As we move to a more blended model of learning and teaching, and determine which learning activities work better online and which are better on campus, we find there are more and more links and platforms that students need to find at the right time. While Canvas helps us out enormously in sequencing content for students in a logical way – page by page within a module – it is still easy to lose important content for students. Especially the right Zoom link, for the right tutorial group, for the right day.
To help combat this issue, the LX.lab have created some useful templates to add to your Canvas site, as well as some steps to keep Zoom links easy to find and consistent across subjects. You can find these on our resource page Share your Zoom link with students.
Four simple steps for sharing Zoom links
- Ask all tutors in the subject to set up recurring Zoom meetings at the beginning of session if you have regular online class times. This way students only need to keep track of one link for their session and you can easily share them in the template in tip two.
- Add a page to the ‘Get started’ module using the template described here and keep all the links for each tutorial group clearly labelled in one place.
- Encourage tutors in your subject to also share Zoom links using the recurring events in the Canvas calendar to provide students with reminders for their upcoming online classes. Students will be able to view their online classes in the calendar for planning, as well as prompts on their dashboard for upcoming events.
- Chat with others in your course team or discipline to discuss common approaches. These tips work best when they’re consistent across subjects so that students don’t need to figure out different ways to access their classes across multiple subjects.
Keep it clear and simple
With these steps consistent across a course we should see less confused emails from students, less students attending incorrect classes by accident, and a smooth continuation of online classes giving us all a bit more time to concentrate on other more important things.
Have a look at the Using Zoom for teaching resource collection for more tips and help with Zoom.
Feature image by Lucas Law.