August 8, 2023 • 37 mins
In this episode, we are exploring ways to set up your Learning Management System (LMS) effectively and efficiently to optimize course organization and learning for your students. We'll go over tips, strategies, and ideas for setting up your LMS, whether it is Brightspace, Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, or something else.
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Featured Content
**For detailed show notes, please visit our website at https://edugals.com/56**
- Use your LMS, even if you are fully face-to-face
- Layout and Homepage:
- This is your doorway into your virtual classroom
- Easy navigation - minimize the links to the essentials
- Link all of your other tools within the content area
- Include contact info on homepage
- Announcements
- Brightspace Part 1 and Brightspace Part 2 episodes
- Organization:
- Embed third party tools (EdPuzzle, Google Slides, YouTube videos, etc) into your content area
- Link in Google Docs when it makes sense
- Use consistent naming & numbering systems (reduces cognitive load)
- Folders - units, weeks, whatever works best for you
- Use your announcements to lay out weekly expectations
- Include student voice in planning and organization
- Include visuals and make it look pretty - design is important (consistent fonts, icons, emojis, etc to reduce cognitive load and increase engagement)
- It's okay to set up your LMS to meet your needs, just make sure you create an intro video to help your students navigate it - Screencastify is great!
- Canva is a great tool for design - Canvas Banner, Canvas Button, Google Classroom Header (also a Style Your LMS category available)
- Inclusion Ideas:
- Include important cultural celebrations
- Add your personality - Bitmoji or GIPHY is great and integrated into Canva
- Have students design your classroom banners - include languages represented in your classroom too
- Design With Canva YouTube channel
- A Scary Suggestion:
- A little bit of basic coding (HTML and CSS) goes a long way!
- Code Academy (look under Web Development)
- This helps with interactive elements in your LMS - buttons, flipcards, etc.
- Final Advice:
- Use student-friendly language to increase accessibility
Connect with EduGals:
- Twitter @EduGals
- Rachel @dr_r_johnson
- Katie @KatieAttwell
- EduGals Website
- Support the show
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rachel (00:24):
Welcome to the Edge U Gals podcast.
We are your co-host RachelJohnson and
Katie (00:29):
Katie Atwell.
We are here to bring you tipsand tricks to help you integrate
technology into your classroom.
Rachel (00:39):
In this episode, Katie and I are gonna be talking all
about how to set up your virtuallearning environment for the
upcoming school year.
We are
Katie (00:48):
going to give you some tips and strategies on how you
can make it safe.
And inclusive and easilyaccessible for all of your
students.
Rachel (00:56):
Let's get started.
This week, Katie and I are gonnabe talking all about how to set
up your virtual learning space,so how to create a space that's
safe and inclusive for yourstudents, and also like really
well organized and efficient foruse.
(01:20):
Sort of, especially because, youknow, we've been, at least in
our district, have been usingBrightspace for over a year now.
We thought we'd talk about someof the tips and tricks to get us
started.
Yeah.
We're, we're
Katie (01:33):
very hopeful for return to in-person learning this fall.
But if there's anything that wehave learned over this past year
and a half, it's that.
Best laid plans tend to failmiserably, so you have to be
ready for a backup plan.
So while it would be great tonot have to do any sort of
virtual spaces, the reality isprobably that we need to still
(01:55):
include some of that for thiscoming school year.
Rachel (01:58):
Yeah, and a virtual learning space is great, even if
you are fully.
Face-to-face.
So having that digital space andblending your learning in your
classroom can be super, superuseful for you and your
students.
Katie (02:12):
I think part of the hesitation, and here I go, um,
Before, when we were in person,we were allowed to use Google
Classroom as a virtual space cuzit's just so easy to navigate
and students knew it and it'skind of just very simple.
But with this shift, and I don'tknow if it was coincidental with
the pandemic, but this wholeidea of using Brightspace, which
(02:35):
is more cumbersome and uh,harder to kind of navigate and
set up in such a way, I think alot of us.
At least that I know of arereally hoping for a little more
flexibility with what virtualspace we use.
But I suppose time will tell.
So yes.
So we'll still kind of sharethe, the approved LMS that we
are working with, but we'll alsogive some general tips for any
(02:59):
sort of LMS that you may be
Rachel (03:01):
using.
Yeah, so we've been usingBrightspace as if you've been
listening to the podcast for anylength of time, you, you would
know that and you would knowour.
Our likes and our dislikes withthe platform.
But really any of the, the tipswe talk about here today, you
could do in like Canvas or youcould do in Google Classroom or
Schoology or any of those LMSplatforms.
(03:25):
Okay.
Katie (03:25):
So why don't we get started with, let's see, let's
talk a little bit about layoutand homepage.
Rachel (03:30):
Yeah, I think that's a really good starting place cuz
you wanna kind of think about.
How you wanna lay things outthis year, especially in terms
of organization and what it'sgonna look like for your
students when they first log in,because.
If you think about your virtuallearning space, basically when
they first come in and jump ontothat homepage, it's like them
(03:51):
walking into the door of yourclassroom.
So you wanna
Katie (03:54):
make sure it's easy for them to access and kind of easy
to navigate from there.
So I mean, the good thing abouta physical classroom is you walk
in and you can see everythinglaid out clearly, and you kind
of know where, where you need tobe.
Yeah, well, when you're in avirtual space, it's not always
as clear, especially for it likehow you set up your LMS could
(04:15):
make a really, really bigdifference.
And so what you should do iskind of think of it from the
perspective of a student.
Log into your lms, go to yourcourse homepage, and then, you
know, take a look, say, Can mystudents easily navigate this?
What are they going to havequestions about?
And how can I make this moreaccessible and easier for them
(04:36):
to
Rachel (04:36):
understand?
And one big thing that you cando right away is think about the
navigation menu.
It d again, it doesn't matterwhat LMS you're in, so if you're
in Brightspace, it's your navbar.
If you're in Canvas, it's thatside panel that you can go in
and change.
I don't know what it is inSchoology, cuz I don't really
use Schoology, but I am surethat there is some sort of
(04:58):
navigation menu that you cancustomize for yourself.
So really what you wanna do isin Brightspace, for example, go
in and create a custom nav barand decide what links you want
up on there.
And really, I think my sort ofgeneral tip here is less is
more.
Katie (05:18):
Yeah.
Don't leave up all of the extrasthat you're never going to use,
that will only cause moreconfusion.
Cuz then students are like, whatis this?
And why do I never click onthis?
And, and is there a reason forit?
Does this mean I have to knowit?
And it causes more stress andpanic than necessary.
So I know for me, I take awayeverything that I don't use.
(05:40):
So I get rid of the Dropbox, Iget rid of pretty much
everything other than contentclass list, email, the teacher.
Like things that I know that Ineed my students to use.
Rachel (05:50):
Yeah.
And what I use, uh, has comedown quite a bit over the years
as well, and I, you know,because I've had lots of
experience as an e-learningteacher, right?
So I have a whole bunch of stuffthat I used to do in the past,
and I, I used to have a wholebunch of stuff in my nav bar,
but now I'm kind of down tohaving a course home.
Content grades, and then theedit course, which is for me,
(06:15):
and I'm kind of playing aroundwith the idea of like using the
portfolio tool as, as we kind ofgo forward.
Cuz I think there's some reallykind of neat uses for that in
terms of the stuff that, uh, um,I've been kind of working on
like the modern classroomsproject and the end grading
stuff and, and things like that.
But yeah, I would get rid ofeverything else and then I.
(06:38):
What you wanna do is think aboutany of those, like other tools
you use within your lms.
Just link it all in the contentarea.
I think most LMSs allow you todo that, so it's better for your
students to be able to justclick on one.
Place and have everything in oneplace rather than having a bunch
of different things that theyneed to click on in your
(07:00):
navigation menu.
And so
Katie (07:02):
on your homepage, I strongly recommend having some
sort of, you know, contactinformation blurb where you kind
of tell them your email address,maybe where your classroom is,
your workroom or office, andjust kind of lay that out so
that if they do forget, it's aneasy place to go back and say,
oh, Great.
This is where I can find Ms.
Atwell or Dr.
(07:22):
J.
Awesome.
Um, it just makes it easier forstudents.
And then the other thing I wouldsay is have some, some sort of
announcements.
So there's two options onBrightspace.
So there's the newsfeed and theactivity feed.
And so use those.
I use both of them for differentpurposes.
I know some people, you know,limit it to just one of those.
