Design Tools

KennethWare is most often used as the project name for a product that Utah State University’s Center for Innovative Design & Instruction (CIDI) developed called Design Tools. Design Tools is a set of tools for Canvas that provides an easy way to build out the module structure of a course including quizzes, discussions, assignments, syllabus, themes, and template pages. It significantly reduces the time it takes instructional designers or instructors to complete these tasks.

There are two versions of Design Tools available as outlined below. You can review a comparison chart in the “What are the differences between the open source version and the hosted version?” section.

Version 2 (Open Source)

Design Tools Version 2 software is open source and available on the CIDI Github site. Version 2 is in use at a number of instituions and universities including:

• University of Utah
• Utah Valley University
• Weber State University
• Salt Lake Community College
• Snow College
• Southern Utah University
• Dixie State College
• Colorado State University

Version 2 of Design Tools is also available through Unizin to their member institutions.

Many other colleges, universities and school districts have implemented the tools or are in various stages of the installation and evaluation process.

Version 3 (Hosted/Supported)

USU began using version 3 of Design Tools at the beginning of 2016. Version 3 improves the tool's usability, integration with Canvas, feature packaging, and additional new features. This new version will be available as a hosted and supported product through CIDI Labs in May 2016.

Design Tools version 3 was rebuilt from the ground up to improve the tool's accessibility, usability, integration with Canvas, feature packaging, and to add a variety of new features.

The chart below illustrates some of the differences between the tool versions.

Key	Appearance
Supported	yes
Not Supported	no
Future development	pending

Feature	Hosted Version (Version 3)	Open Source (Version 2)
New Canvas UI compatible	yes	yes
Under Active Development	yes	no
Hosted	yes	no
Content Themes
Selectable Themes	yes	yes
Banner Text Update Controls	yes	no
Select Banner image from course files	yes	no
Institutional banner image support	yes	no
Boilerplate Content
Boilerplate Content Blocks	yes Canvas Course	yes JavaScript/HTML
Navigation Block	yes 1-8 links	yes 1-4 links
Module List	yes	yes
Teacher and TA user details	yes	no
Social Media Link Section	no	yes
Dynamic Elements
Quick Checks	yes Unlimited	yes 2 per page
Accordions	yes Unlimited	yes 1 per page
Tabs	yes Unlimited	yes 1 per page
Expander	yes	no
Modal Dialogs	yes	yes
Tooltips	pending	yes
Popovers	pending	yes
Read More	pending	yes
Progress Bar	pending	yes
Styles
Advanced List styles	yes	yes
Definition Lists	yes	yes
Add/Change Border Styles	yes	yes
Add/Change Padding	yes	yes
Add/Change Margins	yes	yes
Add custom CSS to a course	yes	yes
Canvas Button Styles	yes	yes
Canvas Legacy Table Styles	yes	yes
Canvas New UI Table Styles	yes	no
Color
Color Picker	yes	yes
Canvas Highlights and Emphasis Classes	no	yes
User customizable color palette	yes	no
Pull color palette from image	yes	no
WCAG 2.0 Color contrast ratings	yes	no
Icons
Canvas Icons	yes	yes
Font Awesome Icons	yes Version 4.5	yes Version 4.2
Objectives/Outcomes
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy	yes	yes
Institutional configured objectives/outcomes	yes Unlimited (Canvas content page)	yes Limited (JavaScript/HTML)
Rich Content Editor Views
Labels	yes	yes
Sections	yes	yes
Browser	yes	yes
App	yes	no
No Style	yes	no
Copy Existing Content
From current course	yes	yes
By URL	yes	yes
Institutional Templates	yes	no
In context help sections	yes	no
Images
Fill content width	yes	yes
Alt text input	yes	no
Float image left	yes	yes
Float image right	yes	yes
Center image	yes	no
Crop and upload image to Canvas	yes	yes
Directly embed uploaded image in editor	yes	no
Links
Add icon	yes	yes
Canvas Button Styles	yes	yes
Update Text and URL controls	yes	no
Accessibility Features
WCAG 2.0 Color contrast ratings	yes	no
Heading structure check	yes	no
Image alt text	yes	no
Link check	yes	no
Grayscale Color Check	no	yes
Syllabus
Institutional Policies	yes Unlimited (Canvas content page)	yes 1 (JavaScript/HTML)
Institutional configured objectives/outcomes	yes Unlimited (Canvas content page)	yes Limited (JavaScript/HTML)
Pull grade scheme from Canvas	yes	yes
Customizable boilerplate blocks	yes	no
Theme Support	yes	no
Support
Integrated User Guide	yes	no
User feedback form	yes	no
Institutional support information	yes	no
Advanced HTML editor	yes	no
Template Pages	yes Unlimited	no 2 Pages
Module Builder
Assignment, Discussion and Quiz Shells	yes	yes
Name Assignment, Discussion and Quiz Shells	yes	no
Set Assignment point value and submission types	yes	no
Update all assignment dates in one place	yes	no

Some schools have attempted to use the open source code for version 2 on their own. The challenge with this is the need for a secure web server and there isn’t a support service available to help you get it up and running.

USU has licensed Design Tools version 3 to Cidi Labs to offer a supported, hosted, and maintained version available as a service. Contact them if you would like to setup a Demo or find out more about their services.

USU has licensed Design Tools version 3 to Cidi Labs to offer a supported, hosted, and maintained version available as a service. Contact them if you would like to setup a Demo or find out more about their services.

While we can’t speak for the Canvas team, we have collaborated with them on the development of Design Tools. Our guess is that these features, being pretty specialized, are lower on their priority list given the roadmap they’re pursuing in support the 1000+ (and growing) organizations using Canvas. Design Tools is a great example of a third-party being able to add value to Canvas through Canvas’ open platform / open API’s design, so for the time being it seems the Canvas team is content with letting someone else add these innovations.

USU has licensed Design Tools version 3 to Cidi Labs to offer a supported, hosted, and maintained version available as a service. Contact them if you would like to setup a Demo or find out more about their services.

Yes, we occasionally help other schools with projects like this. Email kevin.reeve@usu.edu and let’s talk more specifically about your project needs.