Student Interactions in Canvas
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This website and resources are intended for Portland State instructors. For PSU students looking for help with Canvas and general tech support, please contact the OIT Helpdesk.
Additional Canvas resources for PSU students can be found in OIT’s Canvas Resources for Students.
Student interaction plays an important role in learning and overall sense of community. Whether you’re teaching fully online, blended, or in-person, you might consider developing space to support such interaction in your digital classroom. Canvas has many tools to help students digitally interact.
Groups
Student interaction plays an important role in learning and overall sense of community. Whether you’re teaching fully online, blended, or in-person, you might consider developing space to support such interaction in your digital classroom. Canvas has many tools to help students digitally interact.
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- Create student groups to use with Canvas Discussions, Canvas Assignments, and Canvas Peer Reviews.
- Create student groups randomly or manually, or allow individual signups.
- Have student group members create and edit their own Canvas pages.
- Have students create their own groups in your course (if enabled).
Peer Review
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- Facilitate students reviewing one another's work and giving substantive feedback.
- Allow students to serve as an audience for one another's presentations, performances, etc.
- Assign peer reviews randomly, manually, and both within or among group memberships.
- Have students use associated rubrics to leave peer feedback.
Collaborations
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- Add a Google Doc as a collaborative document and share it with individuals or groups in your Canvas course.
- Have students add their own Collaborations (if your course uses Collaborations). Student collaborations will automatically be visible to instructors.
- Use Collaborations to co-create certain course elements (e.g. syllabus, discussion guidelines, rubrics).
Discussions
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- Share learning resources with one another.
- Teach topics or information to one another.
- Help one another troubleshoot issues or answer content-related questions (e.g., course Q&A forum).
Integrating these instructional strategies and technology tools helps cultivate a safe learning community, foster peer interaction, and give timely and meaningful feedback by involving students in both doing things and thinking about the things they are doing.
Adapted from “Learner-Learner Interactions” in Start Here 102: Best Practices in Online Instruction, licensed CC BY 4.0 by Grace Seo, University of Missouri.
Discussions in Canvas
Discussions in Canvas
Canvas discussions are threaded text-based conversations on a single topic. They are asynchronous, meaning participants do not have to be online at the same time, making them an especially flexible communication tool for communication and assessment.
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This website and resources are intended for Portland State instructors. For PSU students looking for help with Canvas and general tech support, please contact the OIT Helpdesk. Additional Canvas resources for PSU students can be found in OIT’s Canvas Resources for Students.
Why use discussions?
Online discussions can foster student engagement, reflection, and collaboration. They offer a space for students to think critically about course material, share diverse perspectives, and extend conversations beyond the classroom.
The following are examples of how you might use discussions in your class:
- Start the term with student introductions.
- Create a Q&A thread and ask students to post questions there instead of emailing you. Encourage peer-to-peer replies so students don’t rely solely on your response.
- Add a “water cooler” thread for off-topic conversation. This helps students build social connections and increases their sense of community.
- Have students work through a case or problem.
- Use multimedia prompts—like diagrams or videos—to spark conversation.
How do I create meaningful discussion opportunities?
Meaningful discussions require some planning. By setting clear expectations, crafting strong prompts, and guiding students’ participation, you can create a space where students feel comfortable sharing and learning from each other.
Write good discussion questions
Asking the right question(s) is vital to creating a good discussion in your course. Consider the following discussion prompt:
After reading chapter 5, please describe challenges that social workers face due to the social climate, economic changes, and political environment.
Once a few students answer, others may just repeat those ideas. Fact-based questions like this don’t invite students to identify knowledge gaps, explore different viewpoints, or make meaning of the content.
Instead, use open-ended questions without right or wrong answers. Strong prompts foster higher-order thinking—like analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Otherwise, discussions may feel like “homework out loud” and seem like busywork to students.
Questions that invite personal or professional perspective encourage variety in responses. For example:
How do you see that plan as adequate to the problem? What makes you think so? Where might that plan derail? What other plans are possible?
Set clear discussion expectations
Discussions are meant to be interactions among learners – setting clear expectations for how these interactions will work is integral to creating a successful discussion. To support this:
- Use staggered due dates. For example, ask students to post by Wednesday and respond to a peer by Sunday. This helps avoid last-minute posts and gives students time to interact.
