Okay so we all know that there is New Elms. I feel like it is such a big deal that it should be capitalized like a proper noun. It has certainly been such a big deal for me that my mind gives it emphasis.
New Elms
New Elms
NEW ELMS!
Or as some professors call it now, Canvas. Calling it Canvas makes me think that I am Van Gogh or something, but I suppose it does make me crazy enough to want to cut off my own ear. I miss Blackboard. Life was so simple then. I never had classes disappear right when I had assignments due, and I never had a syllabus become "unavailable" randomly a week into class. I could just go see my grades all in one place. Now some professors are abandoning elms and creating different course websites, and some professors are just confusing me regularly by having me do crazy things on New Elms.
I tried one of those crazy things tonight. I did a video conference tonight on canvas.
Every Terp reading this is probably thinking, "Lunacy! Keeping Canvas interactions simple is the only way to survive!" I know. That is what I thought too. When Skype exists, I just do not really see the point for video conferencing on New Elms. But, if you really think about it, it would be the most convenient to just video conference a professor or a group straight from Canvas instead of needing to friend everyone and blah blah blah. It really is a good idea in theory.
In practice, it falls short. Tonight one of my fellows in junior English (ENGL391) practiced conferencing with me. At first I had no sound. Then I could hear him. Then he had no sound. I messed with some settings and caused the most painful feedback noise; he could hear that. I closed out of the settings, and he still could not hear me. Then suddenly, I STOPPED BEING ABLE TO HEAR HIM AGAIN.
We are going to attempt to try again this weekend, but I do not have high hopes. So far I give Canvas Conferencing an A- for the idea, but a big, fat F for follow through.
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