(07:43):
It's really up to you, but it'sgreat to have a place to put any
current announcements or thingsyou really want students to be
aware of.
Rachel (07:49):
Yeah, and you know what's funny is we recorded some
Brightspace episodes lastsummer.
We had a special guest on aswell, and talked about a whole
bunch of that Brightspace stuff,and at that point I was very,
Much in Team Newsfeed.
I would say this year though Iam in Team Activity Feed.
Nice.
And it's changed and I think thereason it's changed is because,
(08:14):
I don't know, it feels morenatural in terms of like that
flow of being able to talk anddiscuss and your students being
able to add comments and replyon there as well.
It feels very much more like thestream on Google Classroom.
Than the newsfeed does.
So I really like the activityfeed and you know, you can even
(08:35):
embed YouTube videos and stufflike that on there.
So it's, it's actually prettygood and I really like it.
Katie (08:41):
I use them both, but I use them differently.
So on my newsfeed, I do like thecalendar.
It was a quad.
System.
So I had the quad calendar upthere and then any sort of like
stuff that isn't going to changeand you don't really need to
comment on, so things I need youto see but you, you likely don't
have questions about.
I put that all there.
But then sharing any sort of,Hey, this is what we're doing
(09:04):
differently today for class orjoin this Google Meet link, or
whatever the case may be.
I would put on my activity
Rachel (09:09):
feed.
See, I probably would set thingsup slightly different than you
then.
So like that static informationthat I need instead of sticking
in a newsfeed post along with mycontact information and all of
that jazz, I would probably justcreate a custom widget.
On my homepage that has thatcontact information and then has
(09:29):
maybe a Google Slides embeddedin there that I can update with,
you know, just that important,like, here's this one sort of
bit of news I need you to see,and I, I want it to always
appear up at, you know, the topof the page.
And so I would say like customwidgets are, are a good way to
go in Brightspace.
I don't know, I don't think theyhave an equivalent in Canvas.
(09:53):
I've, I've used Canvas a littlebit, but I haven't used it all
that much.
But I think you can.
There is an announcements toolin there for sure.
And I think you can also add alot of stuff to your homepage.
So you could probably dosomething similar in terms of
format there.
And it really
Katie (10:09):
comes down to whatever you're comfortable with.
So play around with it, see whatyou like, and, and find a way
that works for everyoneessentially.
Rachel (10:18):
Now, if we keep going along the theme of organization.
First.
Then I think my next sort of bigtip would be to embed whatever
you can.
So I kind of alluded to that afew seconds ago when I talked
about embedding a Google Slidesinto a custom widget.
But I would say in your contentarea, when you're structuring
(10:39):
all of your resources in there,I know it scares a lot of people
to u make use of the actualcontent pages within
Brightspace, but.
They're actually really great interms of being able to embed
stuff in there.
So you could, you can embedanything that you can go get an
embed code for.
So you could embed an EDpuzzlevideo in there, or you could
(11:01):
embed Google Slides in there, oryou can embed a YouTube video or
you can embed, like anythingthat gives you an embed code,
you can stick within thosecontent pages.
And the reason I sort of suggestthat is because you wanna keep
your students in your LMS asmuch as you can.
You don't want them navigatingaway to third party apps where
they might get lost down therabbit hole.
Katie (11:22):
And when you say embed, are you saying like create an
HTML page within Brightspace andembed it there?
Yeah.
Rachel (11:29):
And my recommendation for going with an HTML page
versus just linking in GoogleDocs, yes, it takes a bit more
time cuz you have to create yourresources.
But the time is worth it becausethen things like screen readers
are gonna be able to read thatcontent so much easier than if
you've got an embedded GoogleDoc.
(11:49):
They would, the students wouldhave to open that Google Doc in
a separate window and then openup Google, read and write or use
other extensions and stuff likethat to get it to read.
So that's part of the reason whyI like it.
And then, Also because yes, it,it's keeping them locked into
that one place and then they canjust click on stuff.
It works.
(12:10):
Then pretty much like any sortof webpage, I have enjoyed
Katie (12:14):
how convenient it is to just kind of insert a Google Doc
and have it be able to be seenand whatnot right there versus
creating the html and I thinktime this year was a huge
factor.
Now, perhaps with a little moretime with the modified semester
as.
Is currently planned, it couldbe easier to navigate and figure
(12:34):
out and get it all
Rachel (12:34):
done.
Yeah, and, and, and that makessense, right?
If it makes more sense to justhave it in a Google doc and it's
a, it's a question of time andnot having enough time to be
able to put those resourcestogether, like just throw your
link to your Google Doc inthere.
It's better that your studentshave the content than to fiddle
around and fuss around with yourlms.
But if you've got the time,Which as teachers we never do.
(13:00):
But if you do have a little bitof time here and there, it's
good to start to kind of buildup those resources, especially
for the courses that you tend toteach over and over again, cuz
it will pay off in the long run.
It's
Katie (13:11):
true.
You then have a ready builtresource that you can copy into
a new course if you need to orwant to.
Yeah, no,
Rachel (13:18):
there is a lot to be said about that.
And kind of going along withthat too is as you're kind of
putting your resources anddifferent things into your
content area, you wanna thinkabout the structure of how
you're putting stuff in there.
So think about consistent namingconventions you're gonna use, or
consistent numbering systemsthat you wanna use and stick
(13:39):
with it.
Students really, really.
Benefit from consistency likethat.
And it actually helps to reducethat cognitive load for your
students so that they don't haveto think about, oh, where am I
gonna go find this?
And just kind of focus on thecontent.
So as much as you can make thatsort of seamless and in the
background, that is really,really, really gonna help.
Katie (14:01):
And, and some of that is going to be a learning curve,
especially if you're new to anlms.
Like even me last year, like Ithink I started off with units,
but then because of.
The large time blocks, I foundthat I was kind of flipping
between units to kind of help doa clear separation in our
learning and make it easier.
And so then I was like, thisunit thing is not working
(14:22):
anymore.
And so then I was like, I thinkit's easier to do by weeks.
And so by the end of the year Iwas doing like instead of doing
units, I was doing week by weekand showing a breakdown of what
we were doing it that way, youreally do have to figure out
what works best for you and yourstudents.
And so that could even besomething you ask your students
about, like, what is easier foryou to navigate?
(14:42):
Is it easier for you to see whatwe did for that week?
And for me to label it as such,is it easier for me to do it by
units so that it's all therekind of content wise and it all
links together?
It all comes down to the type ofcourse, course you're teaching
and what works best for you andyour
Rachel (14:58):
students.
Yeah, for sure, and I used to,as an e-learning teacher, I
would organize stuff stillwithin units, which is fine, but
then I would make sure at thebeginning of every week, so
every Monday, It was consistent,you know, right at eight o'clock
in the morning, I wouldpreschedule these newsfeed posts
and it would list and say, hereis what you should get done this
(15:21):
week.
A, B, C, D, E, and like really,really laying it out very
clearly with clear suggested duedates too.
So if you wanna keep it inunits, that's fine, but maybe
have a place in your activityfeed or your newsfeed, or your
announcements or whatever youhave within your L M s.
So that you've got some reallyclear messaging about the
(15:43):
expectations.
And
Katie (15:45):
I think one thing to also consider is how to involve your
students.
And I know it seems reallybackwards because we're so used
to trying to prep ahead of timeand plan and get it all done,
but you'd be su.
Pride, the difference that itmakes when you involve students
in that planning and in thatorganization in helping them to
(16:05):
figure out what works
Rachel (16:07):
in the long term.
Yeah.
So survey your students, throwout a Google forum and just say
like, Hey, we've got it set upthis way this week.
What do you like?
What do you not like?
What could we improve and gettheir input that way?
That would be a really easything to do.
Katie (16:22):
And, um, include lots of visuals in your content.
Find ways to make it lookaesthetically pleasing, because
I don't know about you, but whenI'm taking a course, it's easy
for me to follow along if I havevisual cues that are consistent
throughout the course andthroughout the unit, because
then it's almost like I'm, I'mdrawing my eyes towards this and
I'm like, oh, awesome.
(16:42):
I know what this means.
Next up, I'm gonna do this.
So be consistent, but, but makeit more aesthetically pleasing.
And I know that soundssuperficial, but it goes a long
way to support students and keep
Rachel (16:54):
them on track.
It does sound superficial,right?
But making it look pretty, andthis is sort of a big thing that
I really, really love doing.
It does serve a purpose.