- Include discussion expectations in your syllabus. Outline netiquette, writing expectations, citation requirements, and how discussions will be graded (including both quality and quantity of posts).
Use small groups to increase engagement
Small group discussions are a great way to increase student engagement and support collaborative learning. They work particularly well when you want students to actively participate, process ideas more deeply, and build connections with their peers. Consider them for:
- Brainstorming and problem-solving. Small groups allow students to collaborate closely as they work through a problem. (e.g. ask groups to propose solutions to a real-world scenario and share their findings with the class).
- Collaborative projects and peer feedback. Small groups provide a focused space for students to exchange feedback or work together on shared assignments (e.g. groups review and critique each other’s drafts before submitting their final work).
- Community-building activities. Especially early in the term, small groups create a comfortable space for students to connect and build trust (e.g. use a group icebreaker where students introduce themselves and share what they hope to learn in the course).
Tips for using Canvas Discussions
- Use SpeedGrader for graded discussions. You can view all of a student’s posts in one place, including replies and give feedback and grades, too.
- Try using a rubric. You can attach a Canvas Rubric to a graded discussion to quickly and easily assess discussion responses based on the criteria you outlined in your syllabus.
More about Canvas discussions
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Using the Home Page in Canvas
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This website and resources are intended for Portland State instructors. For PSU students looking for help with Canvas and general tech support, please contact the OIT Helpdesk.
Additional Canvas resources for PSU students can be found in OIT’s Canvas Resources for Students.
When students log in to your course for the first time, they need something friendly and welcoming that orients them and explicitly communicates what to do.
You have several options for your course home page, but OAI recommends setting it to a page you create (also called a Front Page). Starting new students on a syllabus page or a modules list isn’t nearly as welcoming as a page with your contact information, a picture of you, a personal welcome, and/or instructions on what to do first.
By default, your Canvas course will display announcements at the top of the page. This is where you can post important reminders or other course information. You can set how many announcements show up on the home page —but limiting to just one can help make sure students notice the most important and current information.
Course Navigation
When students log in, they will notice the course navigation bar. Canvas lets you simplify navigation by hiding items not used in your course. This can reduce confusion for your students and keep them focused on the relevant course materials.
OAI recommends using Modules to organize all your instructions, content, activities, and assignments. This gives students one central location to look for everything. By doing this, you can hide the Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, Pages, and Files pages from the navigation bar in the student view.
That means fewer “where is” questions for you and less frustration for your students!
Example Home Pages
Templates
Use a template from the Commons resource library to create your own homepage! To find one of these templates, log into your Canvas course, and click on the Commons link in the Global Navigation bar. Then select the Filter button and check the box labeled Only Portland State University Approved Resources.
Note: These homepage templates will all import into the “Pages” section of the selected course.
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from Teaching@Sydney (University of Sydney, Australia)
Grading in Canvas
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This website and resources are intended for Portland State instructors. For PSU students looking for help with Canvas and general tech support, please contact the OIT Helpdesk.
Additional Canvas resources for PSU students can be found in OIT’s Canvas Resources for Students.
The Gradebook stores all information about student progress in the course, measuring both letter grades and course outcomes. This video provides a basic overview:
From the Canvas Tutorial Video Series for Instructors
Assignments and Grades
The Canvas Gradebook is closely tied to the Assignments index. Anything you want a Gradebook column for must have an Assignment associated with it. By default, assignments appear in the order you create them. This also determines their order in the Gradebook, but you can drag and drop them into the order you want.
To create weighted grades or set specific rules for groups of assignments (such as dropping the lowest score), create Assignment Groups on the Assignments page, not within the Gradebook.
Using SpeedGrader
SpeedGrader is the Canvas tool for viewing student assessment submissions and giving feedback. Using SpeedGrader should help cut down on the time you spend grading, and make grading easier. A video overview of SpeedGrader is also available.
You can use SpeedGrader to:
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- Read written submissions in the DocViewer and use the annotation tools to give feedback within the document.
- Give feedback comments — written, multimedia, or as a file attachment — on the student’s work as a whole.
- Give a score.
- Use a rubric to assign points and add comments. If you use the rubric for grading, the rubric score will transfer to the student’s grade for the assignment.
- View individual student responses to quizzes as well as logs of each student’s quiz attempts.
Accessing SpeedGrader
You can access SpeedGrader either directly from the assignment or through the Gradebook.
