Whether you are new to Northeastern or just looking to refresh your knowledge of what’s available at Northeastern, this curated page will provide quick steps to help faculty and supporting staff learn about teaching and learning technology, services, and support available through Academic Technologies. The learning path on this page will take about five hours to complete, so you may want to set aside time before the start of the term to go through these getting started activities.  

Before you go through this page, you’ll want to start with Northeastern’s Connect-to-Tech page. 

1. Get to know the tools and services available to support your teaching 

One hour to complete this section 

Northeastern ITS provides robust toolsets and services to help support your teaching and learning. Academic Technologies is the ITS team that helps provide you with consultative services and support for Canvas and all academic technology tools. Review the resources outlined in this section to get to know Academic Technologies and the services available.   

• Review the Academic Technologies Learning Tools page 
• Complete the Academic Technologies Overview Training (30 minutes)  
• Use the Tech Portal to find answers to questions, explore services, and report tech issues 

2. Get started with Canvas 

Two hours to complete this section 

Academic Technologies has robust resources to help you start with Canvas, including consultative services, templates to save you time building your courses, start and end-of-the-term course design checklists, Northeastern-tailored Canvas training, and more! The resources in this section will help you begin with Canvas before the term starts.   

• Review the Faculty Resources page on the Canvas website 
• Schedule a Canvas Course Design Consultation  
• Complete the Live or OnDemand Introduction to Canvas Training (60 minutes) 
• Ask Canvas 24/7 support questions through the Canvas help menu (as needed) 
• Tour the Canvas example course to get inspired 

• Explore the Canvas templates available and choose the best one for your course 

Bonus: Looking to go beyond the basics with Canvas early on, after completing the Introduction to Canvas Training, take the Teach Smarter Not Harder with Canvas Training.  

3. Plan your next steps 

One to three hours to complete this section 

Once you’ve completed the sections above, you’ll be ready to start building your Canvas course and choose what integrated tools you’ll use to meet your teaching and student learning needs. Academic Technologies is here to help you every step of the way! To get started, complete the steps outlined in the section below.   

• Determine what other supporting teaching tools you plan to use to create and teach your course. 
• Review the integrated and support tools available in Canvas. 
• Schedule a Canvas and integrated Tools 1:1 Consultation to talk through teaching and learning tool options and help make a plan for designing your course and preparing for the start of term 
• Take additional OnDemand and live training on the tools you selected to use 
• Before your course goes live, use the Canvas checklist to help ensure everything is all set for the start of the term 
• Email [email protected] if you have Canvas and integrated tools questions that Canvas 24/7 support is unable to answer 

4. Get started with Microsoft Teams for Teaching 

One hour to complete this section 

Microsoft Teams is Northeastern’s preferred online collaboration hub that unites conversations, meetings, voice calls, files, and apps together in one platform. Teams is integrated into Canvas to create seamless teaching and learning experiences to help faculty and students have a central communication space to connect before, during, and after the class.  

• Download Microsoft Teams to your devices 

• Take the Learning Together with Microsoft Teams training to gain the essential skills needed for teaching with Teams 

5. Get to know your Classroom (for in-person, hybrid, and live cast courses)  

One hour to complete this section 

If some component or all of your course is taught in-person, you’ll want to carve time out to get to know your classroom and the technology available in that space.  

• Explore and bookmark the Classroom Dashboard on the Tech Service Portal 

• If you are teaching in a Global Learning Space (GLS), explore the Global Learning Space resource page. 
• Register for essential Classroom Technology training. To learn how to use the GLS classroom, start with this on-demand training. You may also sign up for a consultation or technology training.