It increases student engagementbecause they're seeing something
that looks visually appealing tothem.
So they're gonna be naturallykind of drawn to the page and
(17:14):
looking at it.
And then if you are really,really, I don't know what the
right word is, but like really,really kind of aware of how
you're designing things andbeing consistent in your design.
Like Katie said, it can be usedas visual cues then to be like,
okay, this is.
This kind of activity.
So this is what's gonna beexpected of me, so this is what
(17:37):
I need to do.
And having those visual cues,again, it reduces that cognitive
load.
And I think that's a big part ofwhy students dislike an LMS or
they dislike Brightspace or theydislike certain things about
learning in that virtual spaceis because of inconsistencies.
(18:01):
And you don't always noticethose inconsistencies until
someone kind of points them outto you and then you're like, oh
yeah, okay.
That's why that's bugging me andI don't understand.
So making sure like all thefonts are the same and you're
using, if you use emojis likeyou're using consistent emojis
throughout the semester, likejust really being aware of those
(18:22):
design elements is gonna make ahuge difference.
And to be honest, I
Katie (18:25):
think that teachers feel the same way, I think because
like, Some of these LMS systemsare just so overwhelming and not
as easy to kind of line up andput together quickly, because
let's be honest, Brightspacetakes time and you can make it
look awesome, but it takes a lotof time and a lot of learning in
order to be able to do that.
(18:46):
And so I think that's part ofthe frustration on both ends for
teachers and
Rachel (18:50):
students.
Yeah, for sure.
I would completely agree withthat.
You know, you even think aboutBrightspace and.
When you first log into it, itdepends on how your district has
set up Brightspace.
So if you go watch a YouTubevideo tutorial about
Brightspace, that homepage isgonna look totally different
than the one you see when youlog in.
(19:11):
And then you think about ourstudents and every single course
they have, their teachers aresetting up their Brightspace
core shells differently.
So they have to relearn whereeverything is and, and that sort
of, Piece again.
And then if you add ininconsistencies on top of it in
terms of the design, then that'swhen, yeah, that's when they
(19:32):
start to complain and say like,Hey, like I don't understand
where to find X, Y,
Katie (19:38):
Z.
And I mean, part of it I get,but I also think that teachers
are going to set it updifferently because they have
different courses and operatedifferently.
So I'm not saying that teachersshould be consistent across the
board.
I think it's more when you'resetting it up, It's how you're
explaining it to students andhow you're involving them in the
process so that it feels morenatural for them and, and it is
(20:01):
an inclusive space where theycan open it up and say, I know
this because we did
Rachel (20:06):
this together.
I'm not saying that teachersshould all set it up the same
either, because like you said,everybody does have those
individual needs, so do what'sbest for you.
It's just thinking about.
Being consistent within your owncore shell, and then making sure
you take the time.
If you don't wanna take yourclass time in terms of
explaining your LMS and yoursetup, create a video.
(20:27):
Screencastify is a great tool,right?
But go and just create a reallyquick walkthrough video of here
is our l m s, here's how we'regoing to use it.
Here's where you find stuff.
And just doing that walkthroughwhere students can go back and
reference that video if theyneed to.
Like that's gonna make a bigdifference as well.
(20:49):
Yeah.
Most definitely.
So I would say tools like Canvaare gonna be absolutely
invaluable to you as you're kindof setting up your L M s and
thinking about design.
So you could go into Canva andyou can search for even just a
header.
And it'll come up with Googleclassroom headers, which are
(21:10):
pretty decent in terms of thesizing for most LMSs.
But I think you can also go inand search for Canvas
specifically, which, yeah, so acanvas banner.
Or a Canvas button and you couldgo in and pick one of those and
that's gonna give you theperfect dimensions for Canvas.
And you could go in and designyour headers that way.
(21:33):
They also have a whole categorycalled Style your lms.
Oh, perfect.
Yes, I was looking for that, sothank you for that.
Yeah, especially if you're on aCanva for Education account,
then you'll find that wholecategory of styling your lms,
and there's some really greatstuff in there.
So, Again, just like think aboutmaking sure whatever you design,
(21:53):
pick the same colors, pickcertain images that you use for
certain types of tasks, keep thefonts consistent.
Just sort of thinking about allof those things will make it
seem like your class is reallywell organized.
Katie (22:09):
So many of us as educators, we wanna celebrate
the different events andcelebrations throughout the year
and post, you know, littleannouncements.
One thing I will say is it'simportant that you are looking
up a whole variety of culturalcelebrations and not just ones
based on, you know, the dominantculture in your area.
Uh, we wanna make sure that wehave everyone represented in our
(22:32):
classrooms and using a virtualspace to kind of post about it
and share and celebrate is.
Great.
Just make sure you're beinginclusive of everybody in your
Rachel (22:41):
classroom.
Yeah.
And then again, with Canva, youcould go in and design a little
quick visual that you could postin your activity feed or your
newsfeed or your announcements,wherever you want to, to have
that sort of virtual celebrationThere.
The
Katie (22:55):
other thing you can do with Canva, which is kind of
fun, is you can incorporate yourbitmoji.
Yes.
Which is kind of neat, and it'sa great way to kind of add some
personalization to your virtualspace.
So it's not just a bunch ofwords and images.
They also see a little bit ofyour personality in who you are
in a cartoon character.
Rachel (23:15):
Yeah.
So if you don't know how to dothat, if you are in a design in
Canva, you just kind of wannascroll down.
If you don't see the Bitmoji,that's because you haven't
linked your account yet.
You're just gonna go to the moreoption has three dots.
You click on that.
There is an option for Bitmojithat you click on.
It'll prompt you to sign in, andthen you need to do that in
there.
(23:36):
There's also some other coolthings, like there's Giphy.
You can integrate G GFI giftswithin your designs, which is
kind of really nice too, becausethen you can add a bit of
animation or funny stuff inthere.
And there's, there's some reallyneat tools in there.
I
Katie (23:51):
think the goal really is, Make sure students know you're
human.
You know, you have a sense ofhumor.
You, you have a life outside ofschool and you're not just this
very black and white person infront of a classroom or in a
virtual classroom.
So yeah, add some
Rachel (24:07):
personality.
You say that and I'm.
I'm thinking about, you know,running into students outside of
the classroom and they're alwayslike shellshocked because
they're like, oh my goodness.
You know?
And Dr.
J actually has a life outside ofschool.
Katie (24:20):
Yeah, it's so true.
They're like, what?
My teacher goes out in public.
Rachel (24:28):
What they don't realize is we're kind of like shellshock
to run into them too.
Katie (24:32):
Yes.
It's like, oh man.
What am I wearing?
What do I look like?
Do I look like a crazy parentright now?
I know, right?
But, uh, no, it's fun.
Rachel (24:45):
It's good fun.
The other thing that you coulddo and you could consider if you
wanna include student voice inyour classroom is you don't have
to be the one who designs your.
Classroom banners, so maybe youget your students to design
them, and then you can alternateand run through the different
banners that they've designed atsort of regular intervals.
(25:07):
So every student's featured overthe course of the semester,
Katie (25:11):
and you can even get their input as.
To cultural events that theycelebrate and want to share with
the class.
You can let them design like alittle thing that either
explains it or just says, happywhatever, happy Eat, eat
Mubarak, whatever they happen tocelebrate, but you know, involve
them because you'd be surprisedhow far that goes with them.
(25:31):
That really does show that youcare and that you're willing to
kind of learn more and beflexible and share about a
little bit about
Rachel (25:39):
who they are.
And maybe kind of going alongthen with the last episode we
talked about, where we talkedabout supporting our English
language learners, maybe thatbanner you wanna include, say
the word welcome, but you wannainclude it in all the languages
that are represented in yourclassroom.
It would be really easy to getyour students to write out
welcome in their language orlanguages that they speak, and
(26:01):
then include them all in a Canvadesign on.
Your classroom
Katie (26:05):
banner or even like if you have a science class, why
not put the word science mullythroughout that banner?
So have it in all of thedifferent languages represented
like that way.
That's also one of those thingswhere when they see it, they'll
be like, oh, perfect.
Cuz sometimes they may notalways think in English.
They may be thinking in theirfirst language.
So it kind of helps them
Rachel (26:26):
a little bit.
I really like those ideas.
But yeah, Canva's great.
I've actually been prettyobsessed with it lately and I've
been learning a whole bunch ofstuff that you can do.
So you can even create stopmotion animations in there and
maybe then, If your LMS supportsit, you can create a banner that
has some movement and stopmotion animation in there as
(26:47):
well.
Nice.
And yeah, so there's some reallyneat things you can do in Canva.
I mean, I've kind of beenobsessed.
I didn't realize they had acontent planner.
So if you haven't seen thecontent planner and you like to
make visuals for social mediaand kind of schedule them out,
like that's a really cool tool.
(27:08):
It's not, probably not superuseful as like for the
classroom, unless you'rescheduling stuff out for that,
which maybe you are.
But, um, that, that's reallycool and I've been learning a
lot about that.
And then learning about evencreating like videos with Canva
and, and stuff like that.
There's some really neat thingsyou can do with Canva if you
dive deep in
Katie (27:28):
there.
Nice.
I didn't actually realize the
Rachel (27:30):
videos part.
Yeah, and there's a really greatYouTube channel that I've been
pretty much binge watching forthe past week or so.
So I'll make sure that I grabthe link for that YouTube
channel.
I can't, it's something likeCreate with Canva or so it's
named something like that.
I can't remember the name offthe top of my head, but I'll
make sure I link that in theshow notes.
(27:52):
So if you want to, you canbinge, binge watch it too.
That's awesome.
Now we did talk a little bitabout making it pretty, and I do
have.
I don't know if it's a scaryrecommendation.
Katie (28:04):
I like the way this is starting.
Rachel (28:07):
I am just gonna put this out there though, in that I
think it's a super useful skillfor teachers to learn a little
bit of coding.
And so I hope I haven't lost abunch of you yet.
Stick with me.
But learning a little bit ofbasic html, so that's the codes
that gets, basically does allthe markup behind a webpage and
(28:32):
then learning c, a little bit ofcss.
So that is the sort of look.
And feel of your webpages.
And those two things kind ofwork hand in hand.
But I would say learning alittle bit of both of those goes
a long, long way, especiallywhen you're working in a
learning management system likeBrightspace.
(28:54):
Or Canvas because you can getinto that H T M L page and the
code.
So if something's not workingproperly, you can actually
troubleshoot it and fix it.
Or if it's not looking the wayyou want it to look and you
wanna tweak it, you can.
Katie (29:10):
That definitely sounds scary.
Rachel (29:14):
It does sound scary.
It's not as bad as you think itis though, especially because,
Like, I wouldn't call myself anexpert by any means in terms of
this stuff, especially CSSbecause that's something that
I've just kind of been dabblingin over the past couple years.
But I know enough to get by andI know enough to go, okay, I
(29:35):
wanna do this thing.
So I, I Google it.
You'll find lots of examples outthere of full, full code that
people have written that you canjust copy and paste into your
lms.
So I guess you don't necessarilyneed to be able to speak the
language.
You need to be able to decode itand decipher sort of what's
written and how you mightmanipulate that.
(29:57):
So yeah, it's, it's a littlescary sounding, but I think a
little bit of that sort ofcoding goes a really long way in
an L M s.
Yeah,
Katie (30:07):
and, and, and it does sound like coding is the way
that we are moving towards,especially in education.
It's certainly an area thatintrigues and interests me, but
it also overwhelms and scares meall at once.
Rachel (30:23):
It does for me too, and I've.
Dabbled in a whole bunch ofstuff.
So I really like web design andI've been trying to like gear my
learning then around HTML andcss and then also the coding
language Java script, which, ohmy goodness, like if you know
Java script like that would beso, so useful because Google app
(30:44):
scripts run off of a form ofJavaScripts.
So if you can understandJavaScript, you can script stuff
in Google apps and that is.
If you haven't seen some stuffout there in terms of what you
could do, like that is really,really valuable knowledge to
have.
I am terrible at it, but that,that's sort of my goal is to, to
(31:05):
learn some of that stuff.
But it is, it is just so, souseful and.
Some of that that's not that badto learn.
Like I think those things arethe easier sort of pieces of
coding to learn versus goinginto like the full on, like I
wouldn't know what I was lookingat if I was looking at other
coding languages, but yeah, sothere's some really good
(31:26):
resources out there if you wannakind of learn a little bit and
go along.
With it.
I would say the one that I'veprobably learned the most from
is Code Academy, and so I'llmake sure we get a link to that
in our show notes.
But they have like beginnerstuff.
And then what's really neatabout that program is it gives
(31:46):
you the instructions and tellsyou a bit of information and
then it gives you a panel whereyou can type stuff in, and then
a third panel, which shows youwhat happens when you type that
in.
So it's very.
Hands-on kind of learning, whichis super
Katie (32:00):
useful.
Very cool.
And so when you do some of thiscoding stuff, how do you feel it
is beneficial in an lms?
Like what can you do with it?
Rachel (32:09):
So the one thing that I've kind of realized with
Brightspace, and this has beensome of my learning, even this
summer because I'm working onsome resources in there for
teachers, is I didn't know Icould code in buttons.
Oh.
And added navigation buttons.
And so like that's how you didthat?
Yes.
(32:30):
That's how I, I was showingKatie earlier what this button
that I created that I'm so proudof that took me, I, I don't even
wanna tell you how long thattook me to figure out.
But yeah, like you, you can,like, if you can add in extra
elements that are notnecessarily ready, readily
(32:50):
available within Brightspace orwithin your lms, if you know
some of the code.
Gotcha.
And so things like navigationbuttons, like that's gonna, for
a student feel a lot more like awebpage.
So they're gonna, it's, it'sjust gonna be a little bit
easier for them to navigate cuzthey know if they see a big
button, like click on that and.
It just, again, it goes back tomaking things as streamlined as
(33:14):
you can.
That makes
Katie (33:15):
sense.
So it adds more personalizationand customization to your l m s
page
Rachel (33:21):
essentially.
Yeah, and so the summertime isit's a great time to kind of
learn and play with those sortof things cuz there's no kind of
time pressure.
And if you've got the timeduring the school year to add
them in, then you add them in.
And if you don't, it's okay.
It's again, it's another one ofthose like just extra sort of
added things that can reallyimprove your L M s but are not
Katie (33:43):
essential.
Yes.
And I think that's the bigthing.
So any suggestions we're giving,I mean, you have to do what you
can.
You can't create time andsometimes you may not be able to
do all of these suggestions orany of them really.
I.
Get that entirely, and there'sno pressure.
These are just kind of, here aresome things to keep in mind so
(34:04):
that maybe as you're adding toyour content throughout the
year, you can add someconsistency.
You can make it a little saferand inclusive for students so
that it's easier for them tolearn in that
Rachel (34:15):
space.
Yeah, so I'm, I'm sort ofthinking.
With some of the H T M L and thec s s stuff is once I kind of
figure it out on my own and, andknow how to do it, then I'm
gonna create some instructionalvideos for staff.
So if they want to try it out,they can.
And if they don't want to,that's okay.
But you know, just kind of goinghere, like, here's the code,
(34:37):
just copy and paste it, throw itin your lms like, I've already
done all the back work for you.
You know, I sort of see that aspart of my role as a coach in
our school board.
So.
Yep.
Katie (34:47):
That makes sense.
I think my last piece of advice,and it's gonna seem really
obvious, is just using studentfriendly language.
I think sometimes we operate ined, you speak and curriculum
talk and higher level kind ofacademic language, and I think
it's important that we remember.
The students we're interactingwith are teenagers.
(35:09):
You know, they haven't beenthrough university, they haven't
done a Master's or a PhD, or anyof these things.
So really make sure that thelanguage that you're using is
accessible to every single oneof your students, because that's
really gonna make a hugedifference.
Rachel (35:25):
For all of them.
Yeah, it's almost like writing ablog post, right?
Yeah.
You don't write it in academiclanguage, you write it in
language that's conversationaland easy to understand.
So if you kinda take thatperspective in terms of the
information you're posting inyour L M S, I think that's gonna
go a long way.
Katie (35:43):
And it doesn't really matter if it's.
Applied academic open universitycollege mix.
The level doesn't matter.
You know, at the end of the day,they're all teenagers and they
are navigating different LMSplatforms and, and courses and
they, they just need to be ableto understand what they're
reading.
Yeah.
So that's my kind of last pieceof advice, I think.
Rachel (36:06):
I think that's a great one to wrap our conversation up
with.
So we will make sure that weinclude any of the links and
resources that we talked abouthere today in our show notes,
and you can access our shownotes for this episode@edals.com
slash 56.
That's edu G A L s.
