Canvas - Planning and layout

Syllabus: The future is not 8 1/2 x 11

Documentation

Example

Comments

The syllabus, uploaded and published by the time Axess opens, has always been the first substantial description of your course that students see. It used to be that this document was handed out on the first day of class, so it made sense for it to have a nice layout on letter sized paper. However, when we started using learning management systems back in 2001, there was finally another option, one that made much more sense for the online environment. This fact did not change the review of the paper copy on the first day, even as we began to expect students to read the syllabus carefully before they arrived.

Most of us still have a large portion (all?) of our materials in that MSWord .doc(x) and .pdf format, and for good reason: Once you get outside of the learning management system, there really are few formats that are better. We all learned how valuable those originals were when we were forced to move from CourseWork to Canvas several years ago. But one of the biggest selling points of Canvas, in addition to Speedgrader, was the mobile app, and over the years, there really has been a big shift to smartphones for EVERYTHING, especially for our students.

If check your email on your phone and you see a .docx or .pdf attachment, you probably don't even open it, because it will be very difficult to read. For this same reason, you should avoid files for most content on Canvas, especially your syllabus. Granted, many students know that to actually *do* their assignments, they need the full keyboard that is on their laptop, so they don't open your course materials on their phones. At the same time, by making our courses more accessible to them on their phones, we increase the chances that they will interact with materials more often than just when they sit down at their laptops. Converting a .docx to a Canvas page is as easy as Select All >> Copy >> Paste. If you have a .pdf, you can usually convert it to .docx by opening it in MSWord, and then you can just copy/paste.

Just as an example, compare $CANVAS_COURSE_REFERENCE$/assignments/syllabus with Su20-LCTech-100-01-syllabus.docx and Su20-LCTech-100-01-syllabus.pdf by opening each of them on your smartphone.

Avoiding tables: Why and how

Comments

For the same reasons that you should avoid files on Canvas, you should also avoid tables. Users not on laptops have to scroll side to side, up and down, and if the information is even just a little complex, you have to remember what is in the top row and the left column for anything else to make sense.

If you think about the long narrow screen of a phone or tablet, then one of the best choices is a bullet or numbered list. Once you get your information out of a format the requires a certain width for each cell in a table, the page can revert to automatically wrapping at the end of a line. Hierarchies can represented with the levels of the list, in a way that everyone understands. If you find that the distance between your upper level points and lower level points is enough that readers might forget the topic, you can always use copy/paste to add descriptive portions of upper level topics to anything below. Putting a table in your syllabus or some resource is not the end of the world, but shifting to lists is a good way to make your information more accessible.

Here's an example from the ACTFL Performance Descriptors (https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/ACTFLPerformance-Descriptors.pdf). Try viewing this page on a smartphone browser to see the difference:

What are the parameters for the language learner’s performance?

Domain	Examples	What it describes
Functions	Ask formulaic questions Initiate, maintain, and end a conversation Create with language Narrate and describe Make inferences	Functions are the global tasks the learner can perform in the language
Contexts and Content	Oneself One’s immediate environment General interest Work-related	Contexts are situations within which the learner can function; Content is the topics which the learner can understand and discuss
Text type	Words Phrases Sentences Questions Strings of sentences Connected sentences Paragraphs	Text type controlled by the learner is that which the learner is able to understand and produce in order to perform the functions of the level

Now, in a list:

What are the parameters for the language learner’s performance?

Domain: Functions
- Examples
  - Ask formulaic questions
  - Initiate, maintain, and end a conversation
  - Create with language
  - Narrate and describe
  - Make inferences
- What this domain describes: Functions are the global tasks the learner can perform in the language
Domain: Contexts and Content
- Examples
  - Oneself
  - One’s immediate environment
  - General interest
  - Work-related
- What this domain describes: Contexts are situations within which the learner can function; Content is the topics which the learner can understand and discuss
Domain: Text Type
- Examples
  - Words
  - Phrases
  - Sentences
  - Questions
  - Strings of sentences
  - Connected sentences
  - Paragraphs
- What this domain describes: Text type controlled by the learner is that which the learner is able to understand and produce in order to perform the functions of the level

Importing content

Documentation

Example

Comments

Moving face to face material on to Canvas takes a lot of time, but importing that content the next time you teach the course makes it all worth it. It just takes a few clicks to transfer everything into a new site, with the dates all adjusted. This functionality allows you to slowly refine your course, keeping what you like and fixing what doesn't work. The best part about the import process is that, unlike Coursework, Canvas can export to the Common Cartridge format, so even if we do move to another LMS in the future, it is very likely that you will be able import everything very cleanly. Many coordinators have created Resource sites to take advantage of the Import function, and for them I would recommend exploring the new Blueprint sites, which give more control over the content *after* it has been imported.

