Walking across campus with the scent of orange blossoms on the breeze is one of the best aspects of being located in the cities of Orange and Irvine. With Spring comes gentle weather, longer days, and the finish of the Spring term. It also brings one of my new-favorite traditions, which is the student nominations of faculty who have used Canvas well, to augment the classroom learning experience.

This year we received more than 40 nominations and we will be featuring each of the nominated faculty members on our social media channels over the summer, so subscribe and follow us to see who is featured. In the meantime, here is a sneak peek at some of the inspiring student comments:

“He ensures that the most up-to-date information for class is available and important in-class lecture items are posted. His turn-around for grading quizzes, papers, and other assignments is timely so that student can rest easy knowing what their current grade is in the class. The syllabus is the homepage which makes it easy to access, and his coverage of assignments due or modules covered are easy to understand thanks to his weekly breakdowns of past and upcoming topics. His efforts are greatly appreciated from a student standpoint, and it shows that he really thought about the uses and setup of the class’s canvas portal.”​

“This is the most interactive class that I have had involving Canvas. One of my favorite aspects of the course is the Professor’s posted links to musicals that we should be watching outside of class. Our discussion boards have been incredibly effective in helping me learn and we have used the newer site “Padlet” which has been a lot of fun. Padlet has allowed our class to gather a bunch of resources in a quick and organized way, and gives each student a chance to respond to what other students have found.“​

“[The instructor has] everything you could ever possibly need as a student. It is so easy to navigate the modules so each student has a clear understanding of what is due, what is happening in class, and allows for easy access to any additional resources that can help you have a better understanding of the topic.”

If you would like to amplify your use of Canvas and other integrated technologies as you build your course content this summer, we would love to help you. Please consider dropping in at our virtual office hours over the summer, Mon-Thurs from 2:30-4:30pm at this ZOOM link: http://bit.ly/virtualtechhub

I also wanted to mention that a focus of many of my recent conversations with faculty has been Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on teaching. If you find yourself wondering what all the hype is about AI or “ChatGPT” but haven’t yet really tried it for yourself, I’d be happy to spend some time with you to get you started.  Most importantly, I can help you explore whether your assessments are “AI-proof” or whether you may need to consider a different approach.  I have three upcoming AI Office Hour sessions available and will add more throughout the summer if there’s interest:

May 16, 9:30-10:30 on Zoom

May 19, 11-12 on Zoom

June 1, 2-3pm on Zoom

A few tips/ideas/links for you: