This page breaks down the three high-impact organizational design strategies found in Canvas Hall of Fame winning course sites. By focusing on a "Right Now" homepage, establishing a weekly learning loop, and maintaining naming consistency, you can reduce student frustration and technical questions. Use the sections below to see how these strategies look in practice and how to apply them to your own course site.
The "Right Now" Homepage Focus
Put current and important work just one click away.
The Strategy
Build a Homepage Table of Contents (TOC) with direct links to your Syllabus and every Unit or Module in your course site. Additionally, if you want to elevate your Canvas site to the next level, update the homepage weekly to focus specifically on the current week's work, reducing visual clutter and minimizing clicks to immediate content, activities and assignments.
The Why
It removes needless guesswork and extra “clicks,” so students can focus on learning the material or completing tasks.
Student Quotes
“The homepage is very nice and organized. I can find what's needed very easily. I especially like that I can access a page with practice exams when I'm studying for my midterm. I can also access the lab or the lecture components of class easily. This canvas page is the most organized one I have seen in a long time.”
Hall of Fame Examples
Use the arrow buttons on the slide show below to see various examples in past award winning course sites. View larger high resolution images to see more details and descriptions of each example displayed below.
Create a Weekly Learning Loop
Help students manage their time and understand how daily tasks connect to final goals by building a predictable and complete weekly cycle.
The Strategy
Design each week as a consistent learning loop made up of predictable and connected parts:
- Start with a “Welcome to the Week” Announcement: Introduce the week’s focus, key tasks, and how it connects to prior and upcoming work.
- Frame the work with an Overview Page: Clearly outline goals, expectations, and how activities connect and build toward larger assignments. You can also use tools like an Assessment Map (shown below) to visually demonstrate how weekly tasks connect to major projects and course outcomes.
- Structure the module with clear action labels and text headers: Group content under task-based headers (e.g., "Before Class," "During Class"). Start every item with a clear, consistent verb (e.g., READ, WATCH, SUBMIT) and include time estimates so students can plan accordingly (e.g., ~45 mins).
- End with a Wrap-up page and/or Announcement: Reinforce key takeaways, address common challenges, and preview what’s next.
The Why
When students understand the weekly routine, they feel more confident and can manage their schedules without guesswork. Clear labels and visual maps make it easier to scan tasks and understand their purpose. (An added benefit: this also improves accessibility—text like “READ” or “WATCH” is recognized by screen readers, unlike emojis.) Closing the loop each week gives students a sense of accomplishment and a clear checkpoint to reinforce key concepts before moving on.
Student Quote
“There are never any surprises because the tabs organize everything you need for the week into one place. This includes chapter readings for the week and also his own commentary, which is exceptionally helpful in understanding the course content. This deserves recognition because it is unique and has vastly improved my learning experience in his class.”
Hall of Fame Examples
Use the arrow buttons on the slide show below to see various examples in past award winning course sites. View the high resolution images to see more details and descriptions of each example.
Clear Navigation & Consistent Naming
Ensure students always know where they are and where to go next.
The Strategy
There are a couple of ways to increase navigational clarity:
- Reduce and condense your course menu to make navigation clearer and easier for students.
- For consistent naming conventions, use the exact same name for an assignment when you start to describe or reference it in your syllabus, on a Canvas page, and within an assignment or discussion. The name should match what you name the activity as seen in the Gradebook.
The Why
When course navigation menu items are reduced to the essential components for the course, they become more intuitive. When assignment names match, students can more easily identify activities and assignments so they can then spend more time learning than trying to find the learning content.
Student Quote
"This course has been easy to navigate because of the clear organization located on the home page. My professor has clearly put in a great deal of extra work to set up the modules in weekly-tabs. There are never any surprises because the tabs organize everything you need for the week into one place. This includes chapter readings for the week and also his own commentary, which is exceptionally helpful in understanding the course content. This deserves recognition because it is unique and has vastly improved my learning experience in his class."
Hall of Fame Examples
Use the arrow buttons on the slide show below to see various examples in past award winning course sites. View the high resolution images to see more details and descriptions of each example.
