Extending Canvas

Re-bundling Education With Basic Learning Tool Interoperability

A long time ago, but not so far away….

Students enrolled at a College or University, drawn by the promise of well-bundled educational experiences.

• Student-content interaction +• Student-student interaction +• Student-mentor/instructor interaction =

Degree!

But then

Competing educational opportunities starting popping up all over the web.

And it was fast and easy to find exactly what you wanted, exactly when you wanted it.

Back at the ranch

Learning Management Systems sought to

combine all the tools an instructor might need

to facilitate all three types of learning

interactions into a single easy to use package.

Unfortunately…

Bundled tools don’t always compare well against

their unbundled counterparts

• Better blogging tools (WordPress)

• Interactive assignments (Merlot, others)

• Better discussion tools (Piazza, Prulu)

• Better wikis (many)

And you’re trapped because

The LMS has a couple of things you can’t easily get anywhere else…

• Your roster, synched to SIS

• Centralized data collection and reporting

What to do?

Integrate best-in-class tools and

content into your LMS, not to replace it,

but to enhance it.

LTI Consumer (Canvas)

LTI Tools (many, me)

Smart Launch ?

Instructure +

Google Docs + Scribd + Crocodoc

+ Big Blue Button + jQuery +

Amazon

+ LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Skype…

= Canvas (OTB)

Canvas +

+ Peer Evaluation

+ Piazza

+ YouTube

+ custom css , js

+ iClicker

+ MHCampus

+ Post’Em

+ Prulu= Canvas@UD (OTB)

Canvas@UD +

?

= Your course

Deployment Options

• Course Navigation– Places a link in the course menu

• ‘Smart links’ or anonymous

• Editor Buttons– Literally add a button to the Canvas HTML Editor– Most can also be deployed as a standalone Module Page

• Homework Submission– Activities that pass a grade back to the Canvas Gradebook– Assignments of type ‘External Tool’

Course NavigationSettings->Navigation

• Piazza• Peer Evaluation• Prulu • Post’Em• iClicker

Super Duper Easy

Activating an inactive link

More Course Navigation

• Redirect Tool– Link to any URL from Canvas Course Navigation

Menu• Many more from the full Edu App Center

Super Duper Easy

The Redirect Tool

Editor ButtonsSettings -> Apps

• YouTube – pre-installed• Wiktionary• Google Maps• Interactive Graphs

Super Duper Easy

• Dropbox• Charts• Quizlet

Adding an Editor Tool

Using an Editor Tool

Assignment Tools

• MHCampus – pre-installed, but not free• ATS Mashup – roll your own– Web content page – Self-test, in outline form• Question

– Answers (correct one first)» Feedback (optional)

Edu App Center

• http://www.edu-apps.org/index.html

• Beware http://

Easy Enough

Secure hosting options

PUBLIC files in…• Dropbox• Canvas Files• Sakai Resources (My Workspace)• Google docs•https://udel.edu/~username (just add ‘s’)

but not…

• udcapture

Canvas@UD App Center App name Deployments

Quiz Mashup Assignment

Redirect Tool Course Navigation

Dropbox Editor Button

LTI Maps Editor Button

Wiktionary Editor Button

Google Charts Editor Button, Module Content

Graph Builder Editor Button, Module Content

Quizlet Editor Button, Module Content