Navigating Canvas

by | Mar 1, 2021 | Blog, Canvas

Getting Around in Canvas – An Exploration of How One Moves Around in the new LMS

When you log into Canvas you land on the Dashboard. The main content area [a] of the Dashboard is where you will see a card view of all Published and Unpublished courses you are an instructor for. [b] The “Card View” is the default view for the content area view but it can be changed to “List View” or “Recent Activity View”. [c] The purple menu on the left is the Global Canvas menu. The menu on the right [d] lists “To Do” items, what is coming up on the Calendar, and “Recent Feedback”. Grades are also accessible for instructors and students.  To enter a course, you simply click on the course card[e].Canvas Dashboard overview

When you initally arrive in a course you will notice that there is an additional course menu on the left [a]. This brings us to a difference between Canvas and Blackboard.  The course menu in Canvas cannot be edited the way it could be in Blackboard.  You don’t have the option of adding items or renaming the menu items listed in the course menu.  The purpose of this is two-fold.  First – it creates a more consistent experience for the student from course to course.  Second – it promotes course navigation through modules (which are really flexible!) Just as in Blackboard, we suggest the first page in the very first module you create should be a Welcome page where your orient your students to the course.  This is a great place to get your students off on the right foot with some basic tasks. (Note: there is a NEXT button at the bottom of each page in Canvas to help guide your students through your curated content to course success.)

By default the modules area [b] is designated as the area students in the course will go to first, this can be changed and set to the Course Activity Stream, Course Modules area, Assignments List, the Syllabus page tool or you can create what Canvas refers to as a “Front Page” (which can be set to any Canvas page) then designated as the “Home” page. You’ll also note that some of the menu items have an eye symbol [c] with a line through it.  As you may suspect, these items are not visible to your students.  As previously mentioned, you want to direct your students to navigate the course through the modules. They will have a consistent experience, not just in your course, but in other courses they are also enrolled in. Canvas Navigation first glance

Does this mean you should hide links to content area like Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, Pages, and Files too? Yes, as you can provide that linked content to a discussion, assignment, etc directly inside a module, which gives students a better, and more linear, experience. Visibility for items listed in the course menu can be adjusted by selecting “Settings” and then the “Navigation” tab. Simply drag the content areas like Discussion, Assignments, Quizzes, Pages and Files to the hide area at the bottom of the list and click Save.  

How does this align to Canvas training materials?

Canvas logoPriming the Canvas: 1.2 Getting Started: Canvas Basics and 1.3 Getting Started: Modules, Content, & Discussions (Short videos highlighting the Canvas Interface and Modules are available in the Priming the Canvas pages referenced.)

Additional Resources: 

Our next article will highlight Notifications and Preferences; visit Canvas Blog to see all our Canvas articles. 

Canvas Help

by | Feb 24, 2021 | Blog, Canvas

There are a number of different ways that we have been building out our support resources for faculty  and students to help make this transition easier to navigate. Most user-interaction research is showing that an efficiently organized resource that can be searched provides the best user experience.  We still have ways to “get a person,” but often that “person” is going to be searching the same knowledgebase that you already have access to as a user.  We’d urge you to explore the many resources we have for help before you need them for a specific solution.  And, of course, if you are unable to find it, we’ll do everything we can to try to get you to a solution.   

 

Canvas Help During Spring of 2021

During the Spring of 2021, students and faculty can access the 24/7 Canvas chat portal and support hotline. WCU has purchased this extra Canvas help to assist faculty and students in the pilot during the spring 2021 semester and to assist faculty as they work to transition their courses for the Fall and Summer of 2021. 

Location of Help in Canvas

Illustration of the Location of Help in Canvas

WCU Specific Requests

For WCU specific requests like enrollments, how to use Panopto, Poll Everywhere, or any other integration, the best place to start is at the WCU IT Help Portal.  If you don’t find the answer in the database (which is basically a tag-oriented searchable FAQ), you can submit a ticket and a member of the local support team will get to you as soon as possible. 

help.wcu.edu location

Canvas Community

There is also a community site for Canvas that has some general questions and answers.  Note, however, that there are some differences in Canvas installations and so, for example, WCU uses Panopto for video storage and OneDrive for your protected online work storage of student and course data, etc., so our Canvas users won’t be storing their videos and large files directly in the Canvas course or in Dropbox or in Google Drive. 

