Proximity Learning Canvas: A Comprehensive Guide to Effective Online Classroom Management and User Experience Design

In today's educational landscape, whether instruction occurs remotely or in a physical classroom, effective classroom management is essential for a productive learning environment. Proximity, traditionally a powerful classroom management tool, involves a teacher's physical presence to mitigate disruptions and redirect student focus. However, this tactic is not possible in an online setting. This article explores alternative approaches to proximity in the virtual classroom and delves into the Canvas learning management system (LMS) as a case study in user experience (UX) design principles that enhance online learning.

Adapting Proximity for the Online Classroom

While physical proximity is absent in online learning, educators can employ various strategies to create a sense of presence and connection with students.

Establishing Clear Communication Norms

Establishing norms for communication between teachers and students is essential for proper online classroom management. Setting clear expectations for online interaction is paramount. During video conferencing, you should set up standards and expectations such as enabling camera use, reducing background noise, using the chat function to seek assistance, and preparing for class ahead of time. Standards are also crucial for adding inputs or feedbacks in online forums. Modeling appropriate online behavior is also critical. This includes waiting to speak until someone else has finished, reducing/eliminating temporary background noise by using the mute button, and showing multiple approaches to participation through verbal comments, written comments, emojis, and thumbs up/down functions.

It is important for students to understand what inappropriate use of the class platform looks and sounds like, as well. As we know, it is easier to make a hurtful or sarcastic comment from behind a screen. Once again, you can center students by asking them to share their experiences in environments where technology has been used inappropriately, and how that has affected their learning. Tools like Padlet are great for collecting (anonymous) student feedback with these kind of potentially sensitive topics. Don’t forget that some parents may be overwhelmed by new learning methods. Some may be working at home while managing the schoolwork of multiple children at the same time. With this in mind, it’s best to make the communication process simple, positive, and accurate. Display standards and expectations in a prominent location, such as the course home page, so parents can retrieve information efficiently. Depending on how you’ll provide both students and parents information, you should state the available methods.

Fostering Positive Relationships

Creating a positive relationship among teachers and students is one of the key factors in cultivating a productive learning environment. Likewise, camaraderie among students is crucial during online learning in the same way as a traditional classroom setting. For students, it’s easy to feel isolated in online learning, so try to create opportunities for them to collaborate. There are countless apps to aid teachers in this process - some of our favorites include Kahoot and Quizlet for formative assessments, Flipgrid for video discussion, and Peergrade for peer review. To better combat feelings of isolation in online learning environments, teachers can sort students into dyads or triads so that, if one student misses class or has a question the teacher has not yet answered, they can consult with their partner(s) to get clarification. Online learning and virtual classrooms aren’t ‘worse’ or ‘better’ than in-person but they certainly are different-and so require different forms of support.

Addressing Learning Engagement

Poor learning engagement is one reason why issues arise in online classroom management. Take the time to understand their interests, where their strengths lie, and what challenges they’re facing. Make the most out of this information to build a plan specific to the needs of your students while also providing several opportunities for interactive learning.

Promoting Academic Integrity

And while there’s a lot that goes into a concept like that, part of it is content attribution, copyright laws, safety, and plagiarism. Ever since online learning has become the norm, it led to an increase in plagiarism among students as they’re utilizing devices to access abundant resources. Sadly, the temptation to copy information can feel overwhelming. Teachers can go about resolving this dilemma in several ways. First, they can strive to create assignments and assessments that are “plagiarism-proof.” Just as students may be tempted to plagiarize a summary from Sparknotes, so may teachers feel tempted to borrow resources without properly vetting or adjusting them. This is not to say that there is anything inherently wrong with using another teacher’s material, but it is important to consider if that material truly represents the objectives and assesses learning of what has been taught. Instead of using multiple-choice responses for a major test, is it possible (within your content area) to ask open-ended questions that prompt students to think critically? We suggest having the plagiarism talk upfront. Let students know that you’re aware of the temptation, and speak honestly about how, while plagiarizing may help them in the short-term by getting an assignment done on time, it has negative long-term consequences. It sets them up to miss foundational information that they will more than likely build upon in the future weeks and months of a course. It can potentially set them into a state of anxiety - wondering if they will be caught - which can distract them from learning. Plagiarism sets off a vicious cycle in which a student forsakes responsibility for their own learning, and not necessarily to more reputable or knowledgeable sources. Educate students about what plagiarism is all about and provide clear examples. Additionally, outline the possible consequences for the offense (disciplinary and ‘real world’). Many times, students feel pressured to share their work with others who are seeking to copy it. Have the discussion about how sharing responses may seem like a favor, but in actuality, it does a disservice to their friends. It makes it difficult for the teacher to be able to make educated decisions about how to differentiate learning from student to student. It devalues the hard work that they may have invested into an assignment or project. Finally, share how easy it is to detect plagiarism. Teachers were once students, as well. It is possible that they may have had issues with plagiarism as students. They know the typical tricks of copying and pasting a question into a browser, going to the top search result, and directly copying and pasting the result they find. The same process can be used to identify plagiarism. Additionally, many schools are now using plugins like Turnitin to automatically check for plagiarism.

