Category: Canvas

Best practices with Canvas.

Tech Tip of the Week!

Sick of students creating powerpoint after powerpoint in your class?  Want to provide them another avenue to create and express themselves and/or show what they know? 

This week’s tech tip is a Thinglink about Thinglink.  It is a creation tool that you and/or your students can use to show what they know, share information, etc… in a different way. 

Check out the Thinglink below that will explain everything about Thinglink.  Also, highlighted in this Thinglink are two CCSD1 teachers who have tried Thinglink in their classrooms this year!  One is a step-by-step project, created in Rebecca Elliott’s 7th grade ELA classroom, that has students edit an already created thinglink to showcase their understanding of the novel, Heat.  The other one is a Happiness choice board project created in Melina Foster’s ELA classroom at the HS. 

Also included in this thinglink is a “student and teacher how-to-guide” to get you started (you can download it right from the thinglink).  Or you can always shoot me an email and I can help you learn the tech tool, create and integrate it into a lesson, and even come to your classroom and teach the tech tool to your students! 

How do I embed a Google Slide
in Canvas?

This video and step-by-step instructions show you how to embed a google slide in 2 ways! Click the image to see instructions.

Why would you want to embed rather than link? That way students do not need to leave Canvas in order to see what you want them to see.

HOW TO EMBED A
POWERPOINT IN CANVAS

Embedding a powerpoint so students are able to view it in Canvas is a process, but if you click the image to the right, I have explained it for you step-by-step.

Why would you want to embed rather than just link? That way students do not have to leave Canvas in order to view what you want them to view. Embedding limits the amounts of clicks needed to see what you want students to see.

How to Easily Link Canvas
Assignments, Quizzes, Pages

If you want to provide links for students within Canvas to other Canvas pages, quizzes, assignments, etc…, check out this video and handout!

It is amazingly easy to make links to already created materials in Canvas. You just use the link (chain-link icon) tool in the toolbar.

How do I make individual copies of a powerpoint or google slides for students to fill out and submit in Canvas?

Have a great assignment in which your students need to complete a slide (either powerpoint or googleslide)? Or any document from your google drive or onedrive?

You can easily add it to Canvas using the Google Cloud Doc Assignment or Office 365 document external tool feature!

Click the image to the right for a how-to guide!

Canvas Studio

Hello Educators!

Do you want to show your students a video (from YouTube, TedEd, etc… or a video you created yourself) and want to embed questions in the video for students to answer?  Similar to Edpuzzle if any of you have used that, but unlimited video and questions.  Canvas is letting us try out a feature for a couple months called Canvas Studio.  It allows you to create a video (can video yourself and/or your screen), or upload a YouTube link or any video you have previously created, and then embed questions for students to answer as they watch the video.   The questions are then automatically graded for you in Canvas.  You can also add annotations to the video like “Pay attention to this!” or point out important elements.  After you have your video set up how you want it, you can then add it to your modules as an external tool and it is ready to be used with students.

Reach out if you would like help implementing this in your classroom!

Tech Tip Tuesday (Canva for Education)

Canva is an amazing online graphic design tool.

  • You or your students, can create posters, flyers, social media, projects, resumes, infographics, edit photos/videos, presentation slides, talking presentations, video edits and transitions, text animations, background remover, graphic organizers, schedules, essay plans, comic designs, virtual backgrounds, book reports, lesson plans, worksheets, etc… 
  • It has millions of premium templates, photos, fonts, icons, videos, or you can start from scratch! 
  • All the premium features can be used by teachers free when you sign up for Canva for Education.  When you sign your students up (create a class; send them the invitation link), they also get all the premium features for free.
  •  Students can collaborate on the same project.
  • Projects can be downloaded in a variety of ways; all projects are also stored on the Canva website.

Wordwall.net

Featured Website of the Week!

What is wordwall.net? It is an online platform in which teachers can create interactive activities by utilizing a variety of templates or use pre-made ones that fit their content area and learning intention. Teachers can then embed those activities into Canvas or share the assignment link.

Benefits: Save teacher prep time; make your lessons more interactive and engaging; and get away from paper worksheets! Allow students to practice at their own pace and try again if they need more practice. Teachers can also track student performance! There are many choices of interchangeable exercises!

Canvas Tech Tip (Canvas Quizzes)

How to convert paper quiz/test to a canvas quiz without retyping all the questions!

Have you been wanting to convert a paper/pencil quiz or test into a Canvas quiz without having to re-type all the questions?  The beauty of using Canvas Quizzes is that it automatically grades the Multiple Choice, T/F, Matching, etc…  You would still need to grade any essays or short answers, but parts of your quiz/test could be automatically graded!  What a time-saver! 

Here are step by step instructions on how to do that!  It will work for MC Questions, T/F Questions, Short Answer and Essay.  Click here for the step-by-step instructions or watch the YouTube video above. This is the conversion website you will need (big thank you to San Diego State for providing that conversion tool).