(36:27):
Dot com slash 56.
Katie (36:29):
And if you think that a friend or colleague would
benefit from this episode, thenplease feel free to share it
with them.
And don't forget to subscribe onyour favorite podcast app so
that you don't miss out on anyfuture
Rachel (36:40):
content.
And as always, we would love tohear from you.
So if you have any suggestionson how you are setting up your
virtual learning space this yearthat we haven't talked about
here today, Then let us know.
You can go onto our Flipgrid atEd ugas.com/flipgrid and leave
us a message there, or you canleave us a message on our
(37:01):
website@edugas.com.
Katie (37:04):
Thanks for listening and see you in two weeks.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of our edu Gals podcast.
Show notes for this episode areavailable@edugals.com.
That's E D U G A L s.com.
(37:26):
We'd also love to hear yourfeedback, so leave us a message
on our website
Rachel (37:30):
and if you enjoyed what you heard, please subscribe and
consider leaving a rating orreview on your favorite podcast
app.
Until next time.
Keep being awesome and trysomething new.
Welcome to the Edge U Gals podcast.
We are your co-host RachelJohnson and
Katie (00:29):
Katie Atwell.
We are here to bring you tipsand tricks to help you integrate
technology into your classroom.
Rachel (00:39):
In this episode, Katie and I are gonna be talking all
about how to set up your virtuallearning environment for the
upcoming school year.
We are
Katie (00:48):
going to give you some tips and strategies on how you
can make it safe.
And inclusive and easilyaccessible for all of your
students.
Rachel (00:56):
Let's get started.
This week, Katie and I are gonnabe talking all about how to set
up your virtual learning space,so how to create a space that's
safe and inclusive for yourstudents, and also like really
well organized and efficient foruse.
(01:20):
Sort of, especially because, youknow, we've been, at least in
our district, have been usingBrightspace for over a year now.
We thought we'd talk about someof the tips and tricks to get us
started.
Yeah.
We're, we're
Katie (01:33):
very hopeful for return to in-person learning this fall.
But if there's anything that wehave learned over this past year
and a half, it's that.
Best laid plans tend to failmiserably, so you have to be
ready for a backup plan.
So while it would be great tonot have to do any sort of
virtual spaces, the reality isprobably that we need to still
(01:55):
include some of that for thiscoming school year.
Rachel (01:58):
Yeah, and a virtual learning space is great, even if
you are fully.
Face-to-face.
So having that digital space andblending your learning in your
classroom can be super, superuseful for you and your
students.
Katie (02:12):
I think part of the hesitation, and here I go, um,
Before, when we were in person,we were allowed to use Google
Classroom as a virtual space cuzit's just so easy to navigate
and students knew it and it'skind of just very simple.
But with this shift, and I don'tknow if it was coincidental with
the pandemic, but this wholeidea of using Brightspace, which
(02:35):
is more cumbersome and uh,harder to kind of navigate and
set up in such a way, I think alot of us.
At least that I know of arereally hoping for a little more
flexibility with what virtualspace we use.
But I suppose time will tell.
So yes.
So we'll still kind of sharethe, the approved LMS that we
are working with, but we'll alsogive some general tips for any
(02:59):
sort of LMS that you may be
Rachel (03:01):
using.
Yeah, so we've been usingBrightspace as if you've been
listening to the podcast for anylength of time, you, you would
know that and you would knowour.
Our likes and our dislikes withthe platform.
But really any of the, the tipswe talk about here today, you
could do in like Canvas or youcould do in Google Classroom or
Schoology or any of those LMSplatforms.
(03:25):
Okay.
Katie (03:25):
So why don't we get started with, let's see, let's
talk a little bit about layoutand homepage.
Rachel (03:30):
Yeah, I think that's a really good starting place cuz
you wanna kind of think about.
How you wanna lay things outthis year, especially in terms
of organization and what it'sgonna look like for your
students when they first log in,because.
If you think about your virtuallearning space, basically when
they first come in and jump ontothat homepage, it's like them
(03:51):
walking into the door of yourclassroom.
So you wanna
Katie (03:54):
make sure it's easy for them to access and kind of easy
to navigate from there.
So I mean, the good thing abouta physical classroom is you walk
in and you can see everythinglaid out clearly, and you kind
of know where, where you need tobe.
Yeah, well, when you're in avirtual space, it's not always
as clear, especially for it likehow you set up your LMS could
(04:15):
make a really, really bigdifference.
And so what you should do iskind of think of it from the
perspective of a student.
Log into your lms, go to yourcourse homepage, and then, you
know, take a look, say, Can mystudents easily navigate this?
What are they going to havequestions about?
And how can I make this moreaccessible and easier for them
(04:36):
to
Rachel (04:36):
understand?
And one big thing that you cando right away is think about the
navigation menu.
It d again, it doesn't matterwhat LMS you're in, so if you're
in Brightspace, it's your navbar.
If you're in Canvas, it's thatside panel that you can go in
and change.
I don't know what it is inSchoology, cuz I don't really
use Schoology, but I am surethat there is some sort of
(04:58):
navigation menu that you cancustomize for yourself.
So really what you wanna do isin Brightspace, for example, go
in and create a custom nav barand decide what links you want
up on there.
And really, I think my sort ofgeneral tip here is less is
more.
Katie (05:18):
Yeah.
Don't leave up all of the extrasthat you're never going to use,
that will only cause moreconfusion.
Cuz then students are like, whatis this?
And why do I never click onthis?
And, and is there a reason forit?
Does this mean I have to knowit?
And it causes more stress andpanic than necessary.
So I know for me, I take awayeverything that I don't use.
(05:40):
So I get rid of the Dropbox, Iget rid of pretty much
everything other than contentclass list, email, the teacher.
Like things that I know that Ineed my students to use.
Rachel (05:50):
Yeah.
And what I use, uh, has comedown quite a bit over the years
as well, and I, you know,because I've had lots of
experience as an e-learningteacher, right?
So I have a whole bunch of stuffthat I used to do in the past,
and I, I used to have a wholebunch of stuff in my nav bar,
but now I'm kind of down tohaving a course home.
Content grades, and then theedit course, which is for me,
(06:15):
and I'm kind of playing aroundwith the idea of like using the
portfolio tool as, as we kind ofgo forward.
Cuz I think there's some reallykind of neat uses for that in
terms of the stuff that, uh, um,I've been kind of working on
like the modern classroomsproject and the end grading
stuff and, and things like that.
But yeah, I would get rid ofeverything else and then I.
(06:38):
What you wanna do is think aboutany of those, like other tools
you use within your lms.
Just link it all in the contentarea.
I think most LMSs allow you todo that, so it's better for your
students to be able to justclick on one.
Place and have everything in oneplace rather than having a bunch
of different things that theyneed to click on in your
(07:00):
navigation menu.
And so
Katie (07:02):
on your homepage, I strongly recommend having some
sort of, you know, contactinformation blurb where you kind
of tell them your email address,maybe where your classroom is,
your workroom or office, andjust kind of lay that out so
that if they do forget, it's aneasy place to go back and say,
oh, Great.
This is where I can find Ms.
Atwell or Dr.
(07:22):
J.
Awesome.
Um, it just makes it easier forstudents.
And then the other thing I wouldsay is have some, some sort of
announcements.
So there's two options onBrightspace.
So there's the newsfeed and theactivity feed.
And so use those.
I use both of them for differentpurposes.
I know some people, you know,limit it to just one of those.
(07:43):
It's really up to you, but it'sgreat to have a place to put any
current announcements or thingsyou really want students to be
aware of.
Rachel (07:49):
Yeah, and you know what's funny is we recorded some
Brightspace episodes lastsummer.
We had a special guest on aswell, and talked about a whole
bunch of that Brightspace stuff,and at that point I was very,
Much in Team Newsfeed.
I would say this year though Iam in Team Activity Feed.
Nice.
And it's changed and I think thereason it's changed is because,
(08:14):
I don't know, it feels morenatural in terms of like that
flow of being able to talk anddiscuss and your students being
able to add comments and replyon there as well.
It feels very much more like thestream on Google Classroom.
Than the newsfeed does.
So I really like the activityfeed and you know, you can even
(08:35):
embed YouTube videos and stufflike that on there.
So it's, it's actually prettygood and I really like it.
Katie (08:41):
I use them both, but I use them differently.
So on my newsfeed, I do like thecalendar.
It was a quad.
System.
