, lowering as necessary to allow for pop-ups. We recommend raising security again after allowing the pop-up to open and getting into Zoom. It’s a short process to drop and raise the settings and can be done easily with some practice
The shield icon on the left side of the address bar. The settings “burger” on the rightThe shield icon on Firefox once Enhanced Tracking Protection has been turned off, allowing for Zoom meeting pop-ups from Canvas. The drop down menu when the shield icon is clicked. Note the option to turn the Enhanced Tracking Protection on/off with the blue switch.
Chrome: While there is no shield icon to navigate to in Chrome, the “burger” to “settings” to “privacy & security” path is the same. The Chrome “burger” is three vertically placed dots rather than stacked horizontal lines, but otherwise, it’s a nearly identical process to lower and raise the security settings in order to open a pop-up link for a Zoom meeting in Canvas.
The Chrome browser does not have the shield icon, so the setting must be accessed through the dotted “burger” icon on the right side.
As always, if you have questions or concerns, please contact us at the iSchool Help Desk. You can reach us at (217) 244-4903 or (800) 377-1892, ischool-support@illinois.edu, or via chat at https://go.ischool.illinois.edu/TechChat. Our contact info is also on your course Canvas pages.
The desk is usually open 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Monday – Friday. Hours may vary during finals, breaks, etc.
Embedding a picture in a Canvas discussion post can be completed in three simple steps. First, make sure the image you want to embed is saved as a jpeg file on your computer. Second, within the discussion post reply, click the image button to add your picture file. Finally, after you add the accompanying text within your post, click the reply button. You can find additional information on using image files in a discussion post in the Canvas Student FAQs.
Did you know you can share just a portion of your screen during a Zoom meeting rather than your whole desktop screen? It’s relatively easy to do so!
To share a portion of your screen, click the green share screen button at the bottom of the Zoom window. When the share screen settings window pops up, select the “Advanced” tab at the top.
On the Advanced menu, select the “Portion of Screen” option and then press “Share.”
A green window will then appear on your screen. You can adjust the size of this green window to fit the area of the screen you want to share.
Whenever you need to include a link in an email or on a webpage, make sure you follow accessibility guidelines to ensure easy access for all. Creating accessible links helps those using screen readers determine exactly what information they will find by choosing a link. When links do not have meaningful associated text, those using screen readers might be unsure of where a link leads. The following tips avoid this issue.
Embedded hyperlinks should be included within meaningful text. Avoid wording such as “learn more” or “click here.”
Do not display the URL as the hyperlink.
If directing someone to email for more information write, “Questions about [topic] can be directed to [written out email address]” and attach link to the written out email address.
For more accessibility tips, check out the accessibility training on the iSchool Technology Training page located on Canvas.
Whether you are an instructor or a student, there may be times that you need to check Canvas away from your computer. You could use a browser on your phone but you know that many functions are not mobile compatible and those that are can still be difficult to navigate. Fortunately, you can download the Canvas Student App or Canvas Teacher App instead. From participating in discussions to seeing or posting grades, the Canvas mobile apps allow users to access their courses easily while on the go.
