Hack Night; What do you want to work on?

[scottdennis]

Hack Night is an event where programmers, engineers, LMS admins, instructional designers, teachers and anyone else interested in hacking Canvas and Canvas courses come together to hack the APIs, course design, apps, bugs and anything else they want to work on together.  Some conversations and questions are more technical in nature than others but everyone is welcome.  This year Hack Night will happen in the same place and time as last year - Shivano/Red Cloud on Wednesday, starting at 8 PM.  The format is that anyone can suggest a topic for any conversation/table. 

Last year we had table top mini posters with suggested topics designed to be people started.  They were:

course templates

writing good course objectives

writing good rubrics (alignment)

RCE; Beyond the Basics

Fun and effective embeddable tools

Tips for large classes

Teaching in the lab w/ Canvas

What is in your onboarding course?

CSS customization to add personal style to Canvas

JavaScript tricks super charge your course

API's to speed up your daily tasks

What can I do with CSS & JavaScipt?

How could I make Canvas do X?

It seems like many people are interested in learning more about what can be accomplished with APIs.  Other people come with specific javascript questions or 'In language X, how do I get Canvas to do Y'  Another idea would be to have a Getting Started with programming station.  Canvas engineers have historically just filtered out to various round tables.  One suggestion this year was to have some of them sit at square tables that people who have technical questions can queue up in front of.

 What do you think about all of this? Do do you want to work on this year?

[James]

How could I make Canvas do X?

That one covers a lot of ground, so it gets my vote.

[scottdennis]

James,

An idea came up today to have topics that are more technology themed than Canvas component themed.  I can see where having an API generalists table would maybe be good.  Are there other specific topics you can think of?  Would 'How to Javascript' be counterproductive, for example?

[James]

 @scottdennis ,

Sorry for the delay in responding -- been running around a lot recently and only being able to write snippets here and there.

There seemed to be two major groups. The Canvas Developer type hacker who wants to spend time talking to people about how to do technical things like make API calls or figure out this one thing, whatever it is, that is the stumbling block keeping them from moving forward with their latest, greatest project. There are people who go to hack night who are not active in the Community and so you don't get to pick their brains, but a few minutes at hack night can reestablish momentum. JavaScript is one language, but there are others. People use PHP, Perl, Python, .Net, Ruby, etc. Most of the problems I saw people having were not language specific, but API questions. Maybe I was at the wrong tables, but there's lots of documentation online about how to get X programming language to do Y. There's less about how to get Canvas to do Z. Of all the things that have been mentioned, API and JavaScript would probably be the two biggest things. You'll probably have people wanting to talk about LTI and Canvas Data.

The other group were users less interested in programming than collaborating with other like-minded people to see what is going on, what they're doing to handle a certain situation, what the best practices are. This is invaluable, too.  @kona  is planning a Arc users get-together, probably on Tuesday before the conference kicks off. There's also the unconference on Friday where gasellc has said she is going to propose a data session. It sounds like she wants to meet with people at other times, not just the unconference.

Some of the second group of people that met at hack night might have met up during the unconference last year, but I heard that some people who would have liked to stay weren't able to because it wasn't on the official schedule and so they couldn't justify it to their organization. Thinking out loud, that might draw some of the people away from hack night this year and leave a more technical audience. I'm not sure about that, though, because people get so much out of this conference and they want to maximize the time they spend networking and learning, so even if you said hack night is just for Canvas developers, I think you would still have a large group come in and try to do their own thing anyway.

If that sounds like I'm covering all the bases without really saying anything, that's because it's hard to know what people want to do before they get there. You can certainly make up some table signs ahead of time, but I would also bring blank ones and a Sharpie. It's going to be interesting to see how the unconference comes together.

I loved that there are people who were aware of what was going on at the different tables and would bounce around and help direct people to tables where they might benefit. I still remember my first hack day fondly when Brian Whitmer came over, introduced himself, and led me to two guys from Texas that told me all about JavaScript and what you could do with it. It was smaller then and I don't remember any signs on the tables, but it's gotten so big that it's a necessity now. The table signs can help steer people in the right direction, but you still need those people who can put people together.

Sorry I didn't answer the question.

[scottdennis]

I think you are correct about trying to set up for both categories of people.  There is also the distinction that some people are content to network with each other and others come wanting to ask one specific question of an Instructure engineer.

[laurakgibbs]

I'm planning on eavesdropping and learning... I don't know what I don't know! 🙂

[Stef_retired]

laurakgibbs, I am definitely no coder or developer, but the eavesdropping-and-learning activities at Hack Night might just have been my absolute favorite thing! (Except for all my other favorite things at InstructureCon.)

[laurakgibbs]

You know I love EMBEDDABLE TOOLS...... 🙂

[scottdennis]

I like the embeddable tools topic, Laura, for sure.  Would you envision this more on the 'hack your course'/not as technical side of things?

