Instructure and ThingLink are delighted to announce that they are working together to offer educators easily managed, and accessible, interactive learning experiences. 

Last week, a colleague shared a wonderfully truthful article titled This is the Hard part of Teaching. It’s Getting Harder by Peter Greene of Forbes. I also found a post by Jennifer Gonzales of Cult of Pedagogy called Barely Hanging On.

When our buckets are overflowing, how do you stay motivated? How do you keep your bucket from overflowing...or, how do you accept making compromises? How do you find joy?

Shareability vs Data Collection 

Considerations for Non-Classroom Courses

Are you using Canvas for Conferences? Professional Development? As a Resource Hub? 

Canvas courses are being leveraged more and more frequently for innovative, non-classroom uses like Conferences, Digital Showcases, Professional Learning, and more. When developing these courses with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, we learned quite a bit about the importance of more intentionally balancing the need for sharing and access with the need for collecting engagement data and analytics. KCSOS has already made this resource available to the California Canvas Collaborative, a network of Canvas users in California, which made us think-- the whole Community could probably benefit from this overview of course settings and design tips!

Enjoy and please leave a comment with your thoughts and best practices!

These apps, plug-ins and tools all integrate directly into Canvas LMS and once activated can only enhance your experience as an educator to make you more valuable to your students… while saving you valuable time along the way. 

This was written for another purpose but reposting here as well!

Hello, fellow Canvas people,

I've successfully developed a user script that allows you to set a default due date time in the Canvas assignment due date input field. Essentially, it adds a button right beneath the input field where you use a different "date picker" menu and it adds the time you set within the script.

If you are a Canvas Admin, you can add this code to your Javascript file for your institution so that it will work for all of your teachers.

Here's how to use it:

Step 1: Install Tampermonkey Chrome Extension or Install Firefox Chrome Extension

Step 2: Click this URL to install the "default time" script with Tampermonkey: https://github.com/creanlutheran/canvas-scripts/raw/main/set-default-due-time-v1.0.user.js (code is updated to include suggestions for improvement by James Jones -- thank you, @James !)

Step 3: After installing the script, modify the script to choose the due date time(s) you want! (screenshots below)

• Click the Tampermonkey Chrome extension button in the toolbar and select "Dashboard", which shows you all of your installed Tampermonkey scripts.
• Click the pencil icon on the right side of the script you want to modify. At the top of the code, you should see an array of times that you can edit to change the default times.
• Click File and then click Save. 

Step 4: Test it out!

Go to a Canvas assignment, quiz, or discussion edit page, and the buttons should appear right underneath the normal due date input field. Refresh the page if you don't see it appear.

Disclaimer: I am a novice programmer and would appreciate any suggestions/improvements to make this better!

I just joined Eddie Small (@smallindiana) and Marcus Painter (@edtechmarcus) in a CanvasLive session where I  had the privilege of sharing my thoughts about Canvas Studio and how powerful Studio is for teaching and learning.

As a district, we have not yet purchased Studio, but if I have my way (enter maniacal laugh), we will. It is such a GREAT tool. In the session, I talk about how my district leadership asked that I get some input from teachers who use Edpuzzle and Screencastify pretty regularly. So, my Canvas CSM and our account manager allowed my to run a test drive in a single course. I opened it up for volunteers to give Studio a spin. So far, they are loving it. I can't wait to share the data with our leadership team.

Watch this session where we talk about what Studio brings to the table in researching options for THE interactive video solution. Studio definitely checks all of the boxes:

Here is the slide deck from the session:

What about some use cases? How can STUDIO be leveraged for learning, strategy, celebrations, professional growth, and promotion. Check out this slide (Slide 6 of the above presentation).

Throwing out some questions for discussion:

1. What video solution(s) are you using? How is it working? What do you like best? What do you like least?
2. How are you using Studio? What do you like best? What do you like least?
3. What questions are asking if you are trying to make a video solutions decision? How have you done your research and homework in making this decision?
4. What other other considerations should be at the table?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Explore how to create some very unique and interesting hand-drawn effects in Canvas using PowerPoint. This will add some flair and individuality to your content, because Canvas courses shouldn't look like they were designed by robots.

Class/Course Average with ease!

Take care of entering grades with the Canvas grade passback feature!

I loved the first course I took on Growth Mindset; however, I am an online educator of tenth graders who are not required to attend livelessons. I work to inspire them to attend, I can reach them through either a message board or a Padlet, webmail, text message, or phone. I put together a weekly newsletter that not only states whats on the menu but provides humor, information on past and present mathematician including the 16-year-old who solved a theorem - stuff like that, mistakes like our post-its, or careers, I use the Math a Day calendar in my opening chat room - open 10 minutes prior to class start.  I provide direct instruction and worked problem pre-recorded videos (as I do a sort of flipped classroom) I would love to have ideas on how best to inspire my mathematical scholars to choose to attend and be more engaged in the synchronous available learning.  I offer voluntary discussions every third Tuesday where we see what maths is being done in the world, about 1/8 of my students attend these. I send e-cards on e day and pi day and even Pythagorean Triples If one is available. Many of my students are hear due to past bullying or severe anxiety - so we do have a private chat. But it is tough getting that maths discourse that is so valuable. So would love to attend a class that can provide me with awesome workable ideas. I use smartlearning suites love that I can switch from a whole class whiteboard, to work groups, to single user. With the new C-19 world I think we all could now use this.

How to search, find and use premade content from other program and sources on the web, embedded right in to an assignment on Canvas.

Featuring the Hot Spot quiz tool, learn how to take content taught and turn it into a more interactive, engaging and thought provoking assessment

Featuring the Categorization quiz tool, learn how to take content taught and turn it into a more interactive, engaging and thought provoking assessment.

Ever went to a breakout or escape room?  Whether you answered yes or no, it's time to try it out virtually.  Not just that, it's an engaging learning experience that ties in several pieces of Canvas and cooperative and collaborative skills for your students!

As we all navigate the challenges presented by COVID-19, your CSM team has consolidated best practices, resources, and success stories to help with the implementation of Canvas in the elementary classroom. Whether you are looking for a template course, hoping to connect with other Canvas in elementary users, gathering helpful implementation strategies, or anything in-between, we hope this resource can serve as a guide for you and your district as we see more and more folks introduce Canvas to their young learners. 

Teachers, please don't hesitate to reach out to your Canvas administrators for assistance with leveraging these resources. Canvas admin, your CSM partner(s) are here to assist however we can. 

