Introduction

The purpose of this Canvas tutorial is to demonstrate ways in which course developers can integrate formative assessment activities with lecture videos inside an asynchronous online learning environment. The options described herein are limited to the Canvas LMS and the Panopto video player (though the approach may also work with other video platforms paired with Canvas). It is beyond the scope of this tutorial to analyze and compare third-party tools (e.g., Playposit, Hapyak) specifically built to deliver in-video quizzing. This tutorial is written for experienced instructional designers with a super-user level of fluency as course developers in both Canvas and Panopto.

Background

The need for this tutorial emerged when Workday purchased Zaption in 2016 and then pulled the platform out of the higher education market. Zaption had previously provided an elegant way to develop quizzes that students completed while viewing lecture videos inside the Canvas learning environment. And while a number of companies have tried to fill the void that the Zaption departure created, no single option provides the user experience that IDs, instructors and students have come to expect from an in-video quizzing tool.

An Overview of the Tutorial

This tutorial consists of three models, each of which is housed inside a unique Canvas module. Each module opens with a note to designers that describes the activity sequence demonstrated in the model. This opening note also provides a list of considerations and limitations to keep in mind when implementing the model. Within any module, all pages following the opening note are intended to illustrate the learning experience of the model from the student perspective.

For purposes of this tutorial, assume that 'lecture' is an umbrella term that refers to a collection of video segments and quizzes paired together. In actual implementation these formative activities could reasonably be called 'question' or 'activity' instead of 'quiz'. And while this is not demonstrated in the tutorial, video segments could also be paired with non-quiz activities within the Canvas environment, including prompts to complete work in the form of a discussion, an assignment or a prompt on an e-board (e.g., Piazza, Yellowdig, or similar).

In the context of video-quiz pairing, each model has two design elements that are critical for delivering an effective experience for students. The first is the introductory content that precedes any given lecture. It identifies the video segments and activities that comprise the lecture and suggests any parameters regarding sequence in which students should view videos and complete activities. Whether that happens on a discrete page or sits on the same page as the videos themselves is not a topic that this tutorial addresses.

The second critical element is correct- and incorrect-answer feedback in activities built on the Canvas quiz platform. After students click Submit, Canvas automatically serves feedback that is specific to how students respond to the prompt in the quiz. In addition to providing any summative feedback and/or remediation, this feedback should also deliver a call to action for students that instructs them on (or, at a minimum, suggests) next steps to take. The examples in these three models tell students how to navigate to the next activity (i.e., next quiz, next video, or conclusion) and, when appropriate, provide a hyperlink that takes them to that page in the course.

Enter the Tutorial

To get started, click Modules in the left-hand navigation bar, or click here to jump to the next page in the tutorial.