Home page and navigation menu

Documentation

Examples

Home Page

Navigation Menu

Comments

It is very important to understand how students see your site, so you should hide all left navigation tools that do not need to be accessed directly. Go to Settings >> Navigation to Disable tools, but don't forget to click Save when you are done. It really is not OK just to leave everything visible and expect students to figure it out.

One option you should also consider is approaching the home page of your site as the main entry point for EVERYHING in your course. To do this, you first need to make sure that the links you want students to use are all accessible from the home page, whatever you choose to make it. For any course, everything you want students to do should be laid out clearly, in a way that they also understand when they need to do it, and the Home page is the best place to do this.

Keep in mind that even if a tool is hidden in the menu, students can still use links to get to anything in that tool. For example, rather than posting instructions like, "Go to the Assignments tool and find Assignment X," you can just post a link to Assignment X on the Home page and hide the Assignments tool. You can, in fact, hide all the tools (except maybe Syllabus, Announcements and Grades) to increase the focus on the Home page.

Modules

Documentation

Example

Comments

The Modules tool is built on the idea that weekly modules will open up on a schedule, or that after you complete one unit, the next one will open up. For some teachers, this approach is very intuitive, and exactly the way that they want to guide students through the course, but they do it in a paper syllabus or course calendar. The only problem is that students have to actually keep track of that paper document for 10 weeks, along with everything else from all their other classes. In addition, in face to face classes, it is easy to release information in class meetings, because that opportunity also encourages attendance and attention. You should organize your home page so that details of assignments, past class meetings, learning extension opportunities, etc so that you extend focus, but don't go so far that you eliminate the need to attend class meetings.

Some teachers find that Modules is a bit too spare in its presentation, and they choose to organize links to assignments and content a Page, or even a set of Pages and they change the Home page every week. Either way is fine, as long as you make it clear to the students what you want them to do.

Redirect tool

The Redirect Tool adds a link to a website which appears in course navigation on Canvas course.

Unfortunately, there are no documentation pages for the Canvas "Redirect tool." Nonetheless, it's still very useful but you don't want to overdo it: you should use it for links that really are important for all the students for the entire term.

CanvasRedirectTool.jpg.png

W1 Video Conferencing Cloud Recording link

https://stanford.zoom.us/rec/share/7pBZH5fw8kxJc4nT417eR6J_Jrngaaa8gylIqaYFxGCaE6OmTzOblZ26KxdAvUw

Canvas - Content

Audio

- What to use to record and to edit -

Documentation

Example

Audacity record and edit

Comments

If there is one medium you should master after just plain text, it is audio. For over 10 years now it has been very easy to create high quality audio with inexpensive equipment, opening the door for teachers to make their own materials by recording themselves and other native speakers.

Every device has at least one free software application to record: Apple iOS has Voice Memos, which recently gained the ability to do basic editing. In addition, it produces files in .m4a format, which allows great quality in an exceptionally small package. Apple devices, from the cheapest iPhone to the most expensive desktop, have had great microphones for a long time, and capture voices indoors and outdoors very well.

For Android, the choice is not as clear, but there are many, many options. Pixel devices have a stock recorder that does .m4a, and I think there is a stock app for Samsung devices as well. I have used the paid version of an app called Hi-Q, which could automatically back up recordings to Google Drive.

Your Mac also has a desktop version of Voice Memos, and Windows 10 has a nice simple application called Voice Recorder that also does .m4a files, but once you are on a laptop, the clear choice is Audacity. It is free, open-source and very well supported, with regular updates on both Mac and Windows. The interface is simple and editing audio files feels like editing text, complete with copy / paste. Make no mistake, though: this is pro-level software, and you can mix multiple tracks, apply custom filters and even do automatic noise reduction.
With a quiet room and a $100 mic you can start to get very serious about your audio. It doesn't take much to move into the next level, either. A portable audio recorder, like the Zoom H4n, will only set you back a couple hundred dollars, but that will put you up in a league with podcasters and NPR reporters.