Resources

Instructure Resources:

• Faculty Lounge Webinar: Canvas in the Elementary Classroom 
• Canvas for Littles K-5 Usage Community Post 
• Fantastic case study of a successful Canvas rollout to elementary grade levels
• Forney ISD Case Study Summary
• Passport to Canvas - a Canvas course that walks students (generally middle and high school but can be adapted to fit in elementary) through how to use Canvas
• Engaging Elementary Version 1 - resources and strategies (log in to Canvas in a separate tab to access this link)
• Engaging Elementary Version 2 - resources and strategies (log in to Canvas in a separate tab to access this link)

Social Media (connect with others!):

• Canvas for Elementary Facebook Group - over 5000 users collaborating on elementary use strategies

InstructureCon Presentations:

• Canvas in the Elementary Classroom - CanvasCon Presentation
• Taking the leap to launch Canvas in primary classrooms - CanvasCon Presentation

Templates and Example Courses (log in to Canvas in a separate tab to view Commons resources):

• Sample Course by Iredell-Statesville (scroll to the bottom of the page)
• K-5 Teacher Appreciation Home Page Template
• K-3 Template
• 4-6 Template
• New Braunfels ISD Template Courses
• Template 1 - homepage buttons organized by subject area
• Template 2 - homepage buttons organized by essentials
• Template 3 - homepage buttons organized by essentials + parents
• Template 4 - homepage buttons organized by essentials + parents (v2)
• Template 5 - homepage buttons organized by day of the week

Customer Success Stories:

• CMS Pre-K Speech Language Pathologist Canvas example story
• Canvas in Stations
• Mrs. Ray's students talk about stations and using Canvas (2 minute Video)
• Mrs. Park's 1st Grade Class & Canvas
• A Radical Shift in Thinking: Canvas in the Elementary Classroom (Blog Post)

Parents in Canvas:

• Canvas LMS for Parents Video 
• 10 Tips for Observers
• Parent Pointers for Canvas Part 1
• Parent Pointers for Canvas Part 2
• Canvas for Parents (Spanish)

Adoption:

• K-5 Adoption Toolkit

Implementation Strategies

Start with a template:

• K-3 users benefit from image/button based navigation based on customer experience.
• Ex: Assignments as a clickable image icon rather than being housed in the course navigation bar
• Primary Ready-made Templates
• Search Canvas Commons for elementary templates, there are quite a few free resources!
• Canvas for Elementary Facebook Group - several great ideas for templates here as well

Limit the course navigation items as much as possible:

• In a Canvas virtual classroom, the home page is where most of the button based navigation should exist. The text heavy course navigation bar can be confusing for young learners.

Use Video for Instruction and Submissions:

• This allows you to avoid having to repeat instructions for the young ones and allows them to click one button to record a video submission. 

Collaborate with local districts:

• The Canvas family continues to grow into the elementary grade levels. Working with local districts to learn from their experiences and consider new strategies is where the best ideas come from!
• All Canvas users can share content through the Canvas Commons.

Helpful Feature Options

• Immersive Reader - Feature Option for a screen reader offered by Microsoft (currently free)
• Canvas Elementary Theming Option - limits the course navigation and applies young learner friendly font
• Canvas Welcome Tour Feature -  provides quick tips to get started with a Canvas course

Hi K-12 Users Group‌ friends,

Thank you for all who attended our July 2020 meeting. I especially want to thank Carrie Gardner & Lindsey Hallett for sharing about the Canvas for Elementary Facebook Group. It was exciting to hear about all the work they are doing to support elementary teachers everywhere!

In case you missed the call and would like to learn more about the collaboration occurring in that space, I am including some links below for your review. 

Recording - My apologies for the late start! I have set our next meeting to record automatically!

Slide Deck

Notes

Be sure to save the date for our next sync up on October 20th at 12pm MT. Shaun Moon, Instructure VP, Product Management will be joining us to discuss our Road Map. We hope you can join us for that discussion!

Good luck and best wishes for a great fall start!

Christy

Rational for integrating external apps into Canvas ecosystem.

1. Canvas as the Hub: There are so many great apps out there which enrich our teaching and learning experiences, but asking students to navigate away from Canvas for any reason may be challenging, confusing, and distracting for many.  By integrating your apps you are creating a one-stop-shop for your scholars and saving time, energy, and concern for yourself as an instructor.
2. Auto Gradebook Updating: When a Canvas "assignment" leveraging an installed app using the "external tool" option is published a gradebook instance is automatically created.  The gradebook is also populated with scores as student responses are marked in "SpeedGrader.
3. Streamlined Workflow: Because content creators and consumers engage with all materials in the Canvas environment workflow efficiencies are gained creating time for other important tasks while reducing unnecessary stress.

Step 1: Installing External Apps into Canvas Course.

1. Choose a course page for which you would like to integrate the Nearpod App.
2. Navigate to "Settings". 
3. Select the "App" tab. 
4. Search for "nearpod‌" and select the app's icon.
5. Click the "Add App" button under the app logo. 
6. Find "Consumer Key" and "Shared Secret" and input the codes in their respective places.  I found this information a bit tricky to locate.  Steps 7 and 8 provide links and resources to retrieve these valuable keys.
7. When I couldn't find the "Consumer Key" and/or "Shared Secret" in my Nearpod Account Settings or Profile Page I navigated to the FAQ section and searched for Nearpod & Canvas Integration.  The top result was a link to the page pictured below.  The blue "here" link directed me to the following page. 
8. This page has all the information required for you to start integrating Nearpod into your Canvas Course including a step-by-step guide to various features of Nearpod's Canvas Integration.  Here is the link to the page pictured below: Learning Management System (LMS) Integration | Nearpod. 
9. Once you have Copied the "Consumer Key" and "Shared Secret" navigate back to your Canvas course and input the codes in their respective places.
10. After you select the "Add App" button you will now need to add the Nearpod link to the left-hand navigation panel in your course. 
    1. From "Settings" click on the "Navigation" tab. 
    2. Find the Nearpod link at the bottom of the list before dragging and placing where desired. 
    3. Don't forget to "save" your link placement at the bottom of the "navigation" tab.
11. After a quick refresh of the page the Nearpod course link will appear in the left-hand navigation panel. 
    1. Now when you navigate to the Nearpod link you will see your Nearpod.com dashboard nested inside your Canvas course. 
    2. You may choose to create content directly inside your Canvas course, or from Nearpod.com directly.  The accounts are synced and live updated similar to a Google Doc. 
12. To commence the Nearpod as a Canvas Assignment process begin as usual.
    1. Navigating to the "assignment" link in the left-hand navigation panel. 
    2. Then click on the "+Assignment" button.
13. Instructors may add their instructions and other auxiliary information in the content creation panel as usual.  These instructions will be seen by students in addition to the Nearpod presentation. 
    1. Change the "Submission Type" to "External Tool"
    2. Select "Nearpod" from the list of apps available
    3. Click "select" to finalize. 
14. Once the Nearpod External Tool is selected a new window appears displaying a condensed version of the instructors Nearpod.com dashboard.  Content must already be created and available from the teacher's Nearpod "My Lessons" section.  Instructors are not able to create or search for Nearpod presentations from this "assignment" window.  See #11 above for reference.
    1. Find the presentation you want to assign.
    2. When the cursor hovers over the presentation two buttons appear.  To allow students to complete the presentation asynchronously choose the "Student-Paced" option.
15. Don't forget to apply a "Due" date and "Publish".  These actions place the new assignment on the student's Canvas Claendar as well as their "to-do" list.  Below is an image of what a successfully created Canvas Assignment with Nearpod Integration looks like. 
    1. The Nearpod presentation automatically applies the students name into the "Welcome" slide. 
    2. Students move through the presentation using the blue arrows. 
16. After students have engaged with the assigned Nearpod content instructors are presented with a plethora of data in SpeedGrader.  "Participation" refers to polling and other open ended prompts.  "Quizzes" measure the teacher developed check for understanding questions created during the content creation process. Teachers are able to apply a grade, add a written comment, video response, or attach a document.  The only feature which is not integrated for "External Tool" submissions are "Rubrics".  For a prolific user of rubrics this is not ideal, however, an update may address this in the future.   

