How do I build a Simple Canvas Course?

Select your course shell from the "Courses & Groups" drop down menu. This course should have been provided for you by your Canvas administrator.

When you first enter the course shell, you will see a banner at the top of the page reminding you that the course is still unpublished [1]. You will publish the course when you are ready for students to see course content. Click the Change Home Page Layout link in the upper right-hand corner of the home page. Select the final option in the dropdown menu to enable the Syllabus view [2]. Click Update Layout [3]. Click the X at the bottom of the window to hide the Course Setup Checklist [4].

Click the Edit Syllabus Description button in the Sidebar. Copy text from your syllabus or this sample text and paste it in the editor window. Then click the Update Syllabus button.

Click the Settings link in the Course Navigation. Click the Navigation tab to customize the Course Navigation. Remove the following links from the Course Navigation by dragging them to the bottom half of the screen [1]:

• Syllabus
• Collaborations
• Conferences
• Modules
• Quizzes
• Outcomes
• Pages

Reorder the links that remain as follows [2]:

• Home
• Announcements
• Discussions
• Assignments
• Grades
• Files
• People

Click the Save button [3].

Go back to your course. Click Assignments in the Course Navigation to visit the Assignments page. Click the Add Assignment Group link in the Sidebar to create two new assignment groups in addition to the default group [1].

Name the groups, respectively, "Papers", "Quizzes", and "Discussions" [2].

Check the box at the top of the Assignments page to "Weight the final grade based on assignment groups" [3].

Enter in percentages in the Sidebar. For this activity, Papers should be worth 50%, Quizzes should be worth 25%, and Discussions worth 25% [4].

Mouse over the top right corner of the module to add a new assignment to the Assignment group [1]. Begin by adding a Discussion assignment to the Discussions Assignment Group. Enter the title of the Discussion [2].

Select the Assignment type ("Discussion") from the dropdown menu [3].

Optional: Enter a due date and time [4].

Optional: Enter assignment points [5].

Click Update to save your Assignment shell [6].

Repeat steps 2 - 6 to add a "Quiz" to the Quiz group and a "Paper" to the Papers group.

Click on one of the assignments you created on the Assignments page to open it up for further editing. Once you are finished editing the Assignment, Discussion, or Quiz, return to the Assignments page to open up another assignment for editing.

Click the Paper assignment from the Assignments page. Click the Edit button.

1. Copy text from your Assignment prompt and paste it in the Rich Content Editor.
2. Enter 100 in the Points field. The due date field should be populated.
3. Click the Show Advanced Options link and select Online Submission from the Submission dropdown menu.
4. Select Allow File Uploads from the checklist.
5. Click the Update Assignment button.

Click the Discussion assignment from the Assignments page. Click the Edit button. Click the New Discussion link in the Sidebar.

1. Title the Discussion and copy text from your Discussion prompt and paste it in the Rich Content Editor.
2. Click the Use for grading checkbox.
3. Enter 100 in the Points Possible field.
4. Select Discussions from the Assignment Group dropdown menu.
5. Enter a due date.
6. Click the Save button.

Click Add Rubric.

Outcomes can be added to rubrics. Rubrics can be added to Assignments. Assignments that are aligned to Outcomes (via Rubrics) will surface in the Outcomes report under each student user. The next few steps explains how to add an outcome to an Assignment rubric for alignment purposes.

Click on the Outcomes link in your Course Navigation. Then click the Find button [1].

Optional: You may wish to import a quiz into your course. Download a sample QTI .zip file here.

Click the Settings link in the Course Navigation. Click Import Content into this Course. Click the Import Quizzes link. Browse to the QTI .zip file you downloaded. Click Import Quiz.

After import, Return to the Assignments page to delete the original assignment shell for the quiz and drag and drop the imported quiz into the correct assignment group. Add a due date to the quiz by clicking on the icon pencil next to the imported quiz and editing the due date field.

You may also wish to open the quiz from the Assignments page and edit quiz settings. When you are satisfied with the quiz, click the Publish button.

Click the Files link in the Course Navigation. Click the Import Zip File icon in the far right side of the Files browser window. Browse to course files in .zip format. Click Upload File.

Optional: Browse through uploaded files. Organize files into folders and practice locking files.

Click the Announcements link in the Course Navigation. Click the Make an Announcement button. Add a title to the Announcement [1]. Click the tree icon to search for "party balloons" in Flickr Creative Commons [2]. Click an image to embed it in the content window. Add text at the bottom of the content window [3]. Click the Save button [4].

Click Home in the Course Navigation [1]. Click the publish link in the banner at the top of the page [2]. Then click the Publish Course button in the Course Setup Checklist [3]. All of the example students will receive an invitation to join the course.

Click the Settings link in the Course Navigation [1]. Click the Student View button in the Sidebar [2]. Now browse your Simple Canvas Course through the eyes of a student.

You should browse through:

1. the Home/Syllabus page
2. the Announcements page
3. the Discussions page
4. the Assignments page
5. the Grades page
6. the Files page
7. the People page

Congratulations on successfully building a Simple Canvas Course!