Tools to Extend Canvas

Tools:  Discussion - Annotation - Chat - Peer Review - Math, Science, Polling - Course Admin

Want to do something in your course but not sure which tool can help? Here are the key features of some commonly used tools that can help enhance the online teaching and learning experience. 

For installation of a tool, submit a Canvas course site request.
For help deciding which tools are the best for for your course and how to use them, make an appointment to meet one-to-one with an ITG specialist.

Yellowdig: news feed-style discussion tool, single board

• Social platform for engagement and community building 
• One term-long course board 
• Multiple media posts 
• Linked articles display lead paragraph 
• Awards points aggregated across the term 
• Canvas grade passback

ActiveClass: multiple discussion boards with auto-grading

• Create multiple discussion boards for assignments and topics
• Set post and commenting parameters (i.e. full marks for posting once and commenting twice)
• Easily grade contributions
• Private instructor comments per post and reply
• Open chat space
• Canvas grade passback
  
  

Ed Discussion: community forum: style Q&A tool, multiple boards

• Organize topics into folders
• Instructor endorsed answer
• Create polls 
• Allow students to work on an answer collaboratively

Kialo: dynamic, asynchronous debate

• Tree structure to display supporting and opposing points, and counter-arguments of a debate
• Helps keep arguments concise and to the point
• Visualized map of the complex debate

Feedback Fruits Comprehension: annotation and in-line discussion on the document with participation grading

• Supports multiple file types
• Set annotation topic criteria
• Ability to require "x" number of annotations per topic
• Hide or allow students to view other’s annotations
• Private and public chat space
  
  

Feedback Fruits Interactive Video

• In-video quizzing, multiple-choice, and open-ended questions types
• Instructor-led and student-led annotations
• Grade-passback into Canvas

Perusall: document and assignment annotations, or in select textbooks

• Collaborative reading and annotation tool
• Tag annotations as questions
• Filter questions, unanswered questions, and annotations by instructor or student
• “Confusion report” to summarize areas where students misunderstood, disagreed with each other about, or were most engaged 
• Public and private chat

Canvas Chat: appropriate for any course site

• Visit our guide to enabling Canvas Chat on your course site and important things to note about the tool

OpenCast Social: social annotations for DCE recorded course videos (not on-campus only courses)

FeedbackFruits Peer Review: peer review of assignments, extensive rubric and grading options

• Fair allocation of individual, intergroup and intra-group peer review
• Submission file types include media files
• Reviewer anonymity
• Set criteria and create complex rubrics
• Configurable grading to allocate points per meeting of criteria
• Exportable analytics of student progress and comments
  
  

FeedbackFruits Group Member Evaluation: peer review of group members' performance

• Set instructor criteria for rating and commenting
• Self-assessment
• Reviewer anonymity
• Require a read and reflect on received feedback
• Exportable analytics of student progress and comments

GradeScope- streamlines the tedious parts of grading paper-based, digital, and code assignments

• Automatically or manually grade programming assignments and paper-based assignments and exams 
• Create online assignments which students can answer right on Gradescope

GradingGroups: randomly assign graders to students and track grading progress

• Randomly or manually assign graders to specific students
• Includes grader summary sheets (# graded, % complete, buttons to grade students in SpeedGrader)
• Creates groups and sections based on grader assignments
  
  

GradebookManager – add additional, teacher-viewable-only columns to the Canvas Gradebook for notes

• Add extra columns to your grade book (ex: late days used, notes on attendance, etc.)
• Export data from these grade book columns in CSV format

SwipeIn: automated in-person attendance-taking, optional seating assignment for group work

• Create events and track student attendance
• Integrates directly with Canvas: each event becomes an assignment and students receive a point for attending, though these points don't count toward final grades, by default

Harvard Library reserves: place books on reserve at Lamont or Cabot Libraries

• Create lists of reading that are linked to the Harvard Library and library databases

Wiris Equation Editor: math and science equation editor

• Author and edit mathematical formulas within Canvas rich content editor

Poll Everywhere:  in-class, distance, in-time, or asynchronous web-based polling using cell phones or computers

• Allow students to text their answers with their cell phones or to respond via any Web-enabled device
• Set up your Harvard Poll Everywhere account by going to the Harvard FAS Poll Everywhere website

 Student Locations: geolocation display

• Students can place a pin where they are located in the world
• Fun for students to see where everyone is relational to themselves
• Helpful for when setting up sections or groups in regards to timezones

• Textbook integrations are available subject upon terms of service review by the DCE.
• Please contact the Instructional Technology Group for integration in advance of term start-up.