Features of This Minicourse
This minicourse is comprised of 4 distinct parts. Each part will have videos, interactions, scenarios, and quizzes embedded in the learning. Discussion boards and forums with prompts will also be available to enhance learning.
Videos
Videos will explain content while showing visual examples of the underlying mathematics.
Interactions
Learners will engage with drag and drop or click to place activities, flash card flip activities, sorting activities, hot spot interactions, and tabbed or sequenced information cards that chunk information into more manageable parts.
Scenarios
Scenarios are key to helping educators apply their learning to their own classrooms. Scenarios allow the educator to contemplate then select options while receiving feedback on their choices.
Quizzes
Quizzes provide opportunities for assessment. They provide data to me as the course creator and also provide feedback to the learner so they can reflect upon and deepen their understanding of concepts.
Discussion Boards/Forums
Discussion boards allow for opportunities to share knowledge, challenges, insights, and successes across educators. Every educator has a unique classroom setting but many educators can find commonalities that allow for great discussion.
I chose Canvas as the LMS I will use for this course. I am already familiar with Canvas because my company currently uses it as its LMS, but I would like to be able to explore its functionality more so I can better understand what it is capable of doing. This project will serve as a nice opportunity to understand more of the functions in Canvas.
Canvas has the ability to create linear modules within a course to chunk information into manageable learning bites for the learner. Canvas also has the ability to hold SCORM files, which is what I will be creating (hopefully through Rise360 or Storyline). I am also familiar with how to manipulate the html code to format the pages. In areas where I need help with the formatting, I can turn to AI for help with the code. I know I can build out buttons and branching within Canvas as well to make navigation easier. Again, it requires html but I have experience with this. Because Canvas can use SCORM packages, I know I have the ability to build something in Rise360 then export the SCORM package and upload it to Canvas. I have already tested this feature for other assignments within my company.
The feature of Canvas I am most interested in is the analytics. I want to know more about the types of data it can collect and the best way to format content to obtain the best analytics. For example, I can design a series of microlearnings in Rise360 then import each microlearning into a certain module in Canvas. Or, I can create a whole course in Rise360 then import the whole course to Canvas. I am not sure which way would give more robust analytics, but it's something I would like to understand because of my own role in my own company.
Images from Canvas
SUPPORT RESOURCES FOR CANVAS:
Canvas itself has a help center that provides a fairly robust set of guides that are broken down by the role of the student, teacher or LMS admin. These guides provide a lot of information, including how to access the analytics.
Image from University of Oklahoma
Another Canvas resource is a "Tips and Tricks" page through the University of Oklahoma:
https://www.ou.edu/cas/online/canvas-teaching-tips
This site has everything from set up and grading to course content suggestions and advice for engagement.