Marjon Canvas Page Templates Project

Overview

I am part of a team at Plymouth Marjon University who have developed a webpage based approach to curating and sharing teaching and learning resources.  [About Me] 

Summary of our Work

• We are using generative AI to adapt pre-designed templates and incorporate the resources required for any given blocks of learning. 

• We are sharing our page templates across campus and training colleagues to vibe code and encouraging them to adapt designs for their own use while maintaining key quality attributes.

The questions that underpin our work

• Many of our students are now turning up to class with a laptop - how are we responding to this change in the classroom environment?

• Students should really be spending more time learning out of class than in class....if I want my students to spend more time engaging with content in our VLE, how can I do that effectively?

• How can we provide resources for different approaches to teaching and learning?

What we are doing

• We are raising the profile and importance of good VLE design work for standard, face-to-face learning - "VLE FIrst"

  • We are encouraging colleagues to think much more about navigability and narrative (the explanation that goes next to any given resource)

• We have designed a range of page templates that work in Canvas pages (i.e. basic inline HTML).

• We are supporting teaching colleagues in learning the skills and techniques needed to adapt these templates using gen AI (vibe coding).

• We have encouraged groups of staff on related programmes to work together to develop new versions of the templates for use in their own areas.

• We have established a community of practice whereby all good practice and design work is fed back into the toolbox of templates available for all staff to use.

• We are having many great conversations about pedagogy as a result of this new approach to digital resources - it can look initially as though it is all about the webpage coding or the use of AI to provide shortcuts, but it's really about the way these tools are used, and how we can produce resources that align with the tutor's approach to teaching.

  • Example 1: We are making many more explicit connections (in the form of hyperlinks but also, conceptually) between teaching and learning content within a module and between modules, levels and courses.

  • Example 2: By sharing templates that embody good instructional design, we have been able to highlight key phases of learning and encourage colleagues to think in different ways about how information is shared (e.g. demonstration, activation, integration or explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate etc.)

• Some of our designs and content are showcased below...

What underpins this work

• Self-determination theory (autonomy, competence and relatedness) and Daniel Pink’s book, Drive, (autonomy, mastery and purpose) underpin our approach that is designed to optimise initial engagement, essential skill development and ongoing adoption. Flexibility, agency and autonomy need to be built in, and people want to feel good about their work outputs and really enjoy seeing progress from learning new skills. Also, if they see that students are benefiting from the work they are putting in, they will do more of it. We have also made uptake a social activity where upskilling happens in-person (albeit supported by online resources), and where colleagues are listened to, and where problems are solved together, and success and new ideas are always shared for others to benefit from. Peer-to-peer learning and support are also greatly encouraged.

• Diffusion of innovations – we recognise that people are at different stages of readiness to learn new skills and approaches, and in order to move people forward, we need to have a range of approaches. There are always outriders and lagards, and we embrace that fact and plan our strategy accordingly by giving colleagues permission to play with their new skills, recognising innovation and providing low-stakes, low-effort opportunities to work with this approach.

How does generative AI contribute to this work?

• The use of page templates in a VLE does not require the use of generative AI; a good template can be adopted and adapted quite well without AI.

• Key principles of narrative and navigability can be adhered to without the use of gen AI. 

• The 'vibe coding' approach does, however, allow teaching staff, regardless of HTML or coding expertise, to develop polished pages in parallel with their content creation. By providing a Gen AI tool with simple instructions and a pre-designed template, an educator can rapidly generate coherent, engaging, and technically sound pages. This process leverages their existing teaching resources (like slides or text) as a backbone, turning content creation and page design into a single, integrated task.

What Next?

• Through the academic year 2025-26, we are aiming to provide a one hour introductory session to all teaching staff on campus

  • This session is enough for most to understand how to use page templates with gen AI and to be able to play around building new content. Some are ready to go, some are also having ongoing support.

• Over the next academic year, we will see how widespread uptake of this approach is, and we plan to include reviews of VLE content to evaluate content against general principles identified in 25/26.

Find out more

• Contact me at bjane@marjon.ac.uk to find out more

• There are five of us on the Template team, and we have lots to share about our design work, our use of gen AI and our campus-wide implementation.

  • The PMU Canvas Template Team: Prof Jennie Winter, Assoc Prof Lynne Wyness, Dr Ian Stonebridge, Antía Álvarez Mera