Need a place online to do important stuff with students & staff that’s not for teaching? Now there’s a simple way to get it. Introducing our new non-subject site request form.
What’s a non-subject site?
Like all profound questions of life, the answers are usually less about asserting what something is and more about saying what something isn’t. Non-subject sites in Canvas and Microsoft Teams are similar.
They’re obviously not for subjects. They’re not for assessment, nor awarding credit points for a degree. They’re not for just one subject’s cohort of students. They’re not only for students.
Are they communities of practice? Yeah, they could be.
Are they for training and induction? Yeah, they could be.
Are they a central place for everything about a Course? Yeah, they can be.
Basically, they’re sites that aren’t used for formal teaching purposes. At UTS, most of these sites are created in Canvas and Microsoft Teams, which is where our handy new form comes into play.
How to request a non-subject site
You can easily request a non-subject site with this new request form in ServiceConnect (UTS ID and password required to log in). Simply answer some questions and your request will be sent to the LX.lab for review and support. The LX.lab will help determine which platform is best suited for you, and provide guidance to get you started.
Before requesting a site, you might want to ask yourself:
- Who will manage the site over time?
- What’s the primary purpose of your site? E.g. communicating with people, collaborating on activities, or sharing information?
- What features does your site need to have?
These questions will help you decide whether your site needs to be created in Canvas or Microsoft Teams.
Canvas and Teams?
Teams and Canvas can be used in tandem to help build a rich online community.
Both Canvas and Microsoft Teams have different useful features for providing a unique user experience. If you’re looking to build a space where you would like users to be involved in multiple online activities and quizzes on a regular basis, Canvas is probably for you. Canvas specialises in a range of features including quizzes, H5P integration, social polls and is well-suited for sites that need a place for housing many interactive learning modules.
On the other hand, Teams promotes a stronger position for cross-communication, is easily accessible and, with its channel-style format, is simple for beginners. It also provides integration with other Microsoft apps, such as Sharepoint, Planner, Forms and Word. Quite handy for hosting multiple collaborative activities.
Still unsure? We’ve created a Canvas and Teams comparison chart to help you decide what’s right for you.
Request a non-subject site and get started.