Canvas

Canvas is PSU's online learning management system. For every course at PSU, whether face-to-face, hybrid, or fully online, a Canvas course component is automatically generated for you. To find it, go to pdx.edu/faculty-staff, find the Canvas link, and log in using your ODIN credentials.

Canvas is a great place to post PDF files of your course materials. At the minimum, please post your syllabus, handouts, and assignments. For those who want to take it a step further, readings posted in PDF format allow students to download to devices and also save the on photocopies. You can also post course news, information about community events, links to online resources, videos you'd like your students to access, and so much more.

Institutional Support for CANVAS

Office of Academic Innovation (OAI)

• Smith Memorial Student Union, SMSU M209 (2nd-floor mezzanine) | 1825 SW Broadway

• Office of Academic Innovation's website is filled with teaching resources and tutorials.

Advice for Those Teaching Fully Online

Instructional Designers – All fully online courses should be developed in consultation with an instructional designer. Contact the Office of Academic Innovation at PSU for an appointment. Please note that the instructional designers are often very busy, especially at the beginning of each term, so you should request a consultation as soon as you can.

Course Design and Syllabus – Please consult our Syllabus Guidelines for details on our expectations for your course syllabus (online or otherwise). An electronic copy of your syllabus is expected in the A+D office at the beginning of the term.

One key shift you'll make as you transition from a face-to-face classroom experience to a partially or fully online learning environment is that you'll have more frequent assignments, typically with something due every week or every other week. This can take many forms, such as graded discussion posts, short quizzes, etc. You might also find that certain activities, such as peer review, are actually more effective and logistically simple in an online class.

Assessment – There are rubrics you might use after you have set up your online class to self-assess how you've done. A commonly recognized one is the Cal State Chico Rubric. It is a little daunting in its extent, but the first two broad categories are those we apply most often if we're doing an observation of an online course. A PDF of the Cal State rubric is available here, on the documents page of this website.