Welcome to Canvas, our Learning Management System (LMS)

Visit Canvas LMS (login required)

Do your Canvas course modules beat the benchmark?

As an integral part of our students’ learning experience, we need to ensure that the standard of all Canvas module sites meet ARU’s minimum requirements as agreed through consultation with faculties and relevant professional services.

Introduced in 2017/18, the requirements are reviewed each year to ensure that our use of Canvas continues to evolve to enhance students’ learning and meet their needs, whether learning on or off campus. It's important to be aware of the current Canvas LMS Minimum Requirements, that are to be implemented for all Canvas module sites from September 2020:

Staff support webinars

We host a variety of webinars to support you with the newly released features and developments of Canvas. See our upcoming events page for details of forthcoming webinars including:

  • Introduction to Canvas New Quizzes – learn about the features of Canvas New Quizzes that can support assessment both for and of learning.
  • Is your Canvas site accessible? - look at how we can apply basic accessibility principles to our Canvas pages to ensure that they are accessible for a diverse range of learners.
  • 7 ideas for collaborating in Canvas - explore using Canvas and a range of tools that can be embedded in Canvas for collaborative learning. Throughout the session we will focus on what you are trying to achieve through collaborative learning and look at the best tools for the job. Starting by looking at student discussions using both text discussion through Canvas and video discussions using Flipgrid and Padlet (and integrating these into Canvas). We will then look at different ways to set up group work and encourage students to collaborate, culminating in collaborative writing. 
  • Using Canvas Quiz Tools to support remote learning - better understand the features of the Canvas Quiz Tools (both “Classic Quizzes” and “New Quizzes”) that can help you provide automated and customised feedback to support and enhance your students’ learning activity.

Staff support online bitesize courses

The following courses provide guidance in how to get started with Canvas and use the latest developments. The links below require a login.

  • Canvas quick wins – this self-paced course shows how to meet the minimum requirements set by the LMS steering group
  • Canvas Assessment – this course introduces different eAssessment tools in Canvas including quizzes, eSubmission, graded discussions and peer assessments.
  • Canvas Media – this course introduces different methods of using media in Canvas including creating videos with Canvas’s own tool, embedding YouTube and other videos as well as my player and lecture capture videos.
  • Canvas Learner Analytics – this course introduces you to the data generated by a Canvas course which you can use to monitor students’ engagement with their learning in Canvas.
  • Canvas Collaboration – this course explores different forms of collaboration such as discussions, wiki pages, virtual classrooms, and group learning spaces. It includes ideas for using a range of technology such as, MS Teams, Canvas wiki pages.
  • MyShowcase – this course provides staff with the guidance materials for the MyShowcase e-portfolio.
  • We also run a number of webinars to better understand the functionalities of MyShowcase including Using Forms, Using Tasks, and Using MyShowcase as a student. Book here.
  • Professional services staff supporting students on Canvas (Canvas student support) – this course is for staff who need to support students using Canvas. The workshop will cover an introduction to Canvas from a student perspective.
  • Copyright and the LMS – this online course will inform you of the issues surrounding copyright and the LMS with advice on how to get the most from current copyright laws in the UK HE context, offer advice on how to avoid copyright infringement, provide tools and information that will help you find copyright free objects, and useful places for information and advice.
  • If you have any questions or queries about the Staff Development programme, please contact [email protected], or about the wider project, please contact [email protected].

 

For those new to ARU or needing a refresher of our core L&T approaches, a selection of workshops and resources are detailed below. You can book all of our courses on Business World or by emailing [email protected].

Orientation in Teams

Teams Toolkit (Canvas Site). 

Principles of Active, Inclusive, Collaborative Learning

Unified Active Learning (Canvas Site).

 

Additional useful resources can be found using the links below:
Our Need to Know Canvas site is a good way to get started with up-to-date resources for all teaching staff.
The Assessment and Feedback hub on Canvas.

 

Further details

Please contact your Faculty’s Director of Learning and Teaching directly for details of Faculty-run sessions and individual Faculty templates.

Resources