Creating Effective and Engaging Online Learning Experiences

This page is designed to help you make the best use of the tools and options available at Auburn University for developing your course. In the sections below you will find ideas for how to present and arrange your course materials and assignments to optimize the learner experience.

About Canvas Tools

Each of the expanding sections below provides important information about the pages and tools that have been created in this template, ideas for best practices, and suggestions on modifications you should make to customize this template for your course.

Home Page

The home page is a place where your students may quickly access orientation materials, the syllabus, course content, and helpful campus resources to aid in their learning experience.

Every course's homepage has a couple of places you will need to edit to customize it for your specific course. Make sure to include the following, as indicated by the template, before you publish your course:

1. Learn how to update banner text

Course number
Course title
Subtitle
Course description

2. Learn how to update banner image

3. Add introductory text

Additionally, we suggest that you add the Module List to the home page through design tools. This will allow students to quickly jump to where they have left off in the home page.

Announcements

You may choose to use announcements to remind your students to stay on track with assignments or to make them aware of events, opportunities, or resources. You can access the announcements from the course navigation menu. Click on the button in the top right of the page that appears to add a new announcement.

When creating an announcement, you have the options to:

Delay posting
Allow users to comment
Require users to post before seeing replies
Enable podcast feed
Allow students to "like" posts

Best Practices Tip

It is best to keep the administrative messages separate from the course discussion assignments. For example, due dates, reminders, points of clarification, current events, resources, or summaries should be posted as announcements in Canvas.

How to add an announcement

Syllabus

While you likely have a version of your syllabus that is a Word document or PDF, those files are not as accessible in an online environment as placing the same text on a content page in Canvas. This page can be printed quickly and easily in any web browser. Edit the Syllabus page content to reflect the information you normally would include in a printed document.

You may want to review the online syllabus template.

Outcomes

Using the Outcome tool, you can create individual outcomes, set criterion, select a grade calculation method, and group individual outcomes together. The outcomes integrate with the grading rubrics for the assignments you may create in Canvas. Making sure you use this tool will encourage your use of best practices for teaching online by keeping your course organized, keeping it aligned, and being transparent with your students about what they should expect from the course.

How to create a course outcome

Getting Started Module

The homepage has a link to the Getting Started module that orients your students to both the experiences of learning online and your specific course.

Important Tip

Information on these pages has been created in content blocks using Design Tools to make it easy for you to add, edit, or remove as you deem appropriate.

How to add or rearrange content block in Design Tool

Welcome

The Welcome page can go a long way in orienting students to the course in a positive and encouraging way. When students are welcomed into an online course by the instructor, it assures them that there is a real qualified teacher behind the scenes that cares about the students, the content, and the course outcomes.

We suggest creating a video and embedding it in this page to greet your students when they first begin your course. Not only will this give the students a chance to see and hear you, but it will give them insight into your personality and further solidify their personal connection to you.

General Information

The General Information page sets the expectations for online learning in general. Provide ample content in this page about online learning experiences and the nature of participation in an online course.

Important Note

This information compliments your syllabus but does not replace it.

Meet Your Instructor(s)

While you should briefly introduce yourself to your students in the Welcome page, the Meet Your Instructor(s) page gives you the space to share your contact information and a brief biography. Dedicating a single space that highlights your availability to students goes a long way in strengthening the student-teacher relationship.

How to add the Teacher Details with Design Tools

Course Navigation

We suggest creating a screencast video that demonstrates the student view and user experience in your Canvas course. In the settings, Canvas gives you the ability to view your course as though you were a student. Make sure to apply these changes before recording. Embed this video in the Course Navigation page so students have a consistent reference.

It is recommended that you use Panopto to create, edit, and publish your screencasts.

Introductions Discussion Board

We covered how the instructor's presence throughout the online learning experience is very important. However, the instructor should also facilitate a place where students can feel free to share and learn from each other. Incorporating a Getting Acquainted discussion will set the tone for a collaborative learning experience by letting students get to know each other in a comfortably informal but respectful context.

General Course Q&A Discussion Board

Your welcome page, general information page, and navigation pages will be designed to anticipate the needs of students. However, having a General Course Q&A discussion board dedicated to student's questions about the course can help students learn from each other and keep you from having to address the same question more than once.

Delivering Course Content in Modules

Best Practices Tip

The delivery of content in Canvas should be done through Modules.

