10 Setting Up for the Semester

Whether you’re building a course from scratch or transitioning content to a new semester, using tech tools and best practices can save time and improve the overall quality of your course.

How do Instructors Simplify Adding or Revising Course Content?

DesignPlus Multitool

The Design Plus Multitool helps to create placeholders for content in your modules quickly, which you can then fill out with content.

Review the following video to see how to turn on the Multitool and generate the module placeholders.

Bulk Announcement and Due Date Adjustments

Another element of the Design Plus Multitool is the Bulk Announcement and Due Date Adjuster. This tool will allow you to quickly edit the dates for your assignments and announcements in one place rather than manually editing the date for each announcement or assignment. You can see how to utilize these two features in the DesignPlus Multitool video.

Due Date Adjustment on the Assignment Tab

Canvas also has an option to bulk adjust the due dates and availability dates straight within Canvas. Review this article from the Canvas Community to learn how to use this tool: How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?

Calendar for Adjusting Due Dates

For small adjustments, instructors can also use the Canvas calendar to make adjustments to due dates. To do this, navigate to the Canvas calendar, locate your assignment, and drag and drop the assignment from the old date to the new due date. It is recommended only to use this option to make small adjustments to due dates within a semester.

Why Should Instructors Explore Canvas Commons?

Canvas Commons is a valuable resource for sharing and accessing course materials that can be seamlessly integrated into any course. This platform allows instructors to utilize and contribute ready-made content, which can be customized to fit specific course needs. Sharing is caring in higher education!

What Benefits Do Module Requirements Offer for Student Engagement and Learning Progression?

When you add requirements to a module, students must complete the defined requirements within the module. You can require students to complete all requirements in the module or have them choose one item to fulfill a specific requirement. This tool allows instructors to help ensure students are viewing their content rather than just jumping straight to assignments, such as requiring students to mark their weekly lecture as “done” before they have access to their assignment.

Review the Canvas article to learn how to set up Module Requirements: How do I add requirements to a module?

Creating New Content

Canvas Pages

Canvas Pages are an educator’s ally. The Rich Content Editor (RCE) offers intuitive design capabilities similar to the options you are used to in familiar word processors like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. You can seamlessly integrate other course content, like quizzes, assignments, and files, directly into your pages or add multimedia like images or videos.

A nice benefit is that Canvas Pages track edits over time, and you can view the revision history to restore content if needed. Above all, Canvas pages prioritize inclusivity with built-in accessibility features, and they are optimized for mobile devices, catering to students on the go.

Watch this video for an overview of Canvas Pages:

Canvas Assessment Types Explained

There are three main assessment types baked within Canvas itself, Quizzes, Discussions, and Assignments. Learn about the benefits and how-to’s of each below.

Canvas Classic Quizzes

Quizzes in Canvas are assignments that can be used to challenge student understanding and assess comprehension of course material. Quizzes can also be used to conduct and moderate exams and assessments, both graded and ungraded.

How To Add a Canvas Quiz

Quiz Types

Canvas has four different types of quizzes.

• A graded quiz is the most common quiz and rewards students points based on their quiz responses
• A practice quiz is a learning tool to see how well users understand course material without providing a grade
• A graded survey rewards students with points for completing a survey, but grading is not based on right or wrong answers
• An ungraded survey obtains opinions or other information without providing a grade

Benefits of Canvas Quizzes

• Automatic Grading: Canvas quizzes can be set up for automatic grading, saving instructors time.
  Diverse Question Types: Canvas allows for a wide range of question types, including multiple choice, true/false, essay questions, and more.
• Security Features: Features like question shuffling and time limits can enhance quiz security.
  Immediate Feedback: Instructors can provide immediate feedback to students, enhancing the learning experience.

Canvas Discussions

Discussions allow instructors to create dynamic asynchronous discussions for their students in Canvas. Discussions create an opportunity for students to interact with each other within the online learning environment, similar to that of a face-to-face classroom discussion.

How To Add a Canvas Discussion

Discussion Types

• Graded: Graded discussions can check student knowledge and encourage collaboration and critique amount student peers.
• Ungraded: Choose to use discussions for ungraded conversations – such as a Q & A

Discussion Benefits

• Customizable: Require students to submit their work before they see peer work, choose to allow students to edit/delete their posts
• Engagement: Discussions promote student engagement and peer-to-peer learning.
• Flexible Participation: Canvas allows for text-based discussions, multimedia contributions, and group discussions.
• Assessment of Critical Thinking: Discussions can assess students’ critical thinking and communication skills.

Canvas Assignments

How to Add a Canvas Assignment

Assignment Settings

• Edit the assignment settings to meet your needs.
• You can use the “On Paper” or “No Submission” to enter grades for classroom work.
• You can have students submit work online.
• Students can submit work to external tools such as Turnitin.

Assignment Benefits

• Diverse Submission Types: Canvas supports various submission types, including file uploads, text entries, and multimedia submissions.
• Individualized Feedback: Instructors can provide personalized feedback on assignments.
• Integration with SpeedGrader: SpeedGrader simplifies the grading process for assignments.

How do I keep the course engagement momentum going?