2020 Course Design Essentials: Ready-Made Template Refresh

deonne_johnson · ‎07-13-2020

July Teacher Appreciation Event: Ready-Made Template Refresh

What’s Included in This Post?
• About our event
• All About Our Ready-Made Template Refresh

Thanks to the incredible team of Instructional Designers for making this refresh possible. The amount of extra work that has gone into this relaunch shows their commitment to excellence, dedication to our community of users, and passion for education. From the depth of my heart, thank you @tiffany_foster , @rosina_marie ‌, laurie.norris‌, @kimberly_ellis, and @mmetallo .

Why Are We Hosting This Event?

We utilize the Canvas Community on a regular basis to position instructional design resources! We understand the impact and power of the Instructional Designers' space within the Community and want to give back. We are excited to collaborate and share tips and tricks about our Canvas Design Best Practices.

About This Month's Event

The Instructional Design team announced the release of the Ready-Made Template Suite in the September 2018 blog post to "help reduce stress load, encourage growth and help course creators design an engaging Canvas experience by turning a blank course shell into a fill-in-the-blank Canvas course." It’s been a tremendous success and users across the board have loved this addition to the Instructional Design services. Teachers and Course Designers love the magic that comes from using templates as they expedite the course creation and building process. Students love the consistency that comes about when institutions use a template and focus on content rather than course structure. Templates are intentionally designed to incorporate best practices (aligning with principles from the Course Evaluation Checklist v2.0) and are easy to use. We continue to receive awesome feedback from our Canvas Community -- ❤️ THANK YOU! We knew it was time to launch a refresh to make your experience even better.

What’s New?

The Ready-Made Template Refresh will officially launch July 15, 2020, but here's a preview of what to expect.

We evaluated and implemented changes to improve the selection process including reducing the number of template types (from nine to six) and now offer the following:

We updated visual components (banners, buttons, icons and/or stickers) - See our *Updated for 2020* templates
Based on popular requests, we added new templates (such as a virtual conference) - Check out our *New for 2020* templates
We've created videos to help support users while working with Ready-Made Templates
- Ready-Made Template Tour
- Customizing Your Ready-Made Template (found on our Frequently Asked Question page)
Already have a template and want different design elements? We'll soon be launching "Template Skins." Template Skins contain design assets without the module structure and can easily be added to an existing Ready-Made Template. Each skin contains three sets of design elements (usually three banners and four buttons per set) with bonus features such as stickers, animations, etc. Skins give your template a different look and feel by changing the color and "mood" of your template, without compromising the design and structure.

Preview

Higher Education 4D Blue (Illustrated)

Higher Ed Blue Illustrated Sample

Conferences 1

Conferences Sample

Professional Blended (Illustrated Badges)

Professional (Illustrated)

Need a Template

If your institution doesn't have a Ready-Made Template, be sure to check out these blog posts for free templates available to everyone.

CanvasLIVE Event

To learn more about Ready-Made Templates, join us at the CanvasLIVE Event on Wednesday, July 15, 10:30 am MDT (recording) via your favorite social media platforms, e.g., Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Recordings of past events can be found on our CanvasLMS YouTube Channel.

Final Thoughts

Follow us for our full event! We can't wait to continue sharing with you!

Please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!

Our Instructional Design team offers templates, consultation, badging services, course evaluations, workshops, and more. If you would like to learn more about our services, please contact your CSM or @deonne_johnson, Manager, Learning Services, via djohnson@instructure.com