There are many tools and features in Canvas that will help you meet the pedagogical challenges posed by language teaching and learning. The Rich Content Editor in the Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, Quizzes, and Syllabus portions of your Canvas site is particularly helpful because it allows you to format your material in a way that makes it easy for students to access and work with. This is especially good when you are putting a large amount of content on your course site or creating links to material from outside sources.

• Set the Language for Your Course Site
• Content
• Link Outside Content
• Add Images
• Add Tables
• Audio and Video Integration
• Advanced Features
• Canvas Assistance

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Set the Language for Your Course Site

You can set the display language for your course site from a number of major languages. All of the built-in text on your course site, such as navigation tabs and menu options, will be displayed in the language you select.

Click Settings > Course Details, go to the Language drop-down menu, and select the language you want from the list of options.

Link Content

Language classes often present an organizational challenge for both instructors and students due to the variety of instructional materials and assignment types. Therefore, it's recommended that you put all course material in one place so that students know where to find it. Usually, the best place for course material is Modules. Within Modules, you can add items like pages or assignments that include links to other relevant material. The best strategy is to link course content together and maintain a central location as a starting point for navigating the course.

To add a link to another page or item within Canvas to your course site:

1. In the Rich Text Editor, select the text to which you want to add a link.
2. Select the Link button in the Rich Text Editor toolbar and choose Course Links.
   
3. On the pop-up right panel, open the toggle panel for Pages and select the material to which you want to link.
   
   Note: If the course covers a large amount of grammar, you can make a page that summarizes all of the grammar topics covered in the class. You can then link this summary page to other pages in the course that explain the concepts.

Link Outside Content

You can provide links to outside language resources on the Internet. To create a link, highlight the text, click the Link icon, and paste in the URL of the site when prompted.

For step-by-step details on how to link outside content, go to How do I create a hyperlink in the Rich Content Editor?

Add Images

In the first and second years of language learning, images are particularly useful in getting students to produce language. The Canvas Discussion Board is a great way to provide your class with images for group discussion. Here are two ways to add images:

1. Select Images in the Rich Text Editor. This menu allows you to upload new images or to insert image files already uploaded to the course site.
   
   

   For step-by-step details on how to add images, read How do I upload and embed an image in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor? or How do I embed images from Canvas into the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?

2. When you select the Upload Image option, you can upload images from your computer or enter the URL of a publicly available image.
   
   Remember that your images should have alternative text unless they are purely decorative. Please see How do I manage alt text and display options for images embedded in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?

Add Tables

Tables are particularly useful for displaying grammar rules and vocabulary. You can copy and paste tables into your course site from places like Word or the Internet, or you can create a table of your own in the Rich Content Editor by choosing Insert > Table.

For step-by-step details on how to create and add a table to your course content, see How do I insert a table using the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?

Audio and Video Integration

Canvas streamlines the recording and integration of audio and video files and can be added whenever you have the opportunity to use the Rich Text Editor. Both instructors and students can record themselves on the course site and post. Here's how:

1. To insert a video from your Panopto account, click on the Panopto icon in the Rich Text Editor. Panopto is suitable for videos that you want to reuse in different course sites and for large video files, as Panopto videos do not count towards your Canvas course file storage limit. 
   
2. If you want to upload or record a very short video, you can use Canvas' native media tool. Note that videos created via Canvas' native media tool will count toward your Canvas file storage space.  To use this method, select the Media icon on the Rich Text Editor toolbar, then select Upload/Record Media:
   
3. If you are recording new media, use the Mic and Webcam buttons to select your video and audio sources.  Select Start Recording when you are ready to begin.
   
   
   
4. Follow the on-screen prompts to record, save, and upload the media file.

For step-by-step details, read How do I record media using the Rich Content Editor as an instructor? 

You can take advantage of the audio and video integration that Canvas offers in the following places:

• Assignment Instructions: Post media clips directly into the assignment or page to explain the assignments or provide assignment questions the student should answer.
• Quiz Instructions: Integrate audio and video files into quizzes. In Quiz Instructions, post the media file(s) you want your students to listen to while they take the quiz. If you only have one question per audio file, you can post the audio file directly into the quiz question when you edit the question.
• Pronunciation Guide: On pages with reading assignments attached, post an audio clip of the reading passage to provide students with a reference for pronunciation.
• Discussion: Post audio and video files. This allows students to post audio or video responses to one another in the target language.
• Media Assignments: Create assignments that require students to submit audio or video files. When you create an assignment, select Submission Type: Online > Online Entry Options > Media Recordings. The assignment will prompt students to record or upload media.
• Feedback for Media Assignments: Provide audio or video feedback to student assignment submissions using Canvas' Speedgrader. In Speedgrader, under Assignment Comments on the right, select the video icon to record your audio or video comments.
  

 

Advanced Features

As you gain proficiency with Canvas, you may want to add some of these useful features to your content:

Tooltips

If you are comfortable working with HTML, you can use the HTML Editor in Canvas to format vocabulary words so that a definition appears when a user hovers the mouse over a word. To do this, click on the HTML Editor icon </> at the bottom right when in the Rich Text Editor. Insert the code snippet below and modify it for your content:

<a class="ui-tooltip" title="Your definition"><span style="cursor: help;">your word</span></a>

For example, to provide the definition for the word "Erleichterung", your code will look like:

<a class="ui-tooltip" title="relief"><span style="cursor: help;">Erleichterung</span></a>

Now, users will see a tooltip with a definition of "Erleichterung" when they hover over that word.

For more information, go to How do I use the HTML view in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?

Tabbed Layout

• You can create a menu of linked tabs that allows students easy access to multiple assignments:
  
• You can also include sections that can be controlled using toggles or accordions.

Canvas Assistance

Canvas has online discussion forums in which you can ask questions and discuss your experience with various Canvas features. You can also learn more about these features or any other feature by setting up an appointment with Academic Technology Solutions.