Canvas in Action: Elevating Student Engagement Through Purposeful Design and Practice
Transform your Canvas course with actionable strategies that enhance student engagement and leverage AI support.

by Dane Jacobson

Workshop Objectives
Explore 3 Canvas engagement strategies
Learn practical techniques to immediately boost student interaction.
Leverage AI for course design and more
Use AI tools to streamline layout creation and content development.
Apply one strategy during our session
Implement your chosen approach with guided support.
STRATEGY 1: Design an Engaging Canvas Page with HTML + AI
What it Does
Transforms plain or cluttered Canvas pages into clean, organized layouts with embedded content and clear instructions. Simple structure improvements enhance student navigation and task completion.
Teacher Action
Select a Canvas page needing organization
OR conceptualize a new structured page
Use ChatGPT to create HTML
  • Magic Words: HTML-Only… No CSS or JavaScript!
Insert code via Canvas HTML editor
  • Magic Buttons: ctrl-c, ctrl-a, ctrl-v
Prompting Guidance
Here is an example ChatGPT conversation that you could emulate to prompt and revise your own code.
STRATEGY 2: Make Articles and Videos Interactive with Brisk Boost
What it Does
Adds AI-generated questions alongside an article or video — giving students something to respond to, and giving you visibility into how they’re engaging. Even if it’s just a standalone video or reading, Brisk makes it more interactive and purposeful. It even flags copied content from a student. It's great for transforming standalone content into interactive, purposeful learning experiences.
Teacher Action
Download the Brisk Extension
Go to Brisk Teaching for the Brisk extension
Choose Content
Navigate to an existing article or video
Generate Boosted Activity
Click the Brisk Icon on screen, then click the red backpack
Embed or Link in Canvas
Add to page or assignment
See It For Yourself
Here is an example of Brisk Boost from a student's perspective.
STRATEGY 3: Use Discussions as a Forum for Student Voice
What it Does
Turns Canvas Discussions into an open, student-led forum — not just a one-off assignment. Students can start their own discussions, ask questions, and even share interests — promoting both content engagement and classroom culture.
Teacher Action
Enable the Following
  • Threaded Replies
  • Student-Created Discussion
Create Pinned Discussions
  • Teacher-led discussions for units or support
  • A How-to on student-created discussions
Create in Student View
  • A sample discussion
  • EX: "Top 5 Favorite Movies!"
Encourage Student Participation
  • Let classroom experts lead the charge
Workshop: Choose a Strategy and Get Support
Canvas Page with HTML + AI
  • Choose an existing page or generate a new one with ChatGPT
  • Paste structured HTML into Canvas and refine it
Brisk Boost
  • Pick a video or article
  • Use Brisk to generate an activity and link the resource
Student Forum with Discussions
  • Pin discussion threads for classroom topics or units
  • Test student-created posts using Student View
Thank You, Sidewinders!
Reflect on the Following Questions
What did you try out today?
What's one way you might use this soon?
What surprised you about your strategy?
For Further Support, Feel Free to Schedule a Virtual Meeting