Embedded Files
Introduction
Introduction
This week I am continuing my evaluation of each learning management system. As instructors, we only have one chance to make a great first impression on students when they access our courses for the first time. At our institution, we are seeing an increase in dropout rates in our online courses more than in our face-to-face courses because students are frustrated with the lack of direction in navigating courses. Students stated they need clarification when they log into classes, and they are trying to figure out what to do once they have logged on. Online students have reported trying to navigate the courses themselves, but due to the poor design of the courses, they want to dropout. They also said they were unsure how to contact the professor.
It is essential that upon seeing it for the first time, students understand how to navigate the course. Adding welcome messages and getting started information on the course homepage can help students feel at ease and give them confidence in the purpose and structure of the course. Therefore I evaluated tools that will help students find our courses more inviting, easy to navigate, and leave a good first impression.
The five tools I chose to evaluate were the following:
1. Create A New Customized Course Homepage
2. Create “Start Here” Information in Content
3. Add Start Here Link in the News Widget
4. Customize Navbar
5. Post Audio Message in News Tool
"How To" Tutorials for D2L Brightspace
"How To" Tutorials for D2L Brightspace
Create New Customized Course Homepage
Create New Customized Course Homepage
Create "Start Here" Information in Content
Create "Start Here" Information in Content
Add "Start Here" Link to News Widget
Add "Start Here" Link to News Widget
Create “Start Here” Link Information:
Step 1: Select “Home” from the navbar.
Step 2: Click on the “News” widget dropdown.
Step 3: Select “New News Item” from the dropdown menu.
Step 4: Type “Start Here” in the headline box on the New Item page.
Step 5: In the “Content” box, direct students to click the link by typing “Click Here for Getting Started Information.”
Step 6: Select/highlight the text you typed in the content box. (I.e., Click Here for Getting Started Information).
Step 7: Click the “Insert Quick Link” icon (it looks like a small chain).
Step 8: Select “Content.”
Step 9: Select the “Start Here” folder.
Step 10: Select “Getting Started.” It will have a globe icon next to it.
Step 11: Verify that the “Click Here for Getting Started Information” has turned blue (Blue means that it is an active hyperlink)
Step 12: Click “Publish.”
Step 13: Select “Home” on the navbar.
Step 14: From the homepage, verify the “Start Here” and “Click Here for Getting Started Information” are listed in the news feed.
Step 15: Select the “Getting Started” hyperlink to verify the link works properly.
Customize Navbar
Customize Navbar
Customize Navbar Information:
Step 1: Select the three ellipses at the right of the navbar.
Step 2: Click the “Manage All Course Navbars” from the dropdown menu.
Step 3: Scroll down and find the active navbar and click on the dropdown.
Step 4: From the dropdown menu, select “Copy.”
Step 5: At the top of the screen, select the “Active Navbar” dropdown and select the newly copied navbar.
Step 6: Click “Apply.”
Step 7: Select the three ellipses at the right of the navbar,
Step 8: Select “Edit This Navbar.”
Step 9: You can delete and add tools as needed from the Edit Navbar page. Please be cautious not to remove needed tools.
Step 10: Find the tool you want to add and click “Add.”
Step 11: Click “Save and Close.”
Post Audio Message in News Tool
Post Audio Message in News Tool
Posting Audio Messages in News Tool Information:
Step 1: Click the “News” dropdown menu from the course homepage.
Step 2: Select “New News Item.”
Step 3: Type a title for your audio file in the “Headline” box on the New Item page.
Step 4: Type a brief message in the “Content” box.
Step 5: Scroll to Attachments and select “Record Audio.”
Step 6: From the Media Capture screen
Step 7: Select “New Recording.” Begin speaking your welcome message to students.
Step 8: After recording your message, click “Stop Recording.”
Step 9: Before selecting “Add,” do a quality check to ensure your message to students is adequately recorded. Then select “Add” to save your recording.
Step 10: Give your audio a title and description, and select the audio language. When you are finished, select “Add.”
Step 11: Click “Publish.”
Step 12: Select “Home” on the navbar.
Step 13: Verify your “Welcome Audio” is posted in the news feed on the course homepage.
"How To" Tutorials for Canvas
"How To" Tutorials for Canvas
Create New Customized Course Homepage
Create New Customized Course Homepage
Create "Start Here" Information in Content
Create "Start Here" Information in Content
Add "Start Here" Link to the News Widget
Add "Start Here" Link to the News Widget
Creating “Start Here” Link Information:
Step 1: Select “Pages” from the admin toolbar.
Step 2:Click on “+Pages.”
Step 3: In the Page Title box, type in the name of your link (i.e., the “Start Here” link).
Step 4: Select the “Upload Image” icon.
Step 5: Click “Upload Image” in the dropdown menu.
Step 6: Select “Upload Image.” You also have the option to drag and drop the image on the rocket ship icon.
Step 7: Find and click on the image you want to use.
Step 8: Click “Open.”
Step 9: Add “Alt Text” for your image and click “Submit.”
Step 10: Select the image in the HTML Editor. You want to make sure the image is highlighted with a blue box around it.
Step 11: Click on the “Insert Link” icon.
Step 12: Select “Course Link” from the dropdown menu.
Step 13: Select the “Pages” dropdown menu from the Add Menu.
Step 14: Select the “Getting Started” page you created previously.
Step 15: Click “Save and Publish.”
Step 16: To verify the link was created successfully, select the “Start Here” image.