[laurakgibbs]

Yes, less technical: it's a kind of "javascript for the rest of us" approach -- how you can use javascript widgets but without needing any admin privileges at all, and without even knowing how to write javascript! 🙂

[scottdennis]

I'll send a list over to the printer next Tuesday so an other additions people have between now and then would be great.

[mjennings]

I am definitely in the "How could I make Canvas do X?" particularly with JS. I always try to bring my current problems in search of solutions. I truly value the knowledge & willingness to share by the members of the community & Instructure programmers at Hack Night. 

[akinsey]

I would also include some ideas of deep diving in Canvas Data. How to make that resource easily navigable and approachable - with some technical know-how and little technical know-how? 

I greatly appreciated the API discussions I had last year, so definitely keep those.

And yes, I'm a big fan of the "How could I make Canvas do X?" question - especially in regards to JS and CSS. 

Thanks for making this happen!

[akinsey]

One more thing that I'm looking for - is there a way to hardcode into the JS or CSS for Canvas to automatically resize a box (like Quiz instructions or Assignment instructions) based on the content in the box? This falls under that "How could I make Canvas..." part, I think...

[robotcars]

Excited to see everyone at hack night!

I'm hoping to discuss:

1. Canvas Data topics like, technical/hosting difficulties and solutions, data analysis, charting for Tableau and Web
2. Using Canvas Data CLI and a wrapper to download and load all OR specific tables data to MSSQL
3. Is anyone using Hadoop for CD?
4. Code portability for sharing between Canvas Instances, resolving this Long ID's in Javascript 
5. Live Events
   1. Who's using it? How can we use this?
   2. I plan to bring some starter kit code to share for Live Events > AWS/SQS > Long Polling > MSSQL
         Brush up on or bring Ruby code to get data into your favorite DB Engine.
   3. Why I'm using it to capture daily transactions and make Canvas Data feel Live!
6. AWS/Stack solutions for high availability/on demand Canvas UI hacks (these are not LTI's)

I'm willing to discuss/share/workon:

1. Anything on JavaScript/API and hacking or customizing features in the Canvas UI
2. Ruby scripting and pulling reports from Canvas and to extend Canvas Data
3. Mixing Canvas Data and the API for faster workflows, because queries are faster than paginated responses.
4. Using Canvas Data to create a Reporting and Analytics LTI for Teachers and Schools
5. Canvas Data Queries
6. Fun things and tools:
   1. Geographically locating users
   2. Node branding utility for Sub Account JS/CSS generation
7. React & InstructureUI LTI Boilerplate for a native feel
8. What are you working on?

GitHub - robert-carroll/ccsd-canvas: Canvas LMS - Code for Customizations, Tools, Data, Analytics, a... 

[mjennings]

carroll-ccsd‌, I might want to meet up and see if you can help with a couple of JS issues I am hoping to solve. 

[robotcars]

 @mjennings ‌, we can do that!

I'm not sure how everyone handles meet ups. Maybe I'll change my community preferences to notify me for Direct Messages... also Robert Carroll (@rbtcar) | Twitter 

edit and edit again

I can't seem to get the following to work because we have to login through Canvas first, and the Jive app doesn't seem to make that possible?

https://community.canvaslms.com/user-preferences

Mobile NotificationsYou can enable mobile push notifications after logging into the Jive Mobile app. Get the app now for IOS or Android.

[James]

carroll-ccsd 

Despite that thousands of people who are there, you'll be amazed how easy it is to run into people that you know from the community without a great deal of planning and without a smart phone to coordinate things.

• You end up going to the same sessions as other people who are interested in the same thing. You sit next to someone and start up a conversation. That expands to what they've heard and who they've talked about.
• Having a realistic photo in the Community helps because then people recognize you. Being active in the Community helps immensely too because then people have seen your name and want to meet you. One note, it seemed that most people are shorter than their picture makes them out to be.
• Giving a presentation at the conference helps people find you. They come up before or afterwards to ask questions. Then they write you months later in the Community saying they saw the presentation and had a question.
• They have name badges and if you walk around paying attention to your surroundings and not having your nose stuck in your device, you see names you recognize. I ran into Glen Parker and asked about the missing data problem we had been discussing in the Community..
• You run into people by accident. Last year, late at night, we were walking to the conference center, I heard someone say "Joni" and we met   @millerjm  without any plan to do so - we just happened to be in the same space at the same time (although headed in different directions).
• Go to Hack Night where you will be able to meet other people who have similar thoughts.
• Another good thing to do is show up at the meetings before the conference begins. Last year we held the Canvas Intelligence Exchange on Tuesday morning and met a bunch of people. That photo at the top, from left to right, is of  @garth  , MLentini,  @kona , and  @kenneth_rogers  . The guy in the white shirt with the hat is Adam Williams and I'm behind him in the blue shirt. Susan "permissions" Hicks is in the background between Marc and Kona. That photo was either before or after the session, and it was much busier while it was going on.
• Visit the InstructureCon 2018 place in the Community. If you want to see discussions related to InstructureCon, click on Content. There is a thread Any Community Gatherings on Tuesday Morning where that has actionable material. The sooner you can meet people, the more time you have for that networking to benefit you. If you wait until the unconference on Friday to start meeting people, you've missed a lot of opportunities. If you need more reason to attend, Kona has written Why should YOU attend the InstructureCon 2018 Unconference? Canvas has asked that people register for the unconference so they can do some logistical planning, but I imagine people who get lit on fire during the conference can still come, even if they haven't preregistered.
• For me personally, walking near  @kona ‌ works well because she's recognizable, but she might find it a little creepy if everyone starts following her around.