I have some general guidelines at https://canvas.stanford.edu/courses/73606/pages/media-submissions-recommendations-for-instructors, but here are a few tips for audio. For most work related to teaching, you can keep it simple, so you can choose mono rather than stereo and right there your file size is cut in half. Reducing the frequency response doesn't really change anything, so leaving it at the default is fine. Noise reduction is a double-edged sword, because if you have a recording that is not very high quality, you may end up cutting the good with the bad, resulting in something that sounds like your parents' telephone. One of the most important things that you can control is how close you (or whoever is speaking) are to the microphone. Experiment with this distance, looking at the waveform you produce, and make sure that you are not so close that you the wave is getting cut off at the top, or so far that there is barely any movement. Get a good quality, medium level recording before you start messing with digital amplification or reduction.

Video

Documentation

Example

Powerpoint slideshow to video

Comments

It really is quite surprising how easy it is now to create video, especially for those of us who used MiniDV camcorders. You can get very high quality on simple equipment, like a smartphone, but at the same time, there is a direct, exponential relationship between quality, file size and equipment cost. The biggest problem has always been just how large video files are. You can do quite a bit on your phone, but it is very difficult to get the file off of that device so that you can use it. In most cases, the secret is to adjust the settings of the device so that you sacrifice video quality with maintaining reasonable non-stereo audio quality. .mp4 is quickly becoming the standard for web video, and there is an open source, free software package called handbrake that you can use to convert your files, or even reduce size. Surprisingly, recording a Zoom meeting is a quick and easy way to produce a video that gives a good balance of medium quality with moderate file size. The only problem with using Zoom is that it really doesn't give the opportunity to edit the product. In other words, you kind of have to hope you don't make any mistakes, because editing them out will take a bit more work.

If you are doing a slideshow, and you want it to be somewhat polished, then using the Export to Video function in MSPowerPoint is a good choice. You create your slide deck like normal, but you record the audio narration separately. You then use Audacity to clean up and split that audio so that you have one file for each slide. You have to put the timing into each slide based on the length of the audio, and then you can export to .mp4.

Your tablet or phone can create very nice video, and iMovie on Apple devices is quite good for editing, but it is often very, very difficult to get the files off of those devices. Connecting wirelessly often means that the download will take a long time. You can use a lightning cable connected to your Mac, but make sure you do it through the Image Capture app on your Mac.

Media file handling

Documentation

Examples

Image embed

Canvas media submission

Audio file upload

RCE media record / upload

Zoom cloud recording link share

Comments

There is no way to get around the fact that video files are large, no matter how careful you are when you make them. On top of that, the upload speed on Canvas is painfully slow, and other services, like Google Drive, are 10 to 20 times faster. Probably the safest way to use a video is to store it somewhere else and just link to it. If the video is less than about 20MB, you could very reasonably upload it to the Files tool or even to the page or assignment directly, using the Record / upload media button in the Rich Content Editor. This option gives you a nice thumbnail and when you play the video, it will be embedded in the page. You can also upload subtitles, but they have to be in a special format. Fortunately, Zoom automatically creates files in this format, so you can just use that … if you are speaking English.

If you want to have your students do a speaking activity or some other assignment that requires media creation, you should familiarize yourself with the options on the Student Orientation site. We strongly recommend that you actually do these assignments: don't just look at them and assume that your students can figure them out, actually sit down and go through all the steps so that you get a good understanding of what you are asking them to do. For pair work, having them do a Zoom cloud recording and then share the link, is the best choice. You can also use this option to, say, interview someone in the language you teach.

Google Drive: docs, forms, sites

Documentation

Example

Google Doc share link

Comments

Stanford has the educational version of the GSuite, so you should be familiar with the basic possibilities in Google Drive. Google Docs is a good alternative to MSWord and it can be used for instructional content creation and student submissions. It's also a good alternative to Zoom chat, and collaborations are very easy with the Share function. You should note that the key strength of an online document over an offline file is that with an online document, you can continuously update it without having to send a new version to students.

Forms are good for informal polls and surveys, and Sites is a way to create resources that are a bit more developed and formatted than just a simple Google or MSWord doc. A key consideration in deciding between these two is how you want to share the content: Google Docs is good for sharing with one class of students, but a Google Site can be shared more broadly, like, with all of your classes, into the future.

All of these tools are very easy to use, but their popularity is actually their main drawback. Everyone has a gmail account, so it is often the case that they are already logged into that, and not the Stanford Gsuite. Of course, you can't control what account students use when they do a project, but if are requesting collaboration, then you should try to make sure that they are using their Stanford account. Of course, it goes without saying that you should also make sure you use your Stanford Google account, and not your personal account.

