Top Three Preparations for Next Semester

December 12, 2022

Learn about the top three course preparations you can make today that will save you headaches later!

This week’s topics:

1. The Top Three Preparations you can make for your Spring 2023 courses.
2. The QM Cohort for professional development.
3. Upcoming Events, including the Canvas Jumpstart Series workshops and the Clemson Online Spring 2023 Events Calendar.

Top Three Preparations

Once the Fall term ends and you’ve caught your breath over winter break, you might consider preparing your courses for Spring 2023. To help, we have outlined three preparations below.

 Import Canvas Course Content

• Access the Canvas site for your Spring course and select “Import Existing Content” on the right (see Figure 1).
  

  Figure 1

• You will see the Import Content screen.
• Search for your previous course in the dropdown menu and select your desired options.
• Change the dates for the content to match the date range of the current version of the course.
• Import either the entire course or select specific content.

Pro Tip: Edit Multiple Assignment Due Dates at Once

Save time editing the due dates for course assignments by selecting Edit Assignment Dates under the Assignments tab (see Figure 2).

This option will display all your assignments in the course and allow you to easily edit and save all assignment due dates on one screen, without having to open each assignment individually!

 Identifying Course Learning Objectives

For a New Course

Ask yourself, what do you want your learners to be able to do or to know by the end of the course? After they complete the activities of reading, note-taking, asking questions, viewing content, and interacting with the tools of the course: after it is all said and done, what should they walk away with? These answers will form the basis of your learning objectives.

For Previously Taught Courses

Review your learning objectives to ensure they meet the following principles.

• Measurable – What will the learner do to demonstrate that they have mastered the skill or content? Use an action verb that can be demonstrated and then assessed. Avoid unmeasurable language such as “learn.” 
• Specific – Use language that gives a clear idea of how learners will demonstrate mastery of the content. 
• Learner-centered – Avoid using discipline-specific jargon or highly technical terms in learning objectives. 
• Appropriate for the course level – Select learning objectives that correlate to the course level. Use the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Word List from Quality Matters to help select the appropriate level (see Figure 3).
  

  Figure 3 – Click this image to access PDF.

Example: PSYC 2500: Lifespan Development Psychology.
“After successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:

• CLO 1 – Organize the various theories of developmental psychology into a concept map.”

 Check Accessibility

Check the content on your pages for accessibility issues. To do this, use the accessibility checker in the Canvas Rich Content Editor (RCE). Anywhere in Canvas that you use the RCE (e.g., in Pages, Announcements, Discussion boards, Assignments, etc.), you can always check the icon circled in red (see Figure 4) to see if there is a number next to it. Each number represents an accessibility issue, and when you click on that icon, you can see the issue and correct it. To learn more about accessibility, check out our COFFEE: Accessibility training course and our Canvas Accessibility Information and Resources site.

QM Cohort

If you are seeking professional development for your tenure or promotion file and you have taught a course either fully online or hybrid at least once, consider applying for the Spring 2023 QM Cohort!

You will receive training in applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) to ensure quality online education, a digital badge from QM for successfully completing the APPQMR course, a $500 stipend, and more! Click the QM image (see Figure 5) to learn more.

Applications will close on January 30th, 2023.

Apply for the QM Cohort 2023!

Upcoming Events

Canvas Jumpstart Series

Bring your laptop and join us for a three-day workshop to get your Canvas course site ready for Spring 2023! If you are teaching and using Canvas at all in your course, then click on the image (see Figure 6) to see the schedule, topics, and how to register.

This workshop series runs on January 5th, January 9th, and January 10th.

This event is hybrid, and it will be held in Cooper 416 (The Brown Room) and on Zoom.

All registrants will receive a link to the recorded events.

 

Clemson Online Spring 2023 Events Calendar

Review our Spring 2023 Events Calendar to see what Online Instruction Development opportunities await!

We have a robust Spring semester lineup of topics and live training formats to support your use of Canvas and other e-learning tools. Topics cover demonstrations of using Kaltura, presentations on inclusive practices for online education, and workshops to get your Canvas site ready to teach!

Simply click the image (see Figure 7) to reach our full calendar, and click on any training title for details and registration.

All of our live training is recorded. Registrants will automatically receive a link to that day’s video after it has been processed.

Contact James Butler with any questions about these sessions.

Clemson Online – Where Tech and Teaching Meet