Organizing your content pages, assignments, quizzes, and discussions into modules will help you control the schedule, sequence, and pacing of the course.

You can conceptually organize your materials into modules however you feel is most appropriate to ensure student outcomes. For example, you may choose to organize module content by module, chapter, unit, lesson, week, level, or objective.

How to add requirements for completion to a module

We suggest that you provide an Overview and Summary as touch points within each module.

Beginning with an overview will prep the students for the new information they are about to receive and connect it to the material they have encountered in previous modules. The overview is a great place to share the course objectives that will be met through the student's engagement in that module. Ending with a summary will give the student a chance to pause and reflect on both the significance and relevance of the information they have just learned.

The following reflects a basic order suggested for a typical Canvas Module:

Overview
Content Page
Discussion
Assignment
Quiz
Summary

Learn more about how to:

Groups

Groups are a small version of the course and used as a collaborative tool where students can work together on group projects and assignments. Instructors can create groups for students to collaborate on group assignments, pages, collaborations, and more. Instructors can also allow students to create their own groups.

You can create student groups in the following ways:

Allow self sign-up
Automatically split students in a number of equal groups
Manually create the groups

How to create student group sets

Discussions

Canvas provides an integrated system for class discussions, allowing both instructors and students to start and contribute to as many discussion topics as desired. Discussions allows for interactive communication between two or more people; users can participate in a conversation with an entire class or group.

Discussions can also be created as an assignment for grading purposes (and seamlessly integrated with the Canvas Gradebook), or simply serve as a forum for topical and current events. Discussions can also be created within student groups.

Discussion topics can be focused or threaded discussions. Focused discussions are relatively short-lived interactions, while threaded discussions allow replies within replies and may last for a longer period of time. Focused discussions only allow for two levels of nesting: the original post and subsequent replies. Threaded discussions allow for infinite levels of nesting.

How to require students to reply to a course discussion before they see other replies

Assignments

You can create assignments on the Assignments page. You can create an assignment shell, which is a placeholder for an assignment within an assignment group, or you can create an entire assignment with all the assignment details at the same time.

Canvas supports five assignment types: Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, External Tools, and Not Graded.

How to create a peer review assignment

How to weight grades based on assignment groups

Collaborations

Canvas leverages collaborative technology to allow multiple users to work together on the same document at the same time. Collaborative documents are saved in real-time, meaning a change made by any of its users will be immediately visible to everyone. Google Docs allows you to add up to 50 users per collaboration, and all users can view and edit a document at the same time.

How to create a Google Docs collaboration

Quizzes

The quiz tool is used to create and administer online quizzes and surveys. You can also use quizzes to conduct and moderate exams and assessments, both graded and ungraded.

You can create:

Graded Quizzes
Practice Quizzes
Graded Surveys
Ungraded Surveys

How to create a question bank

How to randomize quiz questions using a question group

Grades

The Gradebook helps instructors easily view and enter grades for students. Depending on the Grade display type, grades for each assignment can be viewed as points, percentage, complete or incomplete, GPA scale, or letter grade.

Only graded assignments, graded discussions, graded quizzes, and graded surveys that have been published display in the Gradebook. Not Graded assignments are not included.

The default view in the Gradebook is to view all students at a time, but you can also view students individually.

How to weight the final course grade

How to create extra credit in a course

Feedback

You can leave feedback for your students using text, an attached file, video, or audio.

How leave feedback on student submissions

Canvas Help Guides

Each of the expanding sections below provides information and resources on building and facilitating your course in Canvas.

Biggio Center Help Guides

The Biggio Center Canvas Help page is a good starting point for learning more about Canvas.

The Biggio Center also has a webpage devoted to Canvas Help for Teachers.

Canvas Instructor Guides by Instructure

The Canvas Instructor Guide is a resource provided by Instructure.

Instructure also provides video Canvas Instructor Guides for more visual and auditory reference.

Course Development Tools

Each of the expanding sections below provides information and resources about tools that you can use to create more engaging and interactive online courses.

Design Tools

Design Tools are a series of add-on tools for Canvas created to significantly cut the time it takes to develop a course. They improve the quality, consistency and accessibility of your courses by allowing you to quickly and painlessly build and style the content in your course.

Below are resources that should help you get started. The User Guide provides you with specific step-by-step instructions on how to complete certain tasks. The videos give you a broad overview of the tools, features and possibilities. Within the video description are links to the instructions in the User Guide on how to complete the specific tasks mentioned in that particular video.