17. Keep an eye on the Gradebook because it will make you smile. When leveraging Nearpod as a Canvas "Assignment" a gradebook instance is automatically created.  Scores also populate the gradebook as the instructor grades student responses in "SpeedGrader" alleviating the need for double entry and screen swapping while streamlining instructor workflow and improving accuracy.  In short; everyone wins .

     https://help.flipgrid.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002727834-Canvas-LTI-Integration 

    Additional step-by-step instructions can be found in the Nearpod.com created presentation linked here: Nearpod Lessons: Download ready-to-use content for education 

**Please keep in mind the timing of this post.  Processes and outcomes mentioned above could change at anytime as Canvas and Nearpod continue to improve their integrations.  I also look forward to hearing from the Community.  Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or observations.  I'm always happy to help.**

Kindest regards,

Brandon K. Risenhoover

Rational for integrating external apps into Canvas ecosystem.

1. Canvas as the Hub: There are so many great apps out there which enrich our teaching and learning experiences, but asking students to navigate away from Canvas for any reason may be challenging, confusing, and distracting for many.  By integrating your apps you are creating a one-stop-shop for your scholars and saving time, energy, and concern for yourself as an instructor.
2. Auto Gradebook Updating: When a Canvas "assignment" leveraging an installed app using the "external tool" option is published a gradebook instance is automatically created.  The gradebook is also populated with scores as student responses are marked in "SpeedGrader.
3. Streamlined Workflow: Because content creators and consumers engage with all materials in the Canvas environment workflow efficiencies are gained creating time for other important tasks while reducing unnecessary stress.

Step 1: Installing External Apps into Canvas Course.

1. Choose a course page.
2. Navigate to "Settings". 
3. Select the "App" tab. 
4. Search for "edpuzzle and select the app's icon.
5. Click the "Add App" button under the app logo. 
6. Input "Consumer Key" and "Shared Secret" into dialogue box. 
7. Find "Consumer Key" and "Shared Secret" under your name from your Edpuzzle account information tab in the upper right-hand corner.  
8. From your profile page navigate to the “School” tab. NOTE: This feature lies behind a paywall.  Your institution will need to set up a “School” plan through Edpuzzle.com in order to retrieve the codes. Here is a link about Edpuzzle account tiers from Free to Pro: Free vs Pro – Edpuzzle Help Center.

9. On the “School” tab scroll to the bottom of the page to find the “LMS” selector, select “Canvas” from the drop down menu and Copy and Paste the provided codes into the proper places in the Canvas "Add App" section.   

10. A new "Edpuzzle" option is now available in the "Navigation" tab of the "Settings" page.  Drag and Place the link to the desired location before clicking "Save" at the bottom of the "Navigation" page. 
11. Selecting the new "Edpuzzle" tab in the left hand navigation will reveal the instructor's Edpuzzle.com dashboard. 
12. To confirm the integration was successful search "classes" from the Edpuzzle dashboard. 

Step 2: Setting up an Assignment leveraging the newly installed Edpuzzle App.

1. In the case of Edpuzzle all content must first be Created or Collected in Edpuzzle.com.  The Edpuzzle External Tool only makes videos from the instructor's Edpuzzle "My Content" section available for assigning. Here is a link to a beginners course for content curation designed by Edpuzzle: Edpuzzle Level 1. 
2. Once your content is created and ready to go navigate back to your Canvas course and commence the assignment creating process by selecting the "Assignment" tab in the left navigation menu and clicking the "+Assignment" button. 
3. After you add your instructions in the assignment content management panel scroll down to the “Submission Type” section, select the “External Tool” option, and search for and select the Edpuzzle tool.  
4. After clicking the "Select" button a new window is displayed prompting the instructor to select the desired video from their Edpuzzle.com course content section.  To choose select the eye (watch) icon which appears while hovering the cursor over the middle of the video.
5. Once selected another window appears displaying more video details as well as a new "Assign" button.  Once assigned the Canvas + Edpuzzle assignment is set for publishing.
6. QUICK TIP: Don’t forget to add a “Due” Date and “Save and Publish”.  This ensures that your new assignment appears on your student’s Canvas Calendar as well as their “To-do” list automatically. 
7. When students engage with the "Assignment" they will see not only the teacher's written and/or video instructions they will also see the embedded Edpuzzle.com Video.

Step 3: Grading Edpuzzle Canvas Assignments

1.  The joy of leveraging Edpuzzle as an "Assignment" in Canvas is that an instructor doesn't have to worry about logging scores from Edpuzzle.com into Canvas #Grades; this is done automatically.  Nevertheless, you may still assign a grade, leave written comments, or even produce a video response.  The only feature which is not integrated for "External Tool" submissions are "Rubrics".  For a prolific user of Rubrics this is not ideal, but new developments occur everyday.  Always keep your eyes peeled for updates.
2. Teachers receive performance details from Edpuzzle displaying “score”, date completed, date/time started, as well as an “options” button to reset score, if so desired.  Scores are automatically posted to Gradebook.

Step 4:  Keep an eye on the Gradebook because it will make you smile.

When leveraging Edpuzzle as a Canvas "Assignment" a gradebook instance is automatically created.  Scores also magically populate the gradebook as students complete the work alleviating the need for double entry and screen swapping while streamlining instructor workflow and improving accuracy.  In short; everyone wins :smileygrin:.

**Please keep in mind the timing of this post.  Processes and outcomes mentioned above could change at anytime as Canvas and Edpuzzle continue to improve their integrations.  I also look forward to hearing from the Community.  Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or observations.  I'm always happy to help.**

Kindest regards,

Brandon K. Risenhoover

Rational for integrating external apps into Canvas ecosystem.

1. Canvas as the Hub: There are so many great apps out there which enrich our teaching and learning experiences, but asking students to navigate away from Canvas for any reason may be challenging, confusing, and distracting for many.  By integrating your apps you are creating a one-stop-shop for your scholars and saving time, energy, and concern for yourself as an instructor.
2. Auto Gradebook Updating: When a Canvas "Assignment" leveraging an installed app using the "External Tool" option is published a gradebook instance is automatically created.  The gradebook is also populated with scores as student responses are marked in "SpeedGrader".
3. Streamlined Workflow: Because content creators and consumers engage with all materials in the Canvas environment workflow efficiencies are gained creating time for other important tasks while reducing unnecessary stress.

Step 1: Installing External Apps into Canvas Course

1. Choose a course page
2. Navigate to "Settings" 
3. Select the "App" tab 
4. Search for "Flipgrid" 
5. Click the "Add App" button under the app logo 
6. Input "Consumer Key" and "Shared Secret" into dialogue box 
7. Find "Consumer Key" and "Shared Secret" under "integrations" from your Flipgrid account information tab in the upper right-hand corner  
8. Copy and paste the "Consumer Key" and "Shared Secret" into the "Add App" dialogue box and click the "Add App" 
9. A new "Flipgrid" tab will now be available in the "Navigation" tab of the "Settings" page.  Drag and Place the link to the desired location before clicking "Save" at the bottom of the "Navigation" tab. 
10. Now, when you navigate to “Flipgrid” your Flipgrid.com dashboard appears. QUICK TIP: Avoid creating new content for a future Canvas Assignment instance from the ever tempting red “Add New Topic” button.  Content created in this way is NOT selectable in the “+Assignment” process at this time. Flipgrid automatically pulls course information, but it is always good to double check that the title of your Grid matches your Canvas course title. 

