John, Chapter 4
The "4 Cs" are concerns for education in the United States: Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity. Using an LMS like Canvas provides several "channels" for robust communication systems. Chapter 4 is all about communication.
For your activity work with this chapter work through all four of these Canvas features. Conversations and grading are of the utmost importance that you will want to know well. Announcements should take very little time. Still be sure to leave some time to investigate Conferences, as well, though.
1. Carefully follow the directions on page 108-115 to learn all the techniques for using Conversations. A partner might be useful in seeing how this works. Then, the two of you can partner in reverse roles for the other's Canvas course.
2. Announcements are quickly and easily presented on pages 115-116. This should be easy.
3. Using the Gradebook, on pages 116-122, is a little more complex and may take some time to set up items to be graded. Be sure to allow enough time to thoroughly explore the options here. Obviously this is a very important topic.
4. Finally, pages 123-131, lay out the "ins and outs" on how to use the Conferences feature of Canvas. If a teacher and students are widely dispersed this sort of feature can be very useful, but also hard to get everyone together at the same time. Of course, if the teacher and students are in close proximity it may be just as easy to have a live, face-to-face meeting. So, this feature may be less used than some, even though when it is needed it can be crucial to know how to set up this sort of meeting.
- When setting up assignments in Chapter 2 there was an option for Discussion for students to discuss topics with each other as part of the classwork for a particular lesson or topic. Discussions like this are "asynchronous" - meaning that people contribute to the discussion at different times. Not everyone is present to comment at the same time.
- Conversations in Canvas are talks a teacher may have with an individual student or small group of students, much as might happen after class or just before class begins. These conversations are not part of a lesson, but are important for teachers and students to work through personal, or very focused for a group, questions. Conversations may start with either the teacher or student.
- Announcements give notice, from the teacher, to all students in the class about some event or development in a very broad and general way. Announcements may not be (most often they are not) directly related to a particular lesson or assignment in the course.
- Grade feedback also is an important form of a very specific type of communication from teacher to individual students.
- Conferences communicate with the teacher and designated students "synchronously." That is the students and teacher all are on the computer at the very same time communicating with one another.
For your activity work with this chapter work through all four of these Canvas features. Conversations and grading are of the utmost importance that you will want to know well. Announcements should take very little time. Still be sure to leave some time to investigate Conferences, as well, though.
1. Carefully follow the directions on page 108-115 to learn all the techniques for using Conversations. A partner might be useful in seeing how this works. Then, the two of you can partner in reverse roles for the other's Canvas course.
- Specifics - Set up, and carry out, at least one conversation with one of your "students." Be prepared to show us the record of that conversation in your class presentation.
2. Announcements are quickly and easily presented on pages 115-116. This should be easy.
- Specifics - Set up an Announcement on your course site. Be prepared to show us that Announcement in your presentation in class.
3. Using the Gradebook, on pages 116-122, is a little more complex and may take some time to set up items to be graded. Be sure to allow enough time to thoroughly explore the options here. Obviously this is a very important topic.
- Specifics -
- Set up a gradebook and record some "grades" for your students. Be prepared to show us your gradebook in your class presentation.
- You may skip the section on the SpeedGrader for your class presentation. It is cumbersome to carry out in a sample setting.
- HOWEVER, please do explain how theSpeed Grader is supposed to work in your written coverage of the chapter.
4. Finally, pages 123-131, lay out the "ins and outs" on how to use the Conferences feature of Canvas. If a teacher and students are widely dispersed this sort of feature can be very useful, but also hard to get everyone together at the same time. Of course, if the teacher and students are in close proximity it may be just as easy to have a live, face-to-face meeting. So, this feature may be less used than some, even though when it is needed it can be crucial to know how to set up this sort of meeting.
- Specifics -
- Set up a conference. Show us how you have set it up in your class presentation.
- Experimenting with a conference is cumbersome to do in an artificial setting, so I am not asking you actually to hold a conference.
- Please discuss in your writing about Chapter 4 what is involved in starting and facilitating a conference, but, again, you do not have to demonstrate it in class.