DLE Course Template Design Approval Request

Item for

Approval

Course Template Design

DLE

Workstream

Course Templates

Created By:

Patricia Fairchild

Last Updated By:

Date Created:

February 1, 2018

Last Revision Date:

Approval

Purpose:

The purpose of the Course Template Design is to align with the scope of the DLE

Project Charter using a fixed/flexible framework with a learner-centered focus.

Description of

Process:

The Course Template Design team completed the following workstream objectives

during the process of identifying the final course template design.

1. Identification of guiding principles for course template design.

2. Identification of cases/scenarios requirements for template(s).

3. Creation of course template design version 1 – based on small group input

and training with vendor.

4. Creation of course template design version 2 – based on focused feedback

sessions with students and faculty on all campuses.

5. Creation of course template design version 3 – based on feedback from

stakeholders (students, faculty, and staff) from all campuses.

6. Adherence to accessibility and accreditation related criterion.

For consistency in language and intent:

 course template is defined as the navigation, layout, and settings in a blank

Canvas course or offering

 fixed elements provide a consistent experience for all UW-System students

 flexible elements can be added by an institution/program as long as it

doesn’t affect the fixed elements

Analysis:

After completing the steps for each of the course template design versions,

reviewing survey feedback, and discussing related criterion, the team identified the

following, fixed elements are required in the order stated in the student view for

the course template.

Home – three (3) most recent announcements default to top of page; Modules with

associated course contents display by default; To-Do list displays on this page only

Syllabus – default course syllabus with two sections: rich content/HTML editor and

Course Summary listed course assignments with dates and details

Announcements – displays all announcements in collapsed format

Assignments – assignments displayed by date or type

Grades – displays grades

Collaborations – displays default collaboration tool

Office 365 – allows user to access One Drive

Discoveries:

The feedback and review process identified several discoveries.

1. The use of Modules as the default for the Home Page created redundancy

as identified in survey results. Faculty expressed confusion with the term

“Modules” and suggested renaming the item. The team has identified this

as an opportunity for the training team to address in documentation,

training sessions, and the orientation course.

2. Some feedback indicated concern with the Syllabus Course Summary area

due to assignments without due dates displaying alphabetically. The ability

to toggle the Course Summary area on/off is not available for Fall 2018

term. The team identified this as a future training opportunity once the

on/off toggle becomes available.

3. The Collaborations tool allows students to collaborate on group tasks using

a web-based tool such as Microsoft Office 365 (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint)

or Google Docs. Office 365 will be the default Collaboration tool. Campuses

will have the option to make Google docs available by applying this

permission at the Sub-Account level (similar to an LTI tool).

Fixed

Framework

Requirements:

1. Pedagogy first – Met

2. Learner-centered focus – Met

3. Accessible – Met (Canvas VPAT and WCAG 2.0 Checklist)

4. Consistency – Met (training will be key in providing the “why”)

a. Survey results

b. Onsite feedback

Tools for

Removal from

the Student

View:

1. People tool - During a working session with the vendor, it was determined

that the People tool posed a student privacy/FERPA violation for the

student role. As a result, that tool will be available for the instructor role

only. Students will have the ability to identify other students via the

Collaboration tool or the Inbox (email).

2. Modules, Pages, Quizzes, Discussions, Files tools – During a working session

with the vendor, it was determined that having the link for these tools in

the course menu created redundancy for the student. To remove confusion,

these tools are removed from the student course menu.

Impact:

The team has identified several impacts associated with the recommendations

above:

1. Change request process – all requests for changes to the course template

will be part of the change request process.

Final Course

Template

Design:

Course Template Design – Final* - all fixed elements appear in the same order

Course menu – student view:

*The course menu items as identified will be visible to all roles and will be “fixed”

meaning all items will appear in the course menu in the same order. While other

course menu items may be available to instructors (displayed as “grayed out”),

those items will not be visible to the student role.

Course menu – instructor role view:

References:

1. Onsite Focus Group Feedback Notes (attached)

2. Survey results (attached)

3. Accessibility: https://www.canvaslms.com/accessibility

a. Canvas Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)

b. LMS Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0 Checklist)

c. Accessibility Resources (Canvas, Web, Government):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14O2ht92bNqimfwSDZdJQRt

LljDGVoY30WCjX1SN8Kz4/edit