myCourses unavailable on Friday, July 26, from midnight to 5pm during system upgrade

The myCourses system will be completely unavailable due to a system upgrade on Friday, July 26, 2013 from midnight to 5:00 PM.

For instructors using myCourses this summer, please ensure you do not schedule any assignments or quizzes for your students to complete for that day.

What does the upgrade mean for instructors and students?

The upgrade will bring an updated interface, as well as multiple improvements and new features that instructors and students have requested. These include the ability to allow students to submit assignments late and permitting “drag and drop” uploading functionality. A comprehensive list of changes and improvements to the system is available on the LMS website.

When can instructors begin accessing Fall 2013 course shells?

Following the upgrade, course shells for all Fall 2013 courses, including cross-listed ones, will be available on Monday, July 29. We fully understand the burden the late release of these courses places on some instructors. However, providing you with course shells in the current version would require more work on your part post upgrade, and some new elements would not get transferred.

On-going support for instructors and students

Special weekend support on July 27 and 28 – Support services will be available during the first weekend following the upgrade. Instructors and students who need help should submit this web form or send an email to ITsupport [at] mcgill.ca.

Workshop or webinar on demand – Training for instructors covers the essentials you need to know to adapt to the new interface and learn about new tool options. If you would like to schedule a session for your unit/department, please send a request to ITsupport [at] mcgill.ca. Sessions can be scheduled as early as July 22, 2013.

Video overview – A short video introduction to the new interface and new tool options will be available soon. Look for this link and all updates on myCourses on the LMS website. 

Additional videos are in development and the IT Knowledge Base articles are being revised. All the training materials will be online the week prior to the upgrade. Finally, a new feature in this new version is that you will be able to access contextual help from within the myCourses tools.

As always, your questions are welcomed at ITsupport [at] mcgill.ca