Canvas Options to Streamline Your Course Setup

Here’s a summary of the new features and a preview of two upcoming step-by-step guides, which will offer screenshots and more detailed instructions.

1) Copy To: Move Individual Items with Precision

The Copy To feature in Canvas is designed to help you efficiently transfer individual items from one course to another. This will allow you to selectively move a single announcement, assignment, quiz, page, file, or discussion. This makes it the perfect solution if you want to bring over just a few specific materials to your new course.

There are several scenarios where Copy To will prove especially useful. For instance, if you need just a few items from a previous course, such as your weekly announcements or the instructional resources you use each term, you can easily copy those resources without affecting other content. Faculty who consistently add curated resources or personalized explanations each term will appreciate the ability to quickly carry over select materials.

2) Course Import: Bring Forward an Entire Course or Large Content Sets

Course Import enables you to bring an entire course or large groups of content into your new Canvas course shell with ease. Whether you need to transfer everything or just select specific modules, assignments, or settings, this feature offers flexibility and efficiency. Additionally, you can conveniently adjust due dates during the import process to ensure your timelines and content availability match the new term.

Course Import is ideal if you want to reuse a significant amount of materials from another course with only minor updates, or if you’re moving a sequence of modules, a full unit, or a package of related resources. It’s also particularly useful when you’ve made several small updates to another course and want to streamline your setup. Before importing a prior term’s course in full, be sure to obtain approval from your program director. Careful planning is encouraged when using this.

Optional Tools for Course Preparation

While Blueprint content is automatically included in courses by default, the tools described above are optional resources available to further streamline your course setup. By allowing you to integrate materials you already use and trust, these tools help maintain consistency across your courses, improve your time management, and reduce the likelihood of errors when getting ready for new sections and terms/semesters/ trimesters. This allows you to focus on teaching and engaging students instead of administrative tasks.

Step-by-Step Video

To support your success, in addition to the two comprehensive guides linked above, a video is also available – to walk you through the features and processes discussed. In addition to step-by-step directions, as the guides provide, the video highlights common pitfalls, so you can avoid these challenges.