Instructional / Course Design
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Managing and Facilitating Discussions in Canvas
By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba Once you’ve settled on why and how discussions will be used in your course and have set up the initial discussion(s) and specific guidelines for posting, let students know your plan for how you or a TA will be moderating the posts. Your involvement in discussions, especially initial ones, is vital for guiding the direction for learning – reading, commenting, encouraging, and sometimes redirecting the conversation, helps foster consistent and substantive dialogue between students and with you. Considerations around your involvement, dependent on the types and number of discussions held during the term, include: How much will you be present in the discussions with comments, questions, and…
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Setting Up Discussions in Canvas
By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba This is the second post in a series of four about using discussions in Canvas to support student learning. Discussions can be set up from within a module, or from the Discussions index page found by clicking on the Discussions link in the course navigation menu on the left of the course screen. Choose ‘Discussions’ as the option for adding one within a module, or click on the +Discussion button on the Discussions Index page, top right of the screen, as below. First, choose a title that is clear and indicative of the discussion’s focus and then give explicit directions for posting. Consider including the following…
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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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What Does a Well-Designed Canvas Course Look Like?
Just as students appreciate seeing good examples of work before doing their own, instructors designing courses often feel the same way. As Canvas is our adopted learning management system, we want to provide you with some examples through the following two courses. In both cases, student information and data has been removed. ETAD 402 – Multimedia Design and Production This course from Professor Marguerite Koole in the College of Education is a blended course in that it’s a mix of asynchronous and synchronous delivery. ENVS 818 – Introduction to Sustainability This course from Professor Maureen Reed from the School of Environment and Sustainability. This is an example of an asynchronous…
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Office Hours, Remotely
When we move to remote teaching, we need to consider how we will continue to provide students with student-instructor interaction. One way of offering this is through office hours. While we used to offer office hours outside of lecture or class time, now we might be able to leverage our scheduled class time to engage with students to discuss problems, specific questions, or examples. Transmission of content (powerpoints, videos, readings, etc.) can then be reallocated to asynchronous hours. Determine if it best suits your course to offer: group discussions, individual consultations drop-in sessions Be consistent with whichever options you choose. Remind students often via email and course notifications. Use the…
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Remote Lab Experiences
Download: Planning for Modules with Labs Lab experiences are often rich, hands-on elements of courses that build on learning outcomes from lectures or achieve a different set of outcomes. There are typically three key buildings blocks to any lab experience. A problem or task Active completion of a procedure or process Documenting the process and results As we plan to offer our labs remotely, there are a number of important questions to consider. What do you already have? Are there existing online or blended versions of this course that you can draw upon? Are there individuals experienced with online instruction in your department or unit who could help smooth this…
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Why You Should Use Modules When Planning Your Course
DOWNLOAD: Planning for Modules Excel Template LINK: Module Checklist Take a look at your course syllabus. What do you want learners to be able to do by the end of the course? Review your learning outcomes and consider these questions: What type of learning activities are needed? What type of assessment activities are needed? How will students practice? How will they receive feedback? How will they demonstrate their abilities (to get a grade)? In standard 13-week term, you would likely have one module every 1-2 weeks. Modules replace thinking about a course in units of time, but instead, as units of content or objectives. Modules can be thought of as…
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Building Community, Remotely
In an online remote context, virtual learning communities (VLCs) allow us to plan for: Interaction Communication Collaboration This video highlights some of the reasons we might want to develop rich VLCs in remote teaching. Below are some strategies framed from instructor competencies. Some strategies for developing interaction: Model participation and practice good nettiquette Use Discussion Forums and participate actively Steer conversations in the right direction Motivate and encourage Create a safe and supportive environment/network Moderate Discussion forum Temper the dominant voices in the forum Set the tone by being positive Encourage and motivate students Use introductions, online office hours and e-mail to promote interaction Incorporate collaborative learning and increased opportunities…
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Start Here…Pick Two
Let’s boil this down. What’s most important for us to rethink as we use our precious hours to redesign our courses for remote learning? Work with a colleague, friend, or student to talk through your answers after you fill this out. Still stumped? Contact gmctl-support@usask.ca PDF Version: Start Here – Break it Down – Pick Two First, let’s take a breath and focus on the big picture. What are two GUIDING PRINCIPLES that you want to keep in mind as you redesign and teach during this time? 1. 2. Next, let’s settle on some technologies or processes that feel comfortable to us. What are two TOOLS that you might use to…