[kona]

Nice advice! 

Something else I’d add is that in general everyone is super friendly at the conference, so definitely chat people up! I’ve had great conversations with random strangers I was sitting next to at a meal, conference session, or even waiting in line next to! This includes attendees and Instructure employees, who are just as friendly!

[millerjm]

 @James ‌:  Are you saying I am shorter than I look in my picture? Hope I get a chance to talk to you more than just in passing this year.   

[mjennings]

So  @James , your post made me feel so self-conscious that I changed my pic from a goofy profile pic for the "Carn" to an actual pic so people might be able to identify me easier. Can't wait to catch up with everyone!

[robotcars]

I've chosen mine to appear of average height.

[mjennings]

I think it’s pretty easy to run into folks. I started following you on Twitter. I can be found as @mjennings_uab. I’ll DM you if I can’t find you. 

[robotcars]

 @James ,

That is some great advice!

This will actually be my 4th InstructureCon. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend last year and attending this year was a challenge. I would have liked to submit a presentation had I known I would get to attend. I recently presented with SHEBENE at our own Nevada Innovations Summit and have since been working with some great people here in Nevada. I also remember how open people were to share their thoughts, progress and difficulties at #InstCon, and how I got my introduction to Python from Hack Night. I can't wait for more! I shouldn't have a problem buried in my phone, I rarely use it in general, and prefer to work on......and lately, have to remember to keep it in my pocket when I get home instead of leaving it by my wallet and keys, just so I can log more #stepsforbeth. A live game of Where's Waldo sounds like fun!

I think for me this year is mostly about an effort to give back. I recently discovered that the Bash code I was using to push CSV files into Canvas didn't come from Instructure (provided by our CSM at the time), but came from the community. It was when I replied to Custom JavaScript/CSS Changes, that I found the repo for the React Tray Link (GitHub - kajigga/canvas-contrib) was the same repository for the Bash code I have been using for 4 years. So I felt I should give some back by solving this Global Nav Menu - Custom Tray, and contributing something new with Admin Tray - Sub Account Menu.

We have also been using several of your Canvancements, for awhile in our UI hacks. Your repo for canvancement/canvas-data got me up and running so fast with Canvas Data I spent way more time working on how to use it than getting into it, and  @millerjm  discussion on the Requests Table was extremely helpful.

I would also like to level up the community collaboration and information sharing. Our department developed a Canvas LTI to feed some Canvas Data analytics back to teachers and schools. My former coworker  @aleonard , assessed that using React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces was a good solution as Canvas uses it and Canvas Data crunching can be slow. React really helps when using Canvas Data as base for transactional web applications. We would have loved to know about instructure-ui : UI libraries made by Instructure Inc. (5.19.0), but had no idea until the post Do you use InstUI? We want to hear from you!. Now, I try to peruse the Instructure, Inc. · GitHub repo more often for these treasures.

Some of the difficulties of developing these solutions on top of Canvas and it's awesome open architecture is that we are subject to the very volatile release cycle. For instance, we had just deployed some charts (via LTI) that showed grade distributions across various points in the Fall, and shortly after Canvas released deprecation warnings on two tables we used, and would soon replace them with several more, which I'm totally a fan of. More organized data anytime! However, this increases technical debt, because now we have to go back. I would like to know if anyone else has these pain points, and would they like to collaborate on ways to prevent duplication of effort and keep us developing new tools more often than redesigning them. Maybe this group is already out there, I'd like to sign up. I'm also happy to help contribute to any other projects out there.

Excited to meet up with  @stuart_ryan ‌ tonight for dinner and a chat while he spends a few days here discovering Las Vegas summers! :smileydevil:

I'll get back to you on the realistic photo and update my avatar soon, my wife and I are terrible at taking pictures! :smileyconfused:

[James]

I think for me this year is mostly about an effort to give back

Last year was my 4th and I definitely felt like I gave more than I got. It was a very good feeling to have.

