Canvas is a robust learning management system with many capabilities that you may not have explored. We recommend exploring the CGU Online Faculty Resource Center (self-enroll here) and the Canvas Online Guides to discover more.

Canvas is also integrated with several great enhancements at CGU:

• Perusall Collaboration & Annotation Tool
  • Perusall is an e-reader and social annotation platform used to motivate and engage students with reading course materials. It is a system in which you can upload and share documents or open educational resources (copyright-cleared) with your students for them to read online and comment and annotate together.
• Lucid Visual Collaboration (Education)
  • Lucid for Education is a robust tool used to brainstorm and whiteboard in a digital space, collaborate with groups in real-time, create graphic organizers, share accessible charts and graphs, and leverage customizable templates. With this integration, you can embed Lucid documents directly into the Rich Content Editor in Canvas, allowing for increased engagement and collaboration. You can also create assignments that automatically make a copy of a Lucid document for each individual student (and it’s compatible with SpeedGrader).
• Rosalyn Online Exam Proctoring
  • Rosalyn‘s AI-enhanced exam protection system is integrated into Canvas to proctor online exams. This system was built to stop violations before they impact integrity, ensure fairness to all test-takers, and adapt to the changing experience of online education.
• Zoom Online Conferencing
• Canvas Studio
• Microsoft Applications
• Case Centre CoursePacks & Multimedia

A digital virtual background is important for those who do not have a designated teaching space with a professional background or blank wall at home. A virtual background can also block out other people moving in the backgrond or personal belongings in the space. Zoom and Microsoft Teams both offer the ability to utilize Virtual Backgrounds for many users (computer hardware may limit this ability). Virtual backgrounds work well, but some users may need a green screen to avoid visual disturbances. If you need a green screen to use virtual backgrounds, consider:

• Popup personal green screen with stand 
• Larger green screen for wider backgrounds

In general, images are protected by copyright. However, you are welcome to use Zoom Backgrounds provided by organizations explicitly for personal/professional use as long as they comply with university expectations and policies. Free options that may help you set the stage for class and/or provide instructional value include:

• CGU Zoom Backgrounds
• Library of Congress: Free to Use and Reuse Images
• Smithsonian Open Access Images
• CaliSphere California Digital Collections
• Canva Zoom Virtual Background Templates
• Shutterstock Free Virtual Backgrounds

If you are comfortable with live sessions in Zoom and pre-recorded multimedia, you may be interested in higher quality production for this semester. While a standard laptop computer is sufficient for online conferencing and video creation, an upgraded microphone, camera, headset, and lighting can improve the quality of your efforts. An improved internet connection can also ensure a better experience for students streaming your sessions live through Zoom or other conferencing service. If you’d like to improve your production quality, consider:

• Microphones – studies regular show that learners, when required due to poor video quality or other distracting factors, will still have a satisfactory experience if the audio quality is decent. If all other factors are good, then even better audio quality will lead to even better results.
  • This microphone, or something similar, is what OIT suggests using if you find that your current microphone is good but not great.
  • An upgraded microphone is suggested for faculty who create audio recordings or other asynchronous multimedia, including pre-recorded lectures, audio/video feedback, and online interviews for class
• Cameras – the ability to see the faculty member and one’s peers is definitely impactful on the student; however, the better the quality, the more impactful.
  • This camera, or something similar, is what OIT suggests using if you find that your current camera is good but not great.
  • An upgraded camera is suggested for faculty who record more than just a face (e.g. filming objects, spaces, documents, artifacts, or physical demonstrations). Articulated tripods and desktop stands can help maneuver a standalone camera in ways that a laptop cannot be maneuvered.
• Headsets – the better you, the faculty member, can hear and respond to your students, the more improved the student experience will be.. A headset is always preferred over using the computer’s speakers, as headsets can mitigate feedback or echo and help limit distractions; computer speakers are not recommended during live online communication. A headset can also provide a visual signal to other people in your household that you are teaching and should not be disturbed.
  • This headset, or something similar, is what OIT suggests using if you find that your current headset is good but not great.
  • An upgraded headset is suggested for all live meetings in Zoom, web phone calls, digital office hours, and other situations with live communication online.
• Lighting – Lighting is important for the camera you are using to pick up as much detail as possible. Even using a low quality webcam can be drastically improved by lighting yourself or objects, bringing the subject into the foreground and darkening the background.
  • This personal light, or something similar, is what OIT suggests using if you find that your current lighting is good but not great.
  • Upgraded lighting is suggested for online lectures, photographing/filming tangible objects, and pre-recording video content.
• Cabled network connection – Wireless internet connection is sufficient for most individuals in normal times; however, many people are sharing home wifi, and connections may be poor. To get the most out of your network connection, and improve any network-related issues with your online teaching, a wired Ethernet connection is needed. For help connecting through wired internet access rather than wifi, use an Ethernet cable. You may need to call your Internet Service Provider and/or your computer manufacturer for additional assistance. Necessary hardware may include:
  • An ethernet adapter for your computer, if your computer does not already have one
  • an ethernet cable of appropriate length to your computer from your router
  • an unmanaged switch if your ISP did not provide enough ports on your router
  • If your internet provider’s router is just too far, there are solutions to use your home cabling as an Ethernet substitute, like so here

 

If you write on whiteboards, provide handwritten feedback, or use document cameras to conduct most of your teaching on campus, you may want to replicate the experience in your online classroom. There are many options for providing digital versions of handwriting online:

• Lucid for Education is a robust tool used to brainstorm and whiteboard in a digital space, collaborate with groups in real-time, create graphic organizers, share accessible charts and graphs, and leverage customizable templates. With this integration, you can embed Lucid documents directly into the Rich Content Editor in Canvas, allowing for increased engagement and collaboration. You can also create assignments that automatically make a copy of a Lucid document for each individual student (and it’s compatible with SpeedGrader).
• Perusall is an e-reader and social annotation platform used to motivate and engage students with reading course materials. It is a system in which you can upload and share documents or open educational resources (copyright-cleared) with your students for them to read online and comment and annotate together.
• Canvas SpeedGrader provides you with all the tools you need to mark up a student’s paper and provide individualized feedback directly in Canvas.
• Zoom itself supports a whiteboard function that can be shared with the students, which can be drawn on using the computer’s mouse or a touchscreen surface. Canvas SpeedGrader also provides an interface for marking up student papers through mouse/keyboard functions or touchscreen drawing.
  • A tablet, like an iPad or a Microsoft Surface, can be used in Zoom to share hand writing, even without a stylus
  • A touch screen monitor can also be used as a secondary monitor for PC users
• A document camera can also be used to capture table-top documents and objects