MSOffice: share links, not files

Documentation

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/share-onedrive-files-and-folders-9fcc2f7d-de0c-4cec-93b0-a82024800c07?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

Example

MSPowerPoint share link

Comments

Not many people take advantage of the intended sharing capabilities of Microsoft Office. We are so used to just attaching a file to an email, or uploading it to Canvas so that students can download it that we don't really think twice about it. But it is quite easy to set your computer up so that all you need to share is a link, not the whole file. This is especially attractive for teachers who want the opportunity to, say, update their syllabus without printing out another copy. You can also share the PowerPoint slides for your class meetings without worrying that every student will be able to download and keep a copy forever. You can even set an expiration date for the share, for example, the end of the quarter. The sharing feature in MSOffice also opens up the possibility of collaboration without having to email different versions of documents.

The key to setting this up on your laptop is installing the OneDrive app. Set it to include the folders where you keep your documents and you should be ready to go. Note that you can also share from the web version of OneDrive, or from the iOS or Android app.

Interview: Paige Coleman - Canvas Faculty Support

Helpful Links 2020

W2 Video Conferencing Cloud Recording link

https://stanford.zoom.us/rec/share/4NAsbLez6H5LE6P0-X7ld4I4Aq2iT6a8hiUW86Bfys1Gg6t-7JY5WsbTQ5QBKN8

Canvas Activities

Creating assignments / quizzes

Documentation

Examples

Quiz / Assignment differences

Multiple / single item
Text entry, website url, media recordings, file uploads/ MC, TF, Fill in multiple blanks, Multiple answers, Multiple dropdowns, Matching, Numerical answer, Formula question, Essay question, File upload question, Text (no question)
File upload type specify cannot / can
Scoring points only / Complete-incomplete, Points, Percentages, Letter Grades
Timed yes / no
Show correct answer at specified time / no correct answer
Statistics and item analysis / no
Download xlsx / all
Group assignments no / yes
Peer review no / yes
File submissions in speedgrader no view or annotate / yes
Question banks with random draw / no
Hide student responses / no
File upload single / multiple

Complete / Incomplete assignments

Question Banks

Quiz statistics

Canvas Documentation on Quiz Statistics https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-26579-once-i-publish-a-quiz-what-kinds-of-quiz-statistics-are-available

Large File Uploads with a Google Form

Stanford Google Drive https://uit.stanford.edu/service/gsuite/drive

Comments

Canvas has several very useful features in Assignments and Quizzes, but rather than just reviewing all of them, it might be more useful to look at some specific points. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that for anything online, it is nearly impossible to control the environment where the assessment happens, especially the resources available to student. In addition, autoscoring is seen as one of the strong points of computer mediated learning, but currently it is limited to just a few item types.

Question banks are one area where the computer part of this makes sense. The weekly quizzes make use of these: I create a large set of items and then create a question bank for random draw with random order selections. Users cannot share Question Banks, but you always have access to all of the Question Banks you create, across sites and years. Just one pro tip: Make sure you give each question bank a unique, descriptive name, so you can keep track of it.

Creating your own question banks gives you creative control and rich data for what you assign. I would argue that either one of these is reason enough to make this option preferable to online materials provided by textbook publishers.

There are several key differences between text box and file upload submission. The main difference is the affordances of whatever software is used to create the file. For example, MSWord has spelling and grammar checking, as well as lots and lots of formatting. Of course, just because you restrict a submission to a text box doesn't mean that a student will not create the text in some other software and copy/paste, but it does make it slightly less easy. On the other hand, the teacher may want the affordances of the software, like Track Changes in MSWord. Speedgrader handles .docx and .pdf well, and allows markup, but this is not the case for text box submissions.

Graded discussions

Documentation

Example

Comments

I think that the main reason why Canvas has graded discussions is to have some way to enforce student participation mandates, in order to re-create the discussion in the physical classroom. My own experience with this is that Discussion threads often bring out students who 1) are comfortable speaking up and 2) want to stand out from the rest of the class. From the teacher's point of view, however, it is very easy to see the less confident or even just quiet students be turned off by this. On the other hand, Discussions is one of the ONLY ways outside of a Zoom meeting that students can see each others' ideas / work, and there are probably times when this type of opportunity fits into a language class. At the same time, I want to both show how I value a post by including it in the grades, and I also want to be able to give private feedback to individuals, without posting it in the actual thread. Graded discussions is a unique opportunity to achieve both of these goals.

