Pssst! Want a quick way to add some visual interest to your Canvas pages? Don’t let a little HTML code scare you! There’s no reason why you can’t have beautiful callout boxes in your course. In this episode of Byte-sized, I walk you through the steps (it’s simpler than you may think).
Here's a handy cheatsheet with the HTML coding snippets you need for each of the four callout boxes.
Ever been confused by all the options and symbols in the Canvas Gradebook? Well, you’re not alone! In this episode, we’ll zero in on the little dash that shows up in ungraded assignments. Knowing how to deal with it properly will mean you’re headache-free when it’s time to turn in your grades at semester’s end.
Your Home page is a special place in your course. It’s the virtual “first impression” you’re making with students (and remember what Mother said about the importance of first impressions!). In this Byte-sized episode, we’ll look at the many functions of a Home page and offer some examples for you to model.
Want to become a Canvas ninja like me <wink, wink>? Here are four fast and furious little Canvas tricks that will leave you gasping for breath as you exclaim, “I did not know that!”
[Tip topics in this episode: Speedgrader comments, viewing Groups area, displaying announcements, undelete]Know any great best-kept-secret Canvas tricks? Do tell! (And maybe I'll use it in a future "I Did Not Know That" episode.)
Many students are brand new to Canvas or, even if they’ve been using it awhile, just don’t know it very well. You can decrease their floundering and frustration (and make your life easier) by giving students some basic guidance as part of your course design. In this episode, we look at four simple things you can do to keep students from getting sidelined by inexperience with Canvas.
BONUS: I created a "Canvas Tips for Students" cheatsheet you can share with your students. It's currently in a barebones, accessible Word format--I suggest you download and customize it for your class and then add it to a page in your course.
Providing content in multimedia formats (video, audio, images, infographics) is a powerful way to engage your students and appeal to multiple learning preferences. Combining your free 3CMedia account (courtesy of the Chancellor’s Office) with Canvas tools makes it super easy to add video and audio content into your courses.
This Byte-sized Canvas episode is a little longer than usual but there’s so much to share with you on the topic, I didn’t want to leave anything out!
[Updated April 2022.]
Hate getting messages from students about broken links in your course? With Canvas’ link validator tool, you can verify what’s working and what’s not before you publish your course each term. It’s a great way to save time now and headaches later. Very nifty!
Ever get the sense students are jumping straight into quizzes and assignments without first taking the time to read or watch your carefully designed content? This Byte-sized session explores an often-overlooked way to use modules to easily guide students along the learning path you want them to follow.
Announcements are an important tool in promoting regular and effective contact in an online course. But if students aren't reading your announcements, the time and effort you put into them is to no avail! In this edition of Byte-sized Canvas, we'll talk about one strategy to make sure your announcements are getting read.
Regular and effective contact is such hot topic these days, isn’t it?
Canvas’s Announcements tool not only lets you send out fully customized class messages, but stores your communications in an easy-to-retrieve archive list. Using Announcements also supports quality course design by aligning with a number of OEI Course Design Rubric criteria. It's also a great way to create the connection that keeps students engaged and on track. What's not to love?
Let's explore the power of Announcements (in under 4 minutes!).
Not all online courses look the same. That may seem a rather obvious point but it’s one that instructors may not realize regularly presents a barrier to learning for their students.
The Syllabus is over here in one course, and over there in another. The Home page may tell the student how to get started or it may be a Spartan declaration of the instructor’s contact info, the textbook title and nothing more (in some cases, there may be no Home page at all). The discussions in this course are part of the modules, but in that course, they’re accessed through a separate link in the navigation.
The differences aren’t inherently wrong but all this variety can translate to “I’m lost!” for our students.
And when a student is lost, they’re not learning.
There’s a great web usability book entitled, Don’t Make Me Think. Author Steve Krug’s main point is that “when you’re creating a website, your job is to get rid of the question marks.” In other words, make what your web visitor should do so obvious they won’t get distracted by having to think about it (otherwise they’re likely to leave). This principle holds true when creating an online course. Students are more likely to interact with and be successful in a well-designed, intuitive course.
In the 1980s, John Sweller’s research pointed out that extraneous cognitive load (the amount of mental energy expended to deal with non-essential information) can be reduced by good course design. While we don’t want our students to stop thinking entirely ;-), we do want all their thinking powers directed at absorbing our wonderful content, not on figuring out where to find the discussions or how to submit their assignment.
In the spirit of “don’t make me think,” here are five easy-to-implement sign posts that will guide your students to success in your course.
Before publishing your course this coming semester, it’s a great idea to take yourself through it with the eyes of a student who’s unfamiliar with both your topic and with Canvas. Better yet, ask a friend or colleague (or even some Joe off the street) who knows next to nothing about your content to spend 10-15 minutes exploring your course as if it’s their first day of class. Then “interview” them:
I say, “Vive la différence!” when it comes to instructional methods. Variety is the spice of life and, arguably, the essence of a well-rounded education. (It also makes your job more fun!) But save your creativity for your content, not your course structure. It’ll free up your students’ time for learning.
Let’s start with the $6-million-dollar question: with so many other teaching tasks calling for your attention, why take the time to write a great rubric? (Because, while anyone can dash off a mediocre, not-very-useful rubric, it does take time to write a good one.)
Here’s why. A well-constructed rubric is a powerful communication tool that will result in a clear, measurable preparation process for students and a time efficient, consistent grading process for you. That means less time grading, fewer questions or complaints, and improved student performance in meeting your assignment standards and learning objectives.
What’s not to love?!
Canvas’s rubric tool makes using rubrics simple, easy and (dare I say it?) fun. There are three parts to the Canvas rubric grid:
Criteria are best determined by considering which learning outcomes are being assessed. What, exactly, do you want to grade for this assignment? Use these guiding questions to help identify your criteria:
Ratings, or descriptors, detail the measurable evidence that the student has achieved your criteria—or not. “Knowing” and “understanding” aren’t easily measured. Instead, describe the evidence students can provide that shows they’ve accomplished what you’d hoped they would. Think of this as the feedback portion of your rubric. What are the highest expectations you have for student performance on this assignment? What is the worst execution of this assignment you can imagine?
Points are pretty self-explanatory. It’s a good idea to weight criteria appropriately. For example, is “few grammatical/spelling errors” really worth the same as “clarity and originality of thought”? Points should reflect the effort being asked of the student.
Here are a few example rubrics from several institutions. Some are better than others, but you’ll get a sense of the structure, variety and languaging.
Rubrics are an assessment tool, a means to improve learning and a communication tool all wrapped up in one neat little package. When done well, they can be an asset to both you and your students!