Orient Your Students to Your Online Course - Best Practices

Your online students need your help.  

Learning to navigate your course online is just one challenge online students face.  Along with learning your course expectations, online students have to learn to navigate your online course.  And just like in your face-to-face class, you have students with varying degrees of ability and experience.  Some may have taken a course in Canvas before,  perhaps even one of your courses.  Others will be new to Canvas or even new to online learning.

A few suggestions to help your students. 

Welcome your students to your online course with an introductory email.  FaCIT has created an email message template you can modify for your use. 

Direct students to the free, online course, Orientation to Online Learning.  This course walks students through the basics of functions of Canvas.  Add a link to the course by copy and pasting this URL, https://svcc.instructure.com/courses/65,  to your Canvas front page and into your syllabus.

Create a few introductory or practice assignments for your students.  Here are a few examples.

• Have students upload a "What I want to learn from this course."  Students will gain practice uploading files. 
• Create an introductory discussion, have students introduce themselves by posting a reply.  Students will then have practice posting to discussions. 
• Create a "Syllabus and My Course Policies" quiz. Ask questions to ensure students know important details about your class.  Students will gain practice with the quiz tool and also learn about your course. (Also, you will have on record that students were aware of due dates and policies.) Here are a few example questions: 
• I accept late work.  True/False
• Weekly assignments are due each week on [INSERT DATE and TIME]
• The best way to contact me is?
• My office number is?
• Quizzes are what percentage of your final grade?
• Assignment {INSERT ASSIGNMENT NAME} is due on what date?
• Pre-assess students.  Use publisher provided test questions to assess your students prior-knowledge of content.  

More ice-breaker or introductory activities for online courses can be found here. 

Do you have other examples of how you acclimate students to your online course?  Please post them in the comments. 

Canvas: Where to find help

Picture this: you are working at home, it is 11:00 p.m. on a Friday evening; a question about Canvas comes to your mind. Where can you go to find answers?

Canvas provides tutorials for all functions of the system. If you prefer to read through and examine images of the Canvas interface, the text-based Canvas Guides are likely to appeal to you. Video tutorials are also available.

Finally, if you are just getting started with Canvas, FaCIT recommends the Canvas Instructor Getting Started Guide.

Banish the Awkward Moment: Disability Awareness Resource

Are you up to date with the vocabulary and etiquette conventions surrounding the topic of disability? If you aren't sure, you may find this resource helpful. 

A primer on disability awareness, this web page from the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University will walk you through the basics.  

Summer 2016 Learning and Training Events

FaCIT has several learning and training events planned for this summer.  Take advantage of these events by registering here.

EVENT DESCRIPTIONS

Canvas Bootcamp: Explore the tools and features of Sauk’s new LMS, Canvas.  Over two days you will learn how to use the basic features of Canvas and have time to practice with each tool and to work on your course.

• Canvas Bootcamp: May 16^th and 17^th, 9:00am to 2:00pm. Room 2C3A. - FULL
• Canvas Bootcamp: May 25^th  and 26^th, 9:00am to 2:00pm. Room 2C3A.  - FULL
• Canvas Bootcamp: June 13th and 14th, , 9:00am to 2:00pm. Room 1C05.
• Canvas Bootcamp: Aug 9^th and 10^th, 9:00am to 2:00pm. Room 2C3A.

Canvas Overview for Staff:  These sessions are targeted for any staff who do not teach in Canvas but occasionally assist students, or staff who are interested in a general overview of Canvas. The overview will consist of how to login, basic navigation, user profile settings, and other general topics. 

• Canvas Overview for Staff:  May 31^st, 3:30pm to 4:30pm. Room 1K04.
• Canvas Overview for Staff:  June 1^st, 8:30am to 9:30am. Room 2K2.

Google Apps Bootcamp:  This one-day event will introduce attendees to the many time saving features and tools found in the Google Apps Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive. We will also explore features in Google Chrome.  New and experienced users are welcome.

• Google Apps Bootcamp: June 9^th, 10:00am to 2:00pm.  Room 2F05.
• Google Apps Bootcamp:  June 28^th, 10:00am to 2:00pm. Room 2F05.

Leadership Book Discussion:  Enjoy an evening of conversation with peers as we discuss a chapter from the book, The Extraordinary Leader: Turning Good Managers into Great Leaders by John H. Zenger and Joseph R. Folkman at the Crystal Cork. Copies of each chapter will be available for those not wishing to purchase the book.  Seats are limited, register early for this event! 

On June 23^rd, Dr. David Hellmich will lead a discussion on chapter 1, Demystifying Leadership.  On July 28^th, Greg Noack and Linda Dhaese will lead a discussion on chapter 6, Great Leaders Possess Multiple Strengths. 

• Leadership Book Discussion: June 23^rd, 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Crystal Cork in Dixon, IL.  
• Leadership Book Discussion: July 28^th, 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Crystal Cork in Dixon, IL.

Sauk Tech Talks:  Learn about new technology or tech trends during monthly half-hour lunch-and-learns. No registration required.

• Sauk Tech Talk - Virtual Reality Apps and Google Cardboard:  June 14^th, Noon. Room 1K04.
• Sauk Tech Talk - Smart Home / Internet of Things:  July 14^th, noon. Room 1K04
• Sauk Tech Talk - 3-D Printing: August 4^th, noon. Room 2K02.

Office Bootcamp:  For basic to intermediate users, learn tips and tricks for using Microsoft Word and Excel.  Topics covered will include: formatting tips, tables, style sheets, mail merge, excel formulas, inserting clip art, columns, graphs, and review options.

• Office Bootcamp – Word and Excel: July 26^th, 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Room 2F05.