Educational Technology
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The Canvas Inbox
Summary: Canvas Inbox is a two-way messaging tool used to communicate with a course, a group, or an individual user in a course. Date: October 8, 2020 Did you know that messages in Canvas are also called Conversations? And that when you send a message you are actually starting a conversation thread which is stored within Canvas? Since all messages (or conversations) are stored within Canvas, you never have to worry about missing or losing any messages. What is Canvas Inbox? The Canvas Inbox is an internal messaging system that allows you to send messages to: specific courses specific groups sections in a course all students in a course, groups of students in a course individual students in a course people in your…
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Exploring the Many Ways of Using Canvas Classic Quizzes
Quizzes are an extremely flexible tool that can be used to support many stages of learning. For example, quizzes can be used to pre-assess (prior to learning), provide practice and feedback (during learning), or as post-assessment (after learning). Experimenting with these various methods can assist you in finding ways of making your course more supportive of our USask Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles (e.g., “Designed for Reflection and Growth”). Here are some approaches to using quizzes that you may want to consider: Using the same quiz at a different stage in learning Using a quiz prior to learning and after learning can help make learning visible to students. Allow multiple attempts…
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Students Finished Writing my Canvas Classic Quiz: Now What?
Once your quiz or test availability period ends, there are a number of tasks that you might want to complete, such as reviewing how the entire class performed, reviewing an individual student’s quiz, and manually grade questions. This post and video will outline these different tasks and how you can accomplish them when using Canvas Classic Quizzes. Reviewing the class’s responses As an instructor, one reason to use quizzes is in order to identify areas where students are doing well and where they need further support. The most efficient way to view question-by-question results in Canvas is to navigate to the quiz via Assignments or Quizzes. Click on the quiz…
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How Canvas supports learning through Reflection and Growth
This is the fourth post in a series about how you can use Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here, but in this post, we’ll be looking at the third principle. 3. Designed for Reflection and Growth: Learning is refined and extended through prompted and supported opportunities to focus on understanding and next steps. Reflection and Growth Reflection is integral to the learning process. Giving students the opportunity to reflect allows them to consider how what they have learned fits in with what they already know. This active process helps students construct meaning and retain knowledge. Students grow as learners…
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Understanding Timer, Availability, and Accommodation Settings for Canvas Classic Quizzes
Setting up Classic Quizzes in Canvas involves some important settings to highlight and understand. This post aims to clarify these settings to allow for the smoothest experience for you and your students. Note: if you’re using Canvas New Quizzes, please go here instead: Canvas – Add accommodations to a New Quiz. Time Limit The time limit is the amount of time students have to complete the quiz from when they first open it. If they navigate away from the page, restart their computer, etc. the timer continues to run. Once the timer runs out, the quiz auto-submits unless the Available Until time occurs first Available Until Time The Available Until…
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Active and social learning in Canvas
This is the third post in a series about how you can use Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here, but in this post, we’ll be looking at the second principle. 2. Active and Social: Learning is a process of meaning making, constructed through learning with others, and as part of an intentional, deliberate system within a course and across experiences. Active and Social learning enhances student engagement and promotes comprehension and memory. These types of learning are important elements in a learner-centered approach to knowledge. In order for learning to be considered active, a student must be processing, discovering and…
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How Does Canvas Make Learning Accessible?
This is the second post in a series about how you can use Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here, but in this post, we’ll be looking at the first principle. Accessible: Learning must be found easily at any time, and all learners and teachers have equitable access, regardless of culture, language, ability, etc. Accessible education gives everyone equal access to content and ensures that all learners have equitable access to course content regardless of their culture, language, age, gender, preferred learning style or ability. Accessible courses remove barriers that may exist for some students and reduce the instructor’s need to make…
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What are Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles and why are they important?
Technology and education go together like strawberries and cream, or peanut butter and jelly, and in this time of remote instruction, teaching and learning are both enabled by and reliant on technology. In order for us to be successful in an online teaching and learning environment, there are eight principles that USask instructors should consider important when using technologies for teaching and learning. The eight principles, shown in the graphic below are research supported characteristics of effective digital learning spaces that prepare students for work and life, and are aligned to the University of Saskatchewan’s Learning Charter. Following this post will be posts delving into what each principle means and why it matters, so stay tuned.
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Grading Discussions in Canvas
By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba You’ve set up and run your first graded discussion in Canvas – and the volume of posts seems a bit daunting. Now it’s time to assess the individual student contributions against the defined criteria and get results out to them before the next discussion goes up. Here are some tips for grading discussions, using tools in Canvas to assist you. Canvas automatically marks posts as ‘read’ when you scroll down the page (changing the green dot left of the post to white). This function might interfere with keeping track of what you’ve read, and be a time waster if you have to backtrack through posts automatically marked…
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7 Tips for Using Group Work
Group work can be highly effective in the remote and in-person teaching context. It is important to use strategies that require interaction among students. In groups, they can check their understanding with peers and develop a sense of belonging that helps engage and motivate. Tip 1: Be clear on purpose and process. Make it crystal clear to everyone what the learning goals or outcomes are for group work. Provide students with clear descriptions and criteria that will be used to determine grades. Tip 2: Set up the groups for students. You may need to survey students or ask them to submit information by email or discussion boards to allow for…