As you may know, last year the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) embarked on a systematic process to identify a learning management system (LMS) that improves student success and provides the faculty with tools to design and deliver an interactive, flexible, and engaging learning experience. Throughout this rigorous selection process Canvas, created by Instructure, was chosen as it has all the familiar and standard academic tools (such as announcements, assignments, discussion boards, and quizzes); however, it includes more interactive and advanced learning tools such as interactive video, a robust mobile app, the ability for the instructor to include more detailed feedback to the learner, and the ability to use multimedia in new and engaging ways (from both the student and the instructor’s point of view). The VCCS will begin transitioning to Canvas throughout the next year beginning in the fall 2018 with six community colleges offering a limited number of online courses in Canvas. For the spring 2019 semester the number of online courses offered in Canvas will increase and all courses will be transitioned over to Canvas for the start of the summer 2019 semester. If you are in one of the courses that will be offered in Canvas for the fall 2018 or spring 2019 semesters you will receive an email from the Reynolds’ Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, notifying you that your online course will be offered in Canvas. In order to access Canvas simply login to MyReynolds(just as you have always done to access Blackboard) and click on the Canvas tile. Once in Canvas, you will be brought to the Dashboard where you will see each of your courses listed with their own individual tiles. Simply click on the course tile you would like to access and begin working in your course. Canvas offers a large number of new and exciting features including the Canvas Calendar which acts as a central repository for all your courses. Within the Canvas Calendar you can view everything related to all your courses including assignments, quizzes, and events as well as their respective due dates. The calendar defaults to a monthly view; however, you can choose to view it in Week or Agenda view as well. Each course’s assignments, quizzes, and events will be displayed in its own unique color which you can customize on the side bar. Once you turn in an assignment, complete a quiz or attend an event that item will be marked off your calendar allowing you a simple way to keep track of what you have and have not completed. To provide you with more information, each assignment on the Canvas Calendar will have an icon to the left of its name indicating what type of assignment it is (discussion, assignment, quiz, or event). The VCCS has also made available 24/7 support for students. This can be accessed within Canvas by clicking the question mark icon on the bottom left of the navigation bar (the blue vertical bar on the left of your screen shown to the below): Students will have the option to search the Canvas Guides, where answers to many common questions can be found, report a problem to Canvas through an online ticketing system, participate in a live chat with Canvas support personnel, or call Canvas support. In addition to all the new support resources, if students have a question regarding Canvas, access to online courses, or online courses in general they can always contact the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at (804) 523-5612 or email [email protected].
Canvas is fairly new to everyone here at Reynolds. We are working together to create as smooth of a transition as possible. Most importantly, if you have questions, just ask! Don’t be afraid to email your instructor, a classmate, or anyone else at Reynolds. There are so many people here to help you, that want to see you succeed!
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