Navigate: Tools Within the LMS 3.1.3

3.1.3 Tools within the LMS 

Canvas is an excellent LMS for no cost (at the moment).  It has all the basic functions except for an easy way to transfer lessons without having to build a page.  Below is a bullet-point listing of the features that I found in my exploration of CANVAS.  The features have been organized into the 5 sub categories of “basic LMS tools” that I developed in an earlier quest.  While the tools are all very important, I have underlined the most critical tools in each of the categories.

Tools within the CANVAS LMS:

Communication tools  

·        Email – there is a “People” page with links to email and connect

·        Discussion posts – Discussions can be “pinned” to set as priority and are searchable, subscribable, and has other viewing options

·        Collaboration tools (Points to google docs or Etherpad)

·        Announcements

·        Syllabus (and course expectations)

Student and course management tools

·        Grade book – shows students and grades for activities within the module

o   Submission area  (I could not find feedback options for submissions)

·        Calendar

·        Files for distribution

·        Learning outcomes- can be set to help track each student’s mastery fo the course

           

Lesson tools

·        Lesson storage

·        Grading rubrics integrated with learning outcomes

Assessment tools

·        Online testing automatically graded for some question types

·        Online quizzes

·        Rubrics (with the ability to add the trackable learning outcomes)  See image:

Finally, the last category:  (and probably the least useful in the immediate sense)

Archival or upload/download Tools (None)