5 Quick Tips to Maximize Instructor Time with Canvas-Integrated Tools

Updated 1/25/23

Thinking about how to quickly take up instructional practices utilized by other MIT faculty and instructors? These 5 tips pull ideas from the MIT Ad Hoc Committee Report on Leveraging Best Practices from Remote Teaching for On-Campus Education. 

1. Use Slack to increase student engagement with each other and/or with instructors/TAs. 

Students can post and answer each other’s questions, ask the instructors/TAs questions, and search posts/replies for information. Instructors/TAs can address FAQs for everyone to see, and gather input from students to guide class discussions. Set up is easy:

• Enable the Slack integration on Canvas to auto-sync the class roster. 
• Create Slack channels (e.g., by topics, projects/groups, or weekly assignments).
• View examples of MIT instructors using Slack, and watch a Slack xTalk. 

2. Use Gradescope to reduce grading time and improve feedback given to students on psets, quizzes, or exams. 

Instructors/TAs can build assignments in advance, and set-up/reuse rubrics and annotations for precise, actionable feedback. Multiple graders can maintain consistent feedback, and quiz data helps identify students’ common mistakes. To set up:

• Add Gradescope to the Canvas course navigation menu. 
• Watch the demo videos here and here. 
• View example of an MIT instructor using assessment to support student learning.

3. Allow students to make video introductions and/or share ideas with Flip. 

Students can record and post video/audio as a threaded discussion in Canvas. Students and instructors/TAs can get to know one another, students can practice speaking or presenting, and everyone can share ideas. Let the talking begin:

• Sign up for Flip, and integrate it with Canvas.
• Create the Canvas Assignment. 
• View example of an MIT instructor using Flip. 

4. Pre-schedule class meetings using Zoom in Canvas, so that recorded sessions later automatically appear on the Canvas site.

By setting up Zoom meetings in Canvas, the entire class is invited and the meeting is added to the Canvas class calendar. Zoom also integrates with Panopto to automatically push the recorded meetings to the Canvas course site. One-time set-up:

• Schedule single or recurring Zoom meetings on Canvas.
• Integrate Zoom with Panopto.

5. Plan ahead for lecture capture to have the option for students to view and re-view lectures or presentations. 

When students need to catch up on a missed class or prefer to watch lectures at their own pace, they find it helpful to have recordings. Instructors/TAs can modify access to the recordings, though lecture capture requires at least a day’s notice. Start now:   

• Reserve classrooms with automated lecture capture.
• Schedule MIT Video Productions to record in a classroom.
• Learn about other self-service options (e.g., iPad or other tech).

Want more information or need help? Contact canvas-support@mit.edu for technical support. Email ol-residential@mit.edu for consultations with Aaron Kessler or Lauren Totino to learn about tools to achieve new instructional approaches.