Rubrics

Documentation

Example

Comments

The implementation of rubrics in Canvas is very well done, but it does illustrate the limitations of both the efforts to eliminate and implement tables online. The creation process is done completely in a table, and as you work your way through one, it is very obvious why that choice was made. It's hard to imagine a better way to create a rubric, especially one that has detailed descriptions. This shows up very nicely for the student when they view the assignment, but when you actually try to use the rubric in Speedgrader, you immediately see the limitations. The idea of just being able to click a box to assign points is very appealing, but unless the rubric descriptions are fairly short, fitting the whole thing into the right sidebar of Speedgrader is really awkward. And, if you take the logic of Speedgrader one step further, and try to use it in a mobile device, where touch interaction theoretically should make it super efficient, that rubric just doesn't fit.

Speedgrader

Documentation

Examples

Feedback

Annotation on iPad

Comments

From what I understand, Speedgrader was a big reason for the early and continued success of Canvas. For those of us who have used other systems it really is a lot easier to use, but it still has some annoying limitations, like why couldn't they add keyboard shortcuts that actually do something useful? Its real strength is in the Canvas Teacher app on a tablet, but until last year, even that had serious limitations. One secret to making it work for you is to use complete / incomplete grading so that you just need to touch and swipe. Unfortunately this only works for assignments, not quizzes. Rubrics work very nicely as well … but again, you can only use them for actual grading in assignments and not quizzes. In fact, quizzes don't really work all that well on a tablet, because you have to actually add points to each item. In any case, it is what it is, so it's best to find ways to avoid the face-palm oversights that the user experience designers made.

Student view

Documentation

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-13122-415261153

Example

Interview: Christine Doherty - Canvas Lead User Support Specialist

W3 Video Conferencing Cloud Recording link

https://stanford.zoom.us/rec/share/3PBYNJTo92FJHp2RyhjUS4MtO6DHaaa8hnRN-qdbnUfm0HaWGRrPBQ2y3u7iaqtk

Canvas Administration

Grades - Weighting, posting policy, default scores, messaging and history

Documentation

Examples

Weighting

Posting Policy

Default grades, Message students who, Gradebook history

Comments

There are many reasons NOT to use the Grades tool. Maybe you don't want to quibble with a student about the A- that they think should be an A. Maybe you have a spreadsheet that works perfectly for you, including optional dropped scores and a curving algorithm. Maybe you feel like Canvas doesn't matter since final grades have to be posted in Axess, not Canvas. On the other hand, maybe there's some transparency that you could gain by connecting everything you require students to submit with a score that integrates clearly into the final grade.

Lots of the features of the Grades tool don't really apply to our 10-15 person classes, but the basic setup is easy enough for just about anyone to understand and implement. It starts with setting up Assignment groups and then weighting them. Once you are there, you can just use Speedgrader to input all the scores as you complete them. I leave unsubmitted assignment scores blank, which means that they don't count toward the final grade, but then at the end of the quarter, I set the default grade to zero.

People: Add Student / Group Set

Documentation

Examples

Adding students, changing roles

Create groups

Comments

It is very, very easy to add students and TAs manually, but you should probably avoid doing so and just wait for Axess to take care of it. If a student is showing up in Axess but not Canvas, you should submit a help ticket. If a TA is not showing up in Canvas, you should check with Bldg 30 - there are any number of places where the processing of their role can get stuck. If you have a TA, you should review exactly what they can and cannot do in your site. It is tempting to just make them a Teacher, but usually this is not the best choice and there are ways to get around most problems. You should also note that if you make a mistake when you add someone to a site, it is very easy to change their role. Finally, we now have the ability to add teachers and students to closed courses, if there is ever a need.

You should also make sure you are somewhat familiar with the Groups feature in People. This can be used for group assignments, whether you set the groups or students create them themselves. These groups can also be used in Collaborations.

Announcements

Documentation

Examples

Delay send

Comments

In most cases, when you import content from a previous course, you should not import announcements, because they have a date in a previous quarter, and will show up in the tool, visible to students. However, if you find that you are sending the same announcements every quarter, it may actually be useful to import them. For each announcement, you can then choose to Delay posting, and then select a date and time. If there are announcements you don't need, then you can delete them. You have to be careful to do all of this BEFORE you publish the site.

Message individuals

Documentation

Example

Individual messages in Inbox

Comments

One of the big advantages of using Canvas is that you can compartmentalize all of your classes. This can also extend to communications with individual students if you want it to. The advantage of doing this is that you won't have those communications lost in your email inbox. The disadvantage is that the user interface is not quite as intuitive as most email systems, and you have to find students by starting with the course they are in. You can't just add an email address and send it, like we are used to doing.

