How do I preview resources in Commons?
You can preview resources in Commons before importing the resource into your Canvas course. In the search results, you can preview video and audio files for up to 10 seconds. Learn about supported file types in Commons.
Notes:
- To enable Commons in your Canvas instance, please contact your Customer Success Manager.
- Commons is available in all Free for Teacher (FFT) accounts. Free for Teacher users are limited to finding, importing, and sharing public resources.
- Resources can be opened in a new tab by pressing Command (Mac) or Control (PC) while clicking the resource name in the Search page, or, by right clicking the name of the resource.
- The Resource Previews feature is currently an optional feature and must be enabled by an administrator in Commons. If your institution has not enabled Resource Previews, the resource details page may look different.
Find Resource
Locate a resource by using the search field [1].
You can sort resources by Most Relevant, Latest, Most Favorited, or Most Downloaded [2].
You can also filter search results [3]. Learn more about searching in Commons.
Open Course
To preview a course, click the course title.
Preview Course
In the course details page, you can preview the various learning activities within the course. To preview course content, click a section in the sidebar [1]. Content is listed in the preview area [2]. Each content item displays the content type icon [3] and the published status icon [4]. If applicable, points possible are also shown [5].
To preview a content item, click the item title [6]
To download the file to your computer, click the Import/Download button [7].
Note: If a course does not contain a particular learning activity (e.g. quizzes), it will not be included in the course details.
Preview Course Content
Content item previews can include the item's title, description, submission requirements, points possible, links, and attachments. Information provided in the preview depends on the type of content being previewed.
Open Module
To preview a module, click the module title.
Preview Module
In the module details page, you can preview items in the module. To preview module content, click a section in the sidebar [1]. Content is listed in the preview area [2]. Each content item displays the content type icon [3] and the published status icon [4].
To preview a content item, click the item title [5].
Preview Module Content
Content item previews can include the item's title, description, submission requirements, points possible, links, and attachments. Information provided in the resource preview depends on the type of content being previewed.
Open Document or Image
In the search results page, click the title of the document [1] or image [2] you want to preview.
Note: Some image thumbnails are cropped automatically.
Preview Document or Image
In the resource details page, you can preview the image or document before importing it into your course [1]. You can also view the file type and size [2].
To import the file into your course or to download the file to your computer, click the Import/Download button [3].
Open Media File
In the search results page, you can preview video and audio files (up to 10 seconds). To preview a video, hover your cursor over the video thumbnail [1]; the video preview will play automatically. Audio is not available when previewing a video. To view the full video with audio, click the video resource title [2]. To listen to a preview of an audio file, click the Play icon [3].
Preview Media File
In the resource details page, you can preview the full video or audio file before importing it into your course [1]. You can also view the file type and size [2]. To import or download the file, click the Import/Download button [3].
