NUIT Tech Talk:Building on Canvas

October 8, 2015

Vicky GetisManager, Faculty Support Services

Northwestern Information Technology

Canvas is Here!

• Approximately 2,000 course sites are active for Fall 2015

• Site provided for every course

• Custom sites can be requested

• Multi-section sites

• Pilot: Canvas sites for student advising

Canvas Basics

• Post content in Modules or using Pages

• Assignments with due dates are auto-populated to the course Syllabus

• Use the Discussion tool

• Grade with Speedgrader

• Need more help? Sign up for an Introduction to Canvas workshop

Demonstration Agenda

• Course Design

• Dressing Up the Syllabus

• Increasing Student Interaction

• Audio and video feedback

• Turnitin

• Explore Apps

Beyond the Basics: Course Design

• Add images

• A simple and engaging image onthe homepage helps students identify the course; the only otherelement on the home page is a link to a PDF of the syllabus

• Images add interest, illustrate a point, and help students remember information

Beyond the Basics: Course Design

• Use text headers

• Text headers allow instructors to organize material into sub-units

Beyond the Basics: Course Design

• Design for mobile

• Pages are the preferred format for content because they automatically resize for mobile devices; PDFs and Word Docs are harder to read on mobile devices

Beyond the Basics: Course Design

• Add multimedia

• Multimedia allows you to:

– Demonstrate a difficult point or solve a problem

– Give feedback to students in your own voice

Beyond the Basics:Dressing Up the Syllabus

• Add a printable PDF of the syllabus to the home or syllabus page

Beyond the Basics:Dressing Up the Syllabus

• Use dynamic (and cool) syllabus designs

Beyond the Basics:Increasing Student Interaction

• A few Discussion tips:– Occasionally ask students to end posts with a question;

this makes it easier for other students to reply and helps focus responses

– Encourage a rich conversation by having students respond to instructor posts with questions about the topic

– Use pre-class posts to encourage students to engage with the content before they attend lecture; instructors can share points from the online discussion in class

• For more great ideas, visit the Canvas Learning Center

Beyond the Basics:Increasing Student Interaction

• Record audio or video in the Discussion tool to extend student composition techniques

Beyond the Basics:Increasing Student Interaction

• Foster collaboration in Collaborations to enable group project work

Beyond the Basics: Increasing Student Interaction

• Incorporate Twitter

• Create a hashtag for your class, then embed Twitter on a page

• This example from an Astronomy class gave students a new way to engage:

Beyond the Basics: Increasing Student Interaction

• Incorporate YellowDig to provide another discussion/social media option for interaction

Beyond the Basics:Increasing Student Interaction

• Coming soon! Incorporate web conferences within Canvas

Beyond the Basics: Audio and Video Feedback

• Best practices for using audio and video in grading

– Be yourself

– Find a quiet spot

– Test sound quality

– Speak as though the student were sitting across the table

• How to leave feedback for students

Beyond the Basics: Turnitin

• Plagiarism checker Turnitin is linked to Canvas at Northwestern

• Create a new assignment with Turnitin

• Viewing the originality score

• Interpreting the originality report

Beyond the Basics: Explore Apps

• The app center has 30 to 40 learning apps (LTIs) you can incorporate in your Canvas course site

• How to get help with apps

• How to request an app

Building on Canvas: Have a Question?

• Support information: Get help from Canvas or Northwestern

• Training: Attend an overview or a more advanced session in Evanston, Chicago, or online

• Additional resources:

– Canvas Learning Center

– Canvas Student Center

– Canvas Guides