Paperless in my Hybrid Statistics Course

kona
Community Champion
3
1080

How do I go paperless in Canvas for my hybrid Statistics course? Here are nine ways I've cut down or cut out using paper for my class and instead use Canvas!

  • Textbook - My textbook is OER and I provide the PDF in my Canvas Course!
  • Syllabus - No printing of my 15+ page syllabus! It's in Canvas for my students to read!
  • Handouts - I have a lot of handouts ranging from the course calendar to content specific handouts and they all get uploaded into Canvas and added to the appropriate Module!
  • Assignment Directions/Instructions - All assignment directions/instructions are in Canvas and always available! No more" I lost the directions" or "I couldn't find them"!
  • Statistics Tables - No more printed statistics tables! I provide the link to an awesome online Probability Distribution Calculator.
  • Quizzes - No paper/pencil quizzes in my class! All quizzing is done in Canvas! My favorite part is that the questions are formula based (or there is a large question pool to draw from) so I can let students have multiple attempts. This helps students who aren't getting it to try and figure out what they aren't understanding and do better (or ask questions!!).
  • Assignments - The majority of the Assignments for my class are turned in on Canvas (we do some hands-on stuff in the classroom) and graded in Canvas (I LOVE Speedgrader!). This works well because I'm not collecting papers from the students and it's easier/quicker to grade!
  • Google Collaborations - I use Google Collaborations to create and share information/data with my students and my students use them all the time for their group projects!
  • Attendance - Instead of keeping paper attendance I keep track of attendance in Canvas!
3 Comments
Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

This is a great way hybrid (or blended) courses can leverage Canvas and save trees.

lrosenberger
Community Novice

These are great ideas, Kona! My CC just adopted Canvas so I am currently working on creating my Spring courses within our new LMS. I will be teaching two hybrid sections of intro stats this Spring and will be borrowing some of your ideas. Thanks for sharing!!

Question for you...my college is in an urban area with a high proportion of students having zero-EFC and with about 85% of students placing into developmental-level reading/writing and math. By the time they get to my stats course they have, for the most part, improved their content and study skills but resources are still an issue for many. Do you have issues with students in your hybrid classes not having their own device and internet access at home? If so, has it been a problem and how do you deal with the issue? I want to go paperless but I am not sure how to handle it considering our population. I would just suggest that students who don't have their own device and/or at-home internet access use campus resources but  many of our students are working adults that don't have a lot of time to spend on campus outside of class. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

kona
Community Champion

 @lrosenberger ​, our Institution is a bit more rural, but does have a relatively high number of students who rely on financial aid. I recently had similar questions about student access to computers and the Internet and did a survey of new students to see what type of access they had (I'm also the Director of Online Learning, which is what made this possible).  What I found was that almost all of them had access to the internet from either their own computer, a smart phone (you'd be amazed at the number who are zero-EFC and still have smart phones), and/or access to a computer via a family member/friend/etc. In addition, Comcast (TV/Internet Company) recently started a program that offers very low cost Internet access ($9/month) and (if needed) computer ($150) to all qualifying (PELL) students.

So, at least for us, access to an internet accessible device hasn't been that much of a problem. Something else that I've got on my side is that my class is held in a computer lab so we can work on things directly in the classroom (we do lots of hands-on activities and group work) and the students can come in early/stay late to work on things. My hybrid class meets one night a week and all of my students work and most have families, so the hybrid format seems to work well for them and they don't mind the extra content in Canvas for them to do outside of class. Canvas also really helps with all of this because of the free mobile app. It works pretty well and allows students to do most things from their phone.

Hope this helps and good luck with your Spring classes!