Adapted from “Grading in Canvas” in Start Here 102: Best Practices in Online instruction, licensed CC BY 4.0 by Grace Seo, University of Missouri.
Using Canvas Modules
OAI recommends using Modules to develop course organization and navigation. Correctly using Modules simplifies navigation for your students. Modules let you organize instructions, content, activities, and assignments in the order you want students to progress through them. Using Modules avoids the problem of telling students to “go there and do this” and then “go somewhere else and do that.” This can be frustrating — as you may have experienced yourself in poorly designed online training.
(Re-)designing the navigation and organization of your Canvas learning environment can reduce the cognitive overload on your students and allow them to engage with what really matters — the unit material.
— From [Don’t] Get Lost! Using Good Navigation and Organization to Improve Your Canvas Site
By organizing all your instructions, content, activities, and assignments in Modules, you can hide the Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, Pages, and Files pages from the left navigation list in the student view. This gives students one central location to look for everything. That means fewer “where is” questions for you and less frustration for your students.
The more doors students have to the same items, the more confusing it is for them and the harder it is to be sure they are in the right place. In Canvas, all the other tools organize these items differently than in Modules. For example:
- Discussions are ordered by time of the most recent comment. So if an earlier discussion is still attracting comments, it could appear above the current module discussion unless you have ordered discussions under the “pinned discussions” area.
- Assignments are in the order created unless you grouped them by assignment and dragged-and-dropped them into your preferred order.
- Files are grouped in folders to the extent that you build a folder structure for them. Generally, it’s best to hide the Files area from your student regardless of your planned course structure.
- Quizzes and Discussions appear on their own tool page — and also on the Assignments Tool page if they are graded.
All these can lead students to lose their place in the course, which causes more confusion and delay.
Examples
There are two schools of thought about how to organize items in Modules.
Short Version
Each module begins with an overview Content Page that includes a list of the books or chapters for the module as well as links to other items the students are to read, watch, and explore.
Long Version
Each item is a separate part of the module, including links and readings as well as activities and assignments. For reference, this course uses the long version.
In Review
Making each item a separate module element can significantly increase the length of the module. Long modules can appear overwhelming to students and reduce motivation.
On the other hand, students may skip over readings and not explore links unless they are required to progress through them one at a time.
A Big Takeaway — Consistency Is Key
Once you choose your organization strategy, the best thing you can do for your students is to implement it as consistently as possible.
Face-to-face students get in the habit of going to class at the same time and the same place every week. Online students need to form habits as well, to maintain consistent performance across the term. Consistent organization in your online spaces benefits all students, regardless of your teaching modality. Making sure assignments are always due on the same day of the week and modules always begin on the same day of the week goes a long way to providing structure.
Students also benefit from consistently having a written or video overview of each module describing what they are to do and learn. The overview should also include a list of reading (identifying chapters from books or linking to digital resources) and brief assignment descriptions or links to Assignments, Discussions, or Quizzes. Some faculty members like to put the overview description or video on one page, and then readings and resources on a subsequent page — and then have assignments and activities follow individually in the module. Either way is good as long as you pick one approach and use it consistently.
Templates
Use these templates from the Commons to help you get started organizing your own modules in Canvas. (For help, review how to import and view a Commons resource in Canvas.)
Adapted from “Using Canvas Modules” in Start Here 102: Best Practices in Online instruction, licensed CC BY 4.0 by Grace Seo, University of Missouri.
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Tutorial
Quizzes in Canvas
Need to log in to Canvas? Follow this link to the Canvas log in portal.
This website and resources are intended for Portland State instructors. For PSU students looking for help with Canvas and general tech support, please contact the OIT Helpdesk.
Additional Canvas resources for PSU students can be found in OIT’s Canvas Resources for Students.
Though you and your students may use the terms “test” and “quiz” interchangeably, Canvas calls this type of assessment a “quiz.” You can use Canvas quizzes for assessment, review, and practice.
Canvas currently has two quiz tools: Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes. Eventually, New Quizzes is expected to replace Classic Quizzes. (Covid delayed the deployment timeline, which continues to be extended.) For now, select either Classic Quizzes or New Quizzes when you create a quiz.
Comparing Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes
Most quiz options are available in either quiz tool. You might explore both and use the one you prefer. A few key features are only available in one but not the other. They’re outlined here and in the full features comparison.
