Ulwazi Update no 5

WITS

Ulwazi Update WITS ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING NEWS BITES

24 FEBRUARY 2021

Our new Learning Management System (LMS) is known as ‘ulwazi’, which means ‘knowledge’ in isiZulu.

Our Journey from Sakai to ulwazi

Canvas, known as ulwazi at Wits, is the University’s LMS to support online teaching and learning. It is a powerful cloud-based platform that is easy to use.

1

WITS

Road to ulwazi Stage 1: Setting up ulwazi Stage 1 is complete, and ulwazi is now the official Wits LMS. Information for staff and students on how to access and use ulwazi is available on the new "Access ulwazi" page.

SIMS has been fully integrated with ulwazi.

Registered students' details are being drawn from SIMS into ulwazi course sites.

Important notice: Students cannot be added manually. SIMS is being synced several times a day during student registration.

Stage 2: Migrating from Sakai to ulwazi The migration of all project sites that were requested has been completed. If you still need any project sites to be migrated, please email Shane.Pachagadu@wits.ac.za.

Stage 3: Learning to use ulwazi The Centre for Learning,Teaching and Development (CLTD) is providing training on designing and building your course sites.

Over 600 staff have already attended ulwazi training sessions. Please use the training schedule to find a slot that suits you.

Gradescope is a powerful tool for designing and marking online assignments. You can link ulwazi courses and assignments to Gradescope and sync your roster and grades. Learn more on how to leverage the ulwazi integration by watching this video. To learn more about Gradescope, join a workshop offered every Wednesday at 5pm.

Sessions on Big Blue Button are now available.

Check your Faculty teaching and learning sites for additional training opportunities. Contact details.

Learn ulwazi "Discovering Canvas - 2021 - Lecturer Orientation".

2

Stage 4: Preparing your course Big Blue Button is integrated into ulwazi and ready to use. We recommend that you keep the number of people attending a BBB session under 250, and limit the length of the session to under 90 minutes. BBB recordings are available after 24 hours. We are currently in discussions with BBB for more services.

You can use the following apps, which are integrated into ulwazi: • OneDrive • G Drive • Turnitin-CPF • SCORM • Gradescope • McGraw-Hill Connect

We are currently working on the Pearson- mastering Lab Connector integration.

This will be available soon.

ulwazi tip: Course site templates are a quick way of organising your course content. Two templates for designing ulwazi course sites are available.

Using Studio in ulwazi: Create, curate and share media for your course using Studio. This feature has a built-in screen capture. It has a video recorder that works with your web camera. You can insert interactive quizzes and discussions into videos. You can also auto-generate video transcripts and close captions.

Information about ulwazi for students All students are being automatically enrolled in two ulwazi courses: • •

'Learning How to Use ulwazi'' (focused on learning Canvas) 'Helping You Learn Online' (focused on general skills for online learning)

Online Orientation for first year students takes place from 1st to 5th March 2021. Ulwazi student pre-orientation video.

Please refer students to the access ulwazi web page.

Zero-Rated data to specific websites : See "No charge Wits sites" for a list of zero-rated sites per service provider. To assist and suport students with data, see Data Access for 2021.

3

Frequently Asked Questions

Access

Migration

Integration and Data

Sakai-Related

Mobile App

Canvas

Access Do I (as a lecturer) have access to ulwazi yet?

Yes, ulwazi went live on 27 January 2021. You can log in at https://ulwazi.wits.ac.za/. Your username is [your staff number]@wits.ac.za, and your password is the same password you use for your Wits email.

Migration from Sakai to ulwazi My course has already started in January so I will remain on Sakai for Block 1. Do I need to alert anyone?

Yes, you need to let ICT know so that they can make sure that your course (and student access) remains active in Sakai for block 1. Please email ulwazihelp@wits.ac.za.

What will be transferred in the migration from Sakai to ulwazi?

All the course content is transferred, e.g. files, media, readings, lessons, announcements, quiz questions, assignment instructions, and discussion topics (only the topics - no discussion posts). Student interactions (such as chats, forum posts, assignment uploads, and grades) will not be migrated.

What about all the time and effort we put in last year, and in the preceding years in creating good course sites?

Your 2020 course content from Sakai will be transferred "as is" to ulwazi so all your hard work will be copied across. You will need to do some formatting and updating because Sakai “Lessons” do not work exactly the same as ulwazi “Pages”.

4

Will we be using ulwazi in block 1 or only from block 2?

With the exception of courses that started in January 2021 or before 15 February 2021, all courses need to be on ulwazi for block 1.