Step 17: Verify you see the “Getting Started” page.
Make the “Start Here” Link a Course Homepage Information:
Step 1: Select “Pages” from the admin toolbar.
Step 2: Click “View All Pages.”
Step 3: Find the “Start Here Link” page.
Step 4: Click on the “ellipses” next to it.
Step 5: Select “Use as Front Page” from the dropdown menu.
Step 6: Select “Home” from the admin toolbar.
Step 7: Select “Choose Home Page.”
Step 8: From Choose Course Home Page, select “Pages Front Page.”
Step 9: Click “Save.”
Please Note: I am using a free version of Canvas. I was unable to make a widget appear in the admin toolbar. I used the "Pages" tool to create a "Start Here" link for the course homepage. I am not certain if Canvas allows used to use this feature.
Customize Admin Toolbar
Customize Admin Toolbar
Customize Admin Toolbar Information:
Step 1: Select “Settings” from the admin toolbar.
Step 2: At the top of the screen, select the “Navigation” tab.
Step 3: Find the item you want to move or remove, then select the ellipses on the right.
Step 4: Click “Disable” to remove the item from the admin toolbar.
Step 5: Click “Save."
Post Audio Message in News Tools
Post Audio Message in News Tools
Posting Audio Messages in News Tool Information:
Step 1: Select “Pages” from the admin toolbar.
Step 2: Click “View All Pages.”
Step 3: Select the page to which you want to add an audio message.
Step 4: Click “Edit.”
Step 5: Select the “Upload/Record Media” icon on the HTML Editor toolbar.
Step 6: Click “Upload/Record Media.”
Step 7: Select the “Record” tab. When the window opens up, you have the option to record your audio with a webcam. If you do not wish to add a video, select the “Webcam” icon and select “No Video.”
Step 8: Click “Start Recording.” A three-second countdown will appear. Once the countdown is complete, you can begin recording your welcome message.
Step 9: Click “Finish” after recording your welcome message.
Step 10: Select the “Play” button to do a quality check for your recording.
Step 11: Select the “File Name” box and give the audio recording a name.
Step 12: Click “Save Media.”
Step 13: Click “Save.”
Weekly Recommendation
Weekly Recommendation
My Recommendation is... D2L Brightspace
My Recommendation is... D2L Brightspace
This week I evaluated five tools in each learning management system. I viewed each learning management system from a student's and instructor's perspectives. Each tool evaluated needs to address student's first impressions of our online courses. Students need to know course expectations and the course structure at first glance. It is essential they can find the information they need on the homepage of our courses. There needs to be no question to them about where to start and how to get started engaging with the content of the course. Canvas and Brightspace have tools that can address the needs of our diverse learners. As always, Canvas was the front runner because of how user-friendly and easy access to the admin toolbar allows instructors to set up their courses quick and easily. However, Brightspace takes the edge over Canvas because the homepage on Brightspace allows instructors more customization opportunities for their courses. Brightspace gives users more options in the course homepage layout, allowing students to have more access to course content from one page. For instance, on the homepage of Brightspace, students can see the news feed, announcements, course content, updates, announcements, and more. It depends on what content we want them to see when logging in. Canvas does allow some customization of the homepage. Still, it is not even close to the amount of customization Brightspace provides users. For this reason, my recommendation is for Brightspace. I want to note that I am using a free version of Canvas therefore, there may be more customization options with a paid subscription.
Below I will provide my rationale for choosing D2L Brightspace by providing a brief evaluation explanation for each tool. My findings are as follows:
1. Create New Customized Course Homepage
Customizing the course homepage in each LMS was quick and easy. In Canvas and Brightspace, you had to create a new page (or copy a page), give it a title, and provide a description. Each page allows you to add images, audio, and content. For Canvas, this is about as far as the customization goes. Brightspace, on the other hand, provides you with the option to add widgets. You can further break down the layout by selecting the different types of widgets you want to appear on the homepage. This means students can see as much or as little content from the homepage as you want. For this reason, Brightspace takes the edge on this tool.
2. Create "Start Here" Information in Content
Creating "Start Here" information in each LMS was similar; you had to create modules and link the information you created to the module. Canvas makes it easier to navigate between course pages than Brightspace; however, Brightspace has more customization options. Therefore Brightspace takes the edge for this tool.
3. Add "Start Here" Link in News Widget
Each LMS allows users to create "Start Here" links to direct students where to begin the course. Canvas LMS requires you to create a page or create it through announcements. Either path requires you to use an HTML Editor to make the link. The course links option in Canvas is a convenient feature because of the way it connects content within the system. Brightspace also allows users to create a "Start Here' link using more than one tool, and there is more than one way to connect it to other features within the LMS.
Additionally, you create the link using an HTML Editor. Canvas and Brightspace are very similar in how users can create the link. However, Brightspace allows users to connect their created link to the homepage using a widget. In contrast, Canvas requires users to make the entire homepage. Again Brightspace takes the edge because all items added to the homepage can be seen simultaneously.
4. Customize Navbar
Customizing the Navbar in Canvas is far more user-friendly than in Brightspace. For that reason, Canvas takes the edge for this tool.
5. Post Audio Message in News Tool
Each LMS allows users to pose Welcome messages for students using audio. Canvas and Brightspace both will enable you to record from within the system. You can post your audio on Canvas as a homepage or through the announcement tool. In Brightspace, you can add your audio to the news feed to be prominently displayed within the course. Again, Brightspace's customizations allow it to take the edge for this tool.
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