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- Consider Classic Quizzes in most cases and (especially if you use Proctorio).
- Consider New Quizzes If you use question banks extensively.
Using Canvas Quizzes in Your Teaching
No matter which tool you use, the following might spark ideas for how you can use Canvas Quizzes to extend student learning.
- Practice quizzes (Classic Quizzes) or quizzes excluded from the final grade (New Quizzes) can help you assess student understanding of material.
- Surveys allow students to respond to questions without being assessed on the “correctness” of their answers. These can be ungraded, or you can award points for completion. (Classic quizzes only)
- You can add feedback to each quiz question to offer a correct answer, explanation, reference (e.g., textbook page number), and so forth.
- You can give students multiple attempts to allow them to retake quizzes.
- You can view quiz statistics showing how many students (and what percentage of the class) chose each possible response to a quiz question.
- Use Moderate this Quiz to give specific students extra time or attempts. This option will appear only after you publish the quiz.
Adapted from “Quizzes in Canvas” in Start Here 102: Best Practices in Online instruction, licensed CC BY 4.0 by Grace Seo, University of Missouri.
Introduction to Universal Design for Learning
Contributors:Megan McFarland
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based framework that helps you design more inclusive and flexible learning environments from the start. Instead of waiting to adapt our teaching when a barrier arises, UDL encourages us to proactively remove common obstacles and support all learners, particularly those with disabilities, multilingual backgrounds, or other diverse needs.
Much like a curb cut benefits both wheelchair users and parents with strollers, UDL strategies benefit a wide range of students. At PSU, UDL is one of the core frameworks that supports accessibility alongside the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). While WCAG focuses on the technical access to digital content (e.g., screen reader compatibility), UDL focuses on inclusive pedagogy that supports flexible engagement, representation, and assessment.
By applying UDL in your course, you can support student agency, reduce <a class=”btn-tooltip” style=”text-decoration: none;” title=”” href=”#” data-toggle=”tooltip” data-placement=”top” data-original-title=”Mental effort required to process information” data-title=””><strong>cognitive load</strong></a>, and improve persistence and success for a wide range of learners.
Looking for more on accessible teaching?
More a more in-depth look at accessibility best practices in teaching, explore our full guide, Accessibility in teaching and learning: a practical introduction for faculty.
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UDL Basics: A Lens, Not a Checklist
UDL is about designing smarter from the start, not adding extra work to respond to barriers after they arise. The UDL framework is organized around three core principles:
Multiple means of engagement
Multiple means of engagement refers to how students are motivated and sustained in learning. Offer different ways for students to participate and connect with content.
- Use flexible participation options: verbal, written, visual, or one-on-one.
- Offer some choice in assignment topics or formats.
- Build in low-stakes check-ins or reflection opportunities.
Multiple means of representation
Multiple means of representation applies to how students receive and understand information. Present content in a variety of formats to support diverse learning styles.
- Pair readings with visuals, audio, or video.
- Summarize or map out complex ideas using diagrams or guided notes.
- Allow students to review materials in advance or at their own pace.
Multiple means of action and expression
Multiple means of action and expression is how students demonstrate their learning. Let students show what they know in different ways.
- Provide an “assessment menu” that aligns with learning goals.
- Scaffold complex assignments with checklists or interim deadlines.
- Allow use of multimedia, spoken word, or visuals in place of traditional essays (when appropriate).
Examples of UDL in Action
UDL works best when it’s embedded into the rhythm of your course. Even a few small changes in format, timing, or feedback methods can go a long way toward supporting students who are navigating disability, caregiving responsibilities, work schedules, or anxiety.
| Course Element | Traditional Approach | UDL- Informed Options |
|---|---|---|
| Participation | Verbal discussion only | Polls, chat, visuals, one-on-one check-ins |
| Content Delivery | Lecture and reading | Audio summaries, diagrams, recorded video |
| Assessment | Essay or quiz | Infographic, podcast, presentation, video reflection |
UDL at PSU: Get support
OAI offers consultations, resource reviews, and usability feedback to help you integrate UDL into your course materials, Canvas site, or assessments. Submit a consultation request or explore our full Accessibility Resource Hub to get started.
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Use Google Docs for Student Collaboration
When students work in groups for an activity, you’ll often want them to document their work. You can facilitate this by creating shared Google Docs for students to use.