Most Faculty of Health Sciences undergraduate courses and Commerce, Law and Management (CLM) Postgraduate School courses have already started. Does this mean that we will only migrate those courses to ulwazi, when the second teaching block starts?

Yes, those courses will be migrated separately and the process for that migration will be communicated.

Can you opt to not migrate the old Sakai course and develop a new course in ulwazi?

Yes, lecturers have the choice. You can choose to develop your course from scratch in ulwazi.

Does ulwazi have Gradebook, even if the existing content will not be migrated?

Yes, the Gradebook in ulwazi is very similar to Sakai (it is actually a little better).

What if my Sakai site is not automatically migrated?

Sakai sites can be manually migrated. To request this: Log a ticket via ulwazihelp@wits.ac.za or Contact your faculty online learning designer.

I have a course that was run as one course in 2020, but in 2021, it is now split into two courses. Is there a way to request a new course site, in addition to the one that is being migrated?

Contact your faculty online learning designer who will assist you.

I will be teaching a course in 2021 that a different lecturer taught in 2020. How do I ensure that I have access to the course site?

ICT will do their best to link the courses to the lecturers. If a lecturer is not able to view their course. Email ulwazihelp@wits.ac.za

Will all lecturers who teach in the same course have access to the ulwazi course site?

Yes. The automatic migration will include all lecturers for a course from Sakai to ulwazi. On ulwazi, a lecturer can grant access to other lecturers.

Integration and Data Will Gradescope, Turnitin and BigBlueButton be integrated into ulwazi?

Yes, this has already been done.

5

Sakai-Related Will students still have access to Sakai sites?

Students will still have access to Sakai if your course started before 15 February 2021. But it is vitally important that you let ICT know that this course is active on Sakai so that they don't remove access in block 1.

Will we continue to have access to Sakai for the purpose of referencing our old courses if required?

Lecturers will still have access to everything in Sakai for 2021. Thereafter the courses will be archived and Sakai will be "switched off".

In Sakai lessons, there is an option to export content via the IMS Common Cartridge (CC) format.

If I export content from a lesson in Sakai using this CC format, can I then import that content into my course in ulwazi?

Yes.

Mobile App How do I download the mobile app?

Canvas has a mobile app for android and apple devices. You can download them from the respective app stores.

Once installed, use ulwazi University of the Witwatersrand when you are asked “What is your school’s name?”.

Use the same login details as on the site by using [staffNo]@wits.ac.za and Wits password.

Which mobile app should I download?

Canvas has three mobile apps. There is one for the teacher, one for a student and one for a parent. Download the teacher app as the lecturer. (There are different features in each app with the appropriate focus.)

Canvas Support FAQs Can I link several of my course sites together if I want different cohorts of students in the same course?

Yes, Canvas has a cross-link function that works with sections, similar to the parent-child site function in Sakai.

Please email ulwazi Help or your Faculty Online Learning Designer to link your sites together. You will need to specify the course code for each course to be linked and which course is the "parent" course. This needs to be done by an administrator so SIMS integration remains intact.

https://www.instructure.com/canvas/support-faq https://community.canvaslms.com/ https://elmira.instructure.com/courses/49/pages/frequently-asked-questions

6

Support

ulwazi Help Desk

Please contact for all technical queries ulwazihelp@wits.ac.za

Centre for Learning, Teaching and Development (CLTD) Instructional Designers ID support: IDSupport.cltd@wits.ac.za

Faculty Online Learning Designers

For assistance in designing your online/blended course Humanities Renee Koch: renee.koch@wits.ac.za

CLM Greig Krull: greig.krull@wits.ac.za Fiona Macalister: fiona.macalister@wits.ac.za Myrtle Adams-Gardner: myrtle.adams-gardner@wits.ac.za

Health Sciences Paula Barnard-Ashton: paula.barnard-ashton@wits.ac.za Mark Allen: mark.allen@wits.ac.za

Science Phiwe Dlamini: phiwokuhle.dlamini@wits.ac.za

Engineering Nozuko Makhuvha: nozuko.makhuvha@wits.ac.za

7

ulwazi Faculty Administrators

Please contact if you need to create a new ulwazi site.

Humanities Renee Koch: renee.koch@wits.ac.za

CLM Fiona Macalister: fiona.macalister@wits.ac.za

Health Sciences Ann George: ann.george@wits.ac.za

Science Phiwe Dlamini: phiwokuhle.dlamini@wits.ac.za

Engineering Nozuko Makhuvha: nozuko.makhuvha@wits.ac.za