Faculty Notes & Tips

Please review our favorite tips for preparing your Canvas courses each term.

Course preparation

• Canvas shells for upcoming terms are typically available about a month before the end of the previous semester. Watch for emails with specific dates.
• You have the option to merge sections on Canvas before adding any content. Please carefully review the Merging Sections in Canvas page, which includes important steps to comply with FERPA (privacy) policies.
• New to Canvas? Check out our Canvas training, like our "Intro to Canvas" course for on-campus instructors or "Online Course Development Program" for online instructors.
• Used Canvas before? Copy your existing Canvas content into your upcoming term’s shells:
  • Option: Use the course copy tool (easiest when copying one LPC Canvas course to another)
  • Option: Export and then import a Canvas course (helpful when copying a Canvas course from one college to another)
• When copying courses, there are a few important tips to consider:
  • Click “Adjust events and due dates” to choose whether to “remove dates” completely or “shift dates,” so, something due week 1 in Fall will become due in week 1 in Spring, etc.
  • Do you use TechConnect Zoom? Make sure last semester's Zoom events don't copy to your new students' calendars. When copying your course, choose “Select specific content” and un-check "Calendar Events." 
  • Do you use the Hypothesis annotation tool? Read Canvas Course Import or Copy and Hypothesis for tips. As a reminder, you do not need to install or reinstall the Hypothesis app in your new course; it is already there.
  • Our timeline for transitioning from Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes has been extended; we will provide training to bulk transition your quizzes at the end of Spring 2025.
• After your course copies, it is helpful to do some clean-up:
  • Check your homepage to make sure your office hours and links are accurate.
  • See the Canvas Guide: How do I edit announcements? to learn how to delete/edit the date announcements you copied will appear to students.
  • Add your new syllabus to the Syllabus tool and/or replace your old syllabus file/page with your new syllabus.
  • Click Modules to make sure content is published or unpublished appropriately. 
  • Click Assignments to ensure your groups, if used, accurately reflect your grading policy. (Sometimes you’ll get an extra “Imported Assignments” category depending on how you copied content and you may need to delete that category/move assignments into their appropriate categories. See the Canvas Guide: Creating Assignment Groups for more.)
  • Check your assignment due dates. You may wish to use the bulk due date editor for adjustments.
  • Click Files to check access; delete unused and/or inaccessible files.
  • Check for other accessibility issues in Canvas, like alt-text on images and heading order! Learn more in our Web Accessibility Canvas Course on your dashboard.  (Don’t see it? Contact Wanda Butterly at wbutterly@laspositascollege.edu  for help!)  You can also use PopeTech to help make your course accessible.
  • Click Settings from the course navigation menu and click “Validate links in Content” to scan for broken links. 
  • Check your course navigation menu to make sure you have disabled links students don't need access to.
  • And finally, don't forget to publish your course by the first day of class!

Student access

• Students are automatically added to your Canvas shells when they enroll in your course through the registration process. 
• Students will not see your Canvas shell until:
  • the first day of the term AND
  • you publish your Canvas course
  • Note: to email students before the term begins and your Canvas shell is published, please use the emails listed on your roster in Class Web/My Portal.  Canvas Inbox won't work before this.
• Students adding your course during late registration will experience a delay of several hours before seeing your Canvas shell on their Dashboard. (Banner and Canvas sync several times a day.) See our recommendations for adding students into DE classes.
• Please do not manually add students to your Canvas shell; this violates FERPA (privacy) policies and can cause serious technical issues. For example, the student - and any work submitted - may be wiped out the next time Banner and Canvas sync. Students must officially enroll through the normal registration process to get access to Canvas and be eligible for credit for taking your course.

Other tech tips

• Apps from major textbook publishers are installed at the global level, so you won’t need to do this in your course.
• You can display recent announcements on your home page.
• The Canvas Attendance app is a handy way to track attendance.
• Learn how to give students extra time and/or attempts on a quiz.
• If you need to extend an assignment's availability for just one student, edit the assignment, scroll to the bottom, click Add, then choose the student and set the due and availability dates. If you don't follow this process, you risk removing everyone else - and the Gradebook will reflect only that one student's score. (Contact the TLC staff if you did this by accident and need help!)
• Learn how to restore a deleted item if you accidentally deleted something from Canvas.
• If you plan to use the online proctoring tool Proctorio, view our faculty Proctorio tips. 

Support

• Click the Help icon in Canvas to access:
  • 24x7 live chat support for faculty and students
  • Search the Canvas Guides for extensive tutorials
• Connect with colleagues at LPC's Teaching and Learning Center for:
  • One-on-one support
  • Self-paced Trainings
  • Workshops