MyLA for Instructors

Why Enable MyLA?

Canvas does not currently provide student-facing analytics. MyLA addresses this by providing informative analytics for students. As the use of Canvas continues to be a vital part of the teaching and learning process at our institution, it is crucial that students are able to self-regulate and be supported in their learning. 66% of students who use myLA report positive changes in their 1) study habits, 2) confidence in understanding course material, and 3) planning of course activity.

How To Provide Access to MyLA

The MyLA LTI has been added as an opt-in integration for all Canvas courses, so it needs to be enabled by the instructor in each course (it will be included in the next course shell if you do a course import from a previous course but it will still need to be clicked on once, Step 5, to be activated for that particular course shell). Follow the steps below to add MyLA to your Canvas course:

In a desktop browser (Chrome or Firefox is recommended), go to the Settings page in your Canvas course
Click on the Navigation tab
MyLA is defaulted to be hidden from students. Drag My Learning Analytics up to the navigation items list at the top of the page or click on the three dots and select enable
Click Save
Click on the My Learning Analytics tab in the left side navigation. This initiates loading the data for your class into MyLA (and needs to be completed by the instructor once per semester course shell). MyLA data is updated every 24 hours, so the views with your course data will be available the next day
MyLA has been added to the course! After the data is loaded, you can review and enable or disable any of the visualizations for students. Click on the checkbox to check (enable) or uncheck (disable) a visualization for students and then create your communication plan to let students know about it (see Announce/Remind students below).

Considerations When Enabling MyLA

File permissions: If you are using “Only available to students with link” as a file permission restriction setting, you should not enable the Resources Accessed visualization for your course since MyLA will create the link permitting direct student download. If you use “Unpublish” or “Schedule student availability” when the file appears on the MyLA list of resources, it will block access to the file based on those Canvas settings.
File naming conventions: Use clear and concise names for files in your course so that students easily recognize the file name in the visualization
Publish all assignments: Assignments must be published with names, points, due dates, and assignment group weights plus any drop rules set (if using them) to accurately display. (Note: An Available From Date and Module Locks can still be used so assignment details are not available until you are ready). If you have assignments that are not included in the Canvas gradebook, inform your students of this limitation or disable the Assignment Planning visualization to avoid a miscommunication about course expectations.
Minimum registration of 11 students: For student data privacy reasons, the Resources Accessed and Grade Distribution visualizations should not be enabled when there are less than 11 students in the course.
Announce/Remind students: Be sure to tell and remind your students that it's available to them! To help with this, we have provided sample text below (which assumes all visualizations have been enabled, customize this language as it fits your course) for your syllabus, an introductory announcement (best sent a day after an assignment has been graded, so there's data available to review; about the mid/end of the second week), and a reminder announcement (sent a third or halfway through the semester when there's still time to recover from performance setbacks). Announcements can be pre-scheduled so you don't forget but it may be more effective to put the information directly on a module content page with other course videos.

Syllabus Text

MyLA has been added to the Canvas course for this class. MyLA allows you to check your course performance and view your progress toward learning goals. Three visualizations use data from Canvas to provide a look into effective study habits. on the My Learning Analytics webpage. Please contact me with interpretation, grading, and assignment questions or the UFIT Help Desk for technical support.

Introductory Announcement

My Learning Analytics (MyLA) has been added to the Canvas navigation for this course. MyLA is a set of course data visualizations designed for students to help you evaluate your learning progress and study habits. Check out this short introduction video on using the tool and get further details on the My Learning Analytics webpage. You can use the three MyLA views to learn about:

the resources (files & videos) you and other students have accessed,
upcoming assignments and how your performance on them is related to your grade, and
your current grade and the overall grade distribution.

Please contact me with interpretation, grading, and assignment questions or the UFIT Help Desk for technical support.

Reminder Announcement

Have you checked MyLA lately? Click on My Learning Analytics in the navigation bar to see analytics on your engagement with course resources, upcoming assignment planning, and the grade distribution. Further details on how to use the tool are available via a quick start video and on the My Learning Analytics webpage.