Preparing for Next Quarter

Here’s a helpful list of resources and items to consider as you prepare your courses for the next quarter. If at any point you need help with Canvas, send us a message at canvas@northwestern.edu and a member of the Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT) team will be in touch.

Complete the Current Quarter

Submit Grades to CAESAR

GRADES FOR WINTER QUARTER 2025 ARE DUE MONDAY, MARCH 24 @ 3 P.M. CST

The Teaching & Learning Technologies team has created a quick guide to help you navigate the Canvas gradebook. In addition, Canvas Support also has helpful guides on adding and editing grades Links to an external site. as well as how to access SpeedGrader from the gradebook Links to an external site..

Instead of manually entering each grade individually in CAESAR, you also have the option to enable GradeSync in your course which will automatically send your final grades to CAESAR with the push of a button. It can be used more than once throughout the grading period, allowing you to submit grades in batches or to adjust as you go. CAESAR will always reflect the most recent GradeSync submission.

>> HOW TO USE GRADESYNC

Delete or Move Old Zoom Recordings

If you recorded lectures in Zoom during the quarter in which students are not present, it is recommended that you move the recordings to Panopto, Northwestern IT’s lecture capture and video content management service, to avoid automatic deletion. Directions for this can be accessed below.

Which recordings should you save? Any asynchronous lectures recorded and shared through Zoom (including in Canvas courses).
Which recordings should be deleted? Synchronous class sessions or recordings where students are present. These recordings should be deleted from Zoom at the conclusion of every term in accordance with guidelines from the Office of the Provost.

In addition, if you are copying a previous course into your new Canvas course, calendar links to previous Zoom meetings will appear on your Syllabus page once the course is published. The directions below will show you how to delete these past Zoom events from your current Syllabus page.

>> MOVE ZOOM RECORDINGS TO PANOPTO

>> REMOVE OLD ZOOM MEETINGS FROM IMPORTED COURSE CONTENT

Prepare for Next Quarter

Set Up Your Canvas Courses

Now that course sites for the upcoming term are available in Canvas, put in your requests for multi-section course combines or custom course sites as soon as possible.

>> COURSE COMBINE REQUEST FORM

>> CUSTOM COURSE SITE REQUEST FORM

When setting up your new course site, it’s easy to pull content from previous courses you’ve taught. You can import course content Links to an external site., from a single item, such as a specific quiz or assignment, up to an entire course’s content. If you find you need extra space for your files, you can also ask the Canvas Support Chatbot to increase the storage limit for your course.

A few additional things you can do now include:

Review recommended syllabus language from the Office of the Registrar.
Utilize NU Worldwide to easily see which of your students are in different time zones and NameCoach to make sure you are correctly pronouncing student names.
Consider how you provide feedback to your students in Canvas and maximize the tools available to you.
Set up a Manual Posting Policy in your Canvas gradebook to control when grades and comments are released to students.

Install a Learning App in Your Canvas Course

Wondering what other educational software is available for you to use in Canvas? A tab for Northwestern Learning Apps can now be found within every Canvas course. It contains a listing of all available options, with descriptions and directions to install. Most of the apps only require one click on the INSTALL NOW button to install in each course

Request a Canvas course site for your Discussion, Lab, and Independent Study Sections

Canvas courses are no longer automatically generated for sections designated in CAESAR as being discussion, independent study, or lab. However, we are happy to create Canvas courses for any such course or section where they will be needed.

To request a Canvas course for a discussion, lab, or independent study section, please complete the Canvas Course Request for Existing CAESAR Section form.

Faculty, TAs, or department administrators may submit this form. If you are submitting the form for all discussion sections of a given lecture course, you may submit one form for the entire course and indicate on the form that all discussion sections for the course should have Canvas courses generated. Alternatively, you can email your request(s) to canvas@northwestern.edu.

Improve the Accessibility of Your Course Sites

The Canvas Accessibility Project is an ongoing initiative to increase the accessibility of all Northwestern Canvas courses. Accessibility in the digital classroom is the responsibility of everyone creating or managing Canvas courses. Northwestern has established a digital accessibility policy to ensure that all online materials are accessible.

What you need to know:

We’ve identified seven core Canvas accessibility skills that we are focusing on for improvement. These seven areas were chosen because updates to them are quick, relatively easy, and have a high impact on the student experience.
You can utilize the Pope Tech Accessibility Guide to make sure your course content is accessible to students.
To walk you through improving these seven core skills and to provide a way to track your progress, we’re asking you to participate in an iterative challenge called Mission: Accessible.
To help get you started we’ve enabled Canvas Commons and populated it with accessible course templates–both full course templates and templates that focus on specific course elements like the syllabus page–that you can easily import into your courses.

Review the On-Demand Training Sites

Teaching & Learning Technologies provides on-demand training sites that match four of our core live workshops. Access the training sites via the links below for the information you need to navigate Canvas, Zoom, and Panopto with confidence:

>> INTRODUCTION TO CANVAS

>> PANOPTO

>> GRADING, ASSIGNMENTS, & QUIZZES IN CANVAS

>> INTRODUCTION TO ZOOM FOR INSTRUCTORS

Check if Your Assigned Classroom is Set Up for Lecture Capture

The General Purpose Classroom Directory page on the Office of the Registrar website is a helpful resource that can quickly tell you whether the room is enabled for lecture capture or if the equipment needs to be brought in to enable it. Use the drop-down menus to find the room and look for “Lecture Capture” in the Features column.

Not seeing “Lecture Capture” listed as a feature of your room?

You can work with the Registrar or your department administrator to request that your class be moved to a room equipped for lecture capture if you plan to record regularly. If you will record occasionally, ask that a mobile Zoom cart be brought to your classroom.

Assigned to a lecture capture-enabled room and know in advance you want to make a recording?

Contact Northwestern IT’s Media and Technology Innovation group to schedule the Panopto lecture capture system in the room to make a recording and place it into the Panopto folder of your choice. Please note that at least three days advance notice is required for this service.

>> REQUEST LECTURE CAPTURE SERVICE Links to an external site.

You can also request an orientation for any lecture capture-enabled room to help familiarize you with the technology and build your confidence in advance of a recording.

>> REQUEST ORIENTATION Links to an external site.

Need help with Canvas? Send us a message at canvas@northwestern.edu and a member of the Teaching & Learning Technologies team will be in touch. If you need assistance outside of university business hours, Canvas Support through Instructure (the company behind Canvas) is available 24/7 via the live chat Links to an external site. located in the Help section of the left-hand navigation bar in Canvas or through the toll-free helpline at 1-833-879-0860.