This guide gives Tufts faculty an overview of the tools and services provided by Tufts Educational Technology Services (ETS). Follow the links below for in-depth information, and feel free to email edtech@tufts.edu for additional information and support. One of our educational technology specialists will help you find your way!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Organizing Your Course in Canvas
- Engaging Students During Class Time
- Engaging Students Outside of Class Time
- Recording Lectures (Flipping the Classroom)
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
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Organizing Your Course in Canvas
Every year Tufts students nominate their instructors on the merit of how well they organize their course content. E.g. “everything was easy to find and nothing about the course structure was confusing”, “course layout on Canvas was incredibly organized and detail-oriented”, etc.
CANVAS BASICS
| TO DO | HOW TO |
| Log into Canvas and publish your course | How do I publish my Canvas course site? |
| Post your syllabus | How do I post a syllabus? |
| Upload course content to the Files tool | How do I upload a file to a course? |
| Create a course home page with custom text and images | How do I create a Front Page? |
| Organize your course content using Modules | How do I work with Modules in Canvas? |
| Communicate with your students | Getting in touch with your students via Canvas |
| Learn more about Canvas in our instructor training course | Canvas Instructor Orientation and Training |
| For students who are still learning remotely | Post this link in your Canvas course site, and send it to your students: https://it.tufts.edu/learning-remotely |
You’ll also find short videos about specific Canvas tools and tasks in our Canvas@Tufts On Demand Training Library
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ASSIGNMENTS, ASSESSMENTS, & GRADING
| TO DO | HOW TO |
| Use the Assignments tool to assign and collect student coursework | What are Canvas Assignments? and How do I create an assignment? |
| Facilitate quizzes and exams, with availability dates, automatic grading and feedback | How do I create and publish a quiz or exam in Canvas? |
| Use the SpeedGrader tool to grade assignments | How do I use SpeedGrader? |
| Use the Canvas Gradebook to view and enter grades for students | How do I use the Gradebook? |
| Preview what students see when they visit your Canvas course site | How do I view my course site as a student? |
| Grade scans of handwritten homework and exams using Gradescope, an online grading platform. | How can I get started with Gradescope? |
| Create a graded exam that students have to take online in the presence of an online proctor. | How can I get started with ProctorU? |
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UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING / ACCESSIBILITY PRACTICES IN CANVAS
| TO DO | HOW TO |
| Learn about Accessibility Services for Students at Tufts | Tufts Student Life: StAAR Center – Student Accessibility and Academic Resources |
| Incorporate Universal Design for Learning principles and practices | Using Universal Design for Empowering Neurodiversity in the Classroom |
| Check common accessibility errors within the Canvas editing tool | How do I use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor? |
| Giving students access to the text of lectures | How do I add live transcription or manual closed-captioning to a Zoom meeting? |
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Engaging Students During Class Time (Synchronous Learning)
As faculty know, piquing and holding student attention during class time is essential to keep them engaged with learning. Tufts Educational Technology Services provides a number of tools to accomplish this in real time, including platforms for polling, participation, and other types of student interaction.
| TO DO | HOW TO |
| Use real-time polls to create in-class interactivity, check student understanding, and allow for student response | How do I get started with Poll Everywhere?How do I get started with Zoom polling? |
| Enable screen-sharing to allow for visual presentation, demonstration, and peer review | How do I screen-share with Zoom? |
| Remote classroom participation by students, guest speakers, etc. | How do I set up and share Zoom sessions? How do I get started using Echo360 to schedule class sessions? |
| Hybrid teaching when your class is a mix of in-person and remote students | Tufts Multi-Modality Classrooms Adapting Your Classroom to be Hybrid on Short Notice Zoom Tips & Features for Teaching in a Hybrid Classroom |
| Use Zoom Rooms and Echo360 rooms on the Tufts campuses to including students and guests attending remotely | How do I access and use a Zoom room at Tufts? How do I access and use an Echo360 room at Tufts? |
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Engaging Students Outside of Class Time (Asynchronous Learning)
Outside of class time, faculty can support students to engage with learning and with each other using a range of educational technology tools, including those for communication, discussion, peer review, and documenting.
| TO DO | HOW TO |
| Post a class announcement to notify students about important course-related information | How do I use the Announcement tool in Canvas? |
| Send an email to the whole class, groups of students, or individual students via Canvas | How do I use the Inbox tool in Canvas? |
| Use the discussion tool to support critical thinking and peer review among students | How do I use the Discussion tool in Canvas? |
| Post video and audio collaboratively to generate a rich online conversation around a given topic | How do I get started with VoiceThread? |
| Use blogs and wikis to involve students in documenting, reflecting on, and sharing work and projects | How do I start a WordPress blog at Tufts?How do I start a wiki at Tufts? |
| enable students to annotate and respond to text withdifferent media, collaborate on understanding, and developideas about their readings | How do I get started with Hypothes.is? |
| Learn best practices for facilitating online discussion outside of class time | How do I facilitate class discussions asynchronously? |
Find links to these and other educational technology tools here
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Recording Lectures (Flipping the Classroom)
Providing students with pre-recorded lecture materials can free up classroom time for more active learning opportunities and activities such as group work, discussion, and dealing with hard-to-understand concepts. It also provides students with a valuable opportunity to review lectures at their own pace, or at another time if they are in a different time zone. Adding text transcripts and captioning to video and audio materials also allow students to search for and focus on sections of the lecture they most need to review.
| TO DO | HOW TO |
| Record a lecture or presentation including combination of audio, video, and screen capture | How do I use the My Media / Kaltura tool in Canvas for recording and sharing lectures? How do I use Echo360 Personal Capture for recording and sharing lectures? How do I record a class session with Zoom? |
| Upload and share a video you have already recorded | How do I upload a video with My Media / Kaltura in Canvas, and share it with my students? |
| Review lecture recording best practices | What are DIY video best practices? |
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Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
“UDL is an education framework that is designed to promote accessibility and reduce barriers to learning. There are three key principles for UDL. The first, multiple means of engagement, promotes varied ways for students to engage and interact with learning materials. The second principle, multiple means of representation, calls for instructors to present information to students using multiple methods (e.g., lectures, videos, discussion, etc.). The final principle, multiple means of action/expression, encourages instructors to allow students to demonstrate knowledge in multiple ways. It is important to recognize that UDL is not about lowering academic standards, but rather about ensuring equitable learning opportunities for all students.”
— From Using Universal Design for Empowering Neurodiversity in the Classroom
Tufts Educational Technology Services (ETS) provides a variety of tools and services that can be aligned with best practices in the UDL framework. For more information on UDL please see: