Connection High School Online Disclosure Please be sure to also read the Connection High FAQ located on our school s website Learning Management System (LMS) - Canvas Our Learning Management System (the system that we use to deliver online content) is called Canvas. This is a common, online, learning platform that is used by many K-12 schools as well as nearly all colleges & universities in Utah. Getting Started with Canvas Many Granite School District students are already familiar with Canvas from their home school s face to face courses. However, that is not the case for all students. A detailed quickstart guide can be found here: http://guides.instructure.com/m/8470 Setting Your Preferences in Canvas Be sure to take time to set your notification preferences in Canvas. The tutorial on how to do this is in the quickstart guide or can be found here: http://guides.instructure.com/s/2204/m/8470/l/73162-how-do-iset-my-notification-preferences Contacting the Instructor Communication between student and instructor is vital to online learning success. The instructor should always be the first contact when there is a question about the course. Teachers can be emailed through the student s Inbox within Canvas. This is located on the top right side of the screen. They may also be reached through Granite District email. Remember your rules of netiquette when communicating with instructors. Attendance Students are expected to check their courses every other day, just as they would during a block schedule in school. If a student doesn t regularly log in and complete work for an entire term they will be dropped from the course at the end of the term. If a student is dropped from a course they can reregister for the class at the beginning of the next term with the help of their home school counselor. Assignments Students are expected to complete assigned work to the best of their ability. Grades are based on the quality and accuracy of submitted work. It is important that students check the information in each course for current grading and assignment criteria. For example, some instructors may require that students earn at least 70% on a quiz before the next assignment will be unlocked. Some instructors will allow students to re-submit assignments for a higher score while others will not. It is very important to read all of the information provided by the instructor in order to complete the assigned work correctly.
Accepted File Formats The Canvas system works best with certain file types. If work is submitted in anything other than these file formats, it will not be graded. Please submit work in one of these following formats: Word documents:.doc or.docx files Adobe documents:.pdf Presentation Files:.ppt or.pptx Media Files:.jpg (picture),.mpg3 or 4,.mpeg3 or 4 (audio or video) Google docs: As long as you share it correctly. These files cannot be opened by instructors: Cloud files you have hosted in Amazon, itunes etc. iworks files that save as.pages files. Adobe.pdf files will always load in Canvas. To do this in Word, Click File, and Save As. The box to name and select where you want your work saved pops up. At the bottom you will see Save as Type, click on the drop down menu and select PDF. Web Browser It is important to note that web browsers (and versions of each web browser) can effect user experience when doing anything on the Internet. If you are having difficulty with something in Canvas it is worth trying a different browser. Mozilla Firefox is generally the web browser that works best with Canvas. Get the free download here: http://www.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/new/ Grades Students will receive the grade they have earned when they complete all work and pass the final exam for each term. The grade & credit will be posted on their transcript and will effect GPA. If a student does not complete a course that is required for graduation, they will be deficient in credit. Teachers will keep grades updated in Canvas and will post summary grades to students transcripts. Students and parents can view scores of individual assignments through the Canvas course Grades button located on the left hand side of a course page. Online course grades cannot be monitored using Granite District Gradebook located in the parent/student portal. Course Due Dates Each assignment has a due date. Students may or may not be marked late on assignments depending on the instructor. In some courses all assignments need to be completed by the end of the term before the student can take the proctored final. Also, some instructors will lock assignments after a certain time. If a student stays close to the due dates when completing assignments they will be right on track to complete the course by the due date. Students must carefully read the instructors information as the due dates and deadlines are well-defined in each course. During the school year - the teacher will set a last day to complete coursework for a date in the middle of April (see course for exact date). During the summer - the teacher will set a last day to complete coursework for a date one week prior to the start of fall term (see course for exact date).
Dropping a Course Students may drop a course at time before the term ends. To drop an online course during the school year contact your home school counselor. To drop an online course during the summer, contact Granite Connection High School Offices at 385-646-5435. If a student does not regularly log in and complete work for an entire term they will be automatically dropped from the course at the end of the term. If a student is dropped from a course they can re-register for the class at the beginning of the next term with the help of their home school counselor Final Proctored Exam Students will be required to pass (at least 70%) a final proctored exam to earn credit in each course. A proctor is a person who watches over a student during an examination. These proctored exams are taken in person at Granite Connection High School (501 E. 3900 S.). Final proctored exam scores do NOT impact students final letter grades. Students will receive the grade that they earn through assignments, projects, quizzes, etc. in Canvas. Passing the final proctored exam will unlock the grade for the student. Final proctored exams may only be taken one time and should be taken very seriously. This exam is our way of ensuring it was the student who completed the coursework. To schedule your final proctored exam, students need to call the school at 385-646-5435 or sign up online through the Canvas course. Students must make an appointment in advance and have a photo ID to take the exam. Please see the cartoon below. Proctored Exam Due Dates Online courses taken during the school year the teacher for each course will set the last day to take the proctored final. This will be a date in the middle of May (see course for exact date). Online courses taken during summer the teacher for each course will set the last day to take the proctored final. This will be a date during the first week of fall term (see course for exact date). Observing a Course Parents and counselors can view their students courses as observers, which means they can see how their student is doing in each of their courses. Parents or counselors interested in this option following the steps on this page: http://guides.instructure.com/m/4144/l/73163-how-do-i-sign-up-for-a-canvas-account-as-aparent Cheating/Plagiarism Cheating or plagiarism on a test or assignment will result in an F for that work and possibly the entire course. Cheating includes using any information from the course while taking the final proctored exam, using someone else s work and turning it in as your own, or letting parents or others do your coursework for you. Plagiarism is copying anyone s words and submitting them as your own. Do not copy information from anywhere, word for word, unless it is credited to the author in your work. Do not copy and paste information from the web into your assignment. Even paraphrasing without the author s consent is considered plagiarism. Your teachers will be checking your work for plagiarism.
Internet Etiquette = Netiquette Sometimes people are willing to do and say things over the internet that they know they wouldn t or shouldn t do in person. Please keep netiquette rules in mind when interacting in a class. Check your spellings Avoid all CAPS Avoid personal insults Don t lie Avoid writing lengthy responses Respect others privacy No slang Avoid spamming Stick to the topic Never give your user ID or password to anyone