August 2025 Ed Tech Newsletter
As we begin the new semester, here are some important reminders and updates to help you get off to a smooth start. While this email covers key points, remember that I’m available for individual consultations on any educational technology tools you’re interested in using. Whether it’s Canvas, generative AI, virtual whiteboarding, or other tools we support, I’m here to help you by using technology to enhance, not hinder, your teaching practices. Feel free to reply to this email if you would like to learn more about the technologies available to you.
Panopto Lecture Capture Reminders
Panopto is our media management platform here at Boston College. It allows you to easily create or upload recordings of lectures or presentations, including audio, video, and screen content, which can then be shared with your students via Canvas.
If your course is scheduled in a room equipped with lecture capture, and you would like to make your lectures available via Panopto, please use the form below to schedule one-off or semester-long recordings for your courses.
- Schedule Recordings: You can submit your requests through the Lecture Capture Request Form.
- One-Off Events: For special events or recordings outside of regularly scheduled courses, please contact Newton MTS, mtsnewt@bc.edu, for assistance.
- Need Help? If you are unsure about the scheduling process or have questions about Panopto, please reach out to ATR for support.
Key Reminders:
- Opt-In Required: Lecture capture is an opt-in service; recordings are not scheduled automatically.
- Processing Time: Please allow 24-48 hours for your scheduling requests to be processed.
- Publishing Videos: By default, recordings are hidden from students. You must publish them in your Canvas course site for students to view them.
For comprehensive details on scheduling, managing permissions, and publishing your videos, please review our guide to lecture capture at BC Law.
Namecoach is Back!
This semester, we are moving back to Namecoach for student profile information, including name recordings, phonetic spelling, preferred names, and pronouns. Faculty can find a link to their course’s Namecoach roster in Canvas. A module titled “Namecoach Fall 2025” will be rolling out this week containing a direct link.
For Previous Namecoach Users
If you used Namecoach before our transition to seatGEN, your account is still active.
- Find Your Roster: Look for the Namecoach module in your Canvas courses. You can publish this module to make it available to students.
- Edit Your Profile: To edit your own name pronunciation, please go directly to name-coach.com. You can use your original invite link to log in automatically.
- No Invite Link? If you cannot find your original invite, you can use the password reset option with your BC email (username@bc.edu) to access your account.
For New Users
If you are new to Namecoach, please fill out this form to request an account. You can read more about the roots of the initiative here if you’re interested.
Canvas Quickstart Guide
For those making final preparations to their Canvas sites, our Canvas Quick-Start Guide on the BC Law Ed Tech Blog provides a great overview. Generally, you will follow these steps to get your course ready for the semester:
- Prepare the new semester’s Canvas site.
- If you’ve taught the course before, you’ll start by importing previous course materials.
- If this is a new course, you can start from scratch or use one of the premade Law School Templates.
- Update the syllabus page to include the current semester’s information.
- Make any necessary updates to other course materials or assignments.
- Publish all content you want your students to see.
- Finally, publish your course to make it available to students.
new to Namecoach, please fill out this form to request an account. You can read more about the roots of the initiative here if you’re interested.
Communicating With Your Students
You have a couple of options for sending messages to your entire class roster.
Emailing Your Entire Class
ITS creates and maintains Campus Group email lists for all courses. This is a straightforward way to send an email to all enrolled students. You can review the documentation on how to use Campus Groups here.
Using Canvas Announcements
As an alternative to email, you can use the Announcements tool in Canvas. The added benefit is that an announcement automatically sends an email to all students and posts a notice at the top of your course’s Canvas homepage.
- Learn how to add an announcement in your course.
- If you plan to post frequently, you may want to limit the number of recent announcements that appear on your homepage to keep it tidy. A good starting point is 2-3.
Questions about the newsletter or need help with Canvas setup? Reach out to Kyle Fidalgo, Academic Technologist, BC Law Library, at kyle.fidalgo@bc.edu.