Step 2: Setting up an Assignment leveraging the newly installed Flipgrid App

1. Commence the process as any other Canvas "Assignment" by selecting the "Assignment" tab in the left navigation menu and clicking the "+Assignment" button. 

2. After you add your instructions in the assignment content management panel scroll down to the “Submission Type” section, select the “External Tool” option, and search for and select the Flipgrid tool.  

3. QUICK TIP: Don’t forget to add a “Due” Date and “Save and Publish”.  This ensures that your new assignment appears on your student’s Canvas Calendar as well as their “To-do” list automatically. 
4. When students engage with the "Assignment" they will see not only the teacher's written and/or video instructions they will also see the embedded Flipgrid topic.  As they scroll they will see the enticing big green plus button which Flipgrid uses as the beginning of the recording process.  Even nested inside Canvas students and instructors will have access to all of the fun and functional design elements like emojis, stickers, backdrops, and more.  

Step 3: Grading Flipgrid Canvas Assignments utilizing SpeedGrader

1.  The joy of leveraging Flipgrid as an "Assignment" in Canvas is that an instructor gets to use most of the "SpeedGrader" features.  You may assign a grade, leave written comments, or even produce a video response.  The only feature which is not integrated for "External Tool" submissions are "Rubrics".  For a prolific user of rubrics this is not ideal; however, one can easily build a rubric while creating the Flipgrid Topic during the "Assignment" creation process.  

Step 4:  Keep an eye on the Gradebook because it will make you smile.

When leveraging Flipgrid as a Canvas "Assignment" a gradebook instance is automatically created.  Scores also populate the gradebook as the instructor grades student responses in "SpeedGrader" alleviating the need for double entry and screen swapping while streamlining instructor workflow and improving accuracy.  In short; everyone wins :smileygrin:.

Here are some additional resources provided by Flipgrid.com:

Canvas LTI Integration – Flipgrid Help Center 

**Please keep in mind the timing of this post.  Processes and outcomes mentioned above could change at anytime as Canvas and Flipgrid continue to improve their integrations.  I also look forward to hearing from the Community.  Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or observations.  I'm always happy to help.**

Kindest regards,

Brandon K. Risenhoover

Thanks to all who were able to attend our May 2020 K-12 Users Group‌ discussion! 

We especially want to thank Brad Moser and Casey Rimmer for sharing experiences and resources from their school districts. 

In case you missed the live call, here are some resources you can review to catch up! 

• Slide Deck
• Recording - (I apologize that I missed the first few minutes before starting the recording). 
• Notes - Includes resources shared during the meeting

Please save the date for our next call on July 21st at 10am MT. If you have a suggestion for a topic or would like to share something you are doing in your schools, please complete this survey also. 

We look forward to seeing you then!

Christy

Hello K-12 Users Group, 

We have selected May 26, 2020 as the date for our next user group meeting. The focus of this discussion will be best practices and lessons learned in response to Covid-19.  Please come prepared to share your thoughts and insights.

We will be meeting between 10am - 11am MT. The zoom link to join the call is: https://instructure.zoom.us/j/96463801115

If you have any questions please feel free email me directly at cbarham@instructure.com. 

Have a great day and we'll see you soon!

Christy

I have spoken with several educators at conferences that have asked if there is any way to hide the To_Do list from students.  The idea stems from students jumping right into their To Do list without interacting with other module items and resources.  Since the To Do list basically shows items that are graded assignments, pages, files, and other  helpful module items are often overlooked.  

While I thought this was an interesting concept, I never really put a tremendous amount of thought into it.  Then, remote_learning happened.  In my role of an Innovation Specialist, I support teachers.  Many teachers started sharing these same concerns of students not knowing what to do once they get into assignments and not have the necessary background when taking quizzes.  We narrowed this down to the students using the To Do lists and not focusing on other needed items, information, and resources.  So we decided to give our staff some training on how to use requirements in modules to make sure students at least interact with content prior to engaging in activities that require the information they may be skipping.

The training was done as a virtual meeting using Microsoft Teams.  The screen share feature was used to show what the modules and requirements looked like form a teacher perspective as well as a student perspective.  There were three modules set up ahead of time.

The first module consisted of pages, a discussion, assignments, and a quiz.  

• The emoji added to the beginning of each title was used for two reasons
  • First to show that each item came from the same module. 
  • Second as a visual representation to connect it to the module they were just looking at in teacher view when sharing the student's To Do list.
• Each item had a requirement and the module was set to complete all of the requirements in sequential order.  This way, if students attempted to start the discussion (3rd item in the module) they would get a message similar to the following: 

• They receive a message showing the item they are attempting to access has not been unlocked yet.
• At the bottom, they are shown the items that need to be completed to unlock the item they are trying to open.
• There is also a link to the first required item that needs to be completed to begin the process.

The second module consisted of pages, and assignment and a quiz.

• The emojis (green and yellow circles) were used to identify items that had requirements or not.  Green circle = free to do at any time without a requirement.  Yellow circle = caution - there are requirements associated with this item.
• While the three requirements in this module are set to be completed in sequential order, the item with the green circle and no requirement can be completed at any time.

The third module was purposefully set to have no requirements to demonstrate how requirements are set for items in modules and what needs to be done to meet those requirements.

• Emoji was purposefully left off of module title to demonstrate how to to add the emoji.
• Other emojis show that not all emojis have to match or follow a specific theme.
• Title of each module item has description at the end to give a clue to how the item will be set to show completion.

Teachers were also given a link to a document with basic information about requirements so they could use after the virtual session.  Information included...

Things requirements can do:

Basic steps for adding requirements (notice we did not include prerequisites‌ at this time):

What the students might experience if they use their To Do list ant attempt to jump ahead of the requirements:

And the following tips:

(Here is a link to the Google Doc with this info.  Feel free to copy and use as is or remix to meet your needs if you like.) 

In conclusion,the session went well and I believe it was helpful for many teachers.  If your teachers are not using requirements, this may be a good starting point.

Additional Community Resources for modules and requirements:

• What are Modules?‌
• How do I add requirements to a module?‌
• How do I require students to move through each module item in order?
• How do I use modules to view the progress of students in a course?‌
• How do I add prerequisites to a module? ‌(for when you are ready)

Dear Teachers,

[Insert a customized greeting for your faculty and staff]. 

Canvas has a great (new) feature that can make is much easier to share your content with your colleagues.  It's called DIRECT SHARE.

You can directly share assignments, discussions, quizzes, and content pages with a colleague AND you can also send those same items to a different course that you teach... DIRECTLY (not using the course Import tool).  Take a minute to look at the links attached to see how to share assignments.  Follow the same process to share discussions, quizzes, and content pages!

