Not-So-Secret Info From Community Super Agent, Kona Jones

ewander
Community Contributor
‎07-26-2017 02:19 PM

[Session Name]

No Need to Blame Canvas

 @kona ‌

[NEED-TO-KNOW]

The major takeaways from this session were:

  • Don't assume your instructors and students know how to do anything in Canvas.
  • Give your instructors and students the information they need to focus on the content of the course and not the technology.
  • Use the Canvas guides!

[ADDITIONAL INTEL]

Listening to Kona discribe a number of issues students and instructors have on a daily basis in Canvas, I was reminded of my customer service interactions in the office. Many of the troubles mentioned have been brought up a number of times - almost every time I answer the phone. From not being able to access Canvas to not understanding how to get the gradebook in order - it was all deja vu. 

My favorite lesson from Kona's session was her brilliant 'Wait ten minutes, try to figure it out, if you can't give me a call,' mantra. I don't know how that will go over in our customer service model, as some people tend to get red-faced and escalate things way to fast, but I am encouraged to give it a try. I am a proponent of jumping in and figuring things out as you go. I also feel that some, instructors especially, don't give themselves enough credit. They're intelligent and fully capable of figuring out Canvas.

Kona is also willing to share trainings for students and instructors (to be added soon) and I know I'm going to put those to good use. Let's take a look at the biggest issues we have at our instritutions and plan ahead with workshops or Canvas modules that center around how to use Canvas. Sometimes it's user error and we need to give Canvas users the tools they need to troubleshoot simple problems that can pop up.

This sessions was for beginners and long-time Canvas users. I've been using Canvas as a student, instructional designer and instructor for four year now and I enjoyed hearing Kona's preemptive solutions to these simple fixes that can cause major panic.

Enjoy the remainder of your InstructureCon experience! 

Erin

instcon‌

instcon 2017‌