Tech Thursday: Canvas Round-Up
Explore some fun Canvas functions to simplify organizing and running the online components of your course.
If you work on a Canvas campus, you probably can understand why Canvas is increasingly popular - more than 40% of the market, by enrollment.
Canvas offers a wealth of online resources, but I have always found that simply chatting with the Canvas help desk was the easiest and quickest way to get specific questions answered. Beyond “how do I…” questions, learning from colleagues has helped me discover some really helpful functions.
But first, I’m curious to know which LMS your institution uses - and if you use more than one, select the one you use most.
Custom course labels
You probably have several shells for your fall courses, plus all the organizational spaces (division or department groups, other organizations, course development shells) filling up your Canvas dashboard. If you teach multiple sections of the same course, it can be hard to tell them apart and remember which is which. Create custom Canvas course labels to organize your list of courses easily.
Canvas chat
Canvas chat is a great function - I have used it in a variety of situations. It’s helpful to have an alternative to Zoom chat for synchronous classes, particularly if you don’t want the chat to disappear once the Zoom session is ended. Canvas chat is saved for as long as the Canvas course shell exists. I’ve also found it helpful as a backchannel chat space during face-to-face classes, allowing more students to participate. Of course, if you’re teaching HyFlex having a chat option that’s accessible for students in the room and on Zoom is incredibly helpful, and Canvas chat serves this purpose very well. If you’re interested in exploring Canvas chat, here’s how it works.
Late assignment trackers
If you allow students to submit assignments late with a system of “passes” and need a way to keep track of how many late submissions they have used, Canvas can help keep track of these requests. Basically, you set up “late request” assignments that are graded complete/incomplete, and which don’t count toward the course grade. This setup works well with any kind of tokens used in specifications grading. I like this suggestion because it puts the power to use - or not use - a late submission into the student’s hands, and all the instructor has to do is decide how many late chances to offer. The full post is shared here and originally posted by Jen Kramer.
Using the “What If” function
The “what if” grade function is a way to help students figure out their own “potential” final grade. Students can enter scores for any ungraded assignment to offer a “what if” snapshot of their progress. It’s helpful because it tells them what score they need on the final exam, for example, to earn a certain score overall. This really only works at the end of the semester, or if your course has relatively few graded assignments, otherwise there are just too many variables (assignments) for the process to be useful.
Deliver assignment instructions as a quiz
I love this because it adds just a little extra step, but really reinforces the importance of carefully reading assignment instructions. Plus, once you’ve created the quiz once, you can re-use it for every assignment. Delivering the assignment instructions as a quiz walks students through assignment expectations step-by-step and makes students affirm that they have read the instructions. Every small thing we can do to encourage students to slow down and read instructions carefully is helpful.
Bonus tips
If you really want to explore some exciting Canvas functions, DitchThatTextbook has a list of 20 tips from the big picture to the little details to help your Canvas experience run smoothly.