It's a much easier than the Canvas Commons (even though that is still pretty helpful to share Modules and Courses with each other), especially if you want to send something quickly to your PLC or just copy a great resource from one course to another!

Hopefully that tip can help you feel more confident and powerful on Canvas!

[Insert customized conclusions for your faculty and staff]

Flipped learning has been around for a while, but people still interpret its meaning differently based on personal experiences.  Initially Flipped Learning was to be done outside of the classroom.  Students would watch videos at home and then come into class to work out problems, ask questions, and work on projects.  The videos took care of the "lecture" portion of the class and allowed the students to work on "homework" in class where they would have easy access to the teacher for assistance. While some may flourish in this scenario, other do not.  Especially those who do not have access to needed technology at home.  While we like to think these days everyone has access to technology and the Internet, a post by ConnectedNation.org called NEW U.S. CENSUS FINDINGS: NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT INTERNET ACCESS breaks down the number of households in the US that have absolutely no access to the Internet based on the 2018 American Community Survey.  The number of households without Internet access per state ranges from about 24,000 up to over 1 million depending on the state.

To increase the accessibility of Flipped Learning, many teachers are are using flipped lessons in their classrooms instead of students flipping at home.  This allows students to access the lessons as needed, at their own pace, and as often as needed while still giving teachers the ability to interact with students to support and enrich them while they work. Here is a video from the Cult of Pedagogy that explains how learning can be flipped in the classroom and explains some of the benefits as well:

Additional Canvas Community Resource for authentic application of Flipped Learning:

‌

Where to find videos:

There are many options here, but basically fall under two categories.

1) Find videos others have made.

• LTI / External apps can offer the ability to add videos to course content - What are External Apps (LTI Tools)?:
  •  How do I link to a YouTube video in the New Rich Content Editor as an instructor? ‌
  • Vimeo also has an LTI app that can be added and works similarly to the YouTube app
  • BrainPop has an LTI that that subscribers can use as well.
• Use URLs or files on your computer to embed videos - How do I upload and embed media from an external source in the New Rich Content Editor? ‌
• Some textbook publishers have content including videos.  Check with them to see what is available and the best way to integrate them for your students' learning experiences in Canvas.

2) Create your own videos.

• Simply record content on your phone and upload it to your Canvas course.
• Upload recorded video to a video editor to make cuts, edits, and enhancements.
  • MovieMaker (Win) and iMovie (Mac) are video editors that may already be on your computer.
  • WeVideo has a free version and a paid version.  There are others out there, but this is one I am very familiar with and use frequently.
• Use screen casting software to record your computer screen.
  • There may be some basic application like QuickTime Player (Mac) Game Bar (Windows 10) that have some basic screen recording capabilities.
  • Some popular freemium applications for screen recording include WeVideo, Screencastify, and Screencast-O-Matic.
  • Some more advanced and paid (with free trial) applications include Snagit, Camtasia, Adobe Premiere, and Final Cut Pro.

Disclaimer: I do not work for any of these companies, get paid for promoting these applications, or recommend one over another.  Which one you may use will be based on the needs you have and the facts you discover after you research the tools.  You can make some great videos with free software.  If the free applications are too limiting, you may want to look into a product with more advanced features, but may have a cost associated with it's use.

Where does Canvas fit in?

As we all know, Canvas is a wonderful instructional tool that can be used with various instructional strategies. Flipping learning with Canvas is no exception and can help personalize your students' learning experiences.  Let's take a look at some of the ways Canvas might be used for flipped instruction.

Flipping a lesson focuses on the delivery of content through video.  Videos can be added to so many places within a Canvas course using the New Rich Content Editor.  

• Add one or more videos to a page that has additional text, images, graphs, info graphics, etc. to assist with comprehension.
• Use a video as a prompt for a Canvas Discussion and have students reply with questions, comments, and reflections.
• Include a video as part of the directions for an assignment or quiz.
• Add a video to your course Announcements to build relationships, touch on upcoming class activities, or even ask a question of the day to get students involved.

Some Canvas Community resources for adding video using the Rich Content Editor:

How do I record media using the New Rich Content Editor as an instructor?‌

How do I upload and embed media from an external source in the New Rich Content Editor? ‌

How can we up our game when using videos to flip learning in Canvas?

There may be times when just watching a video is enough to grasp a concept or learn a new skills.  However, it may be more cognitively challenging and intellectually rewarding to incorporate additional activities, formative assessments, and relearning or enrichment opportunities to enhance learning experiences beyond just watching videos,  Here are a few examples of how we can up our game beyond just using videos in Canvas.

1) Turn Canvas Quizzes into learning experiences

Quizzes may be thought of as more of a summative assessment to find out what students know.  What if we used the Rich Content editor to add videos, text, links, images, etc to add a small amount of content that students can use to learn? Then ask a formative assessment question after student watches a video and internalizes the other content?  The learning and the formative assessment are all a part of that one question. Keeping the quizzes short would be a necessity to make sure students receive timely feedback since students will not the the results of their answers until after they submit the quiz. 

Tips:

• Stick to 2-4 questions depending on the learning that needs to be accomplished
• Adjust the quiz settings for unlimited attempts so students may repeat the learning and the formative assessment as needed
• Allow students to see whatever feedback you feel is appropriate for the task.
• Use requirements and prerequisites in models to make sure students achieve certain score to show mastery of learning before being able to move on to the next module.  Using requirements could also allow students to receive digital badges if you add the Badgr LTI to your course.
• To make sure course grades are not affected by formative assessment scores, use new_quizzes‌ and set the assignment score to 0 points.  This allows you to assign points to questions however you desire, but students' grade averages for the course will not show any adjustments based on these "practice" quizzes with 0 points.

How do I create an assessment using New Quizzes? ‌

How do I edit an assessment in New Quizzes? ‌

How do I manage settings for an assessment in New Quizzes? ‌

How do I add assessment accommodations for a student in New Quizzes? ‌

How do I insert stimulus content in New Quizzes? ‌

How do I use the Rich Content Editor in New Quizzes? ‌

How do I add feedback to an assessment question in New Quizzes? ‌

2) Use MasteryPaths to to help deliver differentiated videos for instruction

Have you ever made differentiated videos for students only to confuse them because were not sure which video to watch?  Allow MasteryPaths to alleviate some of that confusion by personalizing student learning and conditionally releasing content to students based on a score from a pre-assessment or formative assessment.  MasteryPaths allows videos integrated into pages, assignments, discussions, etc. to be associated with one of three paths. For this purpose, I like to define each path as follows...

• High Path - Extends and enriches learning
• Middle Path - Continues learning and may offer some enrichment
• Low Path - Offers remediation for learning that may not have taken place and continues learning

Tips:

• Content that is associated with MasteryPaths must be organized into modules.
• Content is only released for the personalized learning that needs to occur.  Therefore, students will not see the content that is not intended for them.
• Make sure your MastryPaths module(s) are completely set up prior to students beginning their personalized MasteryPaths experience.
• If you want your students to experience the content on other paths, the initial assessment can be retaken and if the score is improved, content for another path is then conditionally released. (When this happens, the content from the previous path they were working on disappears.  Only content associated with a single path will be shown at a given time.
• Content for all three paths to be conditionally released can be organized in a single module or can be spread throughout several modules.
• For twist on using MasteryPaths to allow students some choice in what they are learning, check out Hacking Mastery Paths‌.
• Digital badges can also be awarded for completing modules using Mastery Paths. See Mastery Paths with Badgr‌
• If you set requirements for module completion, only the conditional content released to the student will be required to complete the module.

