Canvas Homepage Options

Canvas has 5 different homepage options, all of which can be selected via the "Choose Home Page" button on the course homepage:

CANVAS change homepage.png
[Full directions on changing between the different homepage layouts.]

The default for distance courses has been set to 'Modules' however others have used the Syllabus View to some success.

Modules

What It Is:
"Units" that offer a clear sequence through course (and or external) materials. [More info]

Advantages:
- Can structure a specified sequence through material/activities/assignments
-Can attach pre-reqs to force students to stick to a sequence
-Can audit progress of individual students
- Can utilize responsive conditional learning for defined Mastery Paths.

Trade-Offs:
-Students do not always go through sequence (if no pre-reqs enforced)
-If sequence enforced, can become perceived as an obstacle/hoop that students can just click through until they get to the assignment.

Syllabus

What It Is:
Specialized page with the top part being an editable Canvas Page and below the Black line is an auto-generated chronological list of assignments by due date. [More info]

Advantages:
-Supports student-oriented focus on just the assignments (prep materials/content/files is then linked to from the assignment pages using the content selector)
-Clearly lays out & emphasizes due dates & what is due when.

Trade-Offs:
- No mechanism to enforce students clicking prep materials links on assignment pages.
- No audit method (beyond Individual Access reports)
- No way to collapse/minimize previous assignments (they are greyed out tho)

Pages

What It Is:
Specific Page in "PAGES" area designated as the Front Page- Fully customizable Page that can embed links to any all areas of the course loses all audit/auto calendar features. [More info]

Advantages:
-Can highlight/link to only the needed relevant week/ unit specific information with a new week/ unit page set as the Homepage each week/ new unit.
-Offers opportunity for regular responses/ updates from faculty right at the front door of course.
-If enabled in SETTINGS>Course Details tab>More Options, can also display links to latest announcements at top of the page:
enable announce.png

Trade-Offs:
- Students may be unclear how to access previous weeks/units info for review and or if life circumstances force them to have to catch up.
- If not clearly laid out, changing page each week could lead to student confusion where to find key links.
- If there is essential/ key info on the new unit/ week homepage and other course menus options support bypassing the homepage, students can ignore the changing homepages and just navigate down to info.

Not Recommended Homepage Options

There are also 2 other Canvas homepage layouts that are not recommended for distance courses:

-Assignments List -
Similar to the Syllabus view but not as clear chronology focus and loss of top editable page piece.

-Course Activity Stream-
Default original setup for all canvas courses that is limited to only highlights recent activity (Course specific version of overall dashboard).