Spotlight on Five-Star Course Design

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
25
16722

Spotlight on Five-Star Course Design

What’s Included in This Post?
• Course Examples of Five-Star Course Design

 

As educators, we want our students to have the best learning experience possible! What creates the optimal Canvas experience? I like to think of a Canvas course as an experience, similar to an experience you might have when visiting a hotel. Your experience at a budget inn will not likely not be the same as an all-inclusive resort, right? As an Instructional Designer, I’d like to share three best practices that I believe make the most considerable impact on student learning and help give students that state-of-the-art experience.
 

Welcoming Home Page and Consistent Elements

When visiting a hotel, your experience starts in the hotel foyer when you check in, and it sets the stage for the experience to come (Do you feel welcomed? Does it look nice? Do you know where to go?) Thinking of your Canvas Home Page like a hotel foyer will help set the course’s tone and what’s to come! All that’s necessary to be effective is a visual welcome like a banner or other graphic or welcoming message, and a clear starting point for learners. 

Let me set your mind at ease…you do not have to know HTML or be a graphic designer to design an effective course!  I remember years ago seeing a full-page Nike ad in my local newspaper.  The entire page was white, and there was a tiny black Nike Swoosh in the center of the page.  I wondered why the page was so empty but realized that it caught my attention, and that was the point! It made me realize that sometimes SIMPLE IS BEST. Sometimes too much on your Home Page can be distracting or overwhelming to the student.

Below is an example of a Primary Home Page that sets the tone with a fun, adventure-themed Home Page.  Here you see one banner, a welcome message, and five buttons - it’s simple and easy to understand where to go to find things like a schedule or daily activities. Graphics similar to these can easily be created using a free graphic software program like Canva!  If you need help learning Canva, I highly recommend the tutorials in Canva Design School!

adventure_RMT_example.png

When you visit a hotel, you see the branding, colors, and decor incorporated throughout the spaces. Carrying the same look and feel of your Home Page throughout the course in your pages and learning activities with consistent colors, layouts, and organization can help create an optimal experience for students! 

The screenshots below are from Apple’s Swift curriculum (take a look, these courses are free in Canvas Commons!)  Notice how clean and minimalistic the Home Page is and how that same look and feel is carried throughout the content pages and learning activities! Also, notice that the “feel” of this course is not the same as in the first adventure example, but each is equally effective in inviting a warm welcome and guiding the learner on where to go.

apple_swift_example.png  

Course Navigation and Organization

Now, imagine being in a hotel and not knowing how to find your room, the elevator, the pool, or a restaurant. We never want students to feel lost in a course. I prefer to hide most of the Course Navigation and have learners access everything from the Modules area.  Think about your course objectives and think about how you will introduce the content.  Start your Module with a Canvas Page that gives an overview of the topic and what’s to come.  Then, start introducing your content to your learners.  Pages are a great way to present a variety of instructional materials.  In Pages, you can incorporate videos, articles, teacher-made resources, websites, and even tech tools to help build the foundation of learning.  Then, include learning activities that create meaningful interaction and engage learners to promote the achievement of your objectives (i.e., discussions, practice quizzes, assignments, etc.) 

Putting things in the order that you want students to encounter them and using Module Prerequisites and/or Requirements can keep students from skipping around and missing important content. With everything organized in Modules, students are less likely to get lost, which can make all the difference in your student experience. Looking at the course through Student View can also help you better understand the student experience.

Below is a snippet of a weekly module shared by Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) in Bakersfield, California. Using Text Headers, indentions, and clear naming conventions can help students have a smooth course experience and limit frustrations. You might choose to use emojis to visually represent things within your Modules for young learners. In this module example, each day’s Live Instruction Page was intentionally left unpublished until the teacher added the daily recording to the page. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles like student choice, engagement, and expression, were also incorporated in this module. Hats off to my friends at KCSOS for their terrific work in supporting districts, teachers, and students!

udl_module_kcsos.png

Accessibility and Mobile-Friendliness

Now back to my hotel example - imagine if there wasn’t an elevator and you had to trek up 50 flights of stairs to get to your room. When designing a course, it’s essential to think about all learners and their ease of use. All students, regardless of variability, should learn. Building for accessibility and mobile-friendliness is critical.