How do I use MasteryPaths in course modules? ‌

How do I add conditional content to a MasteryPath source item? ‌

How do I assign a conditional assignment for students to complete in MasteryPaths? ‌

How do I view the MasteryPaths range breakdown results for an assignment? ‌

How do I allow a page to be a MasteryPath module item? ‌

How do I add requirements to a module? ‌

A few tips to think about while getting started with Flipped Learning in Canvas

• Start small.  Don't feel you have to flip all of your content right away.  
• Challenge your students to make videos that are better than yours.  If they are better, replace your videos with theirs.  Tell students in future classes that a student replaced your video with a better one.  Challenge them to make an even better video that may replace the previous student's video.
• If you work with other instructors within your department, spread out the load of creating flipped videos.  It will be much faster for three people to create thirty videos than it will be for one person to create thirty videos.
• Be empathetic and think about what your students need.

a.First, the answers I uploaded on the quiz are being showed on the Preview even though the button Let student view the answer is NOT checked.

b. There is no way I can add a picture to the quiz. I changed the file extension, I used images from my files, files from the internet but there is no way they can be seen under preview or under instructors view.

c. When I try to preview the test using the Test Student, as somebody suggested in one of the blogs, the Test Student is not an available option to me when I go to Assign to. Just the students names are available.

Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course:
Course Navigation + Modules + Home Page

Part 3:  Home Page

Hello, I am the Learning Management System Specialist in our K12 district and I provide support and instruction to our teachers and staff in the use of Canvas, promoting consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness.  Please visit the other two parts of the blog series:  Part 1: Course Navigation, and Part 2: Modules. 

As a K12 district we mostly have year-long courses.  A year’s worth of content can make for large courses with several modules and several items in each module. Clicking on Modules can mean scrolling and scrolling and scrolling to find the correct Module and content.  Some teachers move the current module to the top - this can be helpful, but then modules tend to get out of order, which also can be confusing. To solve this, I recommend creating a Front Page with a clickable table-of-contents for your course, and setting it as the Home Page. This will help bring clarity to your course.

Here are my tips for having a useful and effective Home Page.

• Reduce redundancy by not including links on your Home Page to items that already exist in your Global Navigation or Course Navigation. Items to *not* include on your Home Page are: links to Announcements, Grades, or the Quizzes or Assignments index pages, or to Calendar. Use the valuable real estate on the Home Page to direct students to specific Modules/units, and resources they need daily.  (Add content, such as Pages, Quizzes, and Assignments to the corresponding Module. When Due Dates are added to assessments, students also can access them on the Calendar and the To Do list. Other ways students can access various assessments is via Grades and Syllabus.)
• Use meaningful unit names. Instead of a link to “Unit 1” (what is Unit 1 about, anyways?), call it something like:  “1: Elements of Art.” By the time a student gets to a later unit, they won’t remember what was covered in Unit 1 if it has a generic name, so it’s important that links to the modules/units have meaningful names.
• Avoid making students scroll on the Home Page. Avoid placing a lot of text, or using a large image at the top of your home page that will require students to scroll down to find the links to the Modules and other important links.  You may want to use a table, with two cells across, to organize your content. In the left cell can be a small welcoming image and a little text, and in the right cell have your unit links using text.  Be aware that if your Home Page is too long and students have to scroll down a lot, they lose visibility of the course navigation menu on the left.
• Avoid multi-celled tables.  I’m not a fan of using multi-celled tables on the Home Page.  Why? For a few reasons: a) Tables can be finicky and sometimes require knowing HTML to format the way you need. b) Tables are not mobile friendly, and can display differently on mobile devices or different browsers.  c) Tables are not accessible and should be used for tabular data, not designing. (Personally, I need to find time to learn how to use DIV tags, so if you have time, please do it. See  @erin_keefe 's Tweet for more info: https://twitter.com/mskeefe/status/1220063738730024961?s=20)
• I know a lot of people are fans of beautiful, colorful buttons on the Home Page, but here are some reasons I recommend avoiding them:
  • Images may be meaningful to you, but perhaps not clear to students. If you do include an image, please include text of the unit name below the image.
  • Screen readers may have difficulty understanding the “buttons” or other images, and this can make navigating the course more difficult for students.
  • You’ll need some image editing skills to resize images (you can use the RCE tools, too, but I recommend starting out with an image that is not ginormous).
  • Unless your course is all planned out, you’ll have to continue adding images for any new modules. Depending on the number of units or links with images, this can become visually overwhelming.
  • Home Pages with many images can become busy and cluttered.

Here is an image of a sample Home Page.  By the way, notice how clean and minimal her course menu is!

In our district we are working on having more consistency across courses.  Consistency across courses makes it easier for students, too, as they don't need to spend time figuring out how to navigate each teacher's course. One way to make things more clear and consistent is to create a simple, but clean and clear Home Page like the one above. This Home Page also allows teachers to do some customizing for their particular course needs.  And having a homepage with links to Modules helps direct students where they need to go.

Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course:

Course Navigation + Modules + Home Page

Below is a letter I very recently sent out to our 160 faculty members after COVID-19 closed down our schools. Very little info had been directed to us from the administration except that we were to be doing OPTIONAL remote learning starting Wednesday March 18th and that under no circumstances could we teach new material or assign points of any kind. The concept of it being "optional" (in bold nonetheless) took the wind out of some our HS teachers sails. 

What I realized is that without being near each other the culture can really become (in)/affected and fast! I felt compelled to try and change the narrative and hopefully inspire some hope in a time of uncertainty and ambiguity. Here was how I responded as a fellow colleague/part time Tech Coach.

Good evening,

It has been an honor to be able to serve full time as an instructional coach with you over the past week as we try to figure out how to navigate these uncharted waters together. And going off of Mr. Napaver and Dr. Lloyd's lead, I think we all know that education must continue in some fashion; our kids deserve it and they thrive off of structure/normalcy.

So perhaps we can try our best to give them some sense of normalcy (however that looks in your class); that could mean reteaching your last unit through enrichment videos, starting from the beginning of the term and work your way to the present unit playing review games, or perhaps through an open ended project. It will be a good starting place until we all find a rhythm with remote learning and just how short term it will be. Whatever you choose to do with your classes, be upfront and transparent with your students...start a daily blog or announcement to let them know what your class plan is (even if it changes each day or each week) or have them help you create that plan together. But mainly stay in touch with them; some will need you more than others.

Remember as much as we know Bart Simpson won’t do the work...don’t forget about Lisa and Milhouse...heck, even Bart may surprise you every once in a while if given the right opportunity! Equity while having grace and flexibility needs to be our mantra.

Those of you planning on engaging in video chats with students please have some ground rules. 

• Cameras for students should be off unless they are in a public place and dressed appropriately as if they were at school. 
  • I say use a system that allows you to lock cameras for participants and leave yours on if you wish to humanize the experience as much as possible.

