Is there a way to add connective text (not "text headers") between the elements of a module?

[stn3]

I'm a university teacher.  I understand the use of modules to structure course content in Canvas, but am frustrated that there doesn't seem to be a way to connect lectures, assignments, quizzes, etc with plain, narrative text.  To me, modules look like nothing more than a list of URLs with an occasional heading - which makes for a pretty bland web page.  I like to organize modules by topic.  Each is different.  I would like the ability to add a paragraph or two of introduction, explanation and rationale for the material, the ability to introduce each lecture powerpoint or video, distinguish major items from supporting papers, files or data sets, and generally bind the material together.  

Hopefully I'm not overlooking something obvious.  Is there any way to do this?

John

[mzimmerman · Accepted solution]

Hi John,

At my school, when instructors want a little more elaborate way to organize content, the instructional designers point them towards using Pages, which allow links to all the same kind things that Modules do, but allow them to be embedded within a lot more flexible (and visually stimulating) layout.

[Chris_Hofer]

@mzimmerman ...

We do something similar as well.  Our "Modules" pages are typically organized into "Learning Plans".  Each Learning Plan typically will have an "Overview" page where it includes a paragraph or two about what the Learning Plan is about, the competency(ies) for that Learning Plan, and any Learning Objectives for that Learning Plan.  Then, we will have other content items within that Learning Plan module ... such as other Pages, Discussion topics, assignments, quizzes, etc.

[stn3]

Thanks for this suggestion.  I had thought of and tried this, but never took it very far.  It just felt like building my own set of class web pages inside Canvas, but with a clunkier and more restrictive interface than writing my own html.  Before Canvas came along I had an shtml template that I used to create websites for all my classes that worked quite well and was very easy for me to use and modify (e.g. http://faculty.washington.edu/stn/ess_312/index.shtml).  Of course it didn't include all of the Canvas features like quizzes, discussion pages, online submission of assignments, etc but it was an adequate way to make class material available online to the students.  (Adoption of Canvas killed off all of these and much of the content and links have become defunct, though I've noticed that some students still find and use them, even for classes that I no longer teach!).  

I think allowing just a bit of connective text could make modules a much more engaging way of delivering their content.  They always look very bleak to me - certainly not visually stimulating!

Cheers,  John

[mzimmerman]

@stn3  It *is* a lot like building your own web pages, but the advantage of using the RCE link functions within pages is that you're not hard-wiring specific URLs for the links, so they can transfer when you copy the course content to a different course shell.