How does this align to Canvas training materials?

Canvas logoPriming the Canvas: Welcome Module, Course Resources 

Additional Resources: 

  • Visit canvas.wcu.edu 
  • Contact the 24/7 Canvas Help if you need help with issues as you are working in Canvas. (NOTE: 24/7 Canvas Help goes away on June 30 and Help will be taken over by the WCU Helpdesk which is not manned 24/7). 
  • Canvas Migration FAQ 
  • Register for one of the Zoom sessions which will be held on Thursdays and Fridays at 11:00 A.M. after reviewing the Priming the Canvas Course. 

Our next article will highlight Navigating Canvas; visit Canvas Blog to see all our Canvas articles. 

Priming the Canvas

by | Feb 22, 2021 | Blog, Canvas

There are many similarities between Blackboard and Canvas such as discussions, assignments, quizzes, and a gradebook. The difference between the two learning management systems is the foundational structure of the program and the process instructors and designers use to create an exceptional learning environment. Canvas uses Modules as the primary function for creating and organizing a course.  The gradebook is created by adding assignments, quizzes, and graded discussions to those modules. Whereas you could create gradebook columns in Blackboard, you cannot in Canvas (they are created when you build an assignment). 

Canvas is also built around quality instructional design principles and user interface design.  This allows instructors to use Canvas in any modality: fully online, hybrid/blended, and yes, even a total face-to-face course. 

The Coulter Faculty Commons has created a sequenced learning experience called Priming the Canvas for all instructors to learn how to maximize Canvas for their students. Priming the Canvas is a workshop/course built in Canvas and will be completed asynchronously, allowing the most flexibility for individuals to manage around their schedule. There will also be regular synchronous open Zoom sessions for faculty who have completed some of or all the modules in Priming the Canvas. 

All instructors have been enrolled in Priming the Canvas as a student, providing the learner’s viewpoint. Each instructor has also been provided with a Development (DEV) course as the instructor, which provides a place to practice and create various assignments from the Priming the Canvas course. 

 

What should you do next?

      • Access the Priming the Canvas course. Start with the Getting Started module and progress through the other modules at your own speed (tip: leave your browser open when you finish, and you can return later to continue working through it). 
      • Register for one of the Zoom sessions held on Thursday and Fridays at 11:00 A.M. 
      • Instructors also have access to the Canvas Training Portal; also available by clicking Help in the Global Menu within Canvas. 

How does this align to Canvas training materials?

Canvas logoPriming the Canvas Course (On your Canvas Dashboard)

Additional Resources: 

  • Visit canvas.wcu.edu 
  • Contact the 24/7 Canvas Help if you need help with issues as you are working in Canvas. (NOTE: 24/7 Canvas Help goes away on June 30 and Help will be taken over by the WCU Helpdesk which is not manned 24/7). 
  • Canvas Migration FAQ 
  • Register for one of the Zoom sessions which will be held on Thursdays and Fridays at 11:00 A.M. after reviewing the Priming the Canvas Course. 

*Our next article will highlight Help options within Canvas; visit Canvas Blog to see more Canvas articles.  

More Canvas for You – Courses and Training

by | Feb 16, 2021 | Blog, Canvas

  • Spring and Summer 2020 courses have been migrated into Canvas and are available for instructors to get started! Spring and Summer 2020 instructors should have received an email from Dr. Eli Collins-Brown with information on getting started.  
  • Fall 2020 courses and active student centers and organizations are currently being worked on by the LMS Implementation team and we hope to have a migration date soon; we are targeting March. Spring 2021 courses will be available August 2021, Faculty that want to use these courses for Fall 2021 should import these courses themselves. Here is the how to for exporting from Blackboard and importing to Canvas – Migrating a Course – Exporting a Blackboard Course/Importing to Canvas. Once a course has been migrated, it can be found on your Canvas dashboard which you can access by visiting canvas.wcu.edu and clicking the “Login to Canvas” button.  

Canvas training workshops will begin February 18th. We will have workshops available every Thursday and Friday at 11am during the Spring semester; we have included the overview below. Prior to attending the workshop, faculty are encouraged to have started the self-paced training course and required to have completed the migrated course checklist. We are asking that all instructors register for the workshop ahead of time so that we can prepare session information and staffing. To register for Canvas workshops, visit canvas.wcu.edu and click “Register for Canvas Course Workshop”.

