{"id":9285,"date":"2018-09-15T08:19:19","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T22:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sydney.edu.au\/education-portfolio\/ei\/teaching@sydney\/?p=9285"},"modified":"2018-09-15T09:14:08","modified_gmt":"2018-09-14T23:14:08","slug":"dont-get-lost-using-good-navigation-and-organisation-to-improve-your-canvas-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educational-innovation.sydney.edu.au\/teaching@sydney\/dont-get-lost-using-good-navigation-and-organisation-to-improve-your-canvas-site\/","title":{"rendered":"[Don\u2019t] Get Lost! Using good navigation and organisation to improve your Canvas site"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good (or bad) site navigation and organisation can go a long way towards making (or breaking) your unit of study Canvas site. Creating a\u00a0well designed learning environment<\/a>\u00a0is one way teachers can help student learning. Designing learning environments (online or physical) that make\u00a0engagement with content and activities intuitive\u00a0reduces extraneous cognitive load<\/a> and shifts unnecessary focus from deciphering\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0to find what is needed (\u201cdo I click here or here for my readings?”\u00a0<\/i>or \u201cwow that\u2019s too much, I don\u2019t even know where to start”<\/i>),<\/span>\u00a0producing a more enjoyable and meaningful learning experience for your students. Common causes of increased cognitive overload due to the (poor) design of learning environments include too much new information at once, unnecessary actions, site errors, and unclear structure.<\/p>\n

(Re-)designing the navigation and organisation of your Canvas learning environment can reduce the cognitive overload on your students and allow them to engage with what really matters – the unit material<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Based on feedback from 5000+ students across the University about their unit of study Canvas sites in semester 1 2018, we\u2019ve identified some top \u201cdesign for learning\u201d tips to help improve the\u00a0navigation and organisation of\u00a0your new or existing Canvas sites. We have also included some examples of best practice taken from Canvas sites that were identified as outstanding by students<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article was contributed by Rebecca Goldsworthy, Jennifer Burn, Wilfried Sharp, and Samantha Clarke.<\/i><\/p>\n

How to \u201cDesign (your Canvas site) for Learning\u201d using good navigation and organisation<\/h2>\n

When thinking about how to organise a Canvas web page or site, it can be useful to think of the exercise just as you would when designing any piece of visual media such as art, film, web site, or magazine layout. When designing visual media, the underlying goal of the artist or designer is to control how a viewer\u2019s eye moves about the work<\/a> – does the eye move quickly or slowly over particular areas, which direction should it travel, and in what order? By understanding how we can use visual design elements to guide a student’s eye around a Canvas page and to help navigate our sites, we can assist them to engage more readily with the learning materials.<\/p>\n

Structure<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
CHEM1111 uses modules to provide structure for the unit\u2019s content. CHEM1111 has an open site<\/a> that you can investigate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Structure refers to the layout of individual pages as well as the information hierarchy \u2013 that is, how everything relates to each other.<\/p>\n

Plan out your structure<\/h4>\n

Think about where you will put your information. Use modules to make the structure of the course clear to everyone interacting with the site.\u00a0Create folders in your Files area, even if this is hiden from students.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
ENGG1111 makes good use of weekly content pages. ENGG1111 has an open site<\/a> available that you can investigate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Use weekly\/topic content pages<\/h4>\n

Feedback indicates that students prefer all the relevant information and materials for each week or topic to be located in one place – for example, on a weekly\/topic content page. They also like to see a weekly \u2018to-do list\u2019 at the start of these pages. This allows them to know what is ahead, help to set goals and give focus, rather than just stumbling across what is expected at the end. Side note: students also appreciate it when lecture slides are made available prior to the lecture so they can prepare in advance.<\/em><\/p>\n

Minimise \u201cclicks\u201d<\/h4>\n

Students try to spend as little time on Canvas as possible, and every extra click or page takes up time. When all the relevant files and notes are on the one page this saves a lot of time and makes it easier for students to interact with content and download material from just one location rather than several. An exception to this “one page for all weekly\/topic content<\/em>” rule applies when a page becomes extremely long and unwieldy. If this happens, don\u2019t be afraid to create a \u201cPart 2\u201d page. See \u201cTop 5 student tips for improving your Canvas site\u201d<\/a> for more detail on splitting up your pages.<\/p>\n

Grids<\/h4>\n

How content is organised in a site or on a page influences how a learner moves through your site and encounters the material. Grids help break up materials into bite-sized chunks, control the length of text strings, and impose an organisational system that is attractive to the eye. Read more about how you can use grids to improve the structure of your Canvas pages here<\/a>. But these aren’t for the faint-hearted – there’s some tricky HTML to master to get grids right.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The weekly content pages from ENGG1111 are good examples of consistent pages that also incorporate good variety. ENGG1111 has an open site available<\/a> for you to investigate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Be Consistent<\/h3>\n

Consistency is key! It\u2019s easy for students to get confused about where to find information and identify what is most important and relevant. In the University-wide Canvas survey, students commented that they didn\u2019t like the way different units placed important information in different and various places rather than just one key location. Students also didn’t like it when too many external platforms were used such as separate websites for content.<\/p>\n

Top recommendations to keep things consistent (and less confusing) for your students:<\/h4>\n