Apps: teacher and student

Documentation

https://community.canvaslms.com/videos/3962-canvas-teacher-app

Example

Scoring complete / incomplete, Giving feedback in Speedgrader, Student View

Comments

Back in 2015, when we first moved to Canvas, I was very disappointed at just how little the Canvas apps could do compared to the browser interface. Fortunately, this has changed quite a bit and now the Teacher app has some very useful functions. The place where this mode really excels is on an iPad, with a keyboard.

Collaborations

Example

[Live demo in the 7/23 video conference]

Comments

I think the real strength of this tool is the ability to group students quickly and easily. It's easy enough to do on the fly, but if you want a bit more organization, then you can use the Groups creation feature in the People tool. Unfortunately, it is easy to get tripped up by personal Google accounts, so be very careful that both you and the students are using your Stanford accounts at http://webdocs.stanford.edu.

Attendance

Documentation

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-13050-4152107406

Example

Setting up

Comments

The Attendance tool looks like it came from somewhere else, and is not really as integrated as it could be, but it does have some nice features. You can do your Participation grade using the tool, and it is the only place in Canvas that has Badges integrated. I'm not sure when it happened, but Attendance is now part of the Teacher app, and maintains the same convenient touch controls.

Wrapping up - How to think about teaching in Canvas

It's kind of difficult to sum up the topic of how you should approach teaching in Canvas, because ultimately, Canvas is simply a tool that you use when you do your own unique style of instruction. There are definitely some nice features, as well as some real face-palm screw-ups by the designers and engineers at Instructure, so like any system, you should avoid the bad stuff, and take advantage of the good stuff. My feeling is that you should know the medium well enough so that it does not get in the way, so that you can actually facilitate good teaching. Use it to connect to your students, use it to help them learn, and use it to keep your instruction organized and efficient.

I'd like to offer one sort of example of how to think about Canvas or any learning management system. When you meet students face to face, in a classroom, you can deliver the content you want, on paper handouts or using the projector on the screen at the front of the room. You can do activities, quizzes and exams in small groups, on paper, or by having them speak in a presentation. And you can keep them on track by telling them what you want them to do that day, the next day, and even the rest of the term.

If you have an email system, you can make that process somewhat more efficient, sending them content, giving them daily agendas and recaps to keep them organized. Having that material in electronic form, in text will give them the ability to review and confirm, without having to wait to see you again at the next class meeting.

But if you have a website, like a Canvas course, you can organize the information, content and activities right there on the site so that you don't have to go over it in class meeting, and you don't have to send them an email every day. This takes a very deliberate conscientious effort, so that the site actually accomplishes those goals *from the student's perspective*. The first step is understanding that students do not automatically understand a course in the same way that a teacher does, at least initially. In fact, it is very likely that each student will understand the course content in a very different way. But if you take a step back, you should see that the teacher's job in creating that Canvas site is *exactly* the same as creating the flow of the course and each class meeting: you need to reach each student somehow, and make sure they are able to understand what to do, when to do it, and what they should be getting out of it.

This whole thing of teaching in Canvas and Zoom may seem new, but once you are familiar with the tools, it starts to fall together, back into the same framework that we have always used. That doesn't mean that you should try to find ways to recreate face to face classes online. There are many more opportunities that this particular medium allows, and we are just getting started understanding the possibilities. Our job as teachers is the same: to be creative and innovative in any environment where we may find ourselves, as we refine the ways we work with our students and help them learn.

Video Conference Activity: Group Collaboration

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11CSgyYFhORBAT7kLz8qimzIurRQCIHfKLJRGSJsDgVo/edit?usp=sharing　　

W4 Video Conferencing Cloud Recording link

https://stanford.zoom.us/rec/share/_tAuL7Xd7yBOf9aRyVDyQKMIA8fqX6a8hycfq6UKmk_pXspvnr7aLswxhsfkas0v

Zoom setup and in-meeting

Mid-course Survey Response Comment

Zoom - Comments

As we start the module on Zoom, I thought I would add a few overall comments.

In contrast to Canvas, Zoom has one big feature, and that is video conferencing. There are a few tools but they are not the focus of the system, and therefore, they are not really all that fleshed out. Another big difference is that Zoom was and still is mainly aimed at business meetings, and its use in education is more of a matter of convenience than design. Zoom is not integrated into any systems here yet, and the misguided design of the Zoom tool in Canvas is clear evidence. By default, it gives students access to all cloud recording, which brings up a host of privacy issues, and could possibly lead to a feeling that there is no need to attend live sessions, because the recording is available anyway. Your use of Zoom should be integral to your curriculum, but you should manage it separately, by simply giving students a Meeting ID, password and a URL.