Ensuring Consistency and Fairness

When establishing standards in an online learning environment, students need consistency. Therefore, ensure they know the possible consequences and penalties of disregarding classroom guidelines, and enforce them uniformly. Students will notice if one student is constantly allowed to interrupt, while others are reprimanded. Students will question why some don’t turn their video function on for the entirety of the class, each and every class, while other students are called out. This means that teachers need to consider what expectations they can and should enforce. It is not realistic to control the online learning experience of every student, and teachers should not attempt to do so. Modeling and emphasizing what students should strive to do is more effective than focusing on all the things they should not do. Remember, some students might not meet your expectations similar to a traditional classroom setting. You should have a plan if this occurs and make sure both students and parents know this plan.

Establishing Routines

Creating a routine is essential in a virtual learning environment, especially when you can’t be present with your students daily. Therefore, it’s best to simplify the essentials. You should set up office hours to get in touch with you in case of concerns. Additionally, maintaining consistency with the work assignments every week will help students establish a routine at home.

Providing Positive Reinforcement

When your students are engaged, productive, and learning effectively, make sure you acknowledge them. It’d be best if you consider this in every classroom. It’s important to note online students won’t get to have a high-five from teachers as they’re not in a physical classroom. Consider implementing a ‘Student-of-the-Week’ award, which you and a co-teacher can choose, or students can vote for via an anonymous Google Form. Use sites like Canva to design badges that you can paste into a chat forum or add to a student’s online binder. Utilizing the communication avenues available to let your students know they’re on the right track is a must. Always remember, positive reinforcement will result in higher engagement. Use the right technology for engagement. Your video streaming platform may not be up to you (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc.) but for presentations, you can choose from Google Slides, Prezi, Pear Deck, Nearpod, and many others. Have a place for messaging or announcements. Even a simple shared Google Doc can be useful here. Use checklists-or rather, create them for students or have students create them for themselves. The camera is the student. Be human. You have needs, shortcomings, hopes, failures, etc. Have an FAQ page. Whether for assignments, content, class procedures, upcoming events, or anything else, a class FAQ page just makes sense. Creating the ideal virtual classroom environment is crucial to ensure effective learning.

Read also: Understanding PLCs

Canvas LMS: A Case Study in UX Design Principles

Canvas, created by Instructure, is a learning management system (LMS) used by schools and colleges to organize school work and facilitate communication between students and teachers. It provides an all-in-one platform for students to submit assignments, contact instructors, view due dates, access syllabi, and take tests. Each class gets its section and it is up to the teacher to decide how they want to go about running their classes canvas making it fully customizable and giving the best user experience for every user.

Key Design Principles in Canvas

Canvas's user-friendly design is rooted in several key design principles. These principles aim to enhance usability, accessibility, and overall user satisfaction.

80/20 Rule: The 80/20 rule asserts that 80 percent of the usage of any large system are caused by 20 percent of the variables. Using this rule within all your designs will create a straightforward, easy interface that has a good user flow. The main place we see this in Canvas is the use of the sidebar menu.
Aesthetic-Usability Effect: The aesthetic-usability demonstrates shows the phenomenon in which people choose the more-aesthetic design over a less-aesthetic design. Aesthetic designs also have the power to be more accepted by more groups of people than not. Since Canvas has a good aesthetic, more users are using it compared to leading competitors like Blackboard, U2L, and Moodle.
Accessibility: Accessibility enforces that designs should be made to be used by people of diverse abilities. This principle has as many people as possible in mind. The experience of accessible design requires “accommodations” that could benefit not only people who struggle with a disability but everyone. Canvas has custom settings that have those that struggle a little more than others in mind. Some things that they offer is high contrast, underlining links, and so on.

