Course Evaluation Checklist v2.0

[deonne_johnson]

Canvas Course Evaluation Checklist v2.0 is Here!

What’s Included in This Post?
• The WHY behind the checklist
• The Canvas Course Evaluation Checklist v2.0

Version 3.0 of our Course Evaluation Checklist has been released! Check it out in our Course Evaluation Checklist v3.0 Community Blog Post. Version 3.0 adds additional criteria to evaluate your course content to promote ongoing independent learning. Since Version 3.0 targets full course builds, we have kept Version 2.0 available below for those who prefer to continue to use it for courses without quite as much asynchronous content.

▶ Make a copy of the Canvas Course Evaluation Checklist v2.0 (shared as an easy-to-copy preview via Google Docs) so you can customize it for your institution. Note: We ask that you comply with the Creative Commons licensing located at the bottom of the document. 

A few months ago, it came to my attention that the original Canvas Course Evaluation Checklist had been reviewed in the International Review of Research in Open & Distributed Learning journal. I was thrilled to discover the checklist had received that type of attention. Additionally, it opened the door to an excellent opportunity to collaborate with one of the authors, Sally Baldwin, implement her suggestions, and make some overall improvements.  

Purpose

The purpose of the Canvas Course Evaluation Checklist is to support the majority of Canvas course creators as they strive to elevate the quality of their Canvas courses. What are the strengths of the checklist? The checklist is designed to support a variety of course creators (instructional designers, K12 teachers, higher ed faculty, etc.) in diverse settings (brick and mortar, hybrid, fully online, etc.) as they create Canvas courses for learners of all ages. As we say, “Our mission is to enable the learning and development experience — from the first day of school to the last day of work.” The checklist doesn’t require any formal training to use and is helpful whether you’re starting a course from scratch or evaluating a more mature course. It’s short — four pages! In no way is this tool meant to compete with or replace proprietary evaluations. Rather, this free tool serves as a great starting point for institutions to make a copy and customize it to meet their individualized needs. That’s why we put it in the Canvas Community — to encourage conversation amongst Canvas users and create a space for ongoing dialogue.   

Potential Uses

• Share this checklist with your colleagues
• Apply the principles to your own course
• Elevate the quality of your institution’s courses

We invite you to take a few minutes to watch the video below as @RyanLay and @deonne_johnson  walk through the Canvas Course Evaluation Checklist. 

Final Thoughts

Look for a blog post coming soon that will share hands-on, research-based principles that will elevate your courses to a whole new level!

Check out some other useful checklists in the community:

• Course Evaluation Checklist 3.0
• Mobile App Design | Course Evaluation Checklist
• Your Checklist for Canvas Success
• Beginning- and End-of-Course Checklists for Instructors
• Canvas Admin Checklist

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

[jeffersonl]

Thanks team for making this revision to this super important tool!  @erin_keefe ‌ Deactivated user‌  @deonne_johnson ‌  @tom_gibbons  and  @mlattke ‌ are the dream team! 

I think the power of this tool lies in the how you can help transform Courses throughout your district/institution as you use this as a roadmap for design (and instructional) success. I have seen some K12 districts use this as an accountability measure when auditing courses. However, it has really great intrinsic power when used as an expectation for how courses should be planned, designed, and executed. 

What are some ways that you plan to use the 2.0 version of the Course Evaluation Checklist? 

[Nadakh72]

It has been a great experience for me . I have learne alot from this course. Thank you 

[JudyEcklund]

This has good information. I will have to play around with it. I haven't used Canvas recently.

[SusanNelson]

Just learning how to use Canvas. It has a lot of important information for how to plan and implement courses for students.

[steven_boulton]

Just revisited this useful document in preparation for the forthcoming semester at our institution and found that the link above taking you to the file on Google Docs now returns:

Couldn't preview file. You may be offline [I'm not] or with limited connectivity [ditto]. Try downloading instead [there's no option to do this]

Has this document moved? If so, where to? If not, I cannot see it (and neither can colleagues - we liked the document so much we linked to it from our in-house Canvas support materials, and someone has just pointed out to me that our link to it is not working anymore).

