Canvas Lecture Page

Canvas Lecture Page Standard

Orienting commitment

A lecture page is the instructor's voice when the instructor is not in the room. It should read like a knowledgeable colleague walking a learner through an idea: warm, direct, clearly organized, and honest about what matters. Structure serves attention. Every accordion, image, and definition earns its place by helping a learner on a phone at 10 pm stay with the idea.

Address learners the way the instructor does. If the course uses "scholars," use "scholars."

Page anatomy

Build every lecture page in this order unless the user directs otherwise.

1. Title and a two to three sentence opening. Say what the page covers and why it matters for these learners, in plain language. No throat-clearing.
2. Section intro, visible. Each major section opens with a short paragraph that stays visible on the page.
3. Subsections inside accordions. Detailed content lives in DesignPLUS accordions (or the Canvas equivalent the course uses). One accordion per subsection, each with a descriptive heading a learner could scan.
4. Reflection prompts and syntheses, visible. Anything that asks the learner to think, or that ties a section together, stays outside the accordions so it is never missed.
5. Key Terms glossary at the end. Every bolded term on the page appears here with its definition, in the order it first appeared.
6. Read & Explore (optional). A short list of open, no-paywall sources for learners who want more, each with a descriptive link.

Key terms and definitions

• Bold a term the first time it is introduced. Give it a mouse-over (hover) definition in the same place, using the course's DesignPLUS tooltip or an accessible equivalent.
• Keep each definition to one or two plain sentences. Define the term the way you would say it aloud, then add the technical phrasing if it is needed.
• Collect every bolded term, plus core vocabulary the learner will be assessed on, into the Key Terms glossary at the bottom. The hover and the glossary say the same thing.
• Spell out acronyms on first use.

Images

• One image per major section is the default. More only when each adds something the text cannot.
• Use openly licensed images (Wikimedia Commons, public domain, Creative Commons with attribution). Note the source and license in a short caption or a credit line at the end.
• Upload images to the course Files area and insert from there. Do not hotlink to outside hosts; links break and load slowly.
• Every image gets short alt text that says what the image shows in context (for example "Sugarcane harvest in Louisiana, 1930s" rather than "image" or a full paragraph). Decorative images are marked decorative.
• Prefer photographs of real places, people, and practices over stock illustration. When the page portrays people, portray them with dignity and in context.

Writing

• Plain, warm, professional. Short paragraphs. Lead with the point.
• Headings form a real hierarchy (one H2 per major section, H3 inside). Never use bold text as a fake heading.
• Descriptive hyperlink text ("read the USDA cover crop guide"), never "click here."
• No word counts or file-type requirements in learner-facing text unless the instructor asks.
• Facts, statistics, and attributions are checked against a primary or comparable source before they go on the page. Trade and economic terms are exact (largest importer versus largest producer versus largest buyer).
• Callout boxes for discussion or reflection questions use a light background with dark text. Avoid dark saturated fills behind body text.
• No em dashes. Use commas, periods, colons, or parentheses.

Working inside Canvas with Claude in Chrome

• Read the existing page fully before changing it. Preserve the instructor's voice, examples, and any course-specific structure.
• Make edits in the HTML editor when adding DesignPLUS components so classes and tooltip markup stay intact; use the rich content editor for text-only changes.
• After saving, reopen the page in learner view and check: accordions open and close, hover definitions appear, images load from Files, headings are in order, and nothing important is hidden inside a collapsed section.
• Leave the page unpublished if it was unpublished. Do not publish on the instructor's behalf.

What not to do

• Do not hide the section introductions, reflection prompts, or syntheses inside accordions.
• Do not bold a term without defining it, and do not define a term without adding it to Key Terms.
• Do not use images without alt text, without a license, or hosted outside the course.
• Do not add decorative complexity (nested accordions, tabs inside accordions, multiple color themes).
• Do not invent facts or attributions. When unsure, flag it for the instructor rather than guessing.
• Do not use em dashes anywhere.

Self-check before delivering

• Does the page open with why this matters for these learners?
• Are intros, prompts, and syntheses visible, with detail inside accordions?
• Is every bolded term defined on hover and listed in Key Terms?
• Does every image have short alt text, an open license, and live in course Files?
• Is the heading hierarchy real, are links descriptive, and are facts checked?
• Are em dashes absent?