Pre-semester Checklist

Cross-listing is used when an instructor teaches more than one section of the same course. For example, you are given two sections of ENGL-120 to teach and you want to combine the enrollments for both sections into one Canvas course so you only have to change things and teach out of one Canvas course container. The merged courses should have the same due dates and assessments.

There are some drawbacks to cross-listing, and discussions in cross-listed courses can be difficult to manage, so please carefully consider this the first time you request it. Important FERPA cautions are detailed in the request form.

It is extremely important that cross-listing is done BEFORE you begin preparing your courses for the semester. If these sections need to be "un-cross-listed" after students begin submitting assignments, student work will be lost.

Complete the "Merge (Cross-List) Courses Request Form" on Canvas Request Forms

Before modifying courses in Canvas, please check to make sure you are still teaching the course in Self-Service Links to an external site..

Unfortunately, Self-Service/Colleague is unable to tell Canvas when a teacher is no longer teaching a course. This results in teachers remaining in Canvas courses they are no longer teaching.

This can happen if one person was originally scheduled to teach a course, but they are no longer teaching it, and a new person is added to teach the course. In this case, the original instructor and the new instructor will both remain enrolled in the Canvas course. You can see if there are extra teachers by going to the "People" link on the course menu.

To fix this, either the original instructor or the new instructor can complete the "Delete a User" form which can be found on the Canvas Request Forms page. (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.Links to an external site

You can copy an existing course into a new course in Canvas. Content is copied, but student enrollments, work, and grades are not copied. To copy a Canvas course taught at Grossmont or Cuyamaca to another course at Grossmont or Cuyamaca, follow these instructions:

1. Go the NEW course in Canvas

Go to the course that you want to copy into, usually the new course. If you see something like the image below, you're probably in the right course.

If it doesn't look like the image below, it means there is material in this course already. Please double-check that you're in the right course before proceeding. 

2. Click the Import existing content button

3. Select Content Type

1. Click Select One

2. Select Copy a Canvas Course

4. Search for a course

1. From the "Select a course" drop-down, choose the course you want to copy FROM.
2. If you don't see the course listed, it may be in the completed courses list, so click the checkbox to include completed courses.

5. Choose Content

1. You can skip Default Question bank.

2. Most of the time choose All content. On some occasions, you may want to "Select specific content" from the old course.

6. Adjust events and due dates

If you want to have due and availability dates shift from one semester to the next (highly recommended!), check the box for "Adjust events and due dates." Then enter the beginning date and ending dates for the two semesters. In this example, the course copied FROM is the 2017 Fall semester (8/21/17 - 12/16/17) and the course copied TO is the 2018 Spring semester (1/29/18 - 6/4/18). If needed, refer to the Academic Calendar for semester dates.

7. Substitution

This example shows how to fill out the Substitution section if last semester you taught Mondays and Wednesdays and in the upcoming semester it will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays.

8. Import

Click the Import button when finished making your selections to start the import. Large courses can take over 30 minutes to import, so let it run. You can do work on other courses in other browser tabs while you wait. If you opted to "Select specific content" look for a blue button to select the content you want to copy.

Copy a course taught at a different college

If you want to copy a course taught at a different college, for example at Southwestern College, follow these instructions: 

1. Log Into the other College's Canvas using their URL. For example, southwestern.instructure.com. 
2. Export the course Links to an external site. from the other college and save the .imscc file to your hard drive.
3. Go to GCCCD's Canvas at gcccd.instructure.com, which is where you are right now.
4. Go to your GCCCD course.
5. Import the export file Links to an external site. into your GCCCD course.
   
   

If you copied announcements from the old course, set delayed availability dates for announcements Links to an external site. you do not want students to see as soon as you publish your course.

There are five options for the first page students see when they enter your course, which is called "Home" on the course menu. Recommendations in order of preference:

1. Pages Front Page - Use a content page that you design Links to an external site. like the one you see when you go to the home page of this course. You can show announcements on a front page Links to an external site. if you like. This is the best option.
   

