Information Technology

In the event of a campus closure due to weather, or some other emergency, such as COVID-19, Academic Technology has curated the resources below for students to assist them in continuing their coursework remotely. It is recommended to review computer and browser specifications for Canvas.

• Activate your Office 365 Account for Canvas Access

  All students must activate their Office 365 account first in order to access their Canvas courses. Students sign in to Canvas with their Office 365 credentials. This is the same login information used to access Office 365. 

  Please note: If you were an incoming student as of Spring 2022 you will login using your lastname(00)@colum.edu. If you were a student prior to Spring 2022 you will login using your MyColumbiaID@colum.edu. 
  
  Example: 
  
  Username: MyColumbiaID@colum.edu or Lastname(00)@colum.edu 
  
  Password: Office 365 Password 

  Click here for step by step instructions to access your Office 365 email account.

  If you haven’t already, activate your Office 365 account by following these instructions or watching this video. If you need help, please contact Technology Support at 312-369-7001 or technologysupport@colum.edu.
   
  Note: you will also use your Office 365 username and password to check your email and for other learning-at-home apps, such as Zoom and Adobe Creative Cloud.  
   
  Please note: The college sends important updates to your Office 365 email. Please check your @colum.edu email regularly to receive important college updates. Note: With the switch to Office 365 during the Fall 2019 semester, the college no longer sends communications to loopmail, the former email address that ended in @loop.colum.edu. 

• Download the Canvas Student Application on Mobile Devices
  In addition to working on Canvas through laptop and desktop computers, it is encouraged to download the Canvas Student Application from a mobile device to provide access to courses remotely. Students can communicate with their instructors, submit assignments, post to discussion forums, view course content, and check their grades from the app. Students can also receive help for Canvas through Canvas Support, which is available 24/7 through the help icon within Canvas. Academic Technology may also be reached for assistance at canvaslms@colum.edu.
• Receive Communications from Instructors

  Canvas offers multiple channels to for students and instructors to communicate. Instructors may use announcements to post important updates or course information. The Canvas Inbox tool may also be used by an instructor to send students messages. Students may also use this tool to reach their instructors or fellow classmates.  All Canvas courses have a built-in chat tool that will allow students to chat with their whole class and instructors. Please note that chats cannot be limited to specific students and that all students can also access the chat history. 

  Students should check their notification preferences to ensure that they receive course announcements and messages to their email address. 

  Microsoft Teams can also be used to video chat with instructors and fellow students. Microsoft Teams is available within your Office 365 account with the college. To learn more about Teams, you may view a Teams training page as well as a LinkedIn Learning course. 

• Submit Assignments and Discussions
  Instructors may use discussion forums as a way for the class to interact with each other and submit work on Canvas. Course Assignments may also be submitted online through Canvas. 
• Canvas Groups

  Canvas has a “Groups” feature available within each course. Instructors may assign students to a group within their course. Groups allows students a space to share files and resources, communicate through announcements, hold discussions, collaborate on documents, and video conference together through Conferences amongst fellow group members. Students may also be submitting assignments as a group or holding group discussions. When submitting group assignments, it is important to know that only one member of the group will need to submit work to the assignment. All students within a given group will share a submission for the group assignment.  

  Please also see: 

  • Accessing your group page
  • Uploading a file to a group
  • Creating a discussions in a group
  • Video conferencing with group members 
  • Collaborating on Office 365 documents with group members 
• Access Conferences and Lecture Recordings

  Columbia College Chicago has made Zoom Pro accounts available to all faculty, staff, and students.  

  Zoom is a video communications tool that allows you to host video conference calls with your students, fellow staff members, and classmates. Features such as screen sharing, white boards, polling, chat, and captioning make Zoom a robust choice for remote communication, collaboration, and online lecture delivery. Zoom is also integrated within each Canvas course, which allows for instructors to schedule meetings directly from their Canvas courses for students to join. 

  Signing in to Zoom: You may sign into your Zoom account by clicking on the Zoom link within your Office 365 all applications list, or at https://colum.zoom.us with the same username and password used to access your Office 365 account.  

  Creating meetings with Zoom: A help guide has been created to show all users how to create meetings through Zoom. 

  Zoom in Canvas: Meeting links to video conferences that are scheduled through Canvas are provided to students through the Canvas calendar and messaging tools. Students may view this help guide to show them how to join Zoom meetings from their Canvas courses.  

  Zoom FAQs:
  

  • Zoom Cheat Sheet
    
  • How do I schedule Zoom Meetings?
  • How do students join Zoom Meetings scheduled in Canvas?
  • How do I share my screen within a Zoom Meeting?
    • Use these instructions to share presentations and documents
      
  • How do I use the Whiteboard feature in a meeting?
  • How do I record my meetings?
  • How do I manage meeting settings and attendees?
  • How do I access my Columbia College Zoom account if I previously had a basic Zoom account?
  • Host and co-host controls
  • Closed captioning Zoom meetings
  • Managing Breakout Rooms
  • Download the latest version of Zoom
  • How do I spotlight a participant?
  • Changing your video layout during a meeting

  Assistance with Zoom: If you need login assistance, call 312.369.7001, or email technologysupport@colum.edu Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.  

  Instructors may also use the Conferences tool within a Canvas course to hold live video conferences with their class. Conferences allows participants to share webcams, chat with attendees, and share screens. Conferences can be recorded and viewed for a 14-day period.  

  Lectures may also be recorded and posted to a Canvas class through Panopto. Students can refer to their course’s modules to see if an Instructor has made a lecture video available through Panopto.

  Microsoft Teams can also be used to video conference with instructors and fellow students. Microsoft Teams is available within your Office 365 account with the college. To learn more about Teams, you may view a Teams training page as well as a LinkedIn Learning course. 

For technical support, call 312.369.7001, or email technologysupport@colum.edu Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For support with Chromebooks, Zoom, VDI, and other academic applications and hardware issues please submit a ticket through Team Dynamix.

Or you can search the Team Dynamix Knowledge Base.