If you plan your course carefully, Canvas and Zoom can be made to work together very well. Canvas is the place where all your planning happens, and where your resources live, so it is an important source of support for live class meetings. Zoom is your conduit to the students, and its convenience also makes individual meetings much easier to plan and implement. We are co-opting the cloud recording feature to allow us to assign student pair and group speaking activities, but, as you can see from the content of this course, it can be used to create video content, and host interviews.

In the last few months, Zoom engineers have been focused on fixing all the security problems that were discovered as usage expanded, and it is possible that they will shift to other improvements in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes open for announcements about updates.

We have kind of been forced to use this tool, but to me, it kind of feels like it is actually working. And as many problems that the lack of integration presents, I'm beginning to see that the ability to talk to anyone anywhere instantly is quite powerful. Seeing the interviews that some instructors have done of native speakers in other countries shows that this tool could be as revolutionary as online audio and video was for bringing language into the classroom. At the very least, we should keep an eye on this space, but if possible, I'd encourage you to explore different ways that you could use it to bring fundamental enhancements to your teaching.

Zoom - Setup

Documentation

Examples

Meeting setup

Dual monitor setting

zoom-dual-monitor-settings.pptx

Teacher settings for low bandwidth

zoom-settings-lowbandwidth-teacher.pptx

Zoom - In-meeting

Documentation

Examples

Interview: Heather Howard - French Program Instructor

Setting up a Zoom interview with a native speaker, and integrating it into the curriculum

W5 Video Conferencing Cloud Recording link

https://stanford.zoom.us/rec/share/uJ1ZcevrqEVJerOT91_yZ5d7Eo3_X6a8hHMW-fYPzxrtvzF1j-sEUcTi9yR1tXNR

How the Zoom reporting can be used

Documentation

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201363213-Getting-Started-with-Reports

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/216378603-Generating-Meeting-Reports-for-Registration-and-Polling

The data you can obtain

Name (Original Name)
User Email
Join Time
Leave Time
Duration (Minutes)

So, using the report data from 4 weeks of video conferencing, we can create following graphs.

Number of participants in weekly video conference

Weekly Attendance.PNG

The duration (minutes) of the participation in video conference among participants.

The weekly video conference participation rate within active participants

Zoom: Tools and post-meeting

Zoom - Tools

Chat

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203650445-In-Meeting-Chat

zoom-chat.pptx

Breakout rooms

zoom-breakoutrooms.pptx

Polls

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/213756303-Polling-for-Meetings

zoom-polls.pptx

[Use Case on Polls - Nina Lin Interview 2020-04-23 in Winter 2020 Zoom Hands-on Canvas course]

External iPad

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201379235-Sharing-your-screen-iOS-with-the-Zoom-Desktop-Client

zoom-external-ipad.pptx

Whiteboard

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205677665-Sharing-a-whiteboard

zoom-whiteboard.pptx

[Use Case on Whiteboard - Ramzi Salti Interview 2020-04-24 in Winter 2020 Zoom Hands-on Canvas course]

Alternative Host

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/208220166-Alternative-Host

zoom-alternativehost.pptx

Share pptx as Virtual Background

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360046912351-Sharing-slides-as-a-Virtual-Background

zoom-pptx-virtual.pptx

Zoom - After meeting

Cloud recording settings

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203741855-Cloud-Recording

zoom-recordings-cloud.pptx

Usage reports

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201363213-Getting-started-with-reports#h_92ca946e-020e-4b1b-926f-6e5fb50ce960

zoom-reports-usage.pptx

Interview: Mellani Miller - UIT Video Services Manager

Link to Mellani's slides:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1biw3K7zvm1JoX4qUPiQ2z9y3M9jb8osgs2NJkfvP6Jc/edit#slide=id.p

W6 Video Conferencing Cloud Recording link

https://stanford.zoom.us/rec/share/_PVwBbv72HxOXYXcslz1VPcBOareeaa8gChIr_ZZmEdlIFYXLeG1Ciaou8jEHkKe

Scheduling - ScheduleOnce and Canvas Scheduler

ScheduleOnce - Comments

Long ago, when we met students in classrooms for face to face classes, the easiest way to do office hours was to pass around a sheet of paper with timeslots, and let the students use a pen or pencil to sign up. That process would seem like it is a perfect candidate for implementation on the internet, and, indeed, there are tools that add some really key features: calendar entries for both the student and the teacher, email reminders, cancelling and rescheduling. But there is one feature that is kind of hard to do, and that is actual commitment. If a student signs up on paper, it's done, and while they can contact the teacher to reschedule or back out, most of the time they just keep the appointment. The internet, however, is built so that it is just as easy to delete as it is to create. And to complicate it more, we do want students to have the opportunity to reschedule, but we don't want them to do that just minutes before the appointment.

