Once you have determined your primary modality, it's time to determine your goals and how you will present content. Download a Canvas Course template. The UT Canvas support team has developed several templates for developing your courses. They have been designed to create consistency for the student across courses and support best practices for online and hybrid course design.
Sandbox Course
Sandbox courses and live courses on Canvas are two different types of courses.
Sandboxes are course shells that students do not have access to. It is an ideal way to build course content in a space that can be reset and changed, utilizing all the tools available in a regular Canvas course. Sandboxes remain active as long as the instructor wants the content saved.
If you don’t have one or haven't been provided with one, request a Canvas sandbox course here:
Download the Canvas Course Template
Once you have your sandbox course, download one of Canvas Course Templates developed by the UT Canvas support team. Each of the templates has unique features that are intended to help you consider what format and schedule your course might take, as well as what Canvas tools will help advance your pedagogical aims. They have been designed to create consistency for the student across courses and support best practices for online and hybrid course design.
Note: To access the templates, you need to be enrolled in Transitioning to Online Teaching Canvas Course.
The templates are organized as follows:
Homepage
Your course homepage will include Recent Announcements, Quick Link Buttons (Syllabus, Modules and Texas One Stop), Welcome Information, Instructor/TA Contact Information and Course Materials and Requirements. We also encourage you to include a Course Introductory Video.
Course Materials: Modules
Course materials should be organized in Modules. Modules list in sequential order the materials, assignments, quizzes and additional resources for your course. While you may devise a sequence that makes sense to you, the Canvas templates that have been provided have a weekly agenda in mind. In that sense, the course template is intended to give you a set of suggestions for how to build your course inside of Canvas. Included are the following elements:
- Canvas Syllabus
Post your updated syllabus with clear details of the mode of instruction and how the course will change if public health considerations warrant — assignments, due dates, schedules, recordings, etc.
- Canvas Assignments
Students can submit assignments online and instructors can record student scores, track progress, provide feedback and calculate final grades online. Online assignments can be checked for plagiarism using Turnitin and graded with feedback using SpeedGrader. To help students understand expectations for the assignment and how you intend to score their submissions, add a rubric. For handwritten assignments and speedy grading for large courses, it is suggested to use Gradescope where students can upload/scan their homework or exams.
- Canvas Files
Share lecture PowerPoint presentations and supporting documents, including pictures, with your students. Instructors can lock files so that they are only viewed by direct link or by a specific date.
Communication
It's important to let students know how you will carry on with the course if circumstances prevent normal classroom attendance. Clearly outline where they should find information and how often they should expect to see updates. Here are some of the ways you can communicate with students through Canvas.
- Canvas Inbox
Send emails to students individually, as groups or sections or the entire class. Remind your students to check their Canvas Inbox regularly or recommend they have Canvas messages forwarded to their UT or personal email inbox.
- Announcements
Post an Announcement (Links to an external site.) with a written or recorded message (Links to an external site.) for your students. Send to all sections or select sections. We suggest students check their notifications preferences to ensure they will receive future information. It is also recommended they download the free Canvas Student app (iOS, Android ) by Instructure.
- Discussion Board
Foster discussion and provide a space to answer questions. - Canvas Chat
Chat can be used for real-time discussions within the Canvas site, between Canvas Course users. Although this feature is automatically added to Canvas Courses, it is disabled by default. To enable, go to Settings > Navigation tab > click the three dots to Enable > click Save.
- Embedded Videos
Create short, simple videos, using Canvas' Record Media tool found anywhere the Rich Content Editor is available, such as Announcements, Pages and Discussions.
Providing Student Access to Your Canvas Course
Students only have access to live courses. Since a sandbox cannot be changed into a live course, the content from a sandbox can be copied into a live course.
What materials a student sees when they sign into your course in Canvas is based on what is “Published” within the course. Be sure to publish the course with resources like your introductory video and syllabus before the semester starts. It is encouraged not to publish your course “modules” until the semester starts.
To see your course from the student’s perspective, you can use Student View. Enabling Student View creates a “Test Student” in your Canvas course and allows you to see what the course content, assignments, quizzes, calendar and other published materials look like from a student’s vantage point. You can post and reply to discussions, submit assignments and take quizzes as the Test Student as well.
