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How to architect complex courses?

Question asked by James Sibley on Jun 6, 2017
Latest reply on Aug 31, 2017 by Jim Sibley

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Does anyone have advice for migrating a large 16 section complex course from BBLearn to Canvas. Because Canvas module page doesn't really support folders and nesting the module page will be probably 50 feet long....and I have no idea what to do with the current BBLearn grade book that has 350 columns.

I am stumped as how to architect course so it is reasonably navigable by students has enough grade book power to store all the course grades.

I have attached the BBLearn menu with most everything open. It is a monster...

thanks

jim

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Kona Jones Jun 19, 2017 9:49 AM
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James, I'm not sure of the answer to your question, but I'm going to share this with the Instructional Designers & LMS Migration Strategies groups in the Community to see if they can help. You might also consider joining these groups so you can check out their resources and information!
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James Sibley Jun 19, 2017 10:03 AM
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Hi

I think I figured it out.

You can use some javascript to invoke accordions and tabs on a single page. So you can make a page more complex and keep the module flow reasonable. Unfortunately it requires scripting and doesn't look that great in WYSWIG...but looks nice in student view.
See Adding enhanced interface components in Canvas content for how to use these.
this solves one of our bigger problems...on to next challenge

jim
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- Kona Jones @ James Sibley on Jun 19, 2017 10:05 AM
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  James Sibley, I thought of tabs (something I use myself) or accordions, but in case you didn't catch it:
  Anyone considering implementing tabs should be aware that Canvas has announced that they are going to deprecate the jQuery UI magic that does the enhanceable_content accordions, tabs, sortables, draggables, resizables, and dialogues: Deprecated use of magic jQueryUI widget
  
  The recommended long term fix is to load your own JavaScript library that will do these things. That's done on the account level, so instructors will not be able to do it at the course level for just their courses.
  For more information on this see the following post - https://community.canvaslms.com/groups/designers/blog/2017/06/16/making-a-content-page-with-tabs#comment-87447
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  - James Sibley @ Kona Jones on Jun 23, 2017 9:43 AM
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    Thanks for this...very helpful
    
    I assume when you say "account" level that would be equal to whole institution? I worry about convincing my institution to add JS libraries (we probably have 3000 to 5000 courses)
    
    I assume deprecation has to do with users missing tabbed pages if they navigate with Previous and Next module buttons (which isn't a great argument...if I am instead forced to have pages that are 10 plus feet long and module listing pages that are hundreds of feet long)...I assume another reason might be desire for faster page loads without JS libraries.
    
    That said I wonder is it might be possible to have a toggle somewhere calling this a "complex" course that would only load libraries for pages/courses that need the libraries?
    
    thanks
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    - Kona Jones @ James Sibley on Jun 23, 2017 12:11 PM
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      Good questions, but beyond my scope of expertise. I'm sharing this with the Canvas Developers to see if they can help.
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    - James Jones @ James Sibley on Jun 23, 2017 12:48 PM
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      Jim,
      
      Custom JavaScript can be applied on the account or the sub-account level, so if there are just a few courses that need the tab functionality, and they are all in the same sub-account, then you could apply it just there without affecting all 3000-5000 courses. However, it needs to be done by a Canvas Admin. They will need to monitor things every three weeks to make sure that something doesn't break during a release cycle, so they may want some justification of how it is going to help -- especially when (at least I've heard) there were problems with it working on mobile devices and so it may only be a "fix" or "nice" feature for web browsers.
      
      As far as I know, the deprecation has nothing to do with people missing tabbed pages as you navigate through the previous and next buttons. I've never heard of that before and certainly haven't seen it mentioned around any of the deprecation talk.
      
      What is happening is that Canvas is running into accessibility problems when they try to apply jQuery UI widgets to user content. It's one thing when Canvas puts a tab or accordion together because they can specify all the stuff that they need to make it accessible, but it's something different to take user content and assume that it has the information needed for the accessibility issue.
      
      They're also moving more towards different JavaScript libraries. ReactJS is the primary one and it generates all of the code and then pushes it into the document, while jQuery UI modifies the information that is already in the document. If they wanted tabs or accordions, they would build it into the ReactJS portion. If they can get to the point where jQuery UI is no longer used on their end, there's no point in loading it for just the user content, where it has already demonstrated accessibility issues.
      
      The short-term goals are to remove the enhanceable_content class that automatically turns items into jQuery UI widgets. This automatic behavior is the "magic" that is being deprecated. Even though accordions now fail to be automatically assigned, if your school adds them through custom JavaScript, they can still use the included jQuery UI and will work. At least for now that is. Canvas wants to get to a point where they don't need the jQuery UI at all for their stuff and then it will cease to be exposed for users as well.
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      - James Sibley @ James Jones on Jun 23, 2017 1:18 PM
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        Helpful...thanks
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Ellen Rhudy Jun 23, 2017 12:52 PM
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James Sibley, this sadly isn't an answer to your question but I thought would be of interest to you: Modules Display as Collapsed by Default (This idea hasn't been implemented but is on Canvas's radar.)

One user there, Michelle Krummel, suggested a workaround that might be worth exploring if you aren't able to work with JS as others here have suggested: "I created a "table of contents" page containing a list of all the titles of the modules and linked each title to its module. So, if a student clicks on "Unit 8" it opens to the modules page and jumps down to module 8 (so that the top of module 8 is at the top of the page). It's an extra page click, but it's better than having to scroll all the way down to module 8."
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- James Sibley @ Ellen Rhudy on Jun 23, 2017 1:17 PM
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  Helpful...thanks
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rogrant@nmsu.edu Aug 29, 2017 7:45 AM
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James,

Were you able to find an answer to your question? I am going to go ahead and mark this question as answered because there hasn't been any more activity in a while so I assume that you have the information that you need. If you still have a question about this or if you have information that you would like to share with the community, by all means, please do come back and leave a comment. Also, if this question has been answered by one of the previous replies, please feel free to mark that answer as correct.

Robbie
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Jim Sibley Aug 31, 2017 11:54 AM
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Hi

Here is a follow-up to my original request.

I have finally come around. It is difficult to leave Blackboard's nested folders and imagine any other way of laying out course....but now I can...I can now see it is not only possible, but will be an improvement in student experience.

I now look at modules and assignments page as things where I keep pieces of my course but not show directly to students...but will use a combination of pages, menu items, and buttons to take students through the material, touching on modules, and pulling in assignments.

Two things I am using that I recommend

First, I like the Redirect LTI tool that lets me add custom menu item to main menu

Redierct Tool at Edu App Center

Second is DaButton Factory

Da Button Factory: web button maker

We are still working out what are templates will finally look like...but we can now see how it will all work. I was pretty uncomfortable with what Canvas had to offer - till I spent so time investigating their suggestions.

jim
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How to architect complex courses?

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