Help learners orientate themselves, especially outlining how they are expected to learn and engage and how they may contact key staff members to get help when they need it. These items are expected for every taught course at City of Glasgow College.
Include the Unit syllabus and Intended Learning Outcomes in the Canvas Course.
Explain participation requirements:
Outline how students are expected to use Canvas in an introductory statement.
Identify the compulsory and optional activities.
Explicitly signpost all online and offline activities and how they interrelate.
Provide an indicator of effort (such as timings or page counts) for all compulsory tasks.
Explain how students are expected to use City of Glasgow College and external eLearning tools.
Link to instructions for any eLearning tools that students are expected to use.
Explain what digital devices and software students are expected to provide for themselves or how they can access these resources from the College.
Remind students that their interactions on the platform are tracked to support their learning.
Display academic staff contact details on the Meet Your Lecturer page; include name, position, email, location, drop-in hours, as appropriate.
Ensure students are aware of all services and support available from the Library and Student Services team and the help guides available. Cover this in your induction and ensure links to this support relevant to your course or unit are easy to find.
Provide an overview of the course within a ‘Course Summary’ in the Course Overview page.
Ensure students are sent a welcome message before the start of the course/unit that includes:
A short overview of the course, an online welcome video is an excellent way of introducing yourself to the class.
A summary of expectations for online engagement.
How they can gain access to their course.
Explain the introductory activities to be completed and by when (e.g. posting to an introductions forum within the course).
It is good practice to include an online 'ice breaker' activity to help the class 'get to know each other'. This is also a good opportunity to practise using some of the key communication tools that will be used throughout the course.
