Five Minute Fixes
to simplify online teaching in Canvas
Based on the Five Minute Fixes workshop presented by Laura Paciorek and Lisa M. Lane 5 October 2021 for MiraCosta College. Click here to view the workshop recording. We're adding more fixes all the time, so come back for more!
For something more in-depth than five minutes, here is More-than-Five-Minutes Fixes.
Need help with these or anything related to teaching your classes online? Contact any of our faculty helpers for free help, anytime.
make Navigation easier
Simplify the menu
Menu cluttered with things you don't use? Get rid of those items.
Add a To-Do
Students missing something because it's on a page? Add it to their To Do list.
Add your own menu items
The Redirect Tool can be used to put any page on the Menu
Answer Fewer Student Questions
Use Pronto to communicate
Pronto is already in Canvas and can be added to a mobile device, if you'd like. Here is a slide show about Pronto, too.
Commons: Import a support page
Help students learn to use Pronto by quickly importing a page from Commons into your course.
Make videos in Studio
Quick videos can help answer student questions. This site about Studio is the one toured in this video above.
Fix Assignments
Put the content inside the quiz
Proximity matters!
Name Assignments Well
Quizzes and assignments can be named better to fit with the To Do List
Stop grading so much
Autograde a written assignment
instant grading isn't just for multiple choice
Remove "Until" dates
It's faster to grade late work than to reopen assignments
Use Ungraded Items, Like Discussions
If it's important, but not something that needs graded feedback, consider going ungraded.
Slightly more than Five minutes
Make Tabbed Pages
The Cal Poly Humboldt page that has the HTML template is here: How to create tabs in Canvas