Some of you may remember that there was a signup tool in Sakai / Coursework that met our requirements perfectly. Canvas has a tool that is something like that, but it lacks two very important features. It does not prevent students from signing up or cancelling at the last minute, and it does not generate a link that can be posted elsewhere, to invite students to sign up. The signup is not terribly difficult to find in Canvas, if you have had a few months of experience with the Calendar, but if you are, say, a new student who wants to do a placement test, it's a very daunting process to find the signup.

Several years ago, we discovered that Undergraduate Advising was using the ScheduleOnce service, so decided to use that to help us move placement testing online. It has all the features that we require: it produces a link that can be shared anywhere, it allows for a detailed confirmation email that can include Zoom connection information, and it has a setting that prevents last minute signups or cancels. Unfortunately, it is a bit overpowered for our particular purpose, so there are many features that we will never use, making it somewhat confusing for the novice user. Another disadvantage is that we do not have admin access to this system, so we can't see into instructor accounts, or create any bookings for you. Takeshi and I have handled pretty much all of the setups so far, in face to face meetings or Zoom remote control. In this module, we will try to share the steps you need to be able to do it yourself, if you should every want to give it a try.

Before we start, I want to make it clear that you should not feel obligated to learn how to use this system. There are many other, simpler ways to do office hours or any other signup, and if you need it for something like exit or placement testing, we are happy to just set it up for you. So please feel free to just skip this module if you want to. If you do want to try it out, we are happy to help you learn. Many instructors already have accounts from the exit and placement process, but if you don't, please get in touch so that we can request one for you.

ScheduleOnce - Examples

Calendar integration

https://help.oncehub.com/help/step-2-connecting-your-calendar

New Booking

https://help.oncehub.com/help/step-5-creating-a-booking-page

Booking form

https://help.oncehub.com/help/introduction-to-the-booking-form-redirect-section

Time slot settings

Initial settings

Change settings

Location settings - Email confirmation

https://help.oncehub.com/help/booking-page-location-settings-section

Scheduling options - One-on-one vs group

https://help.oncehub.com/help/introduction-to-the-scheduling-options-section

Availability - recurring and date-specific

Share booking link - student view

https://help.oncehub.com/help/how-to-share-links-in-emails-and-other-apps

Booking name change

https://help.oncehub.com/help/changing-booking-and-master-page-links

Canvas Scheduler

Teacher

Student

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10580-4212716665

Example

Pros and Cons

+ Very easy to set up in Canvas
+ The appointment can be created for a group.
+ Email notification is sent (-) if it's set correctly in preferences.
- No association with outlook email calendar.
- Can't set cancelation preferences (last minute cancelation is possible)

Recommended for low-stakes appointment such as casual office hours.

Note:

Having students sign up in groups: "If you have created at least one group set in your course, you can have students sign up in groups by clicking the Have students sign up in groups checkbox [1]. Then select the name of the group category you want to use for the group signup [2]."

Final thoughts

Thank you for following along for the past seven weeks, or however long it has taken you to look at this content. We hope you have found it useful, and that some of the information here will help you with online courses this year.

You should keep in mind, however, that this type of professional development course is kind of like buying a new car: it loses value the minute you drive it off the lot. Even before the seven weeks ended, features and interfaces started changing, meaning that some of my videos, screenshots and terminology were suddenly out of date. Modifications like this will continue, and will eventually include major changes in the systems that will necessitate a rethinking of how we approach using them separately and together. This is a reality of a world where many systems work on four-, three- or even one-week upgrade cycles.

We all knew this reality coming into this course. The specific techniques that we showed are certainly helpful this year, and it is important that you learn and make good use of them. However, the more important purpose of this course is to guide you to a broader and deeper familiarity with working online, to the approach and the decisions you need to make when you encounter a new system. Your new "classroom" may be somewhat clunky and inconvenient, but once you get comfortable with the tools you find there, you will certainly be able to make it work for you and your students.

We encourage you to find time to step back, take a deep breath and try to figure out how to not only get through this challenging situation, but to use it to your advantage, to help your students learn better. If we can be of any help along the way, please don't hesitate to get in touch. We will certainly be back again in a few months to re-assess and help you tackle any new challenges you face.

W7 Video Conferencing Cloud Recording link