North Seattle Community College Canvas Workshop Session #1 - Add Course Placeholders and Build Course Navigation Subject Hands-On! Technology & Logistics Pedagogy & Practical Tips Getting started This workshop presents one of many possible course designs Receive NSCC’s e-learning and the one-page “” Watch the video tour of an actual NSCC course created in Canvas Canvas is not your “parents’ LMS”! (no “versions” – ongoing updates: ) Handouts/tutorials are “snapshots” – details may vary as we catch up with changes! Find & verify the description and orientation information about your class on the pertinent college web pages (e.g. Virtual College) Getting into Canvas: Your Personal Homepage Dashboard Log In & First Steps! Personal Settings: Password change Add Profile Pic The view from your Dashboard*: Global Navigation (tabs on top) Recent Activity Sidebar (To Do, Coming Up, Recent Feedback) Help Corner *information from all your courses Finding HELP! Help with Help at (NeLSC) Resources on (URL in footer) Getting into Class: Your Course Home Page over (don’t click) the “Courses” pull-down menu, locate and click on your course to open your course home page Right-hand Sidebar*: “To Do” tasks “Coming Up” calendar dates “Recent Feedback” Left-side screen*: Course Navigation tabs * information for this course only Course Settings are found in the left-side course navigation bar, and are different than Personal Settings in the Help Corner
Publish your Development Courses Course Setup Checklist “Publish” your “Practice Course” (and “Master Courses*”) now What is “publishing”? It allows your Guest student account access to your Practice & Master Courses for testing In Session #4 we’ll talk publishing your Quarter Shell Working in a “Master Course*” A “safe” environment without student enrollments A “blueprint” to copy into actual quarter-specific classes A “backup” in case of missteps in actual classes *optional Your student view(s) Check your student views Test student Guest student login: guestnsccjdoe* *use your initial and last name password: perfect Why both student views? Test view is quick Guest view enables you to see what students will see on their User Dashboard and email account Start to consider how you want students to progress through your course: Weekly or topic modules? Organization by type of activities? Course Assignment Placeholders Assignments Add Assignment Groups (Quizzes, Homework, Discussions, etc.) Select the Group (e.g. Quizzes) and click “Add Assignment to” Select the type of Assignment (Quiz) Add (e.g. “Week 1 Quiz”) Add due date & points Replicate for 2 through 4 Switch to next type: (Assignment/”homework”; Graded Discussion) and repeat the above steps For paper-based or any assignments, choose “Assignment” as the type We will learn how to set an submission” in Session #2 Assignment Group options: Drop the lowest score in the group Weight final grades based on groups you’ve created Create special categories like “Blog”, “Field Trip”, “Research Paper” Creating Assignment and all other “placeholders” at the same time is easier in Canvas Highly recommended: Create a placeholder for a “syllabus quiz” that must be completed by students
Course Content Placeholders: Select “Create a new page” Title it “Start Here” QM 1.1* Create another page entitled “Week 1 Module Instructions” Repeat for 2 through 4 “Edit” Week 1 page and type in headings for weekly activities Save, copy text and use as a template, pasting into other instruction pages so all pages have the same lay-outs The time you click on Pages tab you are directed to edit your “Front Page” (i.e. Course Home Page) Click “Cancel” for now Another option: Use external links to instruction pages created in your facweb space (more on this below) Headings to consider in your weekly module instructions page might include: This Week’s Readings Lecture Recordings Quiz Instructions Homework Questions Lab Assignments Trip Information Module Placeholders Modules Click “Create a Module” Add an Orientation Module Add a “Week 1 Module” Replicate, creating modules for weeks 2 ,3 & 4 Just as for Assignments and Content, creating “placeholders” for Modules all at the same time is the easiest way to organize your work in Canvas
Set Student Learning Path Modules Add prerequisites to modules to complete a student learning path: Click the gear icon for the Week 1 Module, then “Edit” Pick “Before students can view this module” and choose your Orientation Module’s completion as required Click “Update Module” Click gear icon for Week 2 module & require Week 1’s completion Repeat for each week’s module Unless every module’s access depends on the previous one, make sure all module prerequisites are correctly added to each, with none skipped For example, if Module 4 depends on Modules 1 & 3 but not 2 Consider whether students need to complete a quiz with a particular score in order to move to the next module For example, student must score 80% on “Syllabus Quiz” for all course Modules to open This option can be set as a prerequisite as well Simplify Course Navigation Settings Design course navigation options Click on the course “Settings” (not your Personal “Settings”) Click & Drag buttons to below the line to remove them from student view (although instructors can still access them) Click “Save” In your view, tabs will appear to be “faded grey” if: They are invisible to students Or… They do not yet have information tied to them For example, no ‘”Announcements” have been created as yet Choose the minimum number of navigation buttons (e.g. Home, Syllabus, Announcements, Modules, Grades, People) to guide students clearly QM 6.3* Too many navigation options can cause confusion Canvas already has many alternative avenues available to help students find course components