Tech Tip: Canvas Mobile App

I actually ended up slinking back to Apple this week, and it's been pretty nice to be able to have apps again. So I figured it was the perfect chance to download the Canvas app.

So far, it's been working really well; the navigation is easy and pretty much mirrors the desktop version. I'm taking one online class other than this, and the professor of another class uses it pretty often to communicate, so I really appreciate being able to access the mobile version for all this. When I used to try to pull the site up on my phone's browser, the process was a little clunky. Overall, I'm definitely a fan.


Image Credit: iPhone by hellooly. Source: Pixabay.

Tech Tip: Canvas Calendar

By this point in the semester, I've just about accepted that I don't have time to do the weekly stories anymore. I'm not thrilled about that—the weekly stories were my favorite part about the Mythology & Folklore class last semester, and a big part of why that was my favorite class I'd ever taken, so I was looking forward to more of the same this semester. But I've had a lot more classwork than I'd expected, and I'm also working on two novels at the same time (one for class, and one I'm planning to pursue publication for); considering the fact that each Wednesday story usually takes me about 4 hours, it doesn't make much sense to prioritize that over other assignments when I can use the extra-credit options to make up for the weekly stories.

Because of that, at least until something in my workload changes, I'm reconfiguring my weekly schedule for this class. Since I'm replacing a Wednesday assignment (and the Sunday portfolio assignment) with extra credit options with no specific due dates, I can work on those in advance instead, freeing up the later half of the week for other homework and writing deadlines.

Right now, the new plan is to finish a Tech Tip, an extra batch of commenting, and a Wikipedia Trails post on Mondays, when I've got a break between classes. Then on Wednesdays, I can do an extra reading assignment during another break. I hadn't thought about putting this revamped schedule to a calendar till I saw the Canvas tech tip option, and now that the tutorial video has taught me how, I'm adding those weekly adjustments to my personal calendar.



Image Credit: Calendar, by webandi. Source: Pixabay.

Tech Tip: Google Timer

When my schedule's especially busy but I want to sneak in 30 minutes for writing or pleasure reading, I sometimes like to set a timer to make sure I don't lose track of time (which I've historically been kind of bad about). That said, the timer on my phone is kind of obnoxious, so when I saw the Google timer option on the Tech Tips list, I knew I wanted to try it. The whole thing was insanely simple to use, and since I typically have my laptop handy when I'm needing to keep track of time in the first place, it was much handier than switching between devices. I also really loved Laura's idea in the post about using timers to set up Internet breaks between getting other work done, and I'm going to have to adopt that tactic for myself sometime; it seems like a good way to ward of stress without totally slacking on responsibilities.

Image Credit: Better Times Watch, by Unsplash. Source: Pixabay.

Tech Tip: Canvas Notifications

One of my other online classes has discussion posts multiple times a week, and the email notifications for those are a little overzealous. I decided to use this tech tip to opt out of those, and my OU inbox is forever thankful.

As a side note, I was surprised by how many different notification options there are in Canvas, and by how customizable the whole setup is. Just another reason I'm glad the school made the switch from D2L.


Image Credit: Laptop Focus, by Pexels. Source: Pixabay.

Tech Tip: SoundCloud Embedded

For the SoundCloud tech tip, I added The Doors' song "Moonlight Drive" to my Favorite Place post, whose title was inspired by the song.


Image Credit: Doors Elektra Publicity Photo, by Joel Brodsky (Elektra Records). Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Tech Tip: Embedding a Tweet in a Post

"It may have been in pieces, but I gave you the best of me." - #JimMorrison pic.twitter.com/mprS1XpBH5

— Classics Du Jour (@classicsdujour) December 8, 2016