New Courses (23-24)
The Canvas course creation process for 2023-24 will be different from previous years. Courses are now created when MOFS are approