CANVAS
Thanks to Jennifer Nesbitt, associate professor of English and Bill Cantor, senior instructor in IST for helping with a Canvas demonstration for the full- and part-time faculty at their respective orientations yesterday.
Jen showed the use and advantages of the assignment and Speedgrader functionality and Bill demonstrated the mobile apps as well as notifications and calendaring. I went over the campus plan for migration, location of training and other Canvas resources (http://canvas.psu.edu/) as well as the basic interface layout, including modules, sandboxes, and master courses.
The sessions were very well received and I think it was a good first step to usher campus faculty into the world of the Canvas course management system. I was struck once again at the power of giving faculty opportunities to share with each other, and I’ve consciously made up my mind to include more of these this semester!
I learned a few things yesterday, too! In the options for each Module, you can assign a defined sequence, so that students must go through items in a module in a certain defined sequence. Rubrics, once set up, then just have a click through feature in Speedgrader for each level which was really slick. I look forward to learning more!
If you want to KEEP UP WITH things in Canvas, you have a few options:
- Visit the University Canvas portal – http://canvas.psu.edu/
- Search for a join the “Canvas Group” at Yammer.psu.edu
- Join the Canvas listserv http://canvas.psu.edu/news-and-updates/canvas-listserv/
