We strongly recommend that course designers build in Student Canvas training and navigation into the first few days of their course.
Recommended Topics - see below for a list of topics that should cover with students during the first week. Many thanks to our course partner Coursello for inspiring this list!
- How to Navigate Canvas
- How to learn all about your course on canvas --> How to navigate your course front page, where can students find the syllabus, assignments, additional course info etc.
- How to find out what's going on in the week (and what assignments you have due)
- How to get on the Zoom, or other digital tools (ex. if your course uses Nearpod, Padlet, etc.)
- How Attendance Works
- When will students be marked late or absent?
- How Grades Work - set expectations on when they will see grades for submitted work, inform students that assignments past the due date will get a zero until they submit
- Describe re-dos/make-up policy
- How to Submit Assignments - especially if you are asking students to download a blank file that they then need to re-upload to Canvas
- How Quizzes Work
- How to get extra support/ask for help
- What is the best way for students to get help during the class? Should they send a private chat on zoom?
- What is the best way for students to get help outside class time? Please ensure that all communication with students stays in Canvas.
- When do they contact you versus their in-person learning coaches?
- How Synchronous days work
- Describe a typical synchronous day in terms of structure
- How Asynchronous Days work
- Describe what students should be doing during asynchronous days - how do they navigate to their self-guided work, how do office hours/consultation hours work, etc.
Suggested Format
The best way to deliver this information is to demo during class time. Other course partners also include links to FAQs and screenshare/video explainers in their course front page for easy access. You can choose to create your own guides, or use/link to the videos provided by Canvas -- see below!
Resource Videos/Inspiration
Here are some useful videos from Canvas that you can use for student orientation (link to them directly), or use as inspiration if you want to build your own guides/record your own screenshares.
- Canvas Student Overview: in this video, students will learn about their Canvas Dashboard and Global Navigation links. They will also learn about navigating a course and accessing assignments.
- Assignments Overview: In this video students will learn about viewing and accessing assignments in Canvas.
- Assignment Submission: Video describes many ways to submit homework in Canvas. You may want to customize based on your course needs.
- Grades Overview: Students will learn how to view their grades within Canvas
Full list of student-facing videos can be found here.
Some examples of accessible Canvas front pages:
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