In a past CanvasLIVE, Taking Your Canvas Course to the Next Level, Dr. Deonne Johnson walked through actual courses with teachers and showed how to make them accessible.  I highly recommend watching this CanvasLIVE if you’ve never seen it!  She explained that public places began installing wheelchair/curb ramps in the ’90s to comply with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).  However, many people who don’t use wheelchairs are also thankful for those accommodations!  For example, if you are pulling your luggage or a stroller behind you as you enter the hotel, those ramps make your life much easier!  Designing well is advantageous to all learners!  Two fabulous resources to learn more about accessibility and mobile-friendliness are the General Accessibility Design Guidelines and the Mobile App Design | Course Evaluation Checklist

Our go-to resource for creating an overall quality Canvas course is the Course Evaluation Checklist v2.0, which Dr. Deonne Johnson used in the CanvasLIVE I recommended above. I love this checklist because it’s simple, easy to use, and based on research. It’s great because anyone can use it, no matter their subject area, grade level, or tech-savviness!   

 

Final Thoughts

 

For more course design inspiration utilizing best practices, explore our Ready-Made Template Suite.  Our Instructional Design team offers templates, consultation, badging services, course evaluations, workshops, and more. Explore Instructure’s Learning Services that may be of interest to you or your organization.

 

Please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!

 

Our Instructional Design team offers templates, consultation, badging services, course evaluations, workshops, and more. If you would like to learn more about our services, please contact your CSM or @deonne_johnson, Manager, Learning Services, via djohnson@instructure.com
 

 

25 Comments
dlourcey
Instructure
Instructure

@kimberly_ellis First of all, this post is brilliant. I can't wait to participant. I definitely will share with my teachers and Canvas Coaches.

When I evaluate courses I look for the following:

  1. A simple, inviting landing page
  2. Ease of Navigation (the click of three rule)
  3. Accessible content
  4. Engaging and interactive uses of not only Canvas tools but also 3rd party resources

My district does not currently have a review process in place for academic course but that is something I am working toward. We do have a professional learning review process -- where I have modified the Course Evaluation Checklist for our professional learning instances.

I am building a course currently called Designing with a Purpose and in that course I want to provide our teachers with a deep understanding of UDL and Accessibility. These frameworks just make good sense, designing with the goal of making multiple means of representation, engagement, action and expression a priority so all students (and adults) have equal access.

Your work is always inspiring. Thanks for this exciting opportunity.

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

Hey @dlourcey, thanks for your kind words and for sharing your processes and what you look for in ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ courses!  I love that you are already using the Course Evaluation Checklist and have modified it to fit your specific PD needs!

So glad that you will submit your course(s) and share this opportunity with your teachers and Canvas Coaches! 

akinsey
Community Contributor

This is just a great idea, Kimberly! I’m excited to spread the news of this and provide some opportunities for others to see what great resources y’all are providing!

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@akinsey Hey friend!  Yes, please spread the word and submit your fabulous courses!! 

P1281881
Community Explorer

LOVE this and MISS you!!!!!!  

hagranne
Community Explorer

Hi! I saw that entry requires submitting a link to our course. What will the folks reviewing submitted courses be able to see? I want to make sure my students’ information isn’t revealed in this process, if I participate. Thanks!

jlloyd
Community Explorer

Love these ideas. At our K-12 institution, we evaluate courses according to 6 key ideas using a rubric and central survey form. We are continuing to use quality templates to drive these areas. 

  • Conceptual and physical navigation
  • How learning is evaluated
  • Embedded digital tool use and impact of technology 
  • Knowledge, understanding and skills
  • Facility for student engagement 
  • Evidence of differentiation 

 

 

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

Hi @hagranne!  With respects to your students' personal information, there is no requirement that you submit a link to a live course with student data. You could copy to a blank course in your institution's instance or in Free for Teacher. In any event, we won't share or ask you to share any part of your course containing sensitive information (as screenshots or otherwise). All contest reviewers will be employees of Instructure. Please let me know if you have questions about this.  We hope you participate!

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@jlloyd thanks for sharing! I love that your institution has a rubric organized into these 6 key areas.  This makes it easy to identify needs for professional development! 

carrie_madden
Community Explorer

Hi there,

I submitted a scavenger hunt course created for a virtual conference - when can I see the other submissions?  I am excited to share and learn more from this experience.  I love finding new ways to use a Canvas course <3.  Bravo, everyone!

l_lucas
Community Participant

Do we have to agree to this to contribute?