Also have a backup plan/platform...with the high traffic and free accounts sometimes platforms can struggle. 

• Set up a backup in Google ‘Meet’ or Zoom meeting or Conference tool in Canvas that way you can redirect quickly and salvage the session.

As always, I’m here so please use me to: brainstorm ideas, make sure something is “okay” or even just to help you with your vision for what the next two weeks can be for your students/classes given the constraints and ambiguities. 

You are enough. You are a content expert and may (not) be a tech expert and that's ok (neither are all our students).

 

Yours,

Jon

As far as the impact, we shall see, but I have already received amazing feedback from staff.

Here was my favorite response:

Thank you so much for all of your unfailing support and enthusiasm. You continue to remain positive, and focused on people over platform. Your passion for using technology to enhance and redesign instruction in a content-driven way has always been evident, but the way you've stepped up over the last few weeks has given everyone a sense of comfort and confidence. Please know how much it is appreciated.

The interesting part of that comment is that the person who wrote it is someone I really have not interacted with much before, which reminds me that our students feel the same way about us as teachers; we inspire them all at one point or another even if they don't show/say it.

Teaching and learning are a lot like baseball. We may not win 100% of the time, but when its our turn, we step in the box and do our best...over time we will have highs and lows, but it's the day to day hope that makes all of the above worth our time. I hope this offers you inspiration! Be present. Stay Well!

Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course:
Course Navigation + Modules + Home Page

Part 2:  Modules

Hello, I am the Learning Management System Specialist in our K12 district and I provide support and instruction to our teachers and staff in the use of Canvas, promoting consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness.  Please visit Part 1 of this series, Course Navigation.

 @erin_keefe  explains modules in So, What’s a Module Anyway? and how modules are similar to  folders to organize or chunk information and activities; how students can navigate with the next/previous buttons; and how you can create personalized experiences using prerequisites and requirements or mastery paths. In the Canvas Community Discussion, Improving Course Navigation Experience for Students,  @sweetera  offers valuable suggestions, based on years of experience, as to why and how to use Modules and improve the user experience. And emilycraddock has a clear and concise blog, Mad About Modules, with an accompanying video.

Here are reasons why Modules are so great for setting up a clear organization and navigation of your Canvas course content:

• Content Flow.  While one could design a course using Pages and linking to other Pages and other content, essentially the course becomes a website, and there is no “map” or “tree” to see the big picture of how the content flows. This may be fine for smaller courses -- like for a topic that’s completed in one day or one sitting, but that “big picture,” or roadmap, is critical for more extensive courses (multiple units or topics to be studied in a semester or full year).   With Modules, students access the first item, and then can continue to navigate through content with the Next button. Or they can go to the top of the Module, and select to enter any of the items in the Module. 

• Content Organization.  You can direct students to one place to see all items for a particular Unit or Module -- content Pages, Quizzes, Assignments, Discussions, Files, External URLs, all can be added to a Module in a sequential order.  The Index pages for Pages and Quizzes can get loooooong, and can’t really be put in much of an order except alphabetical. The Index page for Assignments includes Quizzes and Discussions that are graded (and Pages in mastery paths).  The power of the Assignments index page is in creating Assignments Groups, which can be weighted, to match your syllabus and to set up your Gradebook. As explained in Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course Part 1:  Course Navigation, you can hide the links to those Index Pages, and just leave Modules enabled.

• Content Type and Status. When all the various content items are added in a Module, you can see very easily:
  • an Icon identifying the type of item in the module: a content Page is a paper with text icon; a Quiz is a rocket ship icon, an Assignment is a paper with a pencil icon, etc
  • The Status of certain items:  if the items are Published; if there is a Due Date, if there are Points, and, if there is a Requirement, what the requirement is (View, Submitted, Score at Least).  See the image below:

• You also can add items to your Module and leave them Unpublished either because 1) you’re still working on them and will Publish them when ready; or 2) you want it there “for your eyes only” -- such as hidden notes for a TA or substitute, or notes for yourself on how to improve a lesson or activity for the next time.

Reminders / Tips:

• Modules are used to organize and present content in an orderly way -- all the items you add to a Module actually live in their respective Index pages.  So, if you remove an item from a Module, this does NOT delete it from the course.  You’ll need to go to the particular Index page to actually Delete it from the course.
• Only by using Modules will you be able to use the power of Requirements and Prerequisites, and Mastery Paths.

In a year long course, your list of Modules can get long, and your Modules themselves can get long with several content items.  Having a Home Page with links to the Modules will help students (and you, too!) to not have to endlessly scrooooooll through that long list. A Home Page with links to the Modules, allows students to click and and go directly to the Module they need. Some teachers like to move the current Module to the top, and while it’s easy to do that, it’s an extra step, and then the Modules can get out of order (should someone actually want to scroll through the modules). 

So how does one create a Home Page with links to the Modules? Please go to:    Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course Part 3:  Home Page

Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course:

Course Navigation + Modules + Home Page

Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course

Course Navigation + Modules + Home Page
Part 1:  Course Navigation

Hello, I am the Learning Management System Specialist in our K12 district and I provide support and instruction to our teachers and staff in the use of Canvas, promoting consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness.

When I offer Canvas instruction, or when I evaluate a teacher’s Canvas course, the first things I look for are:

1. Is the Course Navigation menu reduced to the least possible number of links?
2. Is the course content organized using Modules? and
3. Does the course have a Home Page with links to those Modules?

 The value of taking a few moments to do this goes a VERY long way.  These features are interrelated, as are most Canvas features, making  them more powerful when used in combination.

Often teachers are pressed for time, eager to dive into developing content and assignments/quizzes; managing the Course Navigation, organizing content in Modules, and creating a Home Page can seem unimportant, but these steps help to setup the course for easier and clearer navigation and other efficiencies -- both for the teacher and the students (and anyone else needing to look at the course). 

In the #canvascasters podcast episode, Magnifying MasteryPaths w/ Van & Ryne, at 22:55, van.bardell and  @ryne_jungling  talk about the importance of consistency in course design across courses and starting by cleaning up the course navigation, and organizing content with Modules.

 So let’s get started with the why and how of cleaning up the Course Navigation...

Part 1:  Course Navigation

You’ve heard the saying, “Less is more.”  When talking about design, the cleaner, neater, less busy a course menu is, the easier and quicker it is to find what you need, which translates into less frustration and more efficiency. 

Some people may argue, “Why not give students more ways to find the content?” The answer:  because it actually creates confusion, and takes longer for students to find.   @sweetera  shared her real life experience as a student in a course with too many access points, including too many course menu items: 

I was a student in a course where, at the end of week 3, over 1/3 of the class hadn't found the actual course content in Modules but they thought they had. 1/3 of the class had clicked on Assignments and Quizzes…. ...and attempted them without even knowing there was anything else to see!  …..[students felt] angry and betrayed by the experience.”

Design your course so students navigate to one place instead of five or six places. Avoid sending students to:

• the Assignments index page to search for their Unit 1 Assignments, 
• the Quizzes index page to find their Unit 1 tests and quizzes,
• Discussions to find the Unit 1 Discussion, 
• and the index pages for Pages and Files to find content and files related to Unit 1.
• Note that there is also no easy, clear, or consistent way to organize content on some of these index pages.

