IT develops new Canvas addition
USU instructional developer Kenneth Larsen has gained national and international recognition for his work on the Canvas website.
Larsen, a grad student in the instructional technology and learning sciences department, designed templates for the website when he was hired in June last summer to help develop elementary education courses.
“It was a lot of redundant hours, a lot of copy and paste,” Larsen said. “I thought there had to be an easier way.”
Larsen created a way for professors to go into their Canvas courses and, using a series of templates and tools, build and style a course quickly.
He started this particular project in August, and it has since gained momentum.
“I just wanted to make what we were doing easier,” Larsen said. “Apparently everyone else was frustrated as well.”
Schools across the country have recognized Larsen’s work and want to use it.
“Thanks to Kenneth’s projects, USU is leading the pack when it comes to innovative design in Canvas,” said instructional designer Travis Thurston. “We’re being contacted by Ivy League schools who want to implement our innovations at their institutions.”
John Louviere, the director for the Center of Innovative Design and Instruction, said Larsen’s work has been recognized by universities in the U.S., Australia, Puerto Rico and Great Britain.
“Our mantra is ’empowering teaching excellence.’ Everything we do is to help our faculty,” Louviere said. “The biggest part of our job is putting content into the online environment.”
Larsen’s work is well-received because it speeds up the process of putting content online.
“It makes our job much more effective,” Louviere said. “He’s given us a better tool that our instructional designers can use.”
The CIDI is receiving a lot of attention for its work, but its employees aren’t claiming all the spotlight.
“We pride ourselves from being behind the scenes,” Louviere said. “This is just a way to help our faculty look like the rock stars they are.”
The center may have a big win with this project, but it’s far from done.
Louviere said a project the center is currently working on is Flexible Learning Experience education options for USU students. In FLEX education, the student controls when they join the course. The primary target of this project is returning missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, students in the military and students who have missed a general education requirement.
“It’s very difficult for everyone, but awesome for students if done right,” Louviere said.
Louviere said Canvas is built on a semester schedule, and it’s difficult to make it more of a flexible schedule to meet student needs.
“The real challenge is we’re not developing robo courses,” Louviere said. “They’re active classes with feedback from real professors.”
Louviere said the department had a big summer, developing more than 50 projects since June. Louviere said this is a step up compared to the roughly 20 programs they typically develop.
— lsnyder94@gmail.com