Odyssey Wilson
While it is important that teachers are using Canvas to its full potential, there is no point in doing so if students do not know how to access all of the features that teachers are using. Because of this, it is important to consider the way that students at OSU are introduced to Canvas.
When I came to this school last term, I had never used a learning management system and had never heard of Canvas. Since I placed into higher level classes for my first term, most people in my classes already knew how to use Canvas and the instructors did not bother going over it. In fact, after talking to 13 people in my dorm I discovered that not a single person had been given resources for how to use Canvas and only one had used a LMS in the past. I understand that if every teacher had to go over how to use Canvas at the beginning of every course it would waste a lot of time, so I propose that there be a module in Canvas to walk students through the features that their professors will be using. This module would be assigned to students at the beginning of the year, around the time when they are assigned alcoholEDU and Haven. Students would be able to go through the module and understand how to access assignments, modules, the calendar, and doing group work and peer reviews.
Creating a module to introduce Canvas to first year students would take minimal effort and could be used until Canvas is no longer relevant. In fact, all of the information to help students has been published in an article by Canvas. The article is laid out with clear headers and sections of information with examples. OSU would simply take this information and format it into an interactive module where students would be able to practice using Canvas by following along with the instructions. I know that if I had a navigation module for Canvas when I started my first term it would have saved me lots of time and stress and allowed me to spend more time on the coursework.
