Getting started with Canvas (Staff Guide)

This online self paced training course is designed to take you from first steps to developing an active blended learning approach.

Self Paced Course: Where do I start with online learning? (Staff Development)

Learning is characterised by students having both cognitive and social presence in the learning environment. Cognitive presence reflects both the value and amount of critical thinking, problem solving and construction of meaning in students’ interactions with their peers and academic staff. Social presence is the extent to which students are ‘connected’.  This is critically important in the early stages of courses when students need to get to know and trust their peers and tutors. Students who are able to make interpersonal networks are more likely to engage and succeed. Current approaches tend to the classroom as the ‘location’ of presence, with the VLE in a supporting role to offer materials for independent learning. The future approach has to ensure that cognitive and social presence is a feature of both online and face-to-face teaching.  Active blended learning is offered as an approach. 

• Staff guide: Active Blended Learning

My Canvas Admin has been developed by the Teaching and Learning Academy to help you manage your course list in Canvas. You can add and remove courses, add other tutors, download assessment information, create Course Journals and much more!

• My Canvas Admin
• Canvas Guide - Favouriting your Courses

Content can be copied from course to course and updated in the new shell. This process is really easy, and allows you to select all or specific items from your previous course. We do not recommend copying any assessment items, these should be created afresh in the new course.

• Canvas Course Copy

The Canvas dashboard now organises your courses into published and unpublished sections, allowing you to quickly identify the course you are looking for within the current term or course dates.  Courses can now be published directly from the Dashboard without having to open the course.

How do I publish a course?

There is a temptation to dive in and start developing online materials immediately. Take some time to revisit what you already deliver! The following page will show you how to start creating or adding content to your Canvas course. 

• Course Development and Design

Canvas Experts

There are numerous ways to get help and support. Canvas experts are available 24/7 to help you with your queries. Simply click on the help icon in Canvas, and select one of the options to either Chat Online or Call.

Canvas Community Guides

Canvas have an extensive collection of guides available on their webapages. Canvas instructor guide table of contents.

LJMU Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Support

You can raise queries with the TEL team, simply open help.ljmu.ac.uk, click on 'request something from us' and then select 'Learning Technology Query' from the list of options. Fill out the form and a member of the team will get back to you.