In order to work through all of the course materials and activities together and in an "orderly fashion," we follow a set schedule each week. Yes, you will have the flexibility to work on the course on your own time, but you will be responsible for meeting set date/time requirements within the confines of a given week.
For most weeks, a similar format will be followed:
You will read a selection of book chapters and/or papers. All of the papers will be available via the checklist page (page 2) in a lesson.
Next, you will be expected to post comments and/or questions about the assigned readings and lectures in a structured threaded discussion. You are welcome to respond to someone else's posting, or to start a new "thread" yourself.
In addition to introducing some core concepts for this course, the orientation also serves as your guide to the structure of the course and to our online learning environment.
At the successful completion of the Course Orientation, students should be able to:
The next page in this lesson outlines the steps you need to perform to successfully complete this orientation.
If you have any questions now or at any point during this week, please feel free to post them to the Orientation Questions forum. (To access the forum, return to Canvas and look inside the Lesson 0: Orientation and Resources module.) While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate.
Each lesson in the course will have a list of "Steps to Complete." This checklist will always appear on the second page of each lesson.
To get started with the course, please follow the required steps below. The Course Orientation is one week in length. Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for specific time frames and due dates. You may find it useful to print this page out first so that you can follow along with the directions.
Optimally, you should complete the Orientation before the first week of class so you are prepared.
The following is an overview of the activities for the Orientation. Detailed directions and submission instructions are located on the page containing the assignment within this orientation.
| Step | Activity | Access/Directions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read through Course Orientation. | You are in the Course Orientation online content now. Click on the "Next Page" link to continue reading. |
| 2 | Personalize your Canvas space. | Click on the "Setting Communication Preferences" link in the orientation menu for instructions. |
| 3 | Set your Canvas Notifications. | Click on the "Setting Communication Preferences" link in the orientation menu for instructions. |
| 4 | Introduce yourself and meet the rest of the class. | Click on the "Getting to Know You" link in the orientation menu for instructions. |
| 5 | If you haven't already done so, carefully review the course syllabus to learn about the course and its requirements. | The Syllabus link is located in the menu. |
| 6 | Complete the "Initial Course Survey" | Described on the Summary and Final Tasks page. |
| 7 | Begin the course! | Click on the Lesson 1 link to begin the course. |
If you have any questions, please send me an email through Canvas. We will check daily to respond. If your question is one that is relevant to the entire class, we may respond to the entire class rather than individually.
Once you are ready, click the next link in the orientation menu and work all the way to the end of the list.
Following is information about Canvas, Penn State's Learning Management System (LMS). In Canvas, registered students may consult course calendars; communicate with instructors, teaching assistants, and fellow students; submit assignments; receive feedback from the instructor and teaching assistant; take online quizzes and surveys; and check assignment scores and course grades.
If you are new to Canvas, it is strongly recommended that you complete the PSU: Canvas Student Orientation [1].
You may also want to review the Canvas Student Guide [2] to acclimate yourself further, and watch the following video:
Credit: Canvas Overview for Students [3] from Canvas LMS [4].
In this video, you will learn how to navigate your Dashboard, courses, and Global Navigation Menu in Canvas.
When you log in to Canvas, the first thing you see is the Dashboard, which provides a high-level overview of your current courses. The Dashboard can be displayed in three different viewing options.
Card View displays a course card for each of your favorite courses. Each card can include clickable icons for Assignments, Announcements, Discussions, and Files. List View displays an agenda view of graded items from your courses, as well as any non-graded items your instructors designate for a course To Do list. You can also add your own items to the agenda.
"Recent Activity View" displays a stream of recent notifications from all your courses, including announcements, conversations, assignments, discussions, and peer reviews.
You can also access the course grades page from the Course Card and Recent Activity Views by clicking the View Grades button. The Grades page displays grades for all of your courses. To view grade details for a specific course, click the name of the course.
To view a course, click the Courses link in Global Navigation and click the name of the course you want to view. The course opens to the home page set by your instructor.
You can use the Course Navigation links, breadcrumb navigation, or the sidebar to navigate to different areas of the course.
The sidebar includes a To Do list that displays links to announcements and other items that require action in your courses, such as assignments, quizzes, discussions, and pages.
