Canvas Best Practices from the Hoosier State
If there’s one thing that’s been on my mind lately, it’s how incredibly lucky we are to have such a supportive, passionate community. Recently, our home state of Indiana was hit by some pretty severe weather—we saw power outages, flooded basements, destroyed home, damaged schools, and a lot of disrupted routines. But in true Hoosier fashion, our communities didn't skip a beat. Some districts immediately jumped into action as Red Cross shelters, providing food, water, and clothing to families. Meanwhile, neighbors helped divert billions of gallons of flood water to protect their districts. Communities from all over the state rallied together to send much needed supplies and relief funds to our fellow Hoosiers.
It got me thinking: that’s exactly the kind of spirit we bring to our Indiana Canvas User Group. No matter what storm we're weathering (literally or in the middle of a busy school semester!), we always find a way to help each other out. Like the classic song goes, "I get by with a little help from my friends."
At our recent meet up in Instructure Live, about 20 of us gathered to swap stories, share sanity-saving tips, and talk about how we can make Canvas a more predictable, welcoming place for our students. We welcomed visitors from across the Canvas community to join us. Here are some of the best nuggets of wisdom that came out of that beautiful collaboration:
Module Magic: Keeping Things Consistent & Organized
We’ve all seen those Canvas courses that feel a bit, well... wonkalicious. To keep students from feeling overwhelmed, our group shared some incredible formatting hacks:
- The Power of Blank Text Headers: @jcox1 from Yorktown shared a brilliant tip about using text headers as spacers inside modules. It turns out that if you put in a text header without any text, it actually creates a nice visual chunking effect on the screen to help organize content!
- Daily Templates: @dalbright2 from South Bend suggested setting up module templates with daily placeholders at the start of the semester. You can easily duplicate these to save yourself a ton of setup time down the road.
- Icons for Visual Guidance: @jchancecook from Perry Township recommended using visual icons inside module titles to guide younger learners. Just make sure to place those emojis or icons at the end of assignment names so you don't mess up your gradebook sync!
- Keep Accessibility in Mind: As we use these emojis, let's remember our students who rely on screen readers. Keep emoji usage light and place them at the end of the text so the screen reader doesn't get bogged down repeating icon descriptions.
Standardizing the Experience
We want our students to focus on learning the content, not learning how to navigate a messy course shell. @kbeimfohr from Zionsville talked about their year-long initiative to standardize middle school courses. Every course now has a standard homepage, contact info, a one-page syllabus, and a clear retake policy. They keep the active modules pinned to the very top and hide any unused navigation links to reduce the noise. It’s a game-changer!
In what might be one of the most unique, but noteworthy tips shared, @RissiScott from Anderson shared that they utilize the Canvas for Elementary (C4E) Interface throughout their entire K12 district! It organically creates a more focused experience for students. What a novel idea!
Traffic Light AI Policies
As AI continues to grow, we have to help our students navigate when and how to use it. @sjohnson6 from Park Tudor shared they are using the "traffic light" indicator system to make expectations crystal clear:
- Red: No AI allowed.
- Yellow: Limited/authorized AI use.
- Green: Full, unrestricted AI usage.
These color-coded badges can be placed directly on assignment headers and within modules so students always know where they stand.
Admin Tricks, Course Cleanup, and... Hidden Games?
For our hard-working admins, we discussed the challenges of mass-concluding open courses and managing inactive student accounts. While API provisioning reports can be complex, they are incredibly powerful tools. @CRYSTAL_indy from Washington Township shared how her district manages cross-listing via a simple Google Form to keep things running smoothly, and we talked about tracking course ID numbers for seamless content migration.
Oh, and @sjohnson6 from Park Tudor also shared a couple of hidden gems you absolutely need to know:
- Accidentally deleted something? Don't panic! Just type /undelete at the end of your course URL in the browser to pull up a page of recently deleted announcements, modules, and assignments, and click restore. This is probably my very favorite “unofficial” feature of Canvas.
- Need a quick breather? If you navigate to a broken URL (by typing a few random characters after your course number) and hit the Spacebar on the "Page Not Found" screen, Canvas has a secret, built-in space-invaders style game! (Maybe keep this one as an admin-only secret so our students don't get too distracted!).
Keeping the Student Voice at the Center
At the end of the day, we are building these digital spaces for our students. Inconsistent course setups can really hurt a student's executive functioning. That’s why we highly encourage surveying your students about their experience. Ask them what’s working, what's confusing, and where they are getting stuck.
Remember, we’re all building the plane while flying it sometimes. But you don't have to fly alone! Do you have a group of educators you rely on when things go sideways? The community can be that space for you! Get started by sharing your best Canvas tips below so we can keep getting by with a little help from our friends.
