In the challenging and unexpected transition to digital learning environments in 2020, some of the most common questions my students asked are “Where do I start?” and “What do I need to do today?” In reflecting on my own previous experience in online education and distance-learning classes, I discovered a need for a consistent, simple, yet comprehensive way to administer activities for my students. One area in which I have found difficulty in the combination face-to-face/hybrid/blended/flipped learning model is just a simple, one-page interface that provides students with all of the information that will be used in class that day. Organization, especially in an online/distance learning environment, is absolutely essential for a smooth workflow, in addition to clarity of class expectations, goals, and learning outcomes. Too often, students easily get lost on where to go and what to do when implementing distance learning strategies, resulting in a failure to achieve learning targets. Simply put, we need to provide clear organization in a variety of different ways to help students succeed in a digital learning environment. This is not based on anecdotal evidence alone. John Hattie’s meta-analysis of research in his book “Visible Learning” states that elaboration and organization has a .75 effect size, indicating that it significantly impacts student learning. Furthermore, including learning goals (.68 effect size) is also a research-based best practice to include in the design of the digital learning environment. There are many different ways to organize content, so I’ll share a few that have provided a successful student learning experience. Not only will clear and consistent organization of content help your digital learning environment, but will also help students who may be missing school for one reason or another remain engaged in what is happening in the face-to-face environment.

Canvas

Many schools utilize the Canvas Learning Management System, and rightfully so. Canvas is a platform which lends itself to effective organization of content and curriculum. The development of a one-page introduction to each day/week/lesson provides a starting platform for students to find and complete work. This is also a good location to include any student learning objectives and due dates. It may also be helpful to link the to-do list to the individual activities that are to be completed. The use of bulleted lists, bold text and clear directions provide students with an all-in-one to do list for students to complete. Visual elements, such as banners and headers, can also be added using a variety of different websites (canva.com, piktochart.com). By providing a simple page of directions in Canvas at the beginning of a module, in addition to formatting the Canvas module page, most workflow/organization issues will be avoided.