Mandy Taylor (M.S.) and Dr. Mauricio Cadavid
The project was to develop a professional development course on the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) for CSUSB faculty. The course was designed to help faculty become more familiar and comfortable with Canvas. The course introduced basic features and tools of Canvas including three integrated learning apps (VoiceThread, GoReact, and PlayPosit). The course is a facilitated, mostly self-paced asynchronous online experience in Canvas. Participants “learn Canvas by doing Canvas.” The course is co-facilitated by a CSUSB Instructional Designer and CSUSB faculty member with expertise in Canvas. The course begins with a 2-hour online synchronous “boot camp” led by the facilitators.
There were no costs to developing the course itself as it uses resources already available to us. However, each participant who successfully completed all requirements received a $1000 stipend. Faculty facilitators received a $2000 stipend each.
The course is part of a more comprehensive approach to preparing faculty for an LMS transition from Blackboard to Canvas. Participants needed to complete all course activities with a score of 90% or better and complete an exit survey.
The course first ran in Summer 2022 and again in Fall 2022. It will run again in Spring 2023. Initial exit survey data from Summer and Fall indicate that the course was successful in increasing instructor confidence in using Canvas.
As a Hispanic-Serving Institution, everything that the instructional design team does to help faculty teach will directly affect our 70% Hispanic student population.