For students in online courses, Canvas course sites are their experience of our university. An organized and consistent layout that specifically directs student attention scaffolds success. A carefully designed course homepage is a great first step in guiding your students through the materials and experiences you've designed in your course.
Just before our winter break, we shared with you some information about adding a homepage to your Canvas courses. However, if that information got lost in the commotion of finals week and the winter break, or if you’re thinking of ways to employ “plus-one” thinking into your courses this term, then utilizing DesignPLUS for your course homepage is a great place to start!
UDOIT Advantage (often referred to as just "UDOIT"--pronounced like "You do it") is a tool from Cidi Labs that scans Canvas content, checking for digital accessibility issues. For Canvas-native content, it will generate a list of errors and, for many of those errors, will provide guidance and tools for addressing the issues. It can also can files for accessibility issues, though the file scanning capabilities are not as robust.
Features include:
Synchronous eLearning is learning that takes place online in real-time and enables students and instructors to ask and answer questions immediately. Tools like online text chat or videoconferencing are considered synchronous learning.
Zoom is a robust web conferencing platform integrated with Canvas at UIS. Faculty can schedule and start Zoom meetings from within Canvas. Students can easily join Zoom meetings and access cloud recordings through the Zoom menu in Canvas courses.
The "Plus One" strategy revolves around consistently adding one new element, feature, or improvement to your course to continually enhance its quality. Here's how to apply this approach effectively:
Kaltura Media is the video management solution at UIS. Kaltura is accessed through the My Media link in Canvas courses. Faculty and students may upload videos created on devices (camcorders, phones, etc.) or record webcam or screen capture videos through Kaltura.
Canvas allows instructors to copy a single piece of content, a module, one type of content, or an entire course. It is very flexible!
It's always a good idea to start early on the course copy process. If something doesn't look right after you copy your content, COLRS staff can help you fix nearly any kind of issue.
HyFlex (Hybrid Flexible) is a pedagogy and teaching modality that allows students a high degree of flexibility — the content is available in a physical classroom, synchronously via web conference during class meetings, and in a recorded asynchronous format. Originally conceived by Brian Beatty and his colleagues at San Francisco State University, the HyFlex model provides students more flexibility while maintaining high quality instruction for all students.
In HyFlex format, students choose among three modes to engage with their instructor, peers, and the content:
As we wrap up the fall term and prepare to begin intersession, we would like to wish you all a wonderful winter break. We are thankful for all you do to make UIS a great place to learn and work!
Happy winter break!
The COLRS Team: Michele, Carrie, Taylor, Scott, and Emily