Canvas cheat sheet: 6 steps for Subject Coordinators

1. Plan first

Time spent mapping, planning and sequencing lays solid foundations for your building process in Canvas. Creating a clear structure allows you to see the subject holistically, review the sequencing and identify where resources and learning activities should be.

Take a look at some examples of Canvas sites and chat with others in your teaching team, and you’ll see that Canvas organises and presents content differently from Blackboard (UTS Online). Canvas uses modules to organise different components of the subject, effectively sequencing students through their learning activities and providing a narrative to the session. This is an opportunity to provide your students with a conceptual map of the subject, helping students to engage with the materials and understand how the subject will be delivered.

If you are incorporating other teaching technologies such as Teams or Zoom, now is a great time to think through how these will interact with the Canvas site too.

2. Building in Canvas

With a clear structure, sequential flow and a bunch of ideas about what you want to include, you’re ready to start building!

Now you can create the module structure and pages within Canvas and begin to add activities and resources. As you’re building, don’t forget to provide context to students explaining what you would like them to do and how it relates to their subject, assessment, or in-class activities. No one loves a long list of PDFs with no explanation!

This is a great time to get your ducks in a row for sharing readings with students using Reading Lists in Canvas. Reading Lists replaces the old UTS Digital Resources Register (DRR) and provides students with one place to access their required and recommended readings. 

It might feel like extra work, but the extra effort now saves precious time spent answering questions from students who don’t get what they’re being asked to do.

3. Accessibility

Help students succeed in your subject by making your content clear and accessible. This benefits all students, especially those with access requirements and from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

4. Optional interactives and enhancements

Once you’re into the process of building in Canvas, have a think about some interactive and video elements you can use to engage students in active learning.

Instead of trying to use every tool available, think about where interactive elements make the most sense in each context. Examples might include helping students to check their understanding and receive automatic feedback using H5P, using a formative assessment quiz, creating discussion forums or using a short Kaltura video to explain a key point with opportunities to reflect.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel either! You may like to consider utilising some Open Educational Resources (OER). There’s plenty of great resources and content available for you to reuse and adapt to your subject. 

5. Assessments and feedback

Setting up assessments correctly (and early) helps you prepare for a smooth session of teaching. The assessment tools in Canvas can also be used for formative tasks, such as the quiz function for knowledge checks at the start or end of your module.

In a blended environment, the assignment function can be used for students to submit evidence of work from an asynchronous tutorial.

6. Ready to teach

Subjects are automatically made available to students the week before teaching starts.

At this stage we recommend sending a friendly welcome email to students, orienting them to the session and reminding them about where to find their subject, and how to ask questions. It is also a good time to think about how you want students to interact (and telling them!), any last reminders they may need, or get straight into it by kicking off an icebreaker activity!