   Want to see examples?  Here's a brief overview from @ONE:

   Byte sized Canvas - No Place Like Home Links to an external site.

2. Course Modules - use modules as your home page only if you have set up modules such as Week 1, Week 2, etc., in your course.
3. Syllabus - use this if you want students to see the syllabus when they enter your course.
4. Assignments List - use this if you use Canvas primarily to record grades. 
5. Course Activity Stream - this is the least recommended homepage to use and we encourage you to use one of the other methods. 

How do I change the Course Home Page? Links to an external site.

Each instructor is required to keep a copy of the syllabus for each course. One reason for this is just in case there is a student complaint and you need to verify course policies (usually grading). Students may also need the syllabus for articulation - when students transfer and are trying to receive credit for a course they sometimes have to submit a syllabus. Creating a syllabus file such as a PDF and uploading it is the best way to resolve both issues. It is also beneficial to inform the students that they can download and save your syllabus. 

Create a Syllabus

The first time you add your syllabus to a course, follow the steps outlined in the video below.

Watch this video on YouTube Links to an external site.

Text directions

Update a Syllabus

We think the best way to update your syllabus is to replace the existing syllabus file with your new file. 

1. Create a file with the exact same name as the old file.
2. Go to Files from the course menu.
3. Click the Upload button.
   
4. Select the new file on your hard drive or a USB drive.
5. If you have done this correctly, you will see a window that says, "An item named "yourfilename" already exists in this location. Do you want to replace the existing file?"
   
6. Click the Replace button.

Note: If you do not see the window, the files do not have the same name and existing links to your syllabus will not be updated with the new file.

There are many settings to choose from and some that are very important that you change. These are our recommendations. To access these settings, go to Settings on the course menu, then make sure the Course Details tab is selected.

1. Course Image Links to an external site. - if you add an image here, it shows on your course card on the Dashboard. It's just a way to make your course colorful. This is completely optional.
2. Ends date Links to an external site. - if you leave this blank, the term end date will control when students can no longer submit assignments to the course. The term end date is usually two weeks after the instructor grade deadline at GCCCD. Please consider putting a date here for when your students should no longer be submitting assignments. This date will also be used for #4. See Course Date Options Download Course Date Options
   for more information.
3. A grading scheme Links to an external site. tells Canvas how you want percentages turned into letter grades in your course. If you do not check this box, students will see a percentage rather than a letter grade when they view their grades. If you do check this box, be sure to select a different grade scheme than the first one that shows up because it is not legitimate for our college district. Choose a scheme that does not have a D-.
4. Restrict Access Links to an external site. - If you do not check this box, students will have read-only access to your course forever more if you do not check this box. If you check this box, all student access to your course will stop on the Ends Date (#2), and if the Ends Date is blank, their access will stop on the Term End Date.
5. Show Announcements Links to an external site. - We recommend you show at least one or two announcements on your course home page. Check this box, then choose the number of announcements you want to display.
6. Attach Files Links to an external site. - Usually, there is no harm in allowing students to attach files to discussions. However, your needs may vary.
7. Students Create Discussions Links to an external site. - If you check this box, and we do not recommend this, you will allow students to create their own discussion forums. This can play havoc with your planned discussions in most courses. However, it can be useful if you do not plan discussions and want to allow students to talk about anything they want.
8. Edit Discussion Posts Links to an external site. - If you check this box, students will be able to delete or edit their discussion posts. Sometimes this is a good thing. Sometimes not. It's your call.
9. Organize Groups - If you want to let students organize their own groups, check this box. However, be sure to monitor any groups they create. Student groups have been known to be used to cheat.
10. Disable Comments on Announcements - Please check this box! If you do not check this box, students can reply to announcements, but you will not receive any notifications that they replied. So students will think you're ignoring them. They can reach you through the inbox instead.
11. Don't forget to save your changes by clicking this button!

Assignment groups in the Assignments section are especially important if you are using weighted grades. Even for non-weighted grades, it's good to organize assignments.

Assignments Overview Video Links to an external site.

How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups? Links to an external site.