So I had the quad calendar upthere and then any sort of like
stuff that isn't going to changeand you don't really need to
comment on, so things I need youto see but you, you likely don't
have questions about.
I put that all there.
But then sharing any sort of,Hey, this is what we're doing
(09:04):
differently today for class orjoin this Google Meet link, or
whatever the case may be.
I would put on my activity
Rachel (09:09):
feed.
See, I probably would set thingsup slightly different than you
then.
So like that static informationthat I need instead of sticking
in a newsfeed post along with mycontact information and all of
that jazz, I would probably justcreate a custom widget.
On my homepage that has thatcontact information and then has
(09:29):
maybe a Google Slides embeddedin there that I can update with,
you know, just that important,like, here's this one sort of
bit of news I need you to see,and I, I want it to always
appear up at, you know, the topof the page.
And so I would say like customwidgets are, are a good way to
go in Brightspace.
I don't know, I don't think theyhave an equivalent in Canvas.
(09:53):
I've, I've used Canvas a littlebit, but I haven't used it all
that much.
But I think you can.
There is an announcements toolin there for sure.
And I think you can also add alot of stuff to your homepage.
So you could probably dosomething similar in terms of
format there.
And it really
Katie (10:09):
comes down to whatever you're comfortable with.
So play around with it, see whatyou like, and, and find a way
that works for everyoneessentially.
Rachel (10:18):
Now, if we keep going along the theme of organization.
First.
Then I think my next sort of bigtip would be to embed whatever
you can.
So I kind of alluded to that afew seconds ago when I talked
about embedding a Google Slidesinto a custom widget.
But I would say in your contentarea, when you're structuring
(10:39):
all of your resources in there,I know it scares a lot of people
to u make use of the actualcontent pages within
Brightspace, but.
They're actually really great interms of being able to embed
stuff in there.
So you could, you can embedanything that you can go get an
embed code for.
So you could embed an EDpuzzlevideo in there, or you could
(11:01):
embed Google Slides in there, oryou can embed a YouTube video or
you can embed, like anythingthat gives you an embed code,
you can stick within thosecontent pages.
And the reason I sort of suggestthat is because you wanna keep
your students in your LMS asmuch as you can.
You don't want them navigatingaway to third party apps where
they might get lost down therabbit hole.
Katie (11:22):
And when you say embed, are you saying like create an
HTML page within Brightspace andembed it there?
Yeah.
Rachel (11:29):
And my recommendation for going with an HTML page
versus just linking in GoogleDocs, yes, it takes a bit more
time cuz you have to create yourresources.
But the time is worth it becausethen things like screen readers
are gonna be able to read thatcontent so much easier than if
you've got an embedded GoogleDoc.
(11:49):
They would, the students wouldhave to open that Google Doc in
a separate window and then openup Google, read and write or use
other extensions and stuff likethat to get it to read.
So that's part of the reason whyI like it.
And then, Also because yes, it,it's keeping them locked into
that one place and then they canjust click on stuff.
It works.
(12:10):
Then pretty much like any sortof webpage, I have enjoyed
Katie (12:14):
how convenient it is to just kind of insert a Google Doc
and have it be able to be seenand whatnot right there versus
creating the html and I thinktime this year was a huge
factor.
Now, perhaps with a little moretime with the modified semester
as.
Is currently planned, it couldbe easier to navigate and figure
(12:34):
out and get it all
Rachel (12:34):
done.
Yeah, and, and, and that makessense, right?
If it makes more sense to justhave it in a Google doc and it's
a, it's a question of time andnot having enough time to be
able to put those resourcestogether, like just throw your
link to your Google Doc inthere.
It's better that your studentshave the content than to fiddle
around and fuss around with yourlms.
But if you've got the time,Which as teachers we never do.
(13:00):
But if you do have a little bitof time here and there, it's
good to start to kind of buildup those resources, especially
for the courses that you tend toteach over and over again, cuz
it will pay off in the long run.
It's
Katie (13:11):
true.
You then have a ready builtresource that you can copy into
a new course if you need to orwant to.
Yeah, no,
Rachel (13:18):
there is a lot to be said about that.
And kind of going along withthat too is as you're kind of
putting your resources anddifferent things into your
content area, you wanna thinkabout the structure of how
you're putting stuff in there.
So think about consistent namingconventions you're gonna use, or
consistent numbering systemsthat you wanna use and stick
(13:39):
with it.
Students really, really.
Benefit from consistency likethat.
And it actually helps to reducethat cognitive load for your
students so that they don't haveto think about, oh, where am I
gonna go find this?
And just kind of focus on thecontent.
So as much as you can make thatsort of seamless and in the
background, that is really,really, really gonna help.
Katie (14:01):
And, and some of that is going to be a learning curve,
especially if you're new to anlms.
Like even me last year, like Ithink I started off with units,
but then because of.
The large time blocks, I foundthat I was kind of flipping
between units to kind of help doa clear separation in our
learning and make it easier.
And so then I was like, thisunit thing is not working
(14:22):
anymore.
And so then I was like, I thinkit's easier to do by weeks.
And so by the end of the year Iwas doing like instead of doing
units, I was doing week by weekand showing a breakdown of what
we were doing it that way, youreally do have to figure out
what works best for you and yourstudents.
And so that could even besomething you ask your students
about, like, what is easier foryou to navigate?
(14:42):
Is it easier for you to see whatwe did for that week?
And for me to label it as such,is it easier for me to do it by
units so that it's all therekind of content wise and it all
links together?
It all comes down to the type ofcourse, course you're teaching
and what works best for you andyour
Rachel (14:58):
students.
Yeah, for sure, and I used to,as an e-learning teacher, I
would organize stuff stillwithin units, which is fine, but
then I would make sure at thebeginning of every week, so
every Monday, It was consistent,you know, right at eight o'clock
in the morning, I wouldpreschedule these newsfeed posts
and it would list and say, hereis what you should get done this
(15:21):
week.
A, B, C, D, E, and like really,really laying it out very
clearly with clear suggested duedates too.
So if you wanna keep it inunits, that's fine, but maybe
have a place in your activityfeed or your newsfeed, or your
announcements or whatever youhave within your L M s.
So that you've got some reallyclear messaging about the
(15:43):
expectations.
And
Katie (15:45):
I think one thing to also consider is how to involve your
students.
And I know it seems reallybackwards because we're so used
to trying to prep ahead of timeand plan and get it all done,
but you'd be su.
Pride, the difference that itmakes when you involve students
in that planning and in thatorganization in helping them to
(16:05):
figure out what works
Rachel (16:07):
in the long term.
Yeah.
So survey your students, throwout a Google forum and just say
like, Hey, we've got it set upthis way this week.
What do you like?
What do you not like?
What could we improve and gettheir input that way?
That would be a really easything to do.
Katie (16:22):
And, um, include lots of visuals in your content.
Find ways to make it lookaesthetically pleasing, because
I don't know about you, but whenI'm taking a course, it's easy
for me to follow along if I havevisual cues that are consistent
throughout the course andthroughout the unit, because
then it's almost like I'm, I'mdrawing my eyes towards this and
I'm like, oh, awesome.
(16:42):
I know what this means.
Next up, I'm gonna do this.
So be consistent, but, but makeit more aesthetically pleasing.
And I know that soundssuperficial, but it goes a long
way to support students and keep
Rachel (16:54):
them on track.
It does sound superficial,right?
But making it look pretty, andthis is sort of a big thing that
I really, really love doing.
It does serve a purpose.
It increases student engagementbecause they're seeing something
that looks visually appealing tothem.
So they're gonna be naturallykind of drawn to the page and
(17:14):
looking at it.
And then if you are really,really, I don't know what the
right word is, but like really,really kind of aware of how
you're designing things andbeing consistent in your design.
Like Katie said, it can be usedas visual cues then to be like,
okay, this is.
This kind of activity.
So this is what's gonna beexpected of me, so this is what
(17:37):
I need to do.
And having those visual cues,again, it reduces that cognitive
load.
And I think that's a big part ofwhy students dislike an LMS or
they dislike Brightspace or theydislike certain things about
learning in that virtual spaceis because of inconsistencies.
(18:01):
And you don't always noticethose inconsistencies until
someone kind of points them outto you and then you're like, oh
yeah, okay.
That's why that's bugging me andI don't understand.
So making sure like all thefonts are the same and you're
using, if you use emojis likeyou're using consistent emojis
throughout the semester, likejust really being aware of those
(18:22):
design elements is gonna make ahuge difference.
