Canvas Baseline Plus
Take your teaching beyond the minimum with practices that foster interaction, personalisation, and connection.
Canvas Baseline Practices establish a strong, accessible foundation. Baseline Plus provides suggestions for enhancing your courses by integrating our Signature Pedagogical Practices: relational learning, assessment for learning, and technology-enhanced learning (TEL). These practices are optional, but they support more engaging and future-focused course experiences.
Baseline Plus practices
Programme-level consistency
Help students navigate across courses with shared structure and language:
- Coordinate with colleagues to align Canvas layout, tools, and naming conventions across your programme.
- Use shared templates for consistency.
- Create consistent placement of key elements (e.g., readings, assessments, feedback).
Technology-enhanced learning
Use Canvas tools to support structure and autonomy:
- Set module requirements and prerequisites to guide student progression.
- Use the Calendar tool to consolidate due dates and scheduled activities.
- Incorporate self-check quizzes or interactive tools for engagement and practise.
Relational learning
Foster presence, connection, and belonging:
- Use announcements or videos to maintain teacher presence.
- Invite students to introduce themselves and reflect on learning.
- Set shared expectations for communication and engagement.
Assessment for learning
Encourage practise, peer feedback, and authentic learning:
- Use peer review tools or group discussions to support collaboration.
- Scaffold assessments through drafts, feedback stages, or low-stakes tasks.
- Provide a variety of ways students can demonstrate understanding.
Why extend beyond the baseline?
Baseline Plus practices align closely with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the Curriculum Framework Transformation. They help students feel more connected, engaged, and supported—particularly in diverse, blended, or large-scale teaching environments.
Support and examples
- See Universal Design for Learning for strategies that overlap with Baseline Plus.
- Learn from staff stories: Redesigning courses with CBP.
- Book a consultation via TeachWell Consult.
Page updated 21/07/2025 (minor edit)