Canvas provides an easy way to check for broken links in your course.

In Settings, click Validate Links in Content to get started.

How do I validate links in a course? Links to an external site.

Add requirements to modules to provide your students with a checklist to help students understand what they have completed and what still needs to be done.

How do I add requirements to a module? Links to an external site.

Simple navigation is easier for students to use.  It's also helpful to move the MOST IMPORTANT links (e.g. Modules, Grades) to the top.

How do I reorder and hide Course Navigation links? Links to an external site.

Examples

A basic course used for announcements, syllabus, and grading only.

Fully developed course that uses modules.

Check to see that all items you want students to be able to see, such as modules, assignments, quizzes, pages, etc. are published. Published items have a green check mark icon, unpublished items have a gray "no" sign icon.

It is easiest to do this by checking these in Modules and/or Assignments. Here is an example of the Modules page with published and unpublished content.

Use the Calendar, Syllabus, or Assignments page to check if due dates are correct. 

You can now bulk edit your assignment due dates in one window.  It's super simple:

1. Open Assignments
   
2. Click the options icon, and choose Edit Assignment Dates.
   

From there, you can edit dates for individual assignments or use the Batch Edit button to shift dates forward by a number of days or remove due and availability dates for ALL assignments.

For details, see the Canvas guide How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor? Links to an external site.

View our quick page on creating accessible content: Make Sure Pages & Documents Are Accessible

Essentially, you'll want to check for the following:

• Links are embedded
• Images have alt-text
• Styles used (heading 2, heading 3, bullets, etc.)
• Videos have captioning
• Documents are accessble
• High-contrast colors used

Consider a deeper dive with the Accessibility module. Watch the professional development calendar for workshops and trainings. 

Use Student View frequently to make sure students are able to access or not access items in your course as you intend. Don't even think of publishing your course until you have checked it in student view.

You can access Student view from any page by clicking the eyeglasses icon:

It's also a great idea to look at your course from a phone since a lot of students use the Canvas Student App Links to an external site..

For details, see the Canvas guide How do I view a course using student view? Links to an external site.

Here are some Grades settings you might enjoy.

Automate Grading for Missing Submissions

To correctly calculate grades, the grade book needs a zero score for each missing assignment.  You can enter the zero scores manually or you can set up Canvas to do it automatically after the assignment due date.  Here's how:

1. Go to Grades
2. Click on Settings (gear icon in upper right)
3. Check Automatically apply grade for missing submissions
4. Enter 0 in the Grade percentage for missing submissions box.

 For details see How do I apply a Missing Submission policy in the Gradebook? Links to an external site.

Change the total to show up as points or percentages

When you click the options next to the Total column you can switch from points to percentages (or visa versa).  If you don't see the option for points it's because you set weighted grades on the Assignments page. 

For details, see How do I use the Total column in the Gradebook? Links to an external site.

Show the Total in the first column

A lot of teachers find it helpful to view the Total column first.  Hover over the Total column header and click the 3 dots to Move to Front.

Display Notes

You might find it useful to add Notes about students in your Gradebook.  We've used it to record nicknames, majors, and notes about what's going on (e.g. family emergency or illness).  You can toggle notes on from the View menu.

Publishing a course does not always mean students can see it right away!

Courses are tied to term dates. If you want to give students access to your course before the semester starts, you must change the start date Links to an external site. in your course settings. If your students claim that they can't see your course even though you know you published it, they may be telling the truth.

Long Instructions

How do I publish a course? Links to an external site.

Short Instructions

1. Click Home on the course navigation menu to go to the home page.
2. Click the Publish button.

Unpublished Course

Published Course

Announcements and Inbox conversations are NOT sent if the course is unpublished.

If you want to send an announcement to your students before publishing the course, you can send an email through Self-Service.

Please provide instructions for your students on how to get started with Canvas. Many of your students may not have used Canvas before. To help them, send an announcement Links to an external site. that includes a link to the Getting Started with Canvas flier Links to an external site..  There is also a self-paced course for students to learn Canvas with additional information for students new to Canvas.