Best practices for Canvas courses
Improve your Canvas course by utilizing the following best practices.
Provide a Syllabus on the Canvas Syllabus page
- Canvas has a syllabus page that is linked in the main navigation. Provide your syllabus in text on this page rather than linking to a syllabus as a PDF or other file type.
- Ensure the Syllabus page is viewable to students in the navigation.
- Having the syllabus in the same place across all Canvas courses provides a consistent learning environment for students.
- In accordance with the VCU Learning Management System (LMS) Policy and the VCU Syllabus Policy, all courses must have a Canvas course shell with a syllabus regardless if the course is in-person, hybrid, or fully remote.
Improve accessibility with UDOIT
- UDOIT is an accessibility tool that is enabled in Canvas. Use this tool to scan your courses and fix accessibility errors.
- Common accessibility mistakes in Canvas
Clean up unused files using TidyUp
- TidyUp is a tool in Canvas that allows you to scan all the files in a course and identify unused files that should be deleted.
- Do not store unused files in Canvas. Inaccessible files used or unused will decrease the accessibility score of the course if the files have errors.
- Easily download a zip file of unused files.
- Learn more about using TidyUp
Organize your course with the Module Tool
Create a consistent and predictable learning environment, allowing students to easily navigate and focus on the content.
Inaccessible Linked Files
- Inaccessible files should be remediated for accessibility
- Use tools to check accessibility while creating the files so the files won't need to be remediated later
Use the Canvas Course Calendar
Adding assignments, quizzes, and activities to the Canvas course calendar tool keeps all of your due dates in one place and ensures that they will appear in your students’ individual Canvas calendars.
Communicate Regularly
- Utilize Canvas tools to keep students informed, address their questions promptly, and build a supportive learning community.
Use the Course Gradebook
- Provide students with real-time feedback and a clear understanding of their academic standing, fostering self-awareness and motivation.
- By using the Course Gradebook feature built in Canvas, students have a consistent way of viewing their progress across different courses they are enrolled at a give time.
- Use of different gradebooks can be confusing to students that are enrolled in multiple courses in Canvas during a given semester. This decreases usability and predictability. By using the same gradebook, students have a consistent means of accessing their grades across multiple Canvas courses.