Design Tools User Guide

Getting Started

Introducing the Design Tools Interface

Learn more about the Design Tools for Canvas Content Editor Tools user interface.

Overview of the Content Editor Tools

How to Launch the Design Tools

What is the Difference between the Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Tools?

Working with Page Content

Creating Content with Design Tools

Learn how to apply a theme to a page; update the banner text and image; add, rearrange, or delete content blocks; and much more.

Choosing a Theme

Customizing the Banner Text

Updating the Banner Image

Adding or Rearranging Content Blocks

Working with Images

Working with Images Using Design Tools

Learn how to upload, crop, resize, embed, and style images in your Canvas course.

Uploading and Embedding Images

Edit Image Size, Position and Style

HTML Snippet: Images with Captions

Adding Interactivity

Adding Interactive Elements with Design Tools

Learn how to add interactive elements such as accordions, expanders, and tabs; description or definition lists; "pop-up" modal dialog boxes; icons; quick checks; and custom HTML snippets.

Overview of Advanced Elements

Adding a Quick Check

Multi-Tool

The Multi-Tool helps you set up a course shell quickly and efficiently, including content pages, discussions, assignments, and quizzes. The Multi-Tool consists of three separate tools: (1) a template page creator, (2) a module builder, and (3) a due date modifier.

Below are resources that should help you get started. The links to the User Guide provide you with specific step-by-step instructions on how to complete certain tasks. The videos give you a broad overview of the tools, features and possibilities.

Building Courses with the Multi-Tool

Overview of the Multi-Tool

Creating Template Pages

Using the Module Builder

Adjusting Assignment Due Dates with Multi-Tool

Modifying Due Dates

H5P.org

H5P.org is a free, open source set of web-based tools that allows you to embed rich and interactive learning activities quickly and easily into your online class.

Examples of activities include multiple choice and true/false quizzes, course presentations, hotspots, dialog and flip cards, drag and drop, fill in the blank, image sliders, interactive video, and much more.

Tutorials for Authors

How to Create and Edit Content

Accessible Course Content and Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Each of the expanding sections below provides information and resources for faculty to improve the accessibility of your instructional materials and the overall learning experience for students.

AU Office of Accessibility Resources

The Auburn University Office of Accessibility has numerous resources to assist you in making your course accessible for everyone.

Faculty Resources

Access Academy

Course Accessibility Quick Check

Improving Accessibility of Online Courses with Design Tools

Improving Accessibility of Content Using Design Tools

Learn how to check headings, image ALT text and link descriptions as well as color contrast ratios for meeting accessibility standards.

Universal Design for Learning

Individuals bring a huge variety of skills, needs, and interests to learning. UDL provides a framework for understanding how to create instruction that meets the needs of all learners from the start.

Three primary principles, which are based on neuroscience research, guide UDL and provide the underlying framework for the Guidelines:

Principle I: Provide Multiple Means of Representation ("What" they are learning)
Principle II: Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression ("How" they are learning)
Principle III: Provide Multiple Means of Engagement ("Why" they are learning)

To learn more visit the National Center on Universal Design for Learning website.

Sample Content Delivery Schedules

Week	5-Week (Mini-mester)	10-Week (Summer)	15-Week (Fall/Spring)
1	Unit 1 (M1-M3)	Unit 1 (M1-M2)	Unit 1 (M1)
2	Unit 2 (M-M6)	Unit 1 (M2-M3)	Unit 1 (M2)
3	Unit 3 (M7-M9)	Unit 2 (M4-M5)	Unit 2 (M3)
4	Unit 4 (M10-M12)	Unit 2 (M5-M6)	Unit 2 (M4)
5	Unit 5 (M13-M15)	Unit 3 (M7-M8)	Unit 2 (M5)
6		Unit 3 (M8-M9)	Unit 3 (M6)
7		Unit 4 (M10-M11)	Unit 3 (M7)
8		Unit 4 (M11-12)	Unit 3 (M8)
9		Unit 5 (M13-M4)	Unit 4 (M9)
10		Unit 5 (M14-15)	Unit 4 (M10)
11			Unit 4 (M11)
12			Unit 5 (M12)
13			Unit 5 (M13)
14			Unit 5 (M14)
15			Unit 5 (M15)

Pre-Launch Checklist

Course-Evaluation-Checklist.pdf