MyLA Instructor Guide

MyLA Logo
My Learning Analytics (MyLA) is a tool in Canvas that gives you and your students feedback about student engagement with course materials, assignments, and grades. You can enable two visualizations for students. One is a summary of the resources that students and their peers have accessed, and the other helps students set grade-based goals and plan their assignment completion.
Access Not immediate You will need to request and set up MyLA with us first. Once you have completed setup, you can access MyLA through Canvas.
Cost Yes Free.
Bandwidth Yes Low demand on internet connections.
Canvas Integration Yes Works within Canvas.
Privacy Yes Verified by UBC’s Privacy Impact Assessment process.
Similar UBC-Supported Tools Y The built-in analytics and statistics in Canvas can also help you understand student engagement with course content.

What can I use it for?

You can use MyLA to empower student learning in several ways:

  • Encouraging higher student engagement and self-directed learning
  • Monitoring what course resources best assist students in their learning
  • Guiding students’ decisions about what actions to take to improve their academic outcomes

This tool guide was last reviewed in December 2023.

What do I need to use MyLA?

A supported web browser

MyLA runs in your web browser and supports using Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.


Activity in a Canvas course

MyLA works only with content and learning activities in Canvas courses at UBC. All UBC courses have matching courses in Canvas automatically created, with the enrolled students added, even if you have never used Canvas.

Tips

  • You and your students can access visualizations in multiple ways: directly from the Canvas Course Navigation or from any related page in Canvas.

How do I use MyLA?

To get started with MyLA, you will need to request access from us in the LT Hub and enable MyLA in your Canvas course. You can then make the visualizations visible for students.

Click any bar below for instructions and tips for using MyLA.

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Request and set up MyLA in your Canvas course

  1. To begin using MyLA, you will need to request access for your Canvas course by contacting us in the LT Hub.
  2. Once you have received access, you will need to turn on MyLA in your Canvas course:
    • Log in your Canvas class and click Settings in the Course Navigation.
    • Click the Navigation tab.
    • Find the My Learning Analytics menu item, click the options menu (the 3 vertical dots) and choose Enable.
    • Click Save to save your settings changes.
  3. Click My Learning Analytics in the Course Navigation to initiate the syncing process.
  4. MyLA will now be available for you and your students through the Course Navigation.

Tips

  • There will be an initial delay before you and your students can view meaningful results, as MyLA data gets updated every 24 hours. It's good to let your students know about this delay. The time at which the data was last refreshed is noted beneath each visualization.

Enable or disable MyLA visualizations for your students

MyLA gives students insights into their engagement with your Canvas course content, encouraging them toward behaviour that can improve academic outcomes. Two visualizations are available, and you can choose what is appropriate for your course.

  1. In your Canvas course, click My Learning Analytics in the Canvas Navigation.
    • If you do not see this option, please follow the steps in the accordion section above for setting up your course.
  2. Click the checkbox next to "Enabled" or Disabled" to change the status of each visualization:
    • Resources Accessed - Allows students to view the course files used by their peers and organize these according to the other students' course grades. Each student can set the date range and the grade cutoff for their visualization of the course files.
    • Assignment Planning - Lets students set grade-based goals for their assignments and the course as a whole. Each student can review their actual performance in relation to these goals and plan for improvements, if desired.
  3. Once you check or uncheck the visualization, your change(s) will automatically be saved.
  4. Let your students know what you've made available and how it might help them.

Tips

  • If you enable the "Resources Accessed" visualization, consider these best practices:
    • Use clear and concise names for files in your course, so that students can easily recognize the files in the visualization.
    • Publish all the files that you want displayed and accessed through the visualization. If you have files that are unpublished or have scheduled availability, they will not appear in the visualization.
  • If you enable the "Assignment Planning" visualization, consider this best practice:
    • Publish all of the assignments that you want displayed in the visualization and ensure each has a clear name, points, due date, and weight (if applicable). Note that publishing does not mean the assignment details are released to students; you can still separately control when students access and submit the assignment.

Where can I get more support with MyLA?

Technical support

If you have trouble with MyLA:


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