Online Course Demonstration

Check out this course demonstration video to get a behind the look into the Maryville University online learning environment. You’ll see how courses are set up, where students access syllabus information, assignments, and grades. If you’ve never had experience in the online classroom and you’re curious about what it is like to be an online Maryville student, here is a sneak peek.

[Instructor] Maryville University uses Canvas as our online learning management system. Canvas will serve as your classroom throughout the program and it’s designed to be easy to use by allowing you to have all essential information at your fingertips. All that you need is internet access to collaborate with classmates, attend discussions and submit your assignments. Please keep in mind that the dashboard and courses we will be showing today are examples and are intended to give you a sneak peek into the online learning environment. Actual courses for your program may vary. By the end of this presentation, you will understand the general functionality of Canvas and the interaction that is possible using the system. Once logged in, you will see your home page and dashboard which is the main screen, students log into every time to access the online classroom. The left hand tool bar, allows you to access your profile, log in and out and access the 24-7 help desk for any technical questions you that you may have. This home page allows you to navigate to see all of your grades, announcements and calendars for all courses you are enrolled in. In the calendar tab, you will see that all assignments, quizzes and due dates are preloaded for you. In the resources tab, students have full access to the campus library, writing center resources and help desks. The courses tab allows you to see all courses for which you’re registered. The groups tab is where students access their small groups. Once in the small group page, you’ll see announcements, other people in the group, shared files, and discussion boards. Now let’s go back and look at the dashboard. The home page or dashboard for each course will look relatively similar. Once we open the course, we have a tool bar menu on the left hand side which allows access to all aspects of your course, syllabus, instructor and classmate information, grades, discussions and more. Weekly plans or modules is where students spend most of their time. A benefit of an online program is that everything for your course is kept in one place and can be easily referred to. Each module links to all materials needed for each week of the course, assignments, activities, readings, discussion boards, quizzes or tests allowing for students to prepare easily each week. In most courses, students are able to see weekly plans for the entire semester and therefore, plan ahead and stay organized. Some elements may be the same each week. But the delivery of the course content may vary depending on the course and the instructor. Students can interact with classmates, instructors, and view and upload course content in a variety of ways. The first being live synchronous discussions with an instructor and classmates. Everyone will log on using video technology to visually meet and have a live discussion regarding the weekly lesson topics. The sessions will be recorded and can be watched again at a later date. Unlike a live classroom, students can rewind and re-watch as many times as needed. The second type of interaction includes discussion boards which are typically part of weekly assignments. The instructor will have directions or guidelines on the basis of the post. After students initially post, they are able to see their classmates’ posts and responses. VoiceThread is another interactive tool used in most courses. It allows students to create narrated presentations to share and receive comments. Students will be required to complete assignments using VoiceThread. The syllabus will include a step by step instruction on how to use this tool. Most courses include video of the instructor or lead instructor. Some of these video include a short review of course content and others welcoming you to the course. Similar to the recordings of the live discussions, the videos are available 24-7 and students can access them at any time to replay. All videos has a pause, rewind and fast forward features allowing for students to learn at their own pace. Another form of video, occasionally used by instructors is recorded slideshow presentation. All videos include downloadable, word for word transcriptions. If videos include slides or other media, those are usually downloadable for students to use also. Throughout the course, students use a variety of interactive media pieces to view course content and put their new learnings to use. A variety of media pieces are used to accommodate all learning styles. One example is a simple way to review course content. This type of interaction also allows for students to quiz themselves on the content. Another media piece is a case study where students actually practice diagnosing a patient and receiving feedback from a professor after each step in the process. This specific example includes audio as well. These studies and interactive media pieces can be used over and over for practice. And all learning activities have documents to download as an alternative method to complete or review the content. Finally, most courses require group work. The canvas learning system is designed to allow students from all over the country to use web based tools, to work together including live conferencing and chat. As you can see, even if you are a marital online student, you will interact regularly with classmates, professors and complete group work. As well as in some ways have more tools to study course content. This is the general view of what Maryville online graudate courses may be like. Depending on your instructor, course material and requirements, course content and details may vary. Should you have any additional questions, or would like to discuss how to get started on your journey with Maryville University, please, contact a member of the enrollment team.