Except where prohibited, by entering the contest and submitting your content to Instructure, you agree to grant Instructure a license to use such content for its internal purposes and to distribute such content to Instructure's customers and potential customers. *

It is a big to expect someone to grant a licence to Instructure (and all its potential customers) for content that we may have spent a lot of money and effort to create

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

Hi @l_lucas

The goal of this contest is to showcase quality courses to the public.  So, yes, we need folks that submit their work to agree to the showcase/sharing portion of the contest.  We understand that there may be situations where you prefer not to.  This disclaimer is there to ensure that you understand the use of submissions in this particular contest. 

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@carrie_madden I'm excited that you submitted your work!  The conference scavenger hunt sounds awesome!  There's a team of folks who will be looking over submissions, so stay tuned!! 

l_lucas
Community Participant

Thanks for the reply @kimberly_ellis 

We have some great courses designed for rural and remote doctors - that use Canvas in interesting ways I think - but if it means we have to licence Instructure to be able to share our entire course with the general public ... then we won't be able to be involved unfortunately.

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@l_lucas, to clarify a bit, the disclaimer is not meant to grant permission for us to share your full course, as you might do in Canvas Commons.  Instead, we will only be sharing screenshots or live demos of your course via blogs and other marketing materials where we want to inspire clients with a "5-star course" design. 

We'd love for you to showcase your hard work on the courses you have built for medical professionals; however, we completely understand if your situation prohibits you from doing so!

l_lucas
Community Participant

Hi @kimberly_ellis - we would be happy to do a blog and to supply screen shoots etc - but I don't think i would get permission to grant a licence for live demos of the courses.
Is it worth submitting one of our courses on that basis - and saying NO to the licence question on that basis ... or would that exclude us?

cholling
Community Champion

@kimberly_ellis Love the examples, Kimberly. Please share how to get the emoticons to precede the title in Modules. Love that idea.

Thanks.

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@cholling yes, emoticons can provide a visual for young learners who can't quite read, or be used for organizational purposes for any learner! 

I personally use the shortcut on my Mac (Control + Command + Spacebar) and it opens up the Character Viewer shown below.  I'm not certain, but I think it may be (Windows Logo Key + period) on Windows.  You can also copy and paste them from websites like Emojipedia

character-viewer-mac.png

I love that they are accessible and will read to a screen reader.  For example, this emoji 😌  will read "relieved face" and 🎧   reads "headphones" on a screenreader.  

Hope this helps! 🤓 

 

 

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@l_lucas for this particular contest, we do want that permission granted. I sometimes think the word "license" is a scary legal term, but don't worry, we just want your permission to shine a light on your work. Again, we wouldn't provide your course to others to reuse/recycle - we simply want permission to fully demonstrate your course live with current and potential users and share your story!  

Keep in mind; you can always share your screenshots by writing a blog of your own and choosing the pieces you are comfortable with sharing. 

l_lucas
Community Participant

Hi @kimberly_ellis  - in that case we unfortunately wont be able to participate.

A license is a 'scary legal term' and has real legal implications.

Maybe next time ....

jbono
Community Participant

@kimberly_ellis I was curious to know if/when we would find out if we won for those who submitted.

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@jbono  and @carrie_madden 

Hi friends, sorry for the delayed response. I checked with my team that is helping coordinate this contest, and they will be closing submissions on April 2. Reviews will begin after that date, and winners will be contacted by April 16.  Showcase blogs will be revealed on May 1!  Stay tuned!

dmorgan
Community Member

not sure if this is the best place for this question...

Hi - is there a way for students to sign up for individual meetings, right in the Canvas course (as opposed to going to an external site) so that they can see the availability while they're logged into the course?

kimberly_ellis
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

As promised, winners were notified today!  Thank you to everyone for your consideration and participation! The submission form for the contest is now closed.  Be on the lookout for showcase blogs to be revealed on May 1.

ListeningEar
Community Member

Hello Kimberly!

Just saw your post I;m new to the Canvas community, I really liked the course design example you shared, and wondered if it was available in the Commons? I tried clicking on the link in the post but it is no longer valid?

Thanks,
Mark