Attention eClass and Canvas Users,

As we begin the last 2 terms (Spring and Summer 2025) using eClass, a number of changes are being rolled out across the Digital Learning Environment. Many new tools and features are coming into Canvas prior to our full transition to the new LMS in Fall 2025, and some of our other centrally supported teaching and learning services are also receiving some updates. We are also especially excited to introduce Wooclap, the new polling solution and student response system for the U of A.

New features in Canvas

• Library Guides are now available in every Canvas course. This resource automatically links each Canvas course to any relevant Subject Guides in the UofA Library.
• DLE Developers have created a new Bear Tracks grade export tool to pre-format grades for import into Bear Tracks.
• The Lucid Education suite has been enabled for the U of A allowing instructors access to use its intelligent diagramming (Lucidchart) and web collaboration (Lucidspark) tools in their Canvas courses. 
• An AI-based search tool can now be enabled in courses. Full information is available on the Smart Search FAQ.

New Polling Tool (WooClap)

After an RFP and selection process through the VP Learning Initiatives, WooClap has been added as our new centrally-supported service to foster student engagement in online meetings and in-person lectures. The tool is intuitive to use and offers a range of workflows to easily create interesting learning activities that can be incorporated into live sessions or delivered asynchronously.

WooClap can be used within Canvas to allow instructors to record student poll scores in course gradebooks. The system can also be used by non-LMS users to allow all UofA community members to take advantage of polling features.

Wooclap has comprehensive in-system help resources as well as a very detailed knowledgebase for users who would like to get started with the service.

Other Service Changes

• Respondus LockDown Browser
  To increase security in online remote exams, all standard web browsers have been added to the list of banned applications for launching the lockdown browser. Instructors can still allow students to visit specific websites by adding those urls in the meeting settings for open book exams.
• Zoom Closed Captions
  Automatic captions have been enabled by default for Zoom meetings.This feature was formerly available as opt-in but the default has been changed to ease accessibility concerns. Instructors can adjust their personal preferences to prevent multi-language captions and can also set up captions that are translated into multiple languages. 
• SEM (Smart Exam Monitor)
  Version 2 of this service has completed the beta phase and is now the default and recommended option for use. This new version provides a smoother student launch experience and improves the reliability of video monitoring. Instructors who have already created V1 sessions can continue to use those and access proctoring data but all new sessions will be created with V2.

If you have any questions about any of these new features in the digital learning environment, please contact us at eclass@ualberta.ca. 

Regards,
IST eClass Support