Working with this Template in Canvas

This template was created by Susan Detrie and Emory's Teaching and Learning Technologies Team to assist faculty and staff members in building courses in Canvas. This template is set up for courses that will provide a Syllabus, Assignments, Grades, Quizzes, content Pages and Discussions in Canvas, as well as the use of Modules.

About the Two Banner Images

This template has space for a large banner image on the homepage and a smaller banner image on content pages.

The homepage banner Download homepage banner is 1200 X 300 pixels.

The content page banner Download content page banner is 1200 X 120 pixels.

(The code in the background right now is written so that the banner expands and shrinks when you change the size of the browser window. This also helps when reading pages with the mobile app.) 

You can download the two banner images from the FILES menu or from the links above in the template and use them to create a banner that has those same sizes. If you save your new banner with the same name as the original banner, when you upload again to files, Canvas asks if you are replacing the original image file and if you click REPLACE, your new banners will show up in place of the original banner without requiring you to replace on each page.

More About the Homepage

Navigation buttons to frequently used items in a course can be found added to pages.

These button names can all be changed and linked to other places you may feel are important. They allow instructors to add navigation that might not be represented in the menu list on the left.

Content Pages

On each content page, you will be able to link to every item required for the week and also write a brief summary.

It is easy to delete categories on the page (or delete the pages) that are not relevant that week via the EDIT button.

It is easy to link to discussions, assignments, quizzes and content in Canvas you added by looking to the right hand side of the interface under the three tabs: Links, Files and Images. There you will see links to Pages, Assignments, Quizzes, Announcements, Discussions, Modules and Course Navigation, as well as your course files and course images. You can connect to them after you (1) click EDIT and (2) select text on the page, and (3) then click on an item to the right. This selection and subsequent clicks create a LINK between the selection on the page and the items found under Links, Files, and Images. You will see a yellow box over your selected text when the link is created.

Using Modules

Modules are the course outline-- and a way for both you and students to access every element in the course week by week (OR unit by unit OR topic by topic). Modules allow you to divide up a course using dates, units, topics or concepts and include links to all the materials for the week. For example, you can link to a single page or two with a list of readings, PowerPoints, web resources and videos from modules or to a discussion or to an assignment.

The Instructor Page

It is possible to access an instructor information page from the homepage. Add a picture and your contact information, as well as the contact name of other instructors. A short biography is great too!

The Syllabus and Assignments

You can copy and paste the course Syllabus into the syllabus page by navigating through the left navigation bar. (There is also a link to the syllabus through a button on the homepage and each content pages for each unit.) In addition, as you add an assignment on the Assignments page, it will automatically be added to a list at the bottom of the syllabus page and in order of all the assignment due dates. These dates will also populate the calendar in the calendar tool. The Assignments list will allow you to group Assignments into categories, which can aid you later in weighting your different assessment categories. On the Assignments page, look to the right of the + Assignments button

Assignments and Quiz Examples

Assignments have been added as examples. There is also the potential to add rubrics that you can use in grading. "Speedgrader" allows you to open the student's assignment, add comments, annotate, work with the rubric and give direct feedback easily. The samples list the possible question types you can create --and it's worth noting Canvas allows you to create question banks for your course (in the Quizzes menu, next to the + Quiz button is a gear you can click to access the quiz bank. Arranging your assignments by assignment groups (quizzes, discussions, group projects, papers, etc) allows you to weight your assignment groups.

This template also includes three online discussions. These discussions could be stand alone discussions or continuations of class discussions. If you haven't tried online discussions as an extension of a class topic, they can allow for deeper thinking, elaboration, and space for the normally quiet students to shine.