A4 - Navigation

Though all our community colleges share Canvas as a common course management system (CMS), each instructor will, to some degree, design their course and use the Canvas tools differently. Confusion can a very real hurdle—and a barrier to completion—for students attempting to find their way around an online course. Consistency in structure and organization reduces anxiety and increases engagement.

Do your best to take a metaphoric step back from your course design and assess it through the eyes of a student (particularly one who is new to Canvas). What can you do to simplify and clarify your Home page, your modules, your course navigation? Is it immediately obvious what step(s) a student should take when they first enter the course? (A clear starting point is a really important part of aligning with A4!) Is it obvious how to get help if needed?

We always recommend using the "Student View" tool in Canvas to truly get a sense of the course from your students' perspective.

Tips for creating ease of navigation and content flow

1. Think about your course from a student's perspective (someone who may know nothing about Canvas or about your subject matter)

• • How will they know where to begin?
  • How will they know the order in which to move through content?
  • How will they know how to find help?
  • What might confuse them about moving around the course and finding content?
    
    

2. Have a clearly marked starting point.
   See a Home Page example
   
   
3. Use a clear and consistent naming convention for modules and items within modules.
   Here's one example:
   
   
   
4. Reduce confusion by disabling any navigation links students won't need.
   For example, Pages, Assignments and Quizzes will be accessed through the relevant module so those links are redundant as part of the course navigation.
   
   
5. Consider providing a brief "tour" on how to navigate your course.
   This could be a very short (3 minutes) screencast or a brief written paragraph explaining how to use the course navigation links, where to find the Help button, and any other navigational information you feel they should know.
   
   
6. Ask your students for feedback specifically about navigating the course.
   That way you can ensure it's as user-friendly as you'd like it to be.

Where to Look

The most likely places to determine clear navigation and content flow will be from the Home page and from the Modules area.

What to Look For

At a minimum, an aligned course will have:

• A clear starting point on the Home page, whether a text link or a button.
• Streamlined course navigation (meaning unused links are disabled).
• Consistent module naming conventions.