If your course includes student groups, you can view a list of your groups in Course Groups. Click the group name to view the group homepage. View recent assignment feedback in Recent Feedback. Click the assignment name to view feedback in the Submission Details page.
Canvas displays a Global Navigation Menu that gives you direct access to your courses and other areas of Canvas.
Click the Account link to log out of Canvas, specify your notification preferences, upload and view personal files, modify your user settings, manage ePortfolios, obtain a QR code to log in to the Student app, view global announcements, and enable a high-contrast user interface.
Click the Dashboard link to return to the Canvas Dashboard. Click the Courses link to quickly access your favorite courses and view a list of all your courses. Click the Groups link to access groups in which you are enrolled or view a list of all your groups.
Click the Calendar link to view your personal calendar and course calendars. Click the Inbox link to view and send messages to your instructors and peers within Canvas. Click the History link to view a list of course content and content areas you have viewed within the last three weeks.
Click the Help link to access help resources for your institution.
This guide covered an Overview of Canvas for students.
The Canvas Help Center provides extensive, up-to-date documentation [5] on making sure your computer is configured properly for Canvas. Failure to follow these recommendations may result in significant issues while viewing materials, taking assessments, and using drop boxes. Use of unsupported browsers is at your own risk.
Registered students earn academic credit at Penn State by completing the following assignments. Opportunities to demonstrate learning include the following, and grades will be based on percentages assigned to each of several components of the course as follows:
Meaningful interactions among students and instructors are the hallmark of a successful online class. Canvas supports several types of communication, as described below.
In addition, registered students have Penn State e-mail accounts (<Access Account ID>@psu.edu) that they need to monitor for any official communications that come from the University or from the Penn State World Campus.
Below is a list of communication tools available in Canvas. This course may or may not utilize all of the options listed.
These are messages from your instructor that contain important information. Current announcements can be accessed through the Announcements link in Canvas. Announcements may highlight assignment due dates (also published in the course Calendar), lesson recaps, a preview of an upcoming lesson and other essential course information.
The Inbox is the equivalent of e-mail in Canvas. It's great for a quick e-mail to another student, instructor, or a whole team. Keep in mind that the text editor is very minimal and does not have much formatting capability. Please use the Canvas Inbox only for private messages to instructors or fellow students.
Discussions allow students to interact with the instructor and other classmates. Threaded discussions allow multiple posts and replies. New posts appear in the Course Activity Stream page, so you will know when something has been posted.
Whenever you post a message in a forum or send course mail, please use a descriptive subject line. Subject lines that include the gist of a question or comment increase the chances that students and instructors can retrieve the messages we're looking for. Poor subject lines, such as "Question" or "Lesson 1," are not very useful as search keywords. When replying to a prior message, consider whether or not the subject line should be altered to indicate the content of your reply!
Your Canvas Profile and User Settings let you control your personal information in Canvas. Take a few minutes to personalize your Canvas profile and set your Notification Preferences by following the instructions below.
| Task | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Personalize your Canvas Profile |
|
| If you use PSU OneID |
Students who are enrolled with OneID will not receive emails automatically from Canvas due to not having PSU email access. We advise that students set up a personal email address for notifications.
|
| Set your notification preferences |
You have the option to select how, when, and for what information you would like to receive notifications. This can be very helpful when keeping track of items such as discussion posts, assignment due dates, and exams. Visit Canvas Notification Preference Support [11] and follow the instructions for setting up your notification preferences. The video below this table provides additional information. |
| Set your timezone |
|
| Download the Canvas App | For information on using the app by device, please see the following:
|
Narrator: How do I manage my Canvas notification settings?
In global navigation, click the Account link. Then click the Notifications link.
On the Notifications Settings page, you can manage how you receive notifications for your Canvas account, and/or manage how you receive notifications for individual courses.
A banner describes the settings you are managing. Another banner indicates the times when daily and weekly notifications will be delivered. To dismiss a banner message, click the close icon.
By default, the "settings for" dropdown menu displays the Account option. Account-level notification settings apply to all of your Canvas courses; however, any course-specific notification settings override account notification settings.
You can view your current account-level settings. Account-level notification types are listed by category. There are notifications for course activities, discussions, conversations, groups, scheduling, and conferences.
