Term Readiness Guide

Welcome to the Faculty of Education (FoE). We are excited that you have joined our community as an instructor.

The Term Readiness Guide is intended to support you as you prepare, develop, and facilitate your course(s) and ensure that you feel confident and supported as a FoE instructor. You will also receive personalized support through your department’s administrative team who will help orient you to the program and answer questions you may have throughout your first term of instruction. If you would like more support, you can reach out to Learning and Digital Innovation (LDDI) or a member of our team. You can find out who your department’s support person is on our About Us page.

In this Term Readiness Guide, you will find information on organizing your course syllabus and Canvas site and make course readings available through the Library Online Course Reserves (LOCR). Whether your course is fully online, hybrid or in-person, this guide can be used and applied to different teaching modalities. A Canvas site is provided for every course at UBC and students are accustomed to finding course content and submitting assessments there.

Contents:

 

Getting Started

New to teaching at UBC, or need a refresher?

  • Reach out to your Department for syllabi, and permission to access previous course materials, course templates and more.
  • Reach out to LDDI (lddi.educ@ubc.ca) for training and support with Canvas and learning technologies, and learn about available infrastructure and tools to support teaching and learning.

Have you taught at UBC before?

  • You can copy course materials from a previous term to a current term’s Canvas course. For detailed instructions, visit LDDI’s Tutorial on Copying Canvas Courses. Alternatively, you can reach out to LDDI to assist with this process.

 

Setting Up

Once you have access to your Canvas course, you can start setting it up. If you are starting from scratch or planning significant course redesign, you can reach out to a LDDI learning designer for support. Otherwise, you can update your existing materials or make minor changes using this checklist:

  • Update and adjust course dates on course assignments and activities
  • Copy over or set up your reading list through the Library Online Course Reserves (LOCR). The UBC Library LOCR guide contains various helpful tutorials for how to do so. If you submit a syllabus to the library, please allow 2 weeks for the request to process.
  • If you are using or planning to use learning technologies such as Zoom, Padlet, Kaltura Video, CLAS, Microsoft Copilot or other tools in your course and you need guidance on integration, use or protecting student privacy, get in touch with LDDI.
  • Consider the accessibility of your course materials (for example: alternative text on image, captions on videos, transcripts for podcasts/audio files, clear text with adequate white space between sections, etc…)
  • If you do not have one already, craft an AI Syllabus statement.
  • Run a link validation on your Canvas course to ensure that all hyperlinks are functioning. For detailed instruction, visit LDDI’s tutorial on replacing broken links on Canvas.

 

Launching Your Course

  • Publish or unpublish Modules, Assignments and Discussions to hide and show specific items in your course before students have access. You can also lock Modules based on release date, if you wish.
  • Check the course through Student View to make sure everything looks as it should for your students.
    • HINT: You can also submit an assignment as a Test Student and practice grading and providing feedback using Speedgrader.
  • Publish your course so students can access it when the term starts. If you would like your students to have access to course materials prior to the term start date, you can open your course early (optional).
  • Once your course is published, notify your students through the Canvas Announcements or Inbox features, and/or email them through Workday (note: the Faculty Service Centre (FSC) has now been replaced by Workday).
  • Consider creating a start of term survey for your students to get to know them better, understand their needs, clarify important course details, and inform any course design changes or adjustments.

 

During the Term

During the term, in particular with online learning, consider your instructor presence and your students’ learning experience and sense of belonging. This can take various forms and should be based on your own pedagogical perspectives and practices. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Post an Announcement in text, audio and/or video to communicate purposefully, develop inter-personal relationships, and model effective online communication. This could be at the start of every week to introduce the next week’s topic, to provide generalized feedback, or to highlight relevant course events and deadlines.
  • Explore strategies to facilitate belonging in your class, such as place-based or topic relevant introductions using mapping tools, co-creating your AI syllabus statement or developing team charters for group assignments.
  • Mindfully facilitate and moderate online discourse (e.g., discussions, group chat, etc.). Online discourse are opportunities for students’ voices to be heard and their contributions to be shared.
  • Hold online office hours as needed through a web conferencing platform such as Zoom, or in-person on Campus where relevant.
  • Provide personalized and timely feedback to your students on their assessments. You can use voice, audio or video feedback options in Canvas.
  • If you made one, check results for the initial student survey, and/or consider doing a mid-point student survey to adapt the design of your course and your instructional strategies for the rest of the term.
  • If multiple students have similar questions about an assignment or activity, update the instructions for these items to ensure clarity for other students.

 

End of Term

  • Your Canvas course will close to students 8 weeks after the end of term. You do not need to Unpublish your course. At this time, your course will be archived under Past Enrolments in All Courses on Canvas.
  • Submit Grades to Workday. The deadline is typically 2 weeks after the final exam or final class, but check with your Department for specific requirements or deadlines.
  • Check the results for Student Experience of Instruction survey, or any course surveys you have. This can inform how to make changes to your course for the next offering.
  • Review data from Canvas Analytics or other learning analytics tools to learn more about how your students engaged with course materials.
  • Chat with a LDDI Learning Designer if you’d like to have a look at data that can help to inform your iteration work.

 

Video Resources

The following video resources are divided into chapters on YouTube to help you quickly navigate the video and find the topics that are most relevant to you. Choose “Watch on YouTube” in the embedded video, then click “more” in the YouTube video description box to expand the description and view the list of chapters.

Orientation to Learning Technologies for Instructors

This video explores the services and learning technologies available for instructors at UBC. It examines how technology can be used to improve your teaching experience and discusses how to find support if you need it. Topics covered include an overview of the UBC Learning Technology Ecosystem, a guide to UBC Technologies and UBC Technology Services, and an intro to the Canvas LMS.

Learning Technologies and Services for Students

This video covers how technology can be used to improve students’ learning experience and how students can find support if they need it. Please feel free to share this video with your students to help them become familiar with the learning technologies they will use in their classes.

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