There are two ways to identify each collaborator in a Google Doc. One is to have students write in suggesting mode, which creates colored text and names each author in the margin. Edits are shown with strike-through text. This option is selected in the small menu with a pencil icon located in the upper right corner of the open Google Doc screen.
Another method is to have students use comments to annotate the main text. Comments are made by highlighting a portion of text. This creates an icon in the right margin, which becomes a text-entry field when you click it. Comments are identified by author, and others can reply. Comments that include @StudentUsername will also send an email of the comment to the person named, which is helpful for asynchronous collaboration.
Steps to set up docs and sharing permission
- Create and name a Google doc for each student group.
- For each doc, click the blue Share button in the top right corner.
- In the Get link area of the share pop-up, click View and change it to Edit.
- From the sharing menu, select Portland State…anyone in this group with this link can edit.
- Copy each document link and save them in your class prep notes, labeled with the group name/number.
You can now post the doc links for students in Canvas, or share them in the chat of a Zoom meeting. Clarify for students whether you want them to identify each collaborator’s work, and whether they should use suggesting mode or comments for this. You can also share this tutorial with them. As owner of the docs, you can always change the sharing settings later to prevent further work in them.
Google Docs auto-saves regularly, and past versions can be viewed and restored. Nevertheless it’s good to remind students to save a local copy of any text they don’t want accidentally changed or deleted. For more information, check out Google’s support site for Google Docs.
End-of-term checklist
You can use this article as a checklist to help you wrap up your course at the end of term.
Canvas gradebook
If you’ve been using the Canvas gradebook, make sure you’ve entered all of your grades, double-checking to ensure the Canvas grades accurately reflect the grading parameters you intend. Then make sure that all assignment grades have been posted for your students to review.
It’s also good practice to download a copy of the gradebook for your records.
Submit final grades
The grade in the Canvas gradebook is not official, so you will also need to enter your students’ grades into Banner.
How to get students access to your course after the end of the term
By default, students will no longer have access to their Canvas courses beginning the first day of the following term (i.e. Winter term courses will be available to students until the first day of Spring term). If you would just like all students to have access to your course for longer, you can change your Course End date.
If you only want to allow a specific student ongoing access to complete the course, you’ll need to follow the instructions linked below to request access for incomplete students.
Thinking ahead
Now that the term is over, take some time to relax and celebrate your course success! In most cases, this won’t be the last time you teach this course. Take a moment to reflect on the past term and think about ways you might be able to enhance your course for future terms. OAI+ has many articles that can give you ideas about new teaching strategies that you may want to try to implement.
This is also the time to start planning your student communication for the next term. Early and regular communication with your students is important and can start weeks before the term officially begins.
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Zoom Recording and Student Privacy
Zoom Recording and Student Privacy
You may have Zoom class recordings you’d like to share with students in a subsequent class. This is possible under FERPA as long as no students from your earlier class appear in the recording. There are two ways to avoid recording students in Zoom. These depend on whether you record to the Zoom Cloud or locally to your computer.
Note: to control a meeting’s recorded layout, you must be the host or participant who starts the recording. You should also make sure your Zoom desktop client is up-to-date. Check for updates by clicking your profile image in the upper right corner of the Zoom desktop app. Toward the bottom of that menu, select Updates.
For Zoom Cloud recordings
For recording to the cloud, use the “Spotlight” option. This lets you choose up to 9 participants to appear in the recording, so it’s great for when you have guest speakers. Learn more about the Spotlight option in the Zoom Help Center. For student discussions, you can either pause the recording or use breakout rooms. You can also edit out student discussion segments from the recording later, by uploading it to MediaSpace. Once you’ve logged into your Kaltura MediaSpace at least once (at https://media.pdx.edu/) all your Zoom Cloud recordings are backed up there. This makes it convenient to use the MediaSpace video editor.
For local recordings
If you record locally to your computer, the “Pin” function allows you to select specific video thumbnails to display. Other participants may see the full gallery, but your recording will show only the video(s) you pin. Learn more about the Pin options in the Zoom Help Center. You’ll still need to pause recording for student discussions, move them to a breakout room, or edit them out later.
The Zoom Help Center also has a FAQ list about local and cloud recording layouts.
Recorded videos are most effective when short, so look for key presentations, demonstrations, or explanations to share in later courses rather than following a “lecture capture” model.
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