To help direct students to the content, and so they don’t get confused and miss important information, clean up the course navigation menu and remove the links to the index pages for Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, Pages, and Files -- these features, which are native to Canvas, can still be used when hidden from students in the Course Navigation, and they remain visible in the menu for the instructor to continue accessing.  Add all the Unit 1 items to the Unit 1 Module, so they are all together, in context. Make sure you do not hide Modules from the menu.  Once you Publish a Module, your Modules menu link becomes active for students.

What about all the other items in the menu?  Probably many can be hidden. The list below may help you decide what to hide from your course menu:

• Chat, Conferences, Collaborations:  These are awesome tools, but unless you are actively and intentionally using them and providing students with guidance or direction for specific tasks, I recommend disabling/hiding these to help students stay focused on the course content (and not chatting, etc).  Enable these when you are ready to actively using these tools.
• People:   I recommend hiding People, especially if you’ve created Sections for differentiation, otherwise students can see who is in the differentiated sections.   However, if you plan to have students Self Sign-up into Groups, you do need to have People active in the course menu -- otherwise they can’t access the Groups tab to then access the Self Sign-up. (Student Guide: How do I join a Group as a Student?)  If you add students to groups yourself, you can hide People, and students can access their Groups from the Global Navigation.
• Syllabus:  [EDIT] Syllabus has a Course Summary which can be overwhelming since it lists in chronological order Every. Single. Assessment. (Published or Unpublished). In. The. Entire. Course.  This might make sense for Higher Ed, but maybe not so much for K12 (especially year long courses).  But now you have the Option to Exclude Assignments from Syllabus - which makes using Syllabus much more attractive and usable.  Other options are to create a link to their syllabus from the Home Page, or create an “About this Course” module, and add a File or a Page with your syllabus. 
• Attendance:  Do you take attendance in another system? If so, remove Attendance from your menu.  If you give a Grade for Attendance (our district does not), then this could be helpful. You might like Attendance for other things (clubs or other extra-curricular activities, maybe?).
• Outcomes: Outcomes are used to track mastery -- this is great of Standards Based.  But unless your district has loaded Outcomes, or you are manually adding your own, this too can be removed.  If you are using Outcomes, it may be sufficient for students to see the Outcomes and their progress in Grades under the Learning Mastery Gradebook.
• Hide/disable any Integrations or External Tools your district has added that you don’t use for your particular course (such as Textbooks, etc).  And if you don’t know what it is, it’s possible you don’t need it for your course.  If you have integrations such as Nearpod or can able to add FlipGrid, these will add a lot of interactivity to your courses -- but get a little training first, and then add them, for sure!

Time to clean up your course menu!

So, how do you hide/disable those items from your course menu?   Enter your Course => click on Settings => click the Navigation tab.  You’ll see a list of features/tools.  There is a top half and a bottom half.  Of the items in the top half, notice that the Top of the top half are tools native to Canvas, and the bottom of the Top half are Integrations.  Keep at the top the tools you want to be visible/enabled; drag and drop items below the line to the lower half to hide/disable. Last step: SAVE!!   Then go to Student View to see how much clearer it is for students to navigate your course!

Instructor Guide: How do I manage Course Navigation links?

Next let's look at how you can...

...Bring Clarity to your Canvas Course: Course Navigation + Modules + Home Page

Part 2:  Modules

Part 3:  Home Page

EEEK! I’m not an online teacher but I’ve been told the possibility of virtual teaching could be a reality due to the possible spreading of COVID-19.

You may be more prepared than you think you are! It’s safe to say that some of your lessons will need to be adapted for at home learning but you probably have access to tools that can help with this already! Tools to help you think through this possibility:

Learning Management System. Our school has access to Google Classroom for our lower school teachers and Canvas LMS for our upper school teachers. The ability to add content and share it with others is something that many of our teachers are doing on a regular basis anyway. The ability to have students share their learning back through various assignment options opens the door to many possibilities. For teachers of younger children, use SeeSaw Learning Journal to have students turn in work to you as a teacher- whether it be a video, a photo of something, or a worksheet that they can upload.

Google Suites for Education. Cloud-based computer application software allows for realtime collaboration without needing to physically be together. Students can open a Google Doc, Google slide, Sheet, and Email, to communicate and collaborate with you teachers and fellow students in synchronous and asynchronous options.

Video Uploads to Share Learning. Have students record their learning and upload it to you in video format (or try something like Flipgrid). For instance, a math teacher can assign a Khan Academy video to their students to watch to learn a new concept and then have them do a problem that shows they understand what they learned! Options like Screencastify, Quicktime, or just using the camera option on a device allows students to video learning and share it with the teacher.

Video Conferencing. Teachers can lead courses via options like Google Hangouts, Zoom, or FaceTime. These videos can also be synchronous or asynchronous in nature. Have students log in during 3rd block and teach as you normally would or ramp up the possibilities by having students video conference with subject matter experts, authors, or teachers from around the world for a day of learning outside the box.

Digital Discussion Boards. Discussion boards can happen inside your LMS- both Canvas and Google Classroom have options to keep the classroom discussions going. What a great way to talk about digital presence and expectations for appropriate use when it is happening inside a closed digital discussion board.

Consider assigning options that can’t be done easily at school! Have students cook things in the kitchen as a design thinking process. Have students interview family members for their views on a subject being studied and critically consider their view against that of their family members. Create a project based learning opportunity that students can do at home to share learning. Learning can happen anywhere, not just in the classroom. Send students to code.org and have them learn how to code- attach it to the learning in your classroom. Work with the teachers in other departments and create a learning activity that you both can add feedback on. Send students to Brainpop, have them practice math facts with their home Alexa device, or visit an art museum around the world virtually. What are the websites or apps that you have students visit? Give them more opportunities to work with those.

Will the learning look like it does normally? No. You will have to push outside your bubble of comfortability to come up with ideas to turn your class into an online option but with a bit of creativity and planning it can happen!

Here are some other posts I’ve made in the past that might aid teachers in thinking about digitizing their courses:

Differentiating in Canvas:https://medium.com/voiceedu/differentiation-of-instruction-in-todays-connected-classrooms-33068c575b...

Discussion boards: https://medium.com/voiceedu/online-discussion-boards-for-learning-d785e7cc7888

Benefits of Digital Testing: https://medium.com/voiceedu/data-benefits-of-digital-testing-7b578da9bb8c

Free Apps that Integrate with Canvas: https://medium.com/voiceedu/free-apps-that-integrate-with-canvas-lms-ab068fc4d9ad

Rethinking Teaching with Available Canvas Tools: https://medium.com/voiceedu/rethinking-teaching-with-available-canvas-tools-6afc84e0d5d6

The Value of Relevant Teaching: https://medium.com/voiceedu/the-value-of-relevant-learning-41194c93b82

Teacher Tips for Canvas: https://medium.com/voiceedu/teacher-tips-for-canvas-361a9ad693aa

Digital Testing Safeguards: https://medium.com/voiceedu/digital-testing-safeguards-ee39e0d10a39

Digital Course Design in a Nutshell: https://medium.com/voiceedu/digital-course-design-in-a-nutshell-eye-on-the-prize-8fb38d071fd6