Thanks,

Steve Boulton
Learning Technology and Design Specialist, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK

[MattGibson]

Wonderful videos for anyone new to canvas.

[kimberly_ellis]

Hi, @steven_boulton. I checked the link in an incognito browser window, and I didn't experience any issues. The error message makes me think it may have had to do with your internet connection. I notice you submitted this comment on 8/2. Are you still having issues with accessing the link as of today? 

[steven_boulton]

@kimberly_ellis Thanks for the update. My access to the file is now fixed, which confuses me as it definitely wasn't working before, otherwise I wouldn't have reported it. The broken link was reported to me by a member of academic staff here at our institution, so it wasn't just me it wasn't working for. Anyway, it's fine now and life's too short retrospectively to solve IT issues that aren't a problem anymore. Thanks for your help 🙂

[ltscal2]

HI all, Id like to download this check list but it requires google log in? Can someone send me a PDF as I dont have/dont use google.

Thanks in advance.

[DestinyRiding]

Thank you for coming up with a hands on way of learning the system, Very helpful for new employees 

[dwendland]

We are hoping to use a version of this for both a Online design tool and an online course evaluation tool. Our team has put such a high emphasis in relationship building/community that we are going to break that out in to its own section which means we might have some 'cross-linking'. For example in 1.5, 2.-3,4,5,and 2;12. 3.5 would all be addressed in 'Course Community'. Is anyone else doing anything like that?

[TammyJackson]

I enjoyed the videos and learning more about this resource!

[RebeccaRoberts1]

Cannot wait to use Canvas, it seems user friendly. 

[mmoore1]

Great Notes.  The pandemic got in the way of seeing the updated tool. 

[MartaFrydman]

I find the checklist helpful to make sure we have all the essentials and more. In addition the links to "how to" are great. I just learned how to add an image to the dashboard from this checklist link.

[JamesElliott1]

I am new to the district, so I am still learning how to use this tool. The videos have been extremely helpful and I am still learning through trial and error. The checklist is an awesome resource it is assisting me to have all of the essentials and more. The "how to videos" are really helpful. I have learned how to include a video to the dashboard from the checklist list

[deonne_johnson]

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. Glad you're finding the checklist and videos helpful. 

[SuzanneEndres]

great

[SuzanneEndres]

great

[LisettePoole]

Thank you for a grand tour of Canvas!

I have used it as a student but am learning to build into it as an instructor! Have a ways to go.

[JeremyLasley]

Thank you! I enjoyed exploring Canvas. I believe it offers a myriad of possibilites for collaboration, communciation, instruction, and assessment. Great new resource! 

[ManuelVargas]

Thank you, Canvas people!

As a new user of canvas, I think this is a powerful tool. From my initial perusal of the whole set of Modules, it is easier for students to navigate instructional materials. I love the Page’s rich-editing feature and many other positive tools.

Here is the critique: In the training I am just completing, the focal point of REQUIRED assignments was pedagogy. This is fine. However, what most faculty need should include the nuts and bolts of how to build an online course. I am afraid a “self-paced tutorial” may not accomplish that—not for me anyway.

[EstalynnKenyon]

Great program. Thanks 

[EstalynnKenyon]

This is a great. Thanks. 

[HMBVT]

Love this resource. This page mentions a blog that is coming. That was 2019. Is there a blog, and if so where may I find this resource? 🙂 Heather 

[SamOHanlon]

Hi, @HMBVT!

This post is part of the Canvas Instructional Designer Blog (also linked in the breadcrumb trail the top of the page). The Instructional Design Team posts here about once a month. I hope this helps!

[NidiMiller]

Looks amazing...can't wait to get started! Thanks so much.

[CeciliaLanzani]

All the information given is really useful and contributes to prepare the classes in a different way. Thank you very much because I learned plenty of new material.

[CeciliaLanzani]

Perfect knowledge for different processes of teaching. 

[NidiMiller]

This is fantastic!  Thanks for all of the improvements and hard work.

[MichellePeden]

I am learning a lot from the course. Thank you

[SarahWygle]

Thank you for laying this out in such an interactive manner!  I think that this format is intuitive to younger minds and will support student learning.