Modules within Modules

[kristi_levy]

As we move toward Personalized Learning we are beginning to feel boxed in by the linear design of Course Modules.  Many teachers would like the Course Modules to look more like the Course listing in the new UI (Tiles rather than lists) AND have the functionality to have Modules within Modules.  This would allow for MANY more options for student Voice, Choice and Pacing options!

Comments from Instructure

Please refer to our comment from the product team. 

[rachellel_brenn]

Personalized learning is beneficial to all students.  I feel this option could really help create pathways for students, and allow the students more options, which is always beneficial.  I also think from an organizational standpoint it would be very beneficial!  I enjoy folders within folders to help organize chunks of assignments/activities within the assignment.

[ronmarx]

Exactly! The most effective learning strategies all incorporate "chunking" information, and scaffolding it to result in deeper learning. This is common practice for K-12 education today. If teachers are supposed to be guiding students' learning in this fashion, it only makes sense to organize instructional material in the same fashion.

[jim_sibley]

Hi

Instructure is philosophically opposed to modules within modules....I doubt

we will ever see them....no matter how much the end users want them

jim

Educational Consultant specializing in Team-Based Learning

Read my TBL book Getting Started with Team–Based Learning

<http://learntbl.ca/book>

Visit my TBL website at www.learntbl.ca

[RobDitto]

 @jim_sibley , was there a statement made by Canvas Product or others from Instructure which resulted in your "philosophically opposed" conclusion? I didn't see that among the comments here and guess that perhaps the response to this idea under Adaptation: Feature Idea Process Changes hasn't been completed yet.

[ronmarx]

I agree, James, with your interpretation. I guess my comments, and the comments of others who have been using LMS products for the past decade, are lamentations, sometimes sprinkled with a few grains of hope, and nothing more.

 @RobDitto ‌, I think that earlier on in this long thread some personnel involved in the Canvas product development team pretty much said that discrete, independent modules suggested by modules within modules‌ is a no-go. I understood this a while ago when I created the idea https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/5941" modifiedtitle="true" title="Selecting Multiple Content I.... I hoped the Canvas development gods would have interpreted the idea as meeting us halfway by giving us the ability to manipulate Canvas elements in bulk. Anything to reduce the tedious, repetitive nature that permeates the Canvas development environment.

Ironically, the code behind these functional improvements is already created, and could be easily reverse engineered.

[jim_sibley]

Yes

there are specific comments that led me to this conclusion.....I believe

this back and forth was in the thread about Architecting Large Complex

courses...I will need to dig if you want exact quotes

When I suggested I wanted module within modules a year ago...I got

responses (I suspect from Instructure) about not wanting to go back to

folder nesting and the joy of linear modules....and when I finally and

prematurely acquiesced...I got praise from Instructure...once our

large courses launched in September.....I realized linear modules were not

going to work for us...we now have module pages that are hundreds of feet

long...that is completely disorienting for students......

My faculty in smaller courses love Canvas....but the big course remain a

nightmare...no folders in pages area, no module nesting, a terrible

SCORM engine, difficult section grading management, difficult group

management tools

Educational Consultant specializing in Team-Based Learning

Read my TBL book Getting Started with Team–Based Learning

<http://learntbl.ca/book>

Visit my TBL website at www.learntbl.ca

[RobDitto]

Thanks,  @ronmarx . Based on the vote count here, I still hope for a response about whether there's any aspect of  modules within modules which does fit with Canvas Product plans.

[nhazelton]

If Instructure is wedded to a philosophy of teaching that is not in tune with that of the teachers who use it, we have to assume that the main reason it sells systems is how it works with the administrations that buy them but don't have to use them, nor, it would seem, deal with the consequences of their purchase decisions. Their competition does provide alternatives, but pricing is often more of a concern than instruction design flexibility and adaptability. We clearly have a serious disconnect between the users and the buyers, which is a recipe for failure.

There is always Moodle and the other public domain systems, but things have come to a pretty pass when one's first thought is how to defeat the software that was purchased (at significant expense) to make things better. Does Instructure actually give two hoots about the teachers, or are all their real efforts focused on those making the purchasing decisions?

