OAT Training Opportunities

"Let's Get Better At Canvas" - Fall 2023 Workshops

OAT is pleased to offer a week-long series of workshops for Fall 2023 that will get you comfortable using Canvas, the university's primary LMS for course web sites and online teaching.  Even instructors with some experience using Canvas can benefit from reviewing the basics and maybe learning something you didn't know the first time!

There are two tracks of workshops and users can attend anything they need - the tracks run parallel and do not overlap.

Track 1: Canvas Basics

Five sessions will be offered.  Each lasts about one hour and will be held on Zoom.  Recordings will be available for anyone who cannot attend live. Simple and free registration is required to aid organizers in planning.

1. Your Canvas Account + Modules: Learn to manage and customize your Canvas account and take a first look at organizing a course by adding files and links to Modules.
Monday, August 7 @ 11 am (Watch the recording)

2. Communicating on Canvas + Ally: Learn about announcements, emailing your class, creating content and links using the Rich Content Editor, as well as how to improve the accessibility of course materials using Ally.
Tuesday, August 8 @ 11 am (Watch the recording)

3. Canvas Quizzes (Classic & New): An introduction to creating quizzes in Canvas. Primary attention will be given to the Classic quiz engine with a brief look at the New quiz engine.
Wednesday, August 9 @ 11 am (Watch the recording)

4. Assignments & Rubrics & Speedgrader, Oh My!: Learn how to build a graded assignment and create a rubric that will be applied using Speedgrader. This session will also show you how to organize course activities to use a weighted grade book.
Thursday, August 10 @ 11 am (Watch the recording)

5. Canvas Potpourri: Discussions, grade book management, tracking attendance, creating custom links, closing courses and handling incompletes.
Friday, August 11 @ 11 am (Watch the recording)

Track 2: Canvas Enhancements

Specialized tools are available to enhance Canvas and improve teaching and learning in an online environment. The tools presented in this series have been purchased by the university and are fully supported by OAT staff.

Five sessions are offered via Zoom, and each lasts about 90 minutes.  Simple and free registration is required to help organizers plan.

1. VoiceThread: How do your students design and deliver online presentations? VoiceThread offers a highly flexible and interactive way for students to create multimedia content using a variety of media and invite comments.  Generate social presence in asynchronous online courses.
Monday, August 7 from 1-2:30 pm (Watch the recording)

2. Discussions Plus (powered by Harmonize): Do you struggle to manage the flow of discussions in an online course?  Do your students get lost in a long scroll of posts and replies and lose interest in the overall topic? Try Discussions Plus and create multiple due dates ("milestones") within the activity so students can keep track of expectations. Discussions Plus's unique grid layout enhances navigation and ease of use.
Tuesday, August 8 from 1-2:30 pm (Watch the recording)

3. Padlet: Do you need a better way for your students to collect and share bits of information and knowledge? Create a more active and collaborative learning environment using Padlet, a digital bulletin board application that students can contribute to.
Wednesday, August 9 from 1-2:30 pm (Watch the recording)

4. Hypothesis: Are your students coming to class without having done the assigned reading?  Use Hypothesis to give them an annotation tool placed right on top of the text and make reading a social aspect of the course!
Thursday, August 10 from 1-2:30 pm (Watch the recording)

5. Enhancements Potpourri: Panopto, Turnitin, Respondus Lockdown Browser

Friday, August 11 from 1-2:30 pm (Watch the recording)

CSU Online Course Services

The CSU Online Course Services Program offers FREE professional development Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT) courses for tenure-faculty and lecturer faculty across all 23 CSU Campuses.  All courses are taught by certified CSU Facilitators who are faculty and/or instructional designers with extensive experience and training in teaching and evaluating online courses. All courses are 3-weeks in length, online, asynchronous, require 15-20 hours, with a structured course schedule.  For more information and course registration: CSU-QLT Courses.

The 3 QLT Courses

1. Introduction to Teaching Online using QLT – Introduction to teaching online with the CSU QLT rubric. Content covered QLT includes orienting students to the online course, setting up the structure and navigation, designing online modules for content delivery and engagement, developing discussions, developing assessment tools, and using technology tools.

2. Advanced Course in Teaching Online – Advanced QLT course in creating a course and module structure that is in QLT alignment with course objectives, incorporates social presence, equity-minded strategies, engagement strategies in synchronous and asynchronous activities, active learning with video, and alternative assessments. Participants will complete a QLT Core 24 self-review on their own course for reflection to guide them as they progress through the course in identifying areas to improve on. The final project will include creating a video tour to highlight three course changes made in the course while completing the training. Note: having a partially or fully developed online/hybrid course is required prior to registration.

3. Reviewer Courses Using QLT – Provides an in-depth experience with the CSU QLT rubric and ways to use QLT objective-based examples to support reviewing and informing online and hybrid courses. Participants will engage in hands-on experiences using the QLT objectives to rate elements of a sample course, learn how to write helpful recommendations, and discuss examples for setting up a peer-review process on their campus. This session is for those looking to use the rubric to complete a QLT self-review and/or serve as a peer-review on campus and systemwide QLT formal course certifications.