- How to convert word documents to Canvas pages -

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.