Welcome to the "bCourses Essentials: Building Effective Courses" learning path! This is your gateway to becoming proficient with bCourses (Canvas), Berkeley’s learning management system. This path is packed with a variety of resources—from essential guides on basic functionalities to more advanced topics. Whether you're just starting out or looking to deepen your Canvas skills, you'll find sessions that match your needs. Dive into the components that interest you the most; there’s no set sequence to follow—choose what fits your level of expertise and learning style. Think of this as your learning buffet; sample different topics and come back for more whenever you're ready to further enhance your bCourses expertise!
Your guide for engaging with this Learning Path:
In this Learning Path, we use a variety of engagement methods to ensure flexibility and cater to the different ways you absorb and process information. Each component is marked by specific terms to guide you:
- Attend: Join live workshops where real-time interaction is key.
- Read: Access text-based resources to explore at your own pace.
- Watch: Engage with video content to visualize and understand concepts.
Attend: bCourses (Canvas) Basics: Teaching with bCourses Survival Guide| Aug 22
Join us in this workshop for an introduction to bCourses (Canvas), Berkeley’s learning management system. This session is perfect for those new to bCourses or anyone looking to refresh their knowledge of its core functionalities. You’ll be guided through the essential features of bCourses, including Pages, Modules, Assignments, and Announcements which are integral to organizing and managing your courses effectively. We'll also cover basic site setup and navigation.
Read or Watch: Organize your bCourses Site Using Modules
Well-organized Canvas modules provide an effective way for both you and your students to navigate through your course content. Amid the rush before semester kick-off, it's tempting to treat Canvas just as a file repository. File structures in courses often cater to instructors' organizational needs but may not be as intuitive for students. A typical structure with separate folders for lectures, readings, and assignments can lead students to jump between folders for one class period, causing difficulty in locating specific files. Module design organizes your material into a structure that is easily navigable by students. It allows them to access what they need in the course when they need it simply by clicking the “next” arrow at the bottom of a Canvas page. Organized by weeks, units, or chapters, Modules present content in the sequence it's needed, with clear naming conventions for easy identification.
- Read: Review the guide on how to use Modules to create consistent navigation throughout your bCourses site to to learn how to set up your bCourses using Modules to organize your assignments, discussions, files, and more.
- Watch:View the video guide to learn how to Organize Course Content with Modules. The visual demonstration walks you through the process step-by-step, ensuring that you can create a student-friendly course structure.
You can also receive customized assistance by emailing bcourseshelp@berkeley.eduor by scheduling a 1:1 consultation
Attend: Organizing Your Class on bCourses Using the "Core Template" | Aug 26 & Aug 28
Designing a student-friendly bCourse course can be time-consuming and overwhelming, and it may seem easier to think of bCourses as a file repository shared with students. However, creating a bCourses site that is organized intuitively can save you time and help students find the information and resources they need to stay on track in your course.
The Core Template, designed by the Digital Learning Services team, allows you to import a module and page structured site that you can update to meet your course needs. In this workshop, you'll learn how to organize your course content using Pages, Modules, Discussions, and Assignments, ensuring easy student access and seamless navigation for yourself. Join us to learn more about how you can leverage the Core Template to jumpstart your bCourse site design. You can also receive customized assistance by emailing designtoolshelp@berkeley.edu, or by scheduling a consultation.
View details and register for this workshop. This session is also offered on August 28 at 2:00 PM. Click here to register for the second session.
Attend: Assignments and Grading: Build Your Gradebook in bCourses | Aug 27 & Sep 9
This session will guide you through effectively setting up and managing your Gradebook—from weighting grades to configuring advanced settings like Grade Posting Policy. You’ll learn how to create and manage Assignment Groups, apply grading rules tailored to your teaching style, and set up new assignments with associated Gradebook columns.
View details and register for this workshop. This session is also offered on September 9 at 10:00 AM. Click here to register for the second session.
Read or Watch: Administering Quizzes & Exams in bCourses
Discover how to make your courses more interactive and fun with quizzes on bCourses. This feature allows you to create quizzes from scratch, explore a variety of question types to keep assessments diverse, and customize settings to meet your students' unique needs, including accommodations through the "Moderate This Quiz" feature. Plus, grading submissions is a breeze with the SpeedGrader tool.
- Read: Review the guide on how to create and edit quizzes in bCourses to learn how to enhance your courses with engaging quizzes. The guide provides detailed instructions on creating quizzes, exploring various question types, customizing quiz settings for diverse student needs, and using the SpeedGrader tool to grade submissions efficiently.
- Watch:View the following videos for a step-by-step demonstration on how to use the bCourses Quiz tool:
You can receive customized assistance by emailing bcourseshelp@berkeley.eduor by scheduling a 1:1 consultation
Read: Creating Audio and Video Instructional Materials with DIY Media and Kaltura
Explore the process of creating audio and video materials for your courses through the guide "Create Audio and Video Instructional Materials." It covers everything from DIY media creation to leveraging Kaltura, a robust web-based video management platform that supports uploading, editing, managing, and sharing videos and other media. This resource provides detailed instructions on planning and producing your own multimedia content and you’ll learn how to effectively integrate these resources into your bCourses.
For any questions about Kaltura, please emailkalturahelp@berkeley.eduor schedule a 1:1 consultation
For questions about the DIY Media, please email diy-media@berkeley.edu.