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Using Canvas for Communication, Assignments, & Grading
Using Canvas for Communication, Assignments, & Grading
Canvas is the official Learning Management System (LMS) used by Lipscomb University. Canvas already contains enrollment information directly from Banner. Canvas offers a FERPA-compliant solution for collecting assignments securely from students, issuing grades securely, and sending communication and announcements to all your students.
Canvas Resources from the CTL
Canvas Resources from the CTL
The CTL has already created several resources on setting up Canvas. The video will show you how to access these resources.
IMPORTANT NOTE: YOU MUST PUBLISH YOUR COURSE!
IMPORTANT NOTE: YOU MUST PUBLISH YOUR COURSE!
NOTE:
NOTE:
You must publish your course in order for students to see any content within your course. The green check mark means your course has been published and is good to go.
Canvas Features
Canvas Features
*NOTE: Lipscomb specific resources will continue to be added and updated to this page beginning 3/9/20.
Canvas has many other features you can use in your teaching and here are some popular ones you can use:
Assignment: Use this feature to collect student assignments, including documents, links, videos. You can then use Speedgrader to grade them with annotations and media comments.
Quiz: Use this feature to design your quizzes or tests. You can scramble the questions and/or answers, time each attempt, assign password for access, etc. You can view students quiz log by enabling Quiz Log Auditing under Feature Options in Course Settings.
Syllabus: Use this feature to share your printable syllabus. This tool will also display calendar events, grade distribution methods, as you add timed or events with due dates in your course.
Modules: Do not use “file” to dump all content. Most professors choose to use modules to share asynchronous content. In a module, you can add pages, files, assignments, quizzes, external URL links, and external tools. You can hide or show entire modules or specific items in a module.
Announcements: You can use Canvas announcements to communicate with your entire class.
Inbox: You can use Inbox to communicate with individual students or groups of students without having to create folders and enter email addresses in your regular email.
Discussions: You can use discussions for asynchronous discussions.
Using Canvas for Communication
Using Canvas for Communication
Canvas can be used as a tool for your communication plan with your students. You can set your notifications, use the announcements feature, and use the inbox (email) feature.
This video will walk you through how to use the Announcements tool for communication purposes.
This video will walk you through how to use the Canvas Inbox for communication purposes.
This video will walk you through using the new Canvas Chat feature that we have enabled. This is a great tool for Questions & Answers or for online office hours.
So, I've Never Used Canvas, What Do I Do?
So, I've Never Used Canvas, What Do I Do?
To ensure you receive communication from Canvas, set up your Notification Preferences and contact method in your Canvas Account.
Tip: Show students how to set up their notifications as well.
This video will walk you through how you can manage the courses that appear on your Canvas dashboard. Customize which course cards are displayed on the Dashboard by “Favoriting” courses based on preference, current term, quarter, semester, etc. Once courses are displayed, you can also give the course a “Nickname” visible only to you.
It is important to be aware of the many different options residing under Course Details in Course Settings. Selecting More Options will open up a menu of extra features to turn on and off, such as allowing students to post their own discussion threads. Remember: Don't forget to select Update Course Details at the bottom once you update the settings.
For optimum course experience, hide unnecessary course navigation links. Remember: The fewer links on the side of the course...the better!
Select People to verify your Canvas roster (teacher, student, TA, etc.) for accuracy. Compare your official list in Banner to the Canvas list. If there are students who do not appear either in Banner or in Canvas, reach out to the Registrar's Office.
You can use the People link to verify last date of attendance.
The Home Page is the first impression of a course. Select the Home Page option that best fits the needs of your course.
Add the current syllabus to your course. You can add it to the Course Syllabus tool, as a File link in your course, onto a Course Page and any other way you would find useful.
This video will walk you through how to set up Modules in your course. A module serves as a folder to house weekly activities, readings, handouts, and assignments for students. Remember: The green check mark must be present for students to be able to see the course content.
Helpful Tip: Student View
Helpful Tip: Student View
Review your course content from Student View to experience your course from a student perspective. Note: Some third party tools may not have student view functionality. Student View adds a test student to Grades. After participating in Student View, enter your Gradebook as a teacher to view any Test Student entries.
Helpful Tip: Validate Links
Helpful Tip: Validate Links
You may want to select Validate Links in your Course Settings to ensure there are no broken links.
Using Canvas for Assignments, Quizzes or Exams
Using Canvas for Assignments, Quizzes or Exams
If disruptions to your class time will impact your testing, you may wish to offer your assignments, quizzes or exams online. For essay questions, written exams and other types of long-form testing where you will be grading against a rubric, you can create these as Assignments in Canvas. Canvas can also be used to create computer-graded assessments, by creating a Quiz.
This video will walk you through how to set up Discussions in your course. Discussions can be used for an asynchronous format allowing the students to complete them at a time that is convenient for them.
This video will walk you through how to set up Assignments in your course. You can have students create a variety of assignments from papers, projects, or presentations. Extended time on an assignment is also provided in this video.
This video will walk you through how to set up Quizzes & Exams in your course. The variety of question options and extended time are also discussed.
ANOTHER REMINDER: Check visibility of individual items and Modules as a whole. Don’t forget to publish your course. Remember: You can unpublish any items you don’t want students to see.
This video will walk you through how to use the Quiz Log Auditing feature.
Grading in Canvas
Grading in Canvas
The following set of videos will walk you through organizing your assignments, setting up gradebook, creating rubrics, and using speedgrader.
If you use weighted grading categories for your final grade calculations, you will want to add Assignment Groups to the Assignments Index Page and assign weights to each Group. You have the ability to add drop rules to each Assignment Group.
Verify the Gradebook is arranged according to your grading policy and your syllabus. You can move the “Total” column from the far right position to the far left position next to the student list. You can change your Total column to display as Points, if needed. You can set Late Submission or Missing Submission policies NOTE: The CTL has a whole resource guide set up in Canvas under Courses-All Courses-Browse More Courses.
This video will have a few additional features I forgot to share with you.
This video will walk you through how to use the features of Speedgrader.
This video has a few additional features I forgot to share with you.
This video will walk you through creating and using Rubrics.
This video describes utilizing the Canvas Attendance feature. If you would like additional information, please check out the Canvas Instructor Guide for Attendance.
Resources Created by Canvas
Resources Created by Canvas
Canvas Instructor Guide Table of Contents (all guides related to instructor topics)
Creating an Assignment in Canvas
If you have any questions or need additional support, please submit the CTL Help Request Form.
If you have any questions or need additional support, please submit the CTL Help Request Form.
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