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Instructurecon 2022

By Dr. John Sim

On July 14th this year, I had the opportunity to attend InstructureCon 2022, an event organized by Instructure, the maker of Canvas. This is a one-day free virtual learning event for educators and edtech users featuring keynote addresses by well-known thought leaders Simone Giertz and Adam Grant.  It was difficult to choose between the more…Read More

Seven Ways to Future-Proof Your Courses in Canvas

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

As I get ready for the semester to start, there are several things I’m thankful that I did the last time I taught this class. However, I am frustrated with my ‘past-self’ for not being very kind to my ‘future self’ in one particular instance. When I taught this class before, I created graphics that…Read More

Changes are Coming to Canvas

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

There are changes coming to the Canvas LMS. This post provides an overview of what’s coming in terms of: the new gradebook, analytics, and quizzes. It also shares about an event coming up that will provide an overview of the changes and an opportunity to have your questions answered. New Gradebook (switches over for everyone on 01/18/20;…Read More

Canvas Imaginings

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

I was fortunate to be able to attend the Canvas LMS conference for the second time this year. This year, it was once again held in Keystone, Colorado. The entire town pretty much gets taken up by both higher education and K-12 people who want to learn more about Canvas, Arc, and other educational technology…Read More

Save Time Grading with SpeedGrader

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

One of the things I have come to appreciate about Canvas is how often I discover new ways to make learning more effective for our students. Recently, I came across a number of ways to save time grading, which really made me see how much Canvas’ SpeedGrader really lives up to its name. New Resource:…Read More

An Option for Running Multiple Chats at Once

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

A couple of our education faculty were used to the ability to have multiple live chats occurring in their undergraduate courses, when we used to be on the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). This method meant that instead of having a group of 20 students trying to all type to one another at the same…Read More

Canvas Possibilities for Non-Techies

By Dr. Elizabeth S. Powell

This July I had the privilege of attending InstructureCon (a.k.a. Canvas Conference) along with fellow Vanguard faculty Bonni Stachowiak and Naomi Kasa. This conference centered around our learning management system, Canvas. Since this conference was more tech than pure academia, it was incredibly fun to feel a different vibe. The theme of the conference was…Read More

Discoveries from the Canvas Conference (InstructureCon)

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

Three of us from Vanguard were fortunate to be able to attend this year’s InstructureCon (a conference put on by the company that makes our learning management system, Canvas). My husband and two kids traveled with me and we sandwiched a couple of vacation days before and after the conference. Naomi Kasa, Liz Powell and I…Read More

Student Context Card Feature Has Been Activated on Vanguard’s Canvas Site

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

Canvas has made available a new feature called the Student Context Card. It makes information available on one easy-to-access card, versus us having to fish around for that information in multiple screens. The old views for information are still there and can be accessed, but the new Student Context Card brings the data into one…Read More

Trying to get your students to read the textbook? Canvas can help!

By Dr. John Sim

Having difficulty getting your students to read the textbook? Welcome to the club! Sometimes as professors, we ask questions from the assigned reading only to be greeted with blank stares around the classroom. It is common knowledge that college students may not be reading their assigned materials or are only briefly skimming through the chapters.…Read More

Three Features in Canvas That Have Caught My Attention, Lately

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

I’ve been enjoying how much thought has gone in to “the little things” on Canvas, that make our experience using the LMS easier. In this video, I share about three such features: Add a photo card to your course Create a checklist of to dos for your students (such as assigned reading) Use Speed grader…Read More

Creative Uses of Canvas

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

I’m planning on starting a video series on Canvas called: Show Us Your Course, in the coming weeks. I think it will be a great way to share what we’re discovering about Canvas, together, as most of us teach with it for the first semester. In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to share…Read More

Early Childhood Education Kicks off Vanguard’s Canvas Training

By Dr. Bonni Stachowiak

We held the first Canvas training on Friday, July 15, for fifteen Early Childhood Education faculty. Our Canvas coaches for the morning were John Sim, and Alexis Chatelle (an accounting major, who has spent time as Bonni’s teaching assistant this summer). Jim Evans was also there to help with questions and troubleshooting. The group was…Read More

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