And to be honest, I
Katie (18:25):
think that teachers feel the same way, I think because
like, Some of these LMS systemsare just so overwhelming and not
as easy to kind of line up andput together quickly, because
let's be honest, Brightspacetakes time and you can make it
look awesome, but it takes a lotof time and a lot of learning in
order to be able to do that.
(18:46):
And so I think that's part ofthe frustration on both ends for
teachers and
Rachel (18:50):
students.
Yeah, for sure.
I would completely agree withthat.
You know, you even think aboutBrightspace and.
When you first log into it, itdepends on how your district has
set up Brightspace.
So if you go watch a YouTubevideo tutorial about
Brightspace, that homepage isgonna look totally different
than the one you see when youlog in.
(19:11):
And then you think about ourstudents and every single course
they have, their teachers aresetting up their Brightspace
core shells differently.
So they have to relearn whereeverything is and, and that sort
of, Piece again.
And then if you add ininconsistencies on top of it in
terms of the design, then that'swhen, yeah, that's when they
(19:32):
start to complain and say like,Hey, like I don't understand
where to find X, Y,
Katie (19:38):
Z.
And I mean, part of it I get,but I also think that teachers
are going to set it updifferently because they have
different courses and operatedifferently.
So I'm not saying that teachersshould be consistent across the
board.
I think it's more when you'resetting it up, It's how you're
explaining it to students andhow you're involving them in the
process so that it feels morenatural for them and, and it is
(20:01):
an inclusive space where theycan open it up and say, I know
this because we did
Rachel (20:06):
this together.
I'm not saying that teachersshould all set it up the same
either, because like you said,everybody does have those
individual needs, so do what'sbest for you.
It's just thinking about.
Being consistent within your owncore shell, and then making sure
you take the time.
If you don't wanna take yourclass time in terms of
explaining your LMS and yoursetup, create a video.
(20:27):
Screencastify is a great tool,right?
But go and just create a reallyquick walkthrough video of here
is our l m s, here's how we'regoing to use it.
Here's where you find stuff.
And just doing that walkthroughwhere students can go back and
reference that video if theyneed to.
Like that's gonna make a bigdifference as well.
(20:49):
Yeah.
Most definitely.
So I would say tools like Canvaare gonna be absolutely
invaluable to you as you're kindof setting up your L M s and
thinking about design.
So you could go into Canva andyou can search for even just a
header.
And it'll come up with Googleclassroom headers, which are
(21:10):
pretty decent in terms of thesizing for most LMSs.
But I think you can also go inand search for Canvas
specifically, which, yeah, so acanvas banner.
Or a Canvas button and you couldgo in and pick one of those and
that's gonna give you theperfect dimensions for Canvas.
And you could go in and designyour headers that way.
(21:33):
They also have a whole categorycalled Style your lms.
Oh, perfect.
Yes, I was looking for that, sothank you for that.
Yeah, especially if you're on aCanva for Education account,
then you'll find that wholecategory of styling your lms,
and there's some really greatstuff in there.
So, Again, just like think aboutmaking sure whatever you design,
(21:53):
pick the same colors, pickcertain images that you use for
certain types of tasks, keep thefonts consistent.
Just sort of thinking about allof those things will make it
seem like your class is reallywell organized.
Katie (22:09):
So many of us as educators, we wanna celebrate
the different events andcelebrations throughout the year
and post, you know, littleannouncements.
One thing I will say is it'simportant that you are looking
up a whole variety of culturalcelebrations and not just ones
based on, you know, the dominantculture in your area.
Uh, we wanna make sure that wehave everyone represented in our
(22:32):
classrooms and using a virtualspace to kind of post about it
and share and celebrate is.
Great.
Just make sure you're beinginclusive of everybody in your
Rachel (22:41):
classroom.
Yeah.
And then again, with Canva, youcould go in and design a little
quick visual that you could postin your activity feed or your
newsfeed or your announcements,wherever you want to, to have
that sort of virtual celebrationThere.
The
Katie (22:55):
other thing you can do with Canva, which is kind of
fun, is you can incorporate yourbitmoji.
Yes.
Which is kind of neat, and it'sa great way to kind of add some
personalization to your virtualspace.
So it's not just a bunch ofwords and images.
They also see a little bit ofyour personality in who you are
in a cartoon character.
Rachel (23:15):
Yeah.
So if you don't know how to dothat, if you are in a design in
Canva, you just kind of wannascroll down.
If you don't see the Bitmoji,that's because you haven't
linked your account yet.
You're just gonna go to the moreoption has three dots.
You click on that.
There is an option for Bitmojithat you click on.
It'll prompt you to sign in, andthen you need to do that in
there.
(23:36):
There's also some other coolthings, like there's Giphy.
You can integrate G GFI giftswithin your designs, which is
kind of really nice too, becausethen you can add a bit of
animation or funny stuff inthere.
And there's, there's some reallyneat tools in there.
I
Katie (23:51):
think the goal really is, Make sure students know you're
human.
You know, you have a sense ofhumor.
You, you have a life outside ofschool and you're not just this
very black and white person infront of a classroom or in a
virtual classroom.
So yeah, add some
Rachel (24:07):
personality.
You say that and I'm.
I'm thinking about, you know,running into students outside of
the classroom and they're alwayslike shellshocked because
they're like, oh my goodness.
You know?
And Dr.
J actually has a life outside ofschool.
Katie (24:20):
Yeah, it's so true.
They're like, what?
My teacher goes out in public.
Rachel (24:28):
What they don't realize is we're kind of like shellshock
to run into them too.
Katie (24:32):
Yes.
It's like, oh man.
What am I wearing?
What do I look like?
Do I look like a crazy parentright now?
I know, right?
But, uh, no, it's fun.
Rachel (24:45):
It's good fun.
The other thing that you coulddo and you could consider if you
wanna include student voice inyour classroom is you don't have
to be the one who designs your.
Classroom banners, so maybe youget your students to design
them, and then you can alternateand run through the different
banners that they've designed atsort of regular intervals.
(25:07):
So every student's featured overthe course of the semester,
Katie (25:11):
and you can even get their input as.
To cultural events that theycelebrate and want to share with
the class.
You can let them design like alittle thing that either
explains it or just says, happywhatever, happy Eat, eat
Mubarak, whatever they happen tocelebrate, but you know, involve
them because you'd be surprisedhow far that goes with them.
(25:31):
That really does show that youcare and that you're willing to
kind of learn more and beflexible and share about a
little bit about
Rachel (25:39):
who they are.
And maybe kind of going alongthen with the last episode we
talked about, where we talkedabout supporting our English
language learners, maybe thatbanner you wanna include, say
the word welcome, but you wannainclude it in all the languages
that are represented in yourclassroom.
It would be really easy to getyour students to write out
welcome in their language orlanguages that they speak, and
(26:01):
then include them all in a Canvadesign on.
Your classroom
Katie (26:05):
banner or even like if you have a science class, why
not put the word science mullythroughout that banner?
So have it in all of thedifferent languages represented
like that way.
That's also one of those thingswhere when they see it, they'll
be like, oh, perfect.
Cuz sometimes they may notalways think in English.
They may be thinking in theirfirst language.
So it kind of helps them
Rachel (26:26):
a little bit.
I really like those ideas.
But yeah, Canva's great.
I've actually been prettyobsessed with it lately and I've
been learning a whole bunch ofstuff that you can do.
So you can even create stopmotion animations in there and
maybe then, If your LMS supportsit, you can create a banner that
has some movement and stopmotion animation in there as
(26:47):
well.
Nice.
And yeah, so there's some reallyneat things you can do in Canva.
I mean, I've kind of beenobsessed.
I didn't realize they had acontent planner.
So if you haven't seen thecontent planner and you like to
make visuals for social mediaand kind of schedule them out,
like that's a really cool tool.
(27:08):
It's not, probably not superuseful as like for the
classroom, unless you'rescheduling stuff out for that,
which maybe you are.
But, um, that, that's reallycool and I've been learning a
lot about that.
And then learning about evencreating like videos with Canva
and, and stuff like that.
There's some really neat thingsyou can do with Canva if you
dive deep in
Katie (27:28):
there.
Nice.
I didn't actually realize the
Rachel (27:30):
videos part.
Yeah, and there's a really greatYouTube channel that I've been
pretty much binge watching forthe past week or so.
So I'll make sure that I grabthe link for that YouTube
channel.
I can't, it's something likeCreate with Canva or so it's
named something like that.
