Introduction

This general course template was developed to help faculty and instructors set up their courses in Canvas, ensure consistency between different DEPT courses, and enhance the navigability of course content by students.

The DEPT general template comprises of—

Home page
16-week module structure
Course orientation (Start Here) page
Module overview and instructions pages
Contact Me page
Tech Help page
Boilerplate syllabus
Additional blank template pages that can be copied, where needed (available in Pages area)

Instructors should use this template as the starting point for Canvas course development and add to it, as needed, to provide students with all necessary learning content, assignments, activities, information pages, etc.

View the sections below for more information on how to customize the course template.

How to Import Template to Semester Course

Importing the Template for the First Time

To import the template into your semester course, complete the following steps:

Activate (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. your course section through CIS.
Log in to Canvas and click Commons in the gray Canvas menu to the far left of the screen.
Using the search bar on the Canvas Commons landing page, search for the "DEPT General Online Course Template."
Click the name of the general template in the search results. This will pull up the general template description page.
On the right-hand side of the description page, you will see a box titled "Import into Canvas." In this box, you will see a list of your current courses. Click the check box to the left of your semester course.
Click the green Import into Course button below the list.
When you return to your course, you should see that the general template has been applied to it. Sometimes, there will be a delay. Wait a few minutes and then refresh your course to verify the changes.

Importing the Template from a Test Course/Importing Content from a Previous Course

If you've already added the template to a test course and want to add it to your semester section, follow the steps below:

Activate (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. your course section through CIS.
Click Settings in your course's left navigation menu.
Click the Import Course Content button on the far-right settings menu.
Follow the steps described in the Canvas guide for importing content from another course, "How do I copy content from another Canvas course?"

Template Set-up Checklist

Instructors should complete the following tasks while setting up their course using the template—

Customize content on the modules page
Customize course content pages, including:
- Home page
- Modules area
- Module content pages
- Contact Me page
- Start Here/Orientation page(s)
- (Optional) Instructor's Guide
Add necessary files to course.
Set up course assignments and activities
Create hyperlinks on content pages to files, assignments, activities, and other resources (we do not recommend you link to files directly in the modules list)
Insert lecture videos
Update boilerplate syllabus

The following sections provide additional information on how to complete these tasks.

Design Tools Overview

Customizing the template is easier when you use the Canvas design tool. You can open the tool by clicking the Design Tools icon in the upper right-hand corner of any page (when you are in the page edit view).

Design Tool Overview Video

This video provides a brief overview of the Canvas design tool for those who may not be familiar with it. The video covers—

Design tool major components and interface
Navigating the design tool
Where and why to use the tool

How to Customize the Module Area

Customizing the Modules area makes it easier for students to navigate the course and keep track of course content.

(General) How to Customize the Module List on Home Page

This video covers—

How to update module names
How to move modules
Adjusting and controlling module settings

Using the Multi-tool to Update Multiple Pages and Modules at Once

This video covers—

Creating page templates. NOTE: the general department template already has page templates, which you can see in the Pages area of the course
How to set up multiple pages, assignments, and assignment settings in bulk.

Necessary Module Changes

You will need to add the following content to extant module sections—

Customize module names by adding topics or dates to the module headers

Optional Module Changes

Depending on how you organize and run the course, you may also want to consider the following module adjustments—

Lock modules
Add assignments to modules
Set modules to unlock based on schedule
Set modules to unlock based on student activity
Reduce modules to accommodate summer term and alternative schedules
Move modules

How to Customize Content Pages

Instructors must customize the content pages to include the course learning content.

The sections below cover the changes needed for the different types of course content pages in the template.

(General) How to Use Design Tool to Customize Pages

This video covers—

Common content blocks (also called "sections") on module content pages
Editing page banners
Moving page sections

Changing a Banner Image

This video demonstrates how to change a banner image on a course home page.

Home Page Changes

You will need to make the following changes to the Home Page—

Use the design tool to change the course number and name (it is very important you use the design tool "Customize Banner Text" feature for this change. Otherwise, the home page template could break)
Change instructor information at bottom of page
(Optional) You can change the default banner image to one of six images available for the course, or you can add your own banner to the home page. You can change the home page image using the steps described in the video above, but you must first remember to add your banner to the Files area.
- Note: If you are adding your own image to the home page, the banner image size is 14.29 in. wide X 5.557 in. high (3600 X 1400 px), and needs to be in a sufficiently high resolution to prevent pixilation

Module Overview and Instructions Pages

You will need to make the following changes to the module overview and instructions pages—

Use the design tool to add the module number and topic to banner
Add introductory paragraph or video
Add module objectives
Add readings
Add lectures (for more information, see the followings section)
Add and link to assignments

Contact Me Page

You will need to make the following changes to the Contact Me page—

Add instructor's office hours
Add virtual conference room information
Add other contact methods
Remove any unnecessary sections

NOTE: ONLN-designated courses are required to offer virtual conferencing office hours. Instructors also cannot use language in the syllabus or the course that simply tells students they must set up an appointment to "meet you in my office." Online students have the same right to meet you "face to face" as traditional students; virtual conferencing enables this interaction and all text in the course should reflect this.

However, the specific tool(s) used for video conferencing are up to you. If you want more information, contact your online coordinator, or schedule a consultation with Teaching & Learning Technologies, to learn which tool will work best for you.

Start Here/Course Orientation Page(s)

The template is equipped with a boilerplate orientation page, called Start Here: Orientation, which students can access via the Home Page.

