Canvas Design Best Practices Academic & Instructional Innovation

Faculty follow the Canvas course design checklist and use A&II resources as a guide for improving their courses. A&II staff will be available for consultation as needed. Faculty can attend Canvas course design workshops provided by A&II for their program to help establish course consistency. Fall 2015 Fall 2016 Program leaders determine the extent to which their program will apply additional design best practices beyond the LMS Use Policy requirements. Faculty can analyze the state of their courses using a course design checklist and identify areas needing improvement. TIMELINE

For Students Ease of use Student centered learning For Students Ease of use Student centered learning For SMU Programs and the University Overall Continuity projects professionalism Easy access and understanding for faculty reviews and accreditation Reduces likelihood of legal action For SMU Programs and the University Overall Continuity projects professionalism Easy access and understanding for faculty reviews and accreditation Reduces likelihood of legal action For Faculty Efficient course management and grading Fewer student questions/disputes Course site verification and maintenance Student centered learning Meets LMS Use Policy requirements For Faculty Efficient course management and grading Fewer student questions/disputes Course site verification and maintenance Student centered learning Meets LMS Use Policy requirements BENEFITS

Make a Great First Impression 1 Create a Course That’s Easy to Navigate 2 Make It Easy For Students to Find Everything 3 Ensure Students Know What to Expect 4 Keep Students Informed and Engaged 5 Five Best Practices For A Well-Designed Canvas Course

Make a Great First Impression Students feel welcome Students see where to go and what to do first A relevant image begins to engages students 1

These five navigation tabs are consistent Files, Pages, and unused navigation tabs are hidden from student view Create a Course That’s Easy to Navigate 2 Link to course components, files, pages, URLs

Make It Easy For Students to Find Everything Content is organized into Modules by week, topic, or unit All resources needed to complete the Module are included and sequenced 3 Syllabus document is found in the Syllabus area Assignments are found in the Assignments area Grades are found in the Grades area

Make It Easy For Students to Find Everything Files have consistent and descriptive names Content is published once and linked to it to avoid duplication or errors 3

Do You Know? When an Assignment (Assignment, Quiz, graded Discussion) is created from or linked to a Module, where else does it automatically appear? A.Syllabus B. Assignments C.Grades D.Calendar E.All of the above When an Assignment (Assignment, Quiz, graded Discussion) is created from or linked to a Module, where else does it automatically appear? A.Syllabus B. Assignments C.Grades D.Calendar E.All of the above Content is published once and linked to.

Ensure Students Know What to Expect Downloadable pdf made available Assignment Groups show how grades are weighted 4 Assignments appear in Syllabus area automatically

Ensure Students Know What to Expect Rubric with grading criteria informs students how they will be graded 4 A Canvas Assignment with a Canvas Rubric must be created in order to align Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) on the Rubric

Ensure Students Know What to Expect The Gradebook communicates and centralizes grades for the student 4 Assignment Group weighting appears in Grades area

Keep Students Informed and Engaged 5 Announcements inform students of events and news items not already covered by automatic notifications Discussions engage students with each other Canvas has several types of automatic notifications to help with course communication

Academic and Instructional Innovation Supporting Innovation in Teaching and Learning Tanya Knoop Christine Broz Beverly Saar Elba Rios Brian Gothberg Danny Grobani Academic and Instructional Innovation Supporting Innovation in Teaching and Learning Tanya Knoop Christine Broz Beverly Saar Elba Rios Brian Gothberg Danny Grobani Questions?