Looking to spruce up your face-to-face classes or make elements of your teaching easier to manage? Well, look no further than Canvas! It's like a magic wand for both you and your students. Let's dive in and see how Canvas can make your in-person courses more engaging and manageable, while saving you time.
Say goodbye to chaos and hello to simplicity with Canvas. Start by tossing your syllabus into the Syllabus tool – it is very visible on the site and whips up a neat list of assignments and due dates. And don't forget about the Scheduler – it's perfect for setting up office hours. Your students can snag one-on-one slots with you in a snap. Plus, toss any events, like a cool field trip, into the calendar, and voilà, it's on your students' radars!
Need to spread the word? Announcements have your back. Keep the whole gang in the loop about upcoming deadlines, schedule tweaks, and other tidbits.
Want to keep track of those assessments without breaking a sweat? Canvas has got you covered. Create assignments and quizzes, and even handle paper-based ones with Gradescope. And guess what? Everything you set up automatically finds its way onto your students' Canvas Calendar and the syllabus tool – no fuss, no muss. And hey, if you have group activities, group assignments make teamwork a cinch.
When it's time to grade, say hello to the Speedgrader. Got a bunch of feedback that's on repeat? The comment library will become your new best friend. And rubrics? They're like your secret weapon for communicating expectations and giving pinpoint feedback.
Whether you're fully embracing Canvas for all course features or simply using it for specific tasks (like sending announcements or sharing files), make your content pop by organizing it into modules. Label them by week to keep things tidy and logical. If you're just using Canvas to share a couple of files per week, toss 'em in the week’s Module. Got a content feast with three or more files? Craft a page, link those files, add the page to the module, and boom – your module's set. The golden rule? Always give your content descriptive labels to save your students from the "Where's the reading?" inbox avalanche.
Canvas isn't just about classes – it's a hub for building a lively community. Spark discussions that make your students think by creating discussions to chat, share, and connect class concepts with their interests. And guess what? You can, too! Use a forum to drop exciting campus happenings or for students to help each other ace the coursework. Plus, use tools like EliReview or Canvas Peer Review so students can help each other.