 

Canvas Workshops: 

In this workshop, CFC staff will answer questions related to Blackboard course migrations (faculty who seek this kind of assistance should have a completed migration checklist document, to expedite support). 

  • Staff will also assist faculty who choose to go an alternate route and build a course from scratch.
  • For departments interested in requesting a workshop or training for the department or program, a request form is also available on canvas.wcu.edu.  

Migration Tips: 

  • canvas.wcu.edu is the landing page for everything Canvas at WCU, this page has a link to login to Canvas that you can bookmark and valuable information about migration from Blackboard to Canvas. 
    • All courses will be in Canvas beginning May 17th with the Minimester. 
    • We have compiled information from our recent Departmental meetings and created an FAQ page. We will continue to add questions and answers as they come up. Visit the Canvas Migration FAQ page to explore our FAQ. 
    • Canvas is also here to help during the migration. We encourage all instructors to use the help support link within Canvas if you have questions as you are building your courses in Canvas. 
  • This is the overlap period between Blackboard and Canvas. All faculty have access to Canvas right now. 
    • A self-paced training course(s) is available in your Canvas dashboard which is the best place to start. All instructors have also been given a development shell to create and copy content into as you are getting familiar with Canvas. 
    • Canvas Commons is a public resource available from Canvas which offers support, training, ideas from other schools, etc. You can visit Canvas Commons available in Canvas on the global left menu by selecting “Commons”. 
  • If you want a course prior to 2020 in Canvas follow the steps in from IT Help to export the Blackboard course and import into Canvas.

Canvas Migration Timeline

Frequently Asked Questions about Canvas

by | Feb 9, 2021 | Blog, Canvas

We have been talking to Faculty and Staff across campus and we have been compiling the questions we have received so that we can share the information with everyone. To look at the questions and see the answers, please visit our FAQ page – https://ithelp.wcu.edu/en-us/category/1400336. We will be continuing to add questions as we get them. Do you have questions that you are not seeing? Please take advantage of the 24/7 Canvas support and Canvas training services portal which you can access within Canvas: access it through the ? icon in the left side menu.  

  • canvas.wcu.edu is the landing page for everything Canvas at WCU, this page has a link to login to Canvas that you can bookmark and valuable information about migration from Blackboard to Canvas. 
  • All courses will be in Canvas beginning May 17th with the Minimester. 
  • We have compiled information from our recent Departmental meetings and created an FAQ page. We will continue to add questions and answers as they come up. To visit the page, go to https://ithelp.wcu.edu/en-us/category/1400336 to explore our FAQ.  
  • Canvas is also here to help during the migration. We encourage all instructors to use the help support link within Canvas if you have questions as you are building your courses in Canvas. 
  • This is the overlap period between Blackboard and Canvas. All faculty have access to Canvas right now. 
  • A self-paced training course(s) is available in your Canvas dashboard which is the best place to start. All instructors have also been given a development shell to create and copy content into as you are getting familiar with Canvas. 

Canvas Migration Timeline

What’s the deal with Canvas this semester?

by | Feb 2, 2021 | Blog, Canvas

You may have heard students and/or other instructors are using Canvas this semester. We are excited to announce that Canvas pilot groups across all colleges have started using Canvas. The 13 instructors in the pilot group are teaching a course in Canvas; with around 400 students. Feedback has been very positive regarding the ease of use.

  • canvas.wcu.edu is the landing page for everything Canvas at WCU, this page has a link to login to Canvas that you can bookmark and valuable information about migration from Blackboard to Canvas. 
    • All courses will be in Canvas beginning May 17th with the Minimester. 
    • We have compiled information from our recent Departmental meetings and created an FAQ page. We will continue to add questions and answers as they come up. To visit the page, go to https://ithelp.wcu.edu/en-us/category/1400336 to explore our FAQ.  
    • Canvas is also here to help during the migration. We encourage all instructors to use the help support link within Canvas if you have questions as you are building your courses in Canvas. 
  • This is the overlap period between Blackboard and Canvas. All faculty have access to Canvas right now. 
    • A self-paced training course(s) is available in your Canvas dashboard which is the best place to start. All instructors have also been given a development shell to create and copy content into as you are getting familiar with Canvas. 

Canvas Migration Timeline