[sandy_munnell]

I'm looking at the dates on these postings and see that this thread goes back 3 years! This is still open for voting 2 yrs later suggests a pretty slow development cycle. I agree that nesting modules within modules would be a navigation nightmare.

[jessicaa_cosma]

I would love to see this modules within modules implemented as well!  I use playlists and pathways in my classroom, and part of the foundation of this is giving students CHOICE so they can achieve and demonstrate mastery in a way which best suits them.  This idea would not only give my students the ability to choose from a variety of options, but it would also allow me to easily modify assignments for EC and ELL students by giving them choice in their options as well.  Currently, I modify by choosing one assignment for these students or eliminating options which are too advanced, but allowing them to choose with give them the ability to expand their thinking in a way which best suits them. 

I feel like this is similar to a Mastery Path, but it is more complex than a "do this, see how you did, and now do this" option that I feel Mastery Paths provide.  

I do work with a teacher who creates a document and uploads it to one Canvas page, and she creates her own "choose your options" modules within that one sheet. All of her links are embedded in that one document.  For example, she says, in row 1, you must do 1 assignment from each of the 4 columns.  Then, take the mastery quiz on Mastery Connect.  If you do not achieve mastery, you must go back and complete another assignment from each column.  If you achieve mastery, move on to row 2.  At the end of the week, the students turn in their papers showing their work for each column.  Although it doesn't necessarily fix the grading component that allowing sub-modules within Canvas would allow, this may be an alternative solution in the meantime.

[sandy_munnell]

I think in order to facilitate nested modules, there would also have to be the ability to create a table of contents to which the student could return after gettting buried in the modules. That feature doesn't seem to exist unless you create an independent page to make a TOC. You might want to consider up-voting getting files/folders within pages to create your option choices.

[emilyb_klingman]

Love this idea! It would be great to be able to divide within the module as well as by module. 

[krz2]

This is most definitely a feature we need!

[tommy_flynn]

I think this is an important upgrade to Canvas Modules. I would also like to see:

1. "Previous" & "Next" buttons at the top of every page in addition to their current location at the bottom
   1. This will be particularly helpful with discussions and/or longer content pages. In the current state, students must scroll down through hundreds of posts in some of our larger classes.
2. Module Menu within Modules
   1. Current navigation options for students on a given page in a module are:
      
      1. Links on the page itself
      2. The previous/next page
      3. Back to the Modules home page, which always refreshes to the top of the page
   2. It would be nice to have the option to jump to other module pages, sections, or even previous modules to access content without navigating in circles. 

Thanks!

[theotherdy]

 @tommy_flynn ‌ - agree completely with both of these. While waiting for Canvas to implement better navigation, I'm creating my own with some theme javascript. Image shows where I have got to so far - it will highlight the appropriate Module (as shown) if the user is on a Page or other activity within that Module (ie launched from the Modules page). You can see that space is a bit of an issue both vertically and horizontally. A colleague is going to replicate the Next and Previous buttons at the top of every page. I'll be happy to share the code with the community once I've got it working reliably...but note that you'll need to have sub-account admin rights (able to edit a theme) to use it and it won't work on the app, but then again it would be less useful there.

[GideonWilliams]

This looks very impressive work Damion

[tommy_flynn]

Hi Damion,

Nice work, looks like the right idea. I would be grateful to you for sharing the code when you have it in good working order (or before if you want a second look). You bring up a good point regarding page space. Would it help to remove the rest of the course menu items, leaving only the module names/numbers and a link to take the student to the home screen or simply exit "module view?" Don't know if that's possible, just more food for thought. Keep us posted. 

Cheers,

Tommy

[theotherdy]

Just to say that I have now put the code up on GitHub here: https://github.com/msdlt/canvas-where-am-I, along with some ideas (in Issues and at the top of the .js file as TODOs) for what still needs to be done. If you or colleagues have the skills/interest to help me tackle the outstanding issues, I'd be very happy to collaborate

[thompsli]

That looks wonderful! I've added it to my "look at over the summer" queue.

[edgardrodrigues]

 @Alexandre_Sch ‌

That would be another great idea to implement.

This would fit that original idea of the Gamification discipline ....

We could lock one module inside another and walk a path with more "phases".