Celinda Wilson
As you know, being an instructor requires a lot of time, energy, and effort to achieve the intended outcome of education, which is to produce great content, reach the intended results and continue to improve the quality of the academic experience. Maybe you're between a rock and a hard place. You want to redesign the course, but there is just no way, and perhaps you don't know where to start. I will give you some quick time-saving tips on how you can redesign or newly design your courses.
As you know, all course design should fall within the pedagogical framework and focus on:

Good Learning- Empowering and teaching student learners how to learn.
Learning Outcomes- Informing student learners on what knowledge they will receive.
Retrospective and Reflective Feedback- How do students know that they are making the mark?

Setting these guiding principles as your foundation and utilizing the technology available so you can make redesigning your course quick and simple:
● Use templates.The RTC TILT templates have proven to provide a time-saving structure, flexibility, and intentional design that meets the needs of our pedagogy and educational technology. I like TILT templates because they allow me to neatly put everything I need the student to know onto one page. So incorporating the assignment/activity's purpose and learning outcomes, the activity instructions, and I can fit my embedded materials and provide the student with helpful tips for the assignment. Then for my iterative content like assessments, resources, and even specific assignments. There is nothing to change as I keep the purpose and outcomes valid and straightforward. If you'd like to see a quick tutorial on doing this, click this link: Copy and Paste your Template.
● Keep Students Engaged on the Page. Embedding materials such as PDFs, PowerPoints, videos, animations, etc., within your Canvas page will help keep students' attention rather than just reading words on the page. Embed pictures, voice recordings, and other OER online resources. Keeping students engaged helps them to learn better. Be sure to check sharing permissions. Forgo file storage issues in Canvas by embedding your materials for the organization, updating, and streamlining the process. If you'd like a tutorial on this or have questions, contact me at celinda.wilson@rtc.edu.
● Eliminate distractions. Students can better focus on the course objectives if we minimize the effort to search for materials and instructions within the course. Removing the new navigation option from the navigation bar reduces any "visual clutter," making it a lot easier for students to focus on the course objectives rather than spending time searching through many unused buttons. For a quick tutorial on doing this, click here: Eliminate Distractions.
● Chunk Content. I find that wherever and whenever I chunk content, students have found the information to be easy to access and digest on the go. Chunking content can help students process the material and encourage time to reflect on the material, which is much better than cramming. To see an example of what this looks like, click here: Chunk Your Content.
● Ask your students! Aside from the quarterly student evaluations, ask your students about things that you've newly implemented. The feedback is precious in helping to shape the learning experience you hope to create for your students. Asking your students directly about what you've implemented will help build a connection with them, and they will see that you genuinely are trying to assist them in their learning once you demonstrate you've listened.
● Students have excellent insight into what works and what doesn't because they usually take several courses from several instructors. They have the insight as to what may work for their generation.
● Become the Student. Put yourself in your students' shoes when reviewing your content. When you check it, does it make you yawn, or are you engaged? As a student, what would you like to see?
For more information on designing or redesigning your course, visit Flex IDEAS or contact me at celinda.wilson@rtc.edu.