There is a lot you can do with Canvas during session. Here is a primer for some of the more common tasks you can do and when, in Canvas.
Week 1: check your notification preferences
As session starts it is a good opportunity to make sure your Canvas notifications are working as expected (you don’t want to miss anything important!) and to build connections with your students, especially if you are not seeing them in person straight away.
What you can do
- Personalise your notification emails for your Canvas subjects to tailor what you receive an email for – be it assessment submissions, discussion posts, or an email copy of any announcements you send.
- If you are teaching with Zoom, setting up a space for Zoom links in your Get started module will help students to find the right class at the right time (and avoid emails from lost students!).
- You may like to check with your faculty if any of your students are studying remotely. If you do have students studying remotely, have a look at some guidance on the technology.
- Reaching out to students early can help set the tone for the session, so be sure to send out a welcome announcement connecting with your cohort. For additional guidance and tips, be sure to have a look at the learning and teaching resources for remote teaching!
- Incorporate an online icebreaker to start building a community – explore our collection of activities for quick and easy ideas.
Weeks 2-3: check in with your teaching team and students
As the session progresses, you may like to check in on student engagement with your Canvas subject site and activities.
What you can do
- Have a look at the total activity in People or activity more generally in Canvas to gain insights on student engagement
- If you have specific H5P activities, consider generating reports from these activities.
- Note: Activity data in Canvas is an indication only and should not be taken as a complete picture of student engagement.
You may also be preparing your students for their first assessment tasks and preparing to mark these.
- Make sure your tutors are familiar with marking features in Canvas (and that you are as well).
- Check your subject is set up correctly for grade submission in Canvas, this will ensure you avoid a headache later in the session!
- If you plan to have a centrally scheduled exam (managed by SAU Examinations), be aware of the exam types for remote teaching.
Weeks 4-5: manage small group learning in Canvas
If you have a group-based assessment task, organise your students into group sets in Canvas. This will allow you to easily manage the marking of these tasks.
What you can do
- Organise your students in small groups or teams in Canvas. This will automatically set up a private working space for each team in Canvas. We recommend that you wait for enrolments to settle before doing this – typically just after census date.
- Assign an assignment as a group assignment. This will allow students to submit one submission for the group which will be marked – all students should be assigned to a group when the submission is made. Note that group assignments cannot be used with External Tool assignments.
Weeks 6-8: release marks and feedback for assessment tasks
By this time in the session, you may be ready to release marks and feedback to students. If you have a centrally scheduled final exam (managed by SAU Examinations), this is a good time to finalise the design of your exams.
What you can do
- Post marks and feedback for an assessment task. For each assessment task, you can post all currently entered marks and automatically post any future marks as soon as it’s been entered (e.g., for late submissions).
- If you have a group-based assessment task and have set up a private working space in Canvas, you may like to discretely monitor their activities in Canvas.
- Have a centrally scheduled final online exam? Here are some tips on how to write online exam questions if you have a quiz-based exam. If you have an assignment-based final exam, have a look at these tips for a take-home exam.
Weeks 8-11: prepare your online exams (if you have one for your subject)
If your subject has a final exam, you should start to prepare to build your exam from week 8 in Canvas.
What you can do
- Take a look at our online exams resource collection, which guides you through the design, creation and implementation process. By starting early, you’ll minimise the possibility of a last-minute discovery that your planned exam strategy is, in practice, too tricky to run efficiently in Canvas.
- Take the time to familiarise yourself with the recommended settings for online exams in Canvas. Randomisation, time limits, availability windows – be informed about these early to avoid surprises and stress later.
Week 12 onwards: get those final assignments marked and your grades submitted
Finalising your subject’s grades is relatively straghtforward in Canvas. But it’s still vital to review your knowledge of the GradeBook.
What you can do
- Reacquaint yourself with the grades submission process.
- Something doesn’t look right? Check out our handy 7-point checklist if common grades submission problems.
- Reminder: every cell in the Canvas GradeBook needs to contain a number, even if that number is mathematics’ most enigmatic numeral, zero.
Always: ask the LX.lab for support and advice
We have a regular program of workshop and events. Check out LX Events to see if there is anything useful for you or your teaching team to attend.
No matter how far through the session you are, or what your learning design or technology problem is, you’re always welcome to book a consult a consultation with the LX.lab team.