Instructors should review the Start Here page and make changes to the following:

Add personal information to the introduction section at the top of the page
Insert any additional technology requirements to Step 3

Instructors may also want to create additional orientation content for students, which is great! You can do so by adding additional steps (i.e., content blocks) to the Start Here page using the design tools or adding an additional page to the 'Course Orientation' module.

(Optional) Instructor's Guide

You may want to create an instructor's guide using this instructions page, especially if the course will be taught by adjunct and graduate assistant instructors.

If you choose to create an instructor's guide, you will need to change the following—

Using the design tools, change the accordion labels on this page
Replace extant text with your instructor guide information
Remove unnecessary sections

How to Add Videos to Pages

The different methods used to add videos to Canvas content are described below.

How to Upload a Video to My Media

The easiest and cleanest way to get your lecture videos in you Canvas course, if you have your lectures saved as video files on your computer, is to add your videos to My Media and then embed them into Canvas.

This video covers—

How to upload video to My Media
Features of the upload interface

How to Add Videos to a Page from My Media

You can also read about embedding videos on Teaching & Learning Technology's Embed Your Video guide.

This video covers—

Embedded a video directly from your My Media.

Embedding Youtube Videos in a Page

Did you know there are 2 ways you can embed Youtube videos in a page? They are—

Copy and paste Youtube link: Simply copy the URL of your desired Youtube video, paste it into a content page, and then hit space or enter. Canvas will automatically embed it in a page.
Use Youtube's embed code: Copy the embed code for your video in Youtube and add it to the page by clicking the Insert/Edit Media icon. This is illustrated in the video below.

How to Add Videos to a Page Using Embed Code

You can also add video from a website into a Canvas page using the video's embed code.

This video covers—

How to find embed code
How to add the embed code to a Canvas page

Helpful Hints

Use CTRL + Z or CMD + Z to immediately reverse unwanted changes.
Be careful when you use the 'Delete' or 'Backspace' key when editing course pages. Aggressive selecting and deleting, or hitting backspace too many times, could inadvertently delete layout elements. This will break the page layout.
Click the Design Tools icon in the upper right corner when editing pages. This will bring up page guide lines and section boxes (shown as faint lines on the page), making it easier to see if you accidentally delete layout components when making changes.
Do you want to recover a page, assignment, or file you accidentally deleted? In many instances, you can! Read the Canvas instructions on the undelete function to learn more.
Dividing content into modules (as opposed to weeks) makes it easier to rearrange course content if you have to teach the class another semester (or on an alternative schedule).
Do you regret a page change and want to go back in time? You can do that. Revert changes to a Canvas page using the page history restore feature.
Do you want to start a page from scratch? You can restore a Canvas pages to their original template using the page history restore feature described above or you can copy the HTML from the templates provided in the Pages area of the course. Follow the steps below to copy the template:
- Navigate to the template in the Pages area.
- Click Edit in the upper-right corner to open the edit view for the template page.
- Click the "HTML Editor" link above the rich text editor. This will pull up the page HTML code.
- Select all the code and hit CMD + C or CTRL + C on your keyboard to copy the code.
- Click the Cancel button below the rich text editor to exit the template page.
- Navigate to the page to which you want to apply the template.
- Click Edit in the upper-right corner to open the edit view for the template page.
- Click the "HTML Editor" link above the rich text editor. This will pull up the page HTML code.
- Hit CMD + V or CTRL + V on your keyboard to copy the HTML code from the template into this page.
- Click the Save button beneath the rich text editor to save your changes.
Be careful when you copy and paste from Word documents. Copying and pasting content into course pages from Word documents can sometimes cause layout issues because of "formatting gremlins." This can happen in pages with the course layout or in pages that are completely blank. If problems crop up when you copy and paste, you may want to convert your Word document to a plain text file, from which you will copy, or you might want to explore the advanced HTML editing options demonstrated in the section below.
Be careful when you copy and paste between Canvas pages: It is easy to make formatting errors when you copy content from one page by selecting the visual content with your cursor, hitting copy, and then pasting into a new page. It is often better to use the design tools, and sometimes it's safer to copy the HTML. Advanced information on HTML is below.

Advanced Design Tool Info

Once you've gotten used to the template (or maybe you already are), you may want to use the Design Tools to do certain advanced actions when formatting pages.

Adding and Formatting New Content Blocks on Course Pages

This video covers—

How to add a content block to a page
How to adjust the new content block's formatting so it matches the rest of the content on the page
NOTE: This video was originally recorded for the College of Social Work. However, the steps described in the video can be used by anyone – you will simply need to choose different color or border settings to match those of your department's template.

Working with Accordion Tabs

This video covers—

How to find the "Accordions" tool
How to use the "Accordions" tool
"Accordions" tool options

Creating and Embedding Playlists in Course Pages

This video covers—

How to create a playlist in a Canvas course

This video covers—

How to add a playlist to a Canvas page

Adding Interactive Elements Using Design Tools

This video covers—

Accordions, expanders, and tabs
Modal dialogs
HTML snippets
Quick checks

Tech Help

Do you want more tutorials? You can find them on Canvas' Instructor Guide (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

Need Canvas help? Click Help on the the left Canvas menu for 24/7 tech support.

Need help with customized assignments, My Media, Kaltura Capture, supported 3rd-party LTIs, and other supported technologies? Contact the UOnline help desk at classhelp@utah.edu or call 801-581-6112-option 2 (M-F 8:00am-5:00pm, US Mountain Time Zone).