The following are a few tips to help you get started with your Canvas site before the beginning of a term.
If you need help with any of the steps below, contact your local Canvas support or submit an online help request to canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.
1. Request a Course Site
All Canvas sites are created upon request. If you don’t see a course you are teaching in Canvas, use the information below to request your site(s).
- Annenberg, Arts & Sciences, Biomedical Graduate Studies, Dental, Design, Engineering, Nursing, Social Policy & Practice, and Veterinary Medicine: Use the Course Request Form or contact canvas@pobox.upenn.edu
- Graduate School of Education: Use the Canvas Course Creation Form
- Perelman School of Medicine: Email canvasmd@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
- Wharton: Use the Canvas and Study.net Request Form or email courseware@wharton.upenn.edu
After the Courseware Team creates your site, it will appear on your Canvas Dashboard and the status will be marked “Complete” on the request form. If you have customized your courses display in Canvas, you may need to check the Courses tab to locate your new site.
2. Copy Content From Other Canvas Sites
If you did not request to have content copied from a pre-existing Canvas site when requesting your new site, or if you want to bring in materials from other Canvas sites at any point in the semester, use Canvas’s import tool.
When importing content, choose Select Specific Content rather than copying an entire course, to avoid excessively duplicating uploaded files.
After importing content, review all copied material and be sure to:
Revise dates to reflect the current semester:
- Update any availability or due dates for assignments, quizzes, discussions, and calendar events.
- Update or delete any old announcements that were copied. Set new posting dates for any announcements that should post automatically later in the semester.
Update assignment settings that don’t copy automatically:
- If you use group assignments, they will need to be linked to an existing group set in the People menu.
- If you use Turnitin, open each assignment, update the due dates, and re-enable any optional settings you customized.
Check visibility of content:
- Publish or unpublish any assignments, quizzes, discussions, or modules as needed.
- Review the visibility settings of any course files.
Make Panopto videos available:
If you use Panopto/Class Recordings, content from a previous semester’s course will not be automatically visible to students when copied into a new Canvas site.
Panopto creates a new folder linked to each new Canvas site. The videos in each folder are only visible to students enrolled through Canvas. If you want to make videos from a previous course available to students in a different semester or course, you have two options:
- Make a reference copy of any videos you wish to make available to students and place them in the new semester’s Panopto folder. OR,
- Follow SAS’s instructions for setting up Panopto for content that will be used repeatedly.
3. Update the Course Menu
Customize the navigation menu in your Canvas site to display only the tools that you and students will need.
Click Settings at the bottom of the course menu, then click the Navigation tab.
Drag and drop items to reorder the navigation links, or use the Move To option by clicking the Options (three dots) icon and selecting the Move link.
Enable tools (such as Zoom, Class Recordings, and Ed Discussion) by moving them from the hidden section at the bottom of this page up to the main navigation area.
Move any unused tools to the hidden section to simplify the menu for students. Any tools listed in this section will not be available to students, though teachers and TAs can still see them.
Save your changes at the bottom of the page when you are finished.
4. Request Library Content and Services
If you would like to have the Penn Libraries’ Course Reserves Service add content to your Canvas site, review the Course Reserves Information.
5. Set Your Homepage
In new Canvas sites that do not contain copied content, the homepage defaults to the Modules layout, but you can choose your preferred homepage, including a customized Front Page, the Syllabus, or the Assignments list.
If no modules exist when the course site is published, Canvas will prompt you to either publish a module or choose a different homepage layout.
6. Set Up Your Gradebook
If you will be using the Canvas Grades feature to calculate and communicate grades to students (recommended), you will need to configure the gradebook settings. For detailed directions, refer to the Setting Up Canvas Gradebook page.
7. Review Your Course Site
Before publishing your Canvas site, ensure that all links are functional, your content is accessible, and no items are unintentionally hidden from or visible to students:
- Use the Link Validator to make sure all links work properly: Select Settings on the course menu, then Validate Links in Content. Start Link Validation to review all course links. Any broken links or links to past Canvas sites will be flagged so you can fix them.
- Check accessibility: Anywhere you can access the Rich Content Editor (e.g., Pages, Assignments, Announcements, Discussions, and Classic Quizzes), you can use the accessibility checker to review that content. Errors will be flagged with recommended fixes.
- Test using Student View: Select the Student View button at the top right corner to view the site as a test student. Make sure the course menu is set up the way you want and that you cannot access any files, assignments, or pages that should be hidden from students. You can also practice submitting available assignments and quizzes as students would. Click Leave Student View at the bottom of the page to exit.
- Check how your site looks on the Canvas Student mobile app if you expect students will be using your course site from their mobile devices.
Contact your local Canvas support or submit an online help request to canvas@pobox.upenn.edu if you need help fixing any issues with your Canvas site.
8. Publish Your Site
Students are added to Canvas course sites automatically, but they can’t access course content until the site is published. Publish your course site when you are ready for students to have access.
9. Post a Welcome Announcement
The Announcements tab in Canvas course navigation only becomes visible to students (even if you’ve enabled it in your course) after the first announcement has been posted.
If you plan to use Announcements in your course, we recommend posting a course welcome message so the tab becomes visible to students.
Here’s to a great term!
Last Updated: 12 Jan 2024