Read also: Learning Resources Near You
Affordance: Affordance is the ability to have design characteristics of its functions be influenced by an object or environment. When the affordance of an environment is in mind, the correspondence of the function of the design will perform more efficiently and will be easier to understand. Canvas was made for the schooling environment since its functions and abilities have students and teachers in mind. It has everything the student needs to get their work turned in, understand the course, and receive help if they do not.
Alignment: Alignment is the placement of elements that line up along common rows or columns. Alignment helps create a sense of unity and cohesion, which contributes to the overall aesthetic of the design. It also helps the user perceive stability in the design. This design principle isn’t only found within paragraphs of text, but also components of the site. Canvas does a great job of conveying a sense of unity and alignment with even the most complex compositions.
Chunking: Chunking is a technique of combining a large chunk of information into a limited number of units or chunks, this allows for the information to be easier digested and remembered. Using the chunking method helps those who are short-term thinkers and allows for easier processing of the brain. The maximum number of chunks for this to be efficiently processed by short-term memory is 4. Canvas makes sure that teachers keep their assignments short and gives visual guidance to keep the information in chunks.
Closure: Closure is the tendency to perceive a set of individual elements as a single pattern, rather than multiple individual elements. This principle is one of the many that are referred to as Gestalt Principles of Perception. As the viewer, the brain mentally closes up circular paths. Using closure in design can help reduce complexity and increase the interestingness of the design. Canvas uses closure in its logo. Mentally, we close the circle to create unity while still having a simplistic design.
Color: Color can make a design more visually interesting and aesthetic. It can attract attention, group elements visually, indicate meaning and emotions, and enhance aesthetics. Canvas gives the ability to change the colors of the main homepage to match the colors of the school and university. For example, UVU’s homepage has all green asserts with a green sidebar.
Confirmation: Confirmation is a technique for preventing unintended actions by requiring a verification before saving or changing anything. This allows for the system and user to verify that the action or input is correct and intentional. Confirmation helps prevent errors as well as unintended actions. This creates an easier flow for the user and avoid frustration. We see this in Canvas with every assignment we turn in or completing any task.
Consistency: Consistency is when the systems are more usable and learnable when similar parts are expressed in similar ways. This principle enables people to efficiently conveys knowledge to new contexts and learn things quickly. With consistency creates a functional design in all aspects of a design. It also ensures that the system is always consistent internally and externally to the greatest degree possible. Canvas follows consistency with all pages and attributes. Each component is similar to its system and to each other.
Desire Line: Desire Lines are the traces of use that indicate preferred methods of interaction with an object or environment. They generally refer to worn paths where people naturally walk - like the beaten path off of trails or a shortcut to a certain destination - but can also be applied to everyday designs. It emphasizes the usability of the site and leverages the desired lines than to attempt to subvert its use. We see Canvas using this within assignment submission and assignment modules.
Five Hat Racks: Five Hat Racks is a way to organize information which is category, time, location, alphabet, and continuum. This principle is one of the most powerful factors influencing the way people think and act towards a design. It asserts that there are a limited number of organizational strategies regardless of the specific design. These different organizations tactic dramatically influences which aspects of the information are emphasized. Canvas does this in every aspect of the design starting with the dashboard to the course modules.
Forgiveness: Forgiveness in design is when the system helps people avoid errors and has no negative consequences for an error when they occur. Since human error is inevitable, a design system needs to make sure it is not catastrophic. Making sure forgiveness is a piece of the design will create a sense of security and stability. It also gives the user grounds to learn, explore, and use the system how they want to. Canvas does this by allow you to always return to a normal state and re-submit assignments even when they have been past due or already graded.
Form Follows Function: Form follows function is beauty in design results from purity of function. This principle can be interpreted in a couple of ways, which are descriptive and prescriptive. Descriptive interpretation is that the beauty results from purity of function. Prescriptive interpretation is that aesthetic considerations in the design should be secondary to functional consideration. Using this principle in everyday design keeps the purity of the design in mind. Canvas uses prescriptive interpretation but keeping the aesthetic of the design consistency but stay secondary to the function of the system.
Garbage In - Garbage Out: Garbage in - garbage out principle is based on the observation that good inputs generally results in a good output, while bad input results in the bad output. This rule depends purely on the quality of the system when something is entered. Using affordance and constraints will help minimizes any problem the user struggles with when it comes to this design principle. The best way of showing garbage in - garbage out is using previews, confirmations, and notifications to notify the user before going through with the action that doesn’t work and has a poor input. We see this with Canvas when submitting assigns or test. We receive notifications and indications when a bad input goes in.
Good Continuation: Good continuation is when elements are arranged in a straight line are perceived as a group and are interpreted as being more related than elements that are not. This origin is another principle that falls into the Gestalt principles of perception. Using good continuation allows for designs to be ensured that the related objects are grouped using lines and paths. Canvas uses this principle throughout the entire system, i.e. the dashboard, the to-do list, and in the course pages.
Hick’s Law: Hick’s Law is the principle that states that the amount of time it takes to make a decision is a function of the number of options available. This law helps the system to estimate how long it would take for the user to complete an action. The principle has implications for any system or process that requires simple decisions to be made based on multiple options as well. Keeping Hick’s Law in mind white creating designs help keep the user’s decision process based on a set of options in mind. Keep a system more simple and clean will lead the user to have a smoother and easier time doing what they are trying to achieve which will minimize response time, error rates, and user frustration. Canvas uses this to their advantage by keeping their main dashboard simple and minimum to complexity. By limiting the number of buttons and options on the main dashboard, creates a better user flow.
Hierarchy: Hierarchy is the visibility of the relationship within a system is one of the most effective ways to increase knowledge about the system. Using hierarchical organization tactics is the easiest and simplest way to structure for visualizing and understanding complexity. There are three different styles of ways to categorize hierarchy, which are; tree structures, nest structures, and stair structures. Each different structure illustrates different relationships between each element within a system. Canvas very much focuses on a stair style hierarchy. Stair structures are effective for representing complex hierarchies and creates an easier way to walk there the system. Since the typical user has multiple courses, having a stair style helps categories and creates the easiest and smoothest method of increasing knowledge about the structure of a system.
Horror Vacui: Horror Vacui - Latin for “fear of emptiness” - describes the desire to fill empty spaces with information or objects. In design, this principle is perceived to suggest that a more crowed like style allows for the outreach of many more users rather than a more simple and clean design. Canvas does a great job and creating an environment that isn’t too formal while getting the job done. By having it colorful and playful, the feeling of comfort is brought to the user.
Iconic Representation: Iconic Representation is the use of pictorial images to improve the recognition and memorization of signs and controls. These icons allow for a straightforward identification to make actions, objects, and concepts in a display easier to find, recognize, learn, remember, and recall. Types of iconic representation can be icons, logos, information, action-based notifications, and drawing attention. This principle helps reduce performance load, conserves display and control area, and makes signs and controls more understandable across cultures. Canvas has a very iconic logo known within most school districts and universities. Canvas also uses different icons within their system to help users identify actions more quickly than words.
Inverted Pyramid: An inverted pyramid is the method of information presentation in which information is presented in descending order of importance. This principle is a method that elaborates information that is presented in descending order, similar to a pyramid shape. Having an inverted pyramid within a system allows the user to visually understand the most important part of the webpage and gives a sense of understanding to the user without changing anything. For Canvas, we see this on the course page with how the information is set up. We see these features with the modules as well as the side navigations.
Layering: Layering is the process of organizing information into related groups and then presenting or making available only certain groupings at any one time. Users primarily used to manage complexity but not limited information. Layering also reinforces relationships in information. Canvas uses layering mainly in the dashboard with how the courses are organized within the multiple cards.
Legibility: Legibility is the visual clarity of text based on text size, typeface, contrast, text block, and kerning. Legibility avoids confusion regarding the research on legibility as persistent as it is pervasive. When a system or design has a lot of text, keeping legibility in mind, helps the user be able to go through the text and understand the differences of what you are trying to convey. Canvas does this by making titles with a bigger and bolder font. They also use this by changing the color, blocking text together, and working if different styles of spacing.

