Wow! Here at Ohio State U., we are piloting the Canvas LMS (https://www.canvaslms.com/) to evaluate it for possible adoption. I’m a part of the cohort that is using the system as to teach as part of the pilot. My course is fully online. Let me say this! It has been quite the experience! The last time I taught a fully online course was around 2009 and there was so much we just couldn’t do because the technology wasn’t capable. Well times have sure changed!

The Canvas LMS is easy to use, provides with lots of autonomy for designing your course (without having to rely on knowing HTML coding), and enables the use of some great instructional features. I just want to highlight ONE of those features: Video/Audio Commenting.

Canvas Video/Audio Commenting Interface.

I have a little bit of “performer” inside me (my first major in UG was Radio/TV Broadcasting with a minor in Theatre) and when I teach I enjoy indulging that part of myself. Well in a typical online course, there isn’t much opportunity, if any, to indulge this. Well, the V/A Commenting feature makes it possible to create on the fly multimedia comments just about anywhere you can edit text in Canvas—announcements, assignments, discussion forum areas AND posts and replies. You can even add video/audio commenting when giving feedback in the SpeedGrader feature. What a time saver and a great way to increase instructor presence and engagement with students. I think I like this Canvas thing so far. Looking forward to learning more!

Stay tuned…