I might have not gotten as much as I could out of it because I was freaking out over my presentation and didn't sit through many sessions as I stressed and prepared for it. It was going pretty well until the fire alarm went off and we had to end early. I presented on those Canvancements and kind of told the story of how I got to where I was. It was similar -- starting like I knew absolutely nothing and eventually getting to the point where I could contribute.

I also networked more last year than I had in previous years. April 2015 was when I joined the Community and so June 2015 was my first conference after that and I hadn't really established myself and was still in the doubting whether I was doing things right phase. We missed 2016 due to a pending childbirth and so 2017 was the first time in Keystone. Rooms were hard to get into unless you were there early, so I spent a lot of time hanging out around the Community tent.

[SHEBENE]

...actually he looks a lot like his bitmoji.

[robotcars]

...but my bitmoji is better looking. :smileyshocked:

[jlenrow]

Okay, here goes.  

I am not going to be in Keystone this year.  Those darn pencil pushers axed it from my budget. 

Here's what we - ALL of the faculty at Peirce College - would like.  We would like Canvas to automatically highlight, in some manner, a discussion post made by a professor.  Highlight the name, ideally, but highlight anything to draw attention to it.  I would suggest that this be across the board for all of Canvas with perhaps a switch in settings for anyone who doesn't want it. 

It's absence from Canvas is causing students to pay less attention to faculty posts asking students additional questions to keep the discussion going.

Someone already provided the answer to my request but it involves code and I don't know jack about code and our programmer (we have one at our school) is working on too many other institutional projects for this to make his to-do list.  Our previous LMS (Pearson) did this quite nicely.

Keep hydrated, everyone!

Jon

P.S.  Whoever pulls this off will get either a used Canvas pen or an unused Bb pen.  Why would I use a Bb pen?  

[Stef_retired]

Hi,  @jlenrow , Hack Night is where people will gather to develop code solutions for features or enhancements to existing features, and from your comment it sounds like you already have one that you don't plan to use. We noticed that you created a feature idea for this a few months back, and that's where this would be potentially prioritized for development by Canvas: https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/11537-highlight-professors-name-in-discussions  Hope this closes the loop!

[jlenrow]

Sorry about that.  Can't blame me for trying, I hope.  That said, if anyone else likes the idea - to have it universally available without having to apply any local code - please vote it up! 

JDL

[kona]

 @jlenrow , my no programming work around to this is that I make my posts a different color. For example I use a bright (easily visible) blue color when I post comments in the discussion. I let the students know this ahead of time and also remind them. After the first couple of discussions the students automatically know to look for the blue if they want to know what I had to say on a discussion. 

It’s not automatic, so I as the Instructor has to change the color, but honestly it’s not that big of a deal and easy to do. 

Do I win the covetted Bb pen??? 😉

Kona

[jlenrow]

Darn!  I didn't I think of that!  Why, yes, yes, you do win the pen.  Please email me your address (jlenrow@peirce.edu).  It will go out in today's mail.  There will be other prizes in the envelope. 

JDL

[kona]

Information provided and eagerly awaiting my pen... and other prizes!!! 🙂

[robotcars]

Are you creating a time capsule of artifacts? :smileygrin:

[kona]

As promised,  @jlenrow ‌ sent me the coveted Bb pen (in it's defense it really is a nice pen), as well as some nice Peirce College swag! Thanks Jon!!

[scottdennis]

OK, folks...  We'll of course have pens and stands for people to create their own table top signs but we'll also print a batch of sample signs and put them off to the side so that people can choose them for their own tables.  So far here is what I have for suggestions:

JavaScript
How to make Canvas to X with Javascript
How to make Canvas to X with CSS
All Things API
Beginning LTI
All things LTI

PHP
Perl
Python
.Net
Ruby Scripting

Canvancements
Canvas Data

OER
Accessibility
Blueprint Courses
Beginning Course Building
Instructional Design Basics
Adoption Strategies
EMBEDDABLE TOOLS

Any other ideas?

[SHEBENE]

This is looking like it's going to be a hack night and teacher/designer night is that correct? Canvas has gone back and forth on that over the years.

[scottdennis]

Hey Neal,

We have tried to make the event friendly for everybody since at least the last year we were in Park City. We'll do the same this year.  Hope to see you there. 

Thanks,

SD

[scottdennis]

And Mobile of course... and maybe Hacking 101

[scottdennis]

At risk of becoming a spam bot, here is the evolving list of sample topics:

Canvas Front End (JavaScript/CSS)
Canvas API
LTI/Integrations
Contributing to Open Source
Integrating/Hacking with Quizzes 2.0

PHP
Perl
Python
.Net
Ruby Scripting

Canvancements
Canvas Data
Mobile
Hacking 101

OER
Accessibility
Blueprint Courses
Beginning Course Building
Instructional Design Basics
Adoption Strategies
EMBEDDABLE TOOLS