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The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education
Patton Hall
100 East Union St.
Athens, OH 45701-2979

Patton College Canvas Best Practices

As we continue OHIO’s transition away from Blackboard and have moved entirely to Canvas this semester, please keep a few best practices in mind when designing courses:

  1. Every Canvas course should have a “DEV” or “Prime” course associated with it.  The title should be DEV_EDTE 1234 Intro to Education” as an example, so it is clearly marked.  You could add an instructor’s name at the end if there are multiple versions of the course taught by various people.  Canvas closes all courses once the term ends.  Courses marked as “DEV” have no start or end date and remain open.  Instructors can be added or removed as needed. This prevents accidental changes to an old course.  If you do not have a “DEV” course set up for an online course, Lisa Dael will be glad to help set one up.
  2. Make sure that you cut and paste your syllabus in text format into Canvas.  You may still upload a pdf if you like, but the text version must match the pdf so that it is accessible.  It may take some extra work to get this set up, but it will be easier to edit in the long run.
  3. Avoid underlining text.  It could give the student the incorrect assumption that it is a link.
  4. Make sure all videos have closed captioning.  Transcription is a nice added feature, but the videos must have accurate closed captioning at a minimum.
  5. All online courses should include an “Academic Integrity and Ethics” statement.  Any courses created by OHIO Online should have the statement, but if yours does not, see Lisa Dael to get the text you need and instructions for setting up a quiz to ensure students have reviewed it. This statement helps us with US News rankings and ensures students have been informed about the dangers of plagiarism.  

For other Canvas Best Practices and Accessibility Tips, please visit: Canvas Resources for Instructors.

For future updates and best practices, please plan to attend the Online Instructors meeting each month.  The next meeting is scheduled for September 17, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. on Teams.  If you do not have an invitation and would like one, contact Connie Patterson to ensure you are included.