You can also view your contact methods, such as email addresses, and push notifications for mobile devices.
Each notification has a default delivery frequency setting. To view the current notification delivery frequency for a notification type and contact method, hover over the notification icon.
To view details for a notification, hover the cursor over the notification name. View details such as the activities that trigger the notification.
Each notification is set to a default setting.
To change the notification for a contact method, locate the notification and click the icon for the contact method.
To receive a notification right away, select the "Notify immediately" option. These notifications may be delayed by up to one hour in case an instructor makes additional changes, which prevents you from being spammed by multiple notifications in a short amount of time.
To receive a daily notification, select the "Daily summary" option. The date and time of your daily notifications are posted in a banner at the top of the notification settings page.
To receive a weekly notification, select the "Weekly summary" option. The date and time of your weekly notifications are posted in a banner at the top of the notification settings page.
If you do not want to receive a notification, select the "Notifications off" option.
Unsupported notification types display the unsupported icon. You cannot manage unsupported notifications.
If you have enabled "Push Notifications" in the Canvas student mobile app on an Android device or on an IOS device, you can manage your settings in the "Push Notification" column. Push Notifications can only be sent to your mobile device right away or not at all. Daily and weekly notification options are not supported.
Some categories include limited availability for push notifications. For full details about supported notifications for push notifications, refer to the Canvas notifications resource document.
This guide covered "How to manage my Canvas notification settings.
Keep these tips in mind when preparing to be successful in an online course:
You should devote at least the same amount of time to your online courses as you would to attending lectures on campus and completing assignments. Other good study habits, such as attending class (logging on) regularly and taking notes, are as important in an online course as in a lecture hall.
You should devote 10-12 hours weekly to completing lesson readings and assignments. Your learning will be most effective when you engage with the course every day.
Take every opportunity to interact with the content, the instructor, and your classmates by completing assignments and participating in discussion forums and group activities!
Keep in sync with what is happening in the course and stay on top of deadlines and upcoming assignments. If you fall behind, it can be difficult to catch up.
Ask for guidance when needed. Email the instructor directly through Canvas.
The links below will connect you with other resources to help support your successful online learning experience:
This website links to resources on everything from taking notes online to managing your time effectively. Please note that you must be a World Campus student to receive some of the support services mentioned on this website.
This website provides resources to help you learn to use technology, access Penn State tools, and purchase and download software.
This blog features posts by Penn State staff and students on a variety of topics relevant to online learning. Learn from online students, alumni, and staff members about how you can get the most out of your online course experience.
The iStudy online learning tutorials are free to all Penn State students. They cover a broad range of topics, including online learning readiness, time management, stress management, and statistics - among many others. Check out the extensive list of topics for yourself to see what topics may be of most use to you!
This website provides access to an extensive free online training library, with tutorials on everything from creating presentations to using mobile apps for education. There is a wealth of information here - all provided free of charge to Penn State faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students.
If you understand what you've read in this orientation, and make every effort to follow these guidelines, than you'll be well on your way to having a successful experience this term. I look forward to interacting with you throughout the term, and hope you'll take every opportunity possible to get the most out of the learning experiences you encounter in this class.
You have reached the end of the Course Orientation. Double-check the lesson to-do list on the Orientation Checklist page (the second page of this lesson) to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there.
Complete the "Initial Course Survey"
This survey contains questions about you and your expectations for this course. To access the Initial Course Survey:
Click on the Lesson 1: The GPS Signal link in the course menu to begin.
Links
[1] https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1780857
[2] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-4121
[3] https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/Student-Getting-Started-Resources/ta-p/579371
[4] https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/tkb-p/student
[5] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1284
[6] https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/tkb-p/student#Announcements
[7] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1293
[8] https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/tkb-p/student#Inbox
[9] https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/tkb-p/student#Discussions
[10] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1285
[11] https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/How-do-I-manage-my-Canvas-notification-settings/ta-p/615326
[12] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1559
[13] https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1666
[14] https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/tkb-p/basics
[15] https://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/academic-support-resources/strategies-to-improve-online-learning
[16] https://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/help-and-support/technical-support
[17] https://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/blog
[18] http://istudy.psu.edu/
[19] https://linkedinlearning.psu.edu/