TOP 10 CANVAS TIPS & TRICKS
SPRING 2021 Edition
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Use Canvas to organize your course content.
Provide feedback to students in a variety of formats.
Use Canvas tools to communicate and engage students.
Use tools to help contribute to an innovative educational experience.
Organizing Content
Effective Feedback
Engaging Students
Innovative Experience
—MARIE KONDO
“Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest.”
Organizing Content
01.
Use Canvas to organize your course content.
ORGANIZING CONTENT
Present course information in an organized, thought-out format to help students achieve course goals.
Modules
Organize files into easy to access folders. This is for the instructor’s ease, not the students.
Folders
THOUGHTS ON ORGANIZATION
The more organized the course, the more accessible the content.
Consider chunking content into smaller, topic-based “bites” for student access.
Think of your course like a room - how do you want students to “sit” with your course?
If you are not using the content, neither are your students. Remove it before confusion.
Organize for your students. They will live your course.
THINK OF WHAT TO KEEP, NOT WHAT TO THROW AWAY
Engaging Students
02.
Use Canvas tools to communicate and engage students.
Engaging Students
Humans crave connection. While you cannot fulfill all of this need, you can offer opportunities.
Use Canvas tools to promote engagement-both between students and between the instructor.
Engaging students online is similar to in-class engagement.
CANVAS TOOLS FOR ENGAGEMENT
Announcements
Announcements are for “whole class” messages, and are sent to all students.
Discussions
Discussions allow interactive conversations among students and instructors.
Conversations
Inbox messages can be sent to individual or groups of students with important course information.
Message Students Who
Send targeted messages to students based on specific assignments or course participation.
HOW TO ENGAGE ONLINE
Tell students the preferred Notification Settings for your course.
Model engagement in discussions and by responding to student messages.
Consider sending targeted messages, both to encourage and remind students.
Ensure that discussion prompts promote actual conversation rather than an assignment.
Engage students how you want to be engaged.
Effective Feedback
03.
Provide feedback to students in a variety of formats.
PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK
Effective feedback comes from two things:
Consider feedback as part of a conversation about the student’s work:
SUBMISSION COMMENTS
RUBRICS
Clear assignment expectations keep students on target for their work.�Rubrics can be used to speed grading in the Speedgrader and tie to Outcomes.
Useful, if students have notification settings to see them!�Provide direct comments to the assignment for students to see.
Innovative Experience
04.
Use tools to help contribute to an innovative educational experience.
INNOVATIVE TOOLS FOR STUDENTS
STUDIO QUIZ
Create quizzes to embed in videos to keep students engaged.
STUDIO
INNOVATION
Create short videos to share course content with students, or import from YouTube!
Tools for innovation are just that -- tools.
Remember the fuel for course experience comes from you, the instructor!
Use Google Tools to engage students in collaborative exercises
COLLABORATIONS
Connect Google to your Canvas course and set up students to work together.
16-DAY CHALLENGE
Think about your courses. What is ONE thing you can adjust each day for the next 16 days to improve it? How can you adjust one thing to increase student engagement or experience in your course?
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STUDENT EXPERIENCE
is built on the bridge between engaging course content and instructor presence. Use the tools you have to create the best experience possible.
And don’t forget, the most important tool that you use in your course is YOU!