Student Perceptions of Canvas LMS

Studies have shown that students generally have positive perceptions of Canvas as a learning platform. They appreciate its user-friendly interface, accessibility, and features that promote engagement and self-regulated learning.

Engagement and Participation: Canvas features like discussion boards and conferencing tools significantly increase student engagement, with students noting improved confidence in discussions. Students reported feeling more active in their learning and better able to express their thoughts.
Beneficial Features: Students identified features for sharing materials, grading, and discussion boards as particularly beneficial. The modular design allows for effective preparation and independent study before class meetings, which students found invaluable.
Self-Regulated Learning: Canvas encourages self-regulated learning by providing accessible materials that promote independent study habits. Students expressed that having resources readily available helped them prepare and take ownership of their learning.

Course Modalities and Canvas

Canvas supports various course modalities, each with its unique structure and approach to learning. Understanding these modalities is crucial for designing effective online courses.

Traditional Courses: These courses primarily occur in a physical classroom with synchronous learning activities. Canvas can supplement traditional courses with online resources and communication tools.
Fully Online Courses: In fully online courses, the learning environment is entirely online, and students participate remotely. Canvas serves as the central hub for course materials, activities, and communication.
Hybrid Courses: Hybrid courses combine traditional and online elements, offering a blend of in-person and remote learning experiences.
Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) Courses: HyFlex courses maximize flexibility by allowing students to choose how they access the course, whether in-person, remotely, or asynchronously.

tags: #proximity #learning #canvas #definition