Canvas Focus Group

In exchange for your insights, honest opinions, and practical experience with Canvas, participants will benefit from personal, hands-on support from an assigned Instructional Designer who will assist you with course development, including:

• Migrating your course into Canvas from BeachBoard
• Importing CSULB course layouts (optional)  
• Aligning your course with established quality assurance standards for online courses. 
• Reviewing your course for accessibility and finding solutions to remediate issues.
• Exploring and implementing practical tools that fit your specific needs to improve course management and student learning.
• Troubleshooting ongoing issues.

Participants will also benefit from these bonus incentives:

• A letter of support and completion from ATS.
• Canvas Swag and promotional items (while supplies last). 
• Acknowledgment on the ATS website and events such as workshops, faculty panels, and various sharing opportunities with other campus community members (optional).  
• A role in helping to shape the effectiveness of our campus learning management system to not only improve instructors' workflows but also impact student learning outcomes for years to come.
• Additional practice with the Canvas platform while BeachBoard remains available until Summer 2023.  

With individualized support and resources from ATS, Focus Group participants are encouraged to commit to:

• Providing feedback to ATS about your Canvas experience (pros, cons, challenges, concerns, challenges, ideas, etc.) through any of these channels:
  • Join a Canvas Focus Group Feedback sharing session.
  • Consult 1:1 with your assigned ATS Instructional Designer.
  • Connect with the Zoom virtual support to report issues.
  • Send your observations and suggestions to canvas@csulb.edu. 
• Notifying your students by email before the semester begins that you will be utilizing Canvas instead of BeachBoard. ATS can provide you with a message template.  
• Completing 3 faculty surveys (see schedule below):
  • Pre-Survey  
  • Mid-Point Survey
  • Post-Program Evaluation 
• Distributing 3 student surveys (see schedule below):
  • Pre-Survey 
  • Mid-Point Survey
  • Post-Program Evaluation  

Participants may be asked to volunteer to join information sessions or workshop panels to share their experiences with other faculty new to the platform.   

Winter 2023 Focus Group 

• Faculty and Student Survey distribution:  
  • Pre-Survey (Beginning of Semester)  
  • Mid-Point Survey (Week of January 9)  
  • Post-Evaluation (Week of January 16)  

Spring 2023 Focus Group 

• Faculty and Student Survey distribution: 
  • Pre-Survey (Beginning of Semester)  
  • Mid-Point Survey (Week of March 20)  
  • Post-Evaluation (Week of April 24)  

Focus Group participants will receive the following resources to develop their courses: 

CSULB Canvas Welcome Packet

Canvas Course Layouts 
ATS has developed these Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced layouts to help you build your course quickly with quality assurance standards. Easily import the layout of your choice and edit the content to fit your subject matter and course structure.  

• Get instructions on finding the layouts inside Canvas Commons: Accessing Canvas Layouts [PDF]  

Instructors' Training Course: "Growing with Canvas" 
This self-paced course will take instructors through everything they need to know about using Canvas. Instructors can try features in their own Canvas courses through the practice activities.  

Canvas Quality Assurance Checklist [PDF] 
This checklist provides CSULB instructors with recommendations for ensuring that their courses meet established quality assurance guidelines. The items outlined are helpful to identify once your course has been migrated or imported from BeachBoard to Canvas. 

Canvas Migration Job Aid [PDF]
The past two years of your BeachBoard courses will be migrated to Canvas. The Job Aid will guide you in adjusting known issues that may need manual adjustment. Visit our Canvas Migration Plan to learn more about this process and timeline. 

For Your Students 

Passport to Canvas Course
This self-paced course designed by Canvas provides everything students need to know about using the platform. It covers how to keep track of assignments, check grades, and view feedback from instructors. It also helps students learn how to organize learning material and stay in touch with classmates. Share the link to the Passport Course request form with your students so they can get started: Passport to Canvas Request Form. 

Canvas Student Quick Start Module
This "orientation" module gives students the basics of using Canvas tools needed to communicate, submit assignments and take quizzes in your class. This module has already been added to your course! For more information, review our Student Quick Start Module Overview [PDF]. 

Additional Resources  

Canvas Training Portal: 
The Training Portal is available to CSULB faculty within Canvas until January 2023 and includes a vast library of tutorials, live sessions, and on-demand training sessions. The Training Portal link appears in the "Help" section on the left navigation panel of your Canvas account. Review our Canvas Training Portal job aid: Accessing Canvas Training Portal [PDF].