I can't remember the name offthe top of my head, but I'll
make sure I link that in theshow notes.
(27:52):
So if you want to, you canbinge, binge watch it too.
That's awesome.
Now we did talk a little bitabout making it pretty, and I do
have.
I don't know if it's a scaryrecommendation.
Katie (28:04):
I like the way this is starting.
Rachel (28:07):
I am just gonna put this out there though, in that I
think it's a super useful skillfor teachers to learn a little
bit of coding.
And so I hope I haven't lost abunch of you yet.
Stick with me.
But learning a little bit ofbasic html, so that's the codes
that gets, basically does allthe markup behind a webpage and
(28:32):
then learning c, a little bit ofcss.
So that is the sort of look.
And feel of your webpages.
And those two things kind ofwork hand in hand.
But I would say learning alittle bit of both of those goes
a long, long way, especiallywhen you're working in a
learning management system likeBrightspace.
(28:54):
Or Canvas because you can getinto that H T M L page and the
code.
So if something's not workingproperly, you can actually
troubleshoot it and fix it.
Or if it's not looking the wayyou want it to look and you
wanna tweak it, you can.
Katie (29:10):
That definitely sounds scary.
Rachel (29:14):
It does sound scary.
It's not as bad as you think itis though, especially because,
Like, I wouldn't call myself anexpert by any means in terms of
this stuff, especially CSSbecause that's something that
I've just kind of been dabblingin over the past couple years.
But I know enough to get by andI know enough to go, okay, I
(29:35):
wanna do this thing.
So I, I Google it.
You'll find lots of examples outthere of full, full code that
people have written that you canjust copy and paste into your
lms.
So I guess you don't necessarilyneed to be able to speak the
language.
You need to be able to decode itand decipher sort of what's
written and how you mightmanipulate that.
(29:57):
So yeah, it's, it's a littlescary sounding, but I think a
little bit of that sort ofcoding goes a really long way in
an L M s.
Yeah,
Katie (30:07):
and, and, and it does sound like coding is the way
that we are moving towards,especially in education.
It's certainly an area thatintrigues and interests me, but
it also overwhelms and scares meall at once.
Rachel (30:23):
It does for me too, and I've.
Dabbled in a whole bunch ofstuff.
So I really like web design andI've been trying to like gear my
learning then around HTML andcss and then also the coding
language Java script, which, ohmy goodness, like if you know
Java script like that would beso, so useful because Google app
(30:44):
scripts run off of a form ofJavaScripts.
So if you can understandJavaScript, you can script stuff
in Google apps and that is.
If you haven't seen some stuffout there in terms of what you
could do, like that is really,really valuable knowledge to
have.
I am terrible at it, but that,that's sort of my goal is to, to
(31:05):
learn some of that stuff.
But it is, it is just so, souseful and.
Some of that that's not that badto learn.
Like I think those things arethe easier sort of pieces of
coding to learn versus goinginto like the full on, like I
wouldn't know what I was lookingat if I was looking at other
coding languages, but yeah, sothere's some really good
(31:26):
resources out there if you wannakind of learn a little bit and
go along.
With it.
I would say the one that I'veprobably learned the most from
is Code Academy, and so I'llmake sure we get a link to that
in our show notes.
But they have like beginnerstuff.
And then what's really neatabout that program is it gives
(31:46):
you the instructions and tellsyou a bit of information and
then it gives you a panel whereyou can type stuff in, and then
a third panel, which shows youwhat happens when you type that
in.
So it's very.
Hands-on kind of learning, whichis super
Katie (32:00):
useful.
Very cool.
And so when you do some of thiscoding stuff, how do you feel it
is beneficial in an lms?
Like what can you do with it?
Rachel (32:09):
So the one thing that I've kind of realized with
Brightspace, and this has beensome of my learning, even this
summer because I'm working onsome resources in there for
teachers, is I didn't know Icould code in buttons.
Oh.
And added navigation buttons.
And so like that's how you didthat?
Yes.
(32:30):
That's how I, I was showingKatie earlier what this button
that I created that I'm so proudof that took me, I, I don't even
wanna tell you how long thattook me to figure out.
But yeah, like you, you can,like, if you can add in extra
elements that are notnecessarily ready, readily
(32:50):
available within Brightspace orwithin your lms, if you know
some of the code.
Gotcha.
And so things like navigationbuttons, like that's gonna, for
a student feel a lot more like awebpage.
So they're gonna, it's, it'sjust gonna be a little bit
easier for them to navigate cuzthey know if they see a big
button, like click on that and.
It just, again, it goes back tomaking things as streamlined as
(33:14):
you can.
That makes
Katie (33:15):
sense.
So it adds more personalizationand customization to your l m s
page
Rachel (33:21):
essentially.
Yeah, and so the summertime isit's a great time to kind of
learn and play with those sortof things cuz there's no kind of
time pressure.
And if you've got the timeduring the school year to add
them in, then you add them in.
And if you don't, it's okay.
It's again, it's another one ofthose like just extra sort of
added things that can reallyimprove your L M s but are not
Katie (33:43):
essential.
Yes.
And I think that's the bigthing.
So any suggestions we're giving,I mean, you have to do what you
can.
You can't create time andsometimes you may not be able to
do all of these suggestions orany of them really.
I.
Get that entirely, and there'sno pressure.
These are just kind of, here aresome things to keep in mind so
(34:04):
that maybe as you're adding toyour content throughout the
year, you can add someconsistency.
You can make it a little saferand inclusive for students so
that it's easier for them tolearn in that
Rachel (34:15):
space.
Yeah, so I'm, I'm sort ofthinking.
With some of the H T M L and thec s s stuff is once I kind of
figure it out on my own and, andknow how to do it, then I'm
gonna create some instructionalvideos for staff.
So if they want to try it out,they can.
And if they don't want to,that's okay.
But you know, just kind of goinghere, like, here's the code,
(34:37):
just copy and paste it, throw itin your lms like, I've already
done all the back work for you.
You know, I sort of see that aspart of my role as a coach in
our school board.
So.
Yep.
Katie (34:47):
That makes sense.
I think my last piece of advice,and it's gonna seem really
obvious, is just using studentfriendly language.
I think sometimes we operate ined, you speak and curriculum
talk and higher level kind ofacademic language, and I think
it's important that we remember.
The students we're interactingwith are teenagers.
(35:09):
You know, they haven't beenthrough university, they haven't
done a Master's or a PhD, or anyof these things.
So really make sure that thelanguage that you're using is
accessible to every single oneof your students, because that's
really gonna make a hugedifference.
Rachel (35:25):
For all of them.
Yeah, it's almost like writing ablog post, right?
Yeah.
You don't write it in academiclanguage, you write it in
language that's conversationaland easy to understand.
So if you kinda take thatperspective in terms of the
information you're posting inyour L M S, I think that's gonna
go a long way.
Katie (35:43):
And it doesn't really matter if it's.
Applied academic open universitycollege mix.
The level doesn't matter.
You know, at the end of the day,they're all teenagers and they
are navigating different LMSplatforms and, and courses and
they, they just need to be ableto understand what they're
reading.
Yeah.
So that's my kind of last pieceof advice, I think.
Rachel (36:06):
I think that's a great one to wrap our conversation up
with.
So we will make sure that weinclude any of the links and
resources that we talked abouthere today in our show notes,
and you can access our shownotes for this episode@edals.com
slash 56.
That's edu G A L s.
(36:27):
Dot com slash 56.
Katie (36:29):
And if you think that a friend or colleague would
benefit from this episode, thenplease feel free to share it
with them.
And don't forget to subscribe onyour favorite podcast app so
that you don't miss out on anyfuture
Rachel (36:40):
content.
And as always, we would love tohear from you.
So if you have any suggestionson how you are setting up your
virtual learning space this yearthat we haven't talked about
here today, Then let us know.
You can go onto our Flipgrid atEd ugas.com/flipgrid and leave
us a message there, or you canleave us a message on our
(37:01):
website@edugas.com.
Katie (37:04):
Thanks for listening and see you in two weeks.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of our edu Gals podcast.
Show notes for this episode areavailable@edugals.com.
That's E D U G A L s.com.
(37:26):
We'd also love to hear yourfeedback, so leave us a message
on our website
Rachel (37:30):
and if you enjoyed what you heard, please subscribe and
consider leaving a rating orreview on your favorite podcast
app.
Until next time.
Keep being awesome and trysomething new.
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