Introduction

We can help students successfully start an online course by focusing on the student experience. This includes providing a general course overview, presenting the schedule of activities, guiding the student to explore the course site and indicating what to do first. Detailed navigational instructions for the whole course help orient the student to the learning environment and enhance the student experience.

The student experience

To support student success, educational researchers recommend examining online learning “through the lens of student experience” and understanding students as “individuals who face the daily minutiae of life” (Veletsianos, p. 2). Consider this student’s experience starting a semester as described by one of her instructors:

“She had Canvas sites for every course, every lab, every study-abroad preparation course. Each Canvas site had multiple tabs, but they weren’t all the same, nor did all faculty members use the LMS in the same way. So she defaulted to her calendar, which gave her a list of the to-do items. I asked her to show me a course that she thought was well organized and a course that she thought was not well organized. I asked her why. For the latter, she said she had trouble finding things. She’s a very good student, and she said that her method is to download the syllabus for every class and then use the dashboard and calendar” (Blum, 2024).

While the author of this piece is skeptical of classes that feel like a to-do list (she asks, “Where is the joy, the adventure, the meaning?”), checklists can effectively guide students in the course. However, student-centered design is much more than that and can support motivation, engagement and belonging. 

For a strong start, select a Home Page in Canvas and direct students to a “Start Here” module, which could include: 

• An overview page that allows students to allocate their time for the first week & beyond.

• A course roadmap or an outline of the course.

• A “scavenger hunt” or “syllabus quiz” that leads students through parts of the course.

• An activity for students to meet each other and “break the ice.”

• A video with clear instructions for navigating the course site and introducing yourself.

• Information for contacting you and reassurance that you’ll contact students as needed.

These elements guide students and can create a sense of fun and engagement in a course by transforming traditional course components into more interactive experiences. If you are uncomfortable recording a video or sharing your webcam, you can share instructor background information and a photo on a Canvas page.

Video examples and features

Video is an excellent way to connect with and inspire students as they learn to navigate and start an online course. These UM System instructors agreed to share their course introduction videos as examples. They recorded these using Panopto within the Canvas learning management system.

Ben Woodson, Associate Professor of Political Science at UMKC, and Mindy Choo, instructor of Marketing at UMSL, use the Panopto screen capture feature to show students how to navigate their Canvas courses. They use Modules to organize their course materials and add personal touches by including their webcams and some details about themselves. Choo shares a graduation photo of herself – “a goofy picture, hopefully, to make you smile.”

Candace Rodman, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences at MU, and Karah Mitchell, Professor of English at MU, use Panopto to record webcam videos and provide course overviews. Rodman’s class is, in her words, “organized, nice and tidy in Modules” and Mitchell explains that “each week the Modules will be visible as we move through these texts together and discuss them.” These instructors have learned it is important to point out the Modules area to students.

These course introduction videos guide students in getting started in the course. Woodson shows his “Introduction to Course” module with an “Introduce Yourself” discussion board, and Choo shows her module “Week 1 | Welcome to CRM” module with a similar discussion activity. All the videos cultivate instructor social presence. 

Student views in Canvas

Consider activating Student View to see the student's perspective on Canvas while recording your screen and writing instructions. It’s also a good idea to use Student View to check that materials are visible to students and that submission features appear as you think they do. This also allows you to assess accessibility of various materials, including the following: whether all images include alt-text, whether videos have captions or transcripts and whether content is formatted for screen readers.

Keep in mind many students use Canvas on mobile devices. This includes the use of mobile browsers, which is not recommended. Rather, advise students to install the Canvas student app, which you can install to view your course as students see it. If your course uses features that do not function as expected on the app, let students know to view Canvas in a fully supported desktop browser. Check out this Module App Course Design Checklist.

Synchronous sessions

Does your course include synchronous sessions? If so, prepare students for the first meeting with an agenda and what to expect. As Catherine J. Denial shares in her book A Pedagogy of Kindness, while it “can be a nerve-racking prospect to meet a new cohort of students,” it helps to “enter it with a spirit of kindness, acknowledging our hopes and our trepidation and keeping in mind that students will be feeling numerous and perhaps conflicting emotions too” (Denial p. 85). Those emotions can include joy if you share your passion.

Summary

Instructions for getting started and navigating your course are essential in any online course. The beginning of a course is an opportunity to foster a sense of belonging, human connection and community. As Denial writes, “Emphasize belonging and community from the very moment a course begins” (Denial p. 85). Students need your guidance and support for a strong start. 

Sources

Blum, S. D. (2024, August 28). College as to-do list. Inside Higher Ed.

Denial, C. J. (2024). A pedagogy of kindness. University of Oklahoma Press.​​​​​​​

Veletsianos, G. (2020). Learning online: The student experience. Johns Hopkins University Press.