Feeling anxious about the fall semester? Worried you won’t feel comfortable teaching in Canvas? Don’t worry — Ed Tech has you covered with THREE Canvas Camp dates to choose from!
And who doesn’t love camp? Well… I suppose this is where I should admit to being terribly homesick and sad during my one and only stay-away camp experience, way back in 1988 as a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic. Was it juvenile diabetes camp, you ask? Why yes, it was!
But this is Canvas Day Camp—and there’s no reason to be homesick, because you get to go home at the end of the day. Also: no forced insulin injections.
There are three Canvas Day Camp sessions available: August 13, 14, and 21. Each day will follow the same agenda and format. We’ll kick things off with an “Intro to Canvas” presentation (with time for Q&A) in the Innovation Center Room 104/105, followed by hands-on course creation support in 104/105 and the nearby computer lab (123). Your camp counselors’ goal is to help you get comfortable with our new learning platform, assist with Moodle-to-Canvas imports, and offer the immediate, expert help you’ve come to expect from us.
While the “Intro to Canvas” presentations each day won’t be broadcast live, Zoom assistance will be available during Camp hours: https://nmc.zoom.us/j/95547068719?pwd=NuEor0VHa7eksZQKL0l7t9qvhGs5yz.1
Day Camp Schedule:
- August 13: 1-4 pm (“Intro to Canvas” @ 1 pm)
- August 14: 9 am – 4 pm (“Intro” @ 9 am)
- August 21: 9 am – 4 pm (“Intro” @ 9 am)
Can’t Attend? Help Is Still Out There!
Canvas support is already at your fingertips. Here are some on-demand training opportunities you can explore anytime, at your own pace:
- Growing with Canvas for Northwestern Michigan College Instructors: A one-hour Canvas training course adapted for NMC instructors, facilitated directly within Canvas. If you haven’t already enrolled, click “Enroll Me” in the top right corner of the course.
- Canvas Corner (Volumes 1-20): Created by Ben Post in Ed Tech, these short tutorial pages — complete with videos, articles, and relevant links — cover all the key aspects of teaching in Canvas. Start with Volume 1 or jump to topics as needed.
- Canvas Camp Course: Everything presented during our May week-long Canvas camp (including the presentation recordings) can be accessed in the Canvas Camp course. Just click “Enroll Me” in the top right corner of the course.
- Canvas Training Portal: These Canvas-created training courses are excellent resources for learning different elements of the platform. Be sure to authorize your account before enrolling.
- Canvas Community Pages: A wealth of tutorials on nearly every aspect of course creation, gradebook setup, and student assessment. Just search your topic, and you’ll most likely find step-by-step instructions.
- Past Canvas Led Faculty Trainings: Gini Burns from Instructure Canvas has met with NMC six times in the past year and each of these sessions has been recorded and made available to faculty. Look for the “Recording Link” under “Resources.”
Important Notes:
Canvas sandboxes have already been created from your 2402, 2403, and 2501 Moodle courses and can be imported into your Fall Canvas sections anytime. While adjustments — especially to the Canvas Gradebook — will be necessary, much of what worked in Moodle will also work in Canvas.
If you need assistance, have questions, or would like to schedule a 1-on-1 training session, please submit a Help Desk Ticket (for Canvas course transfers and cross-listings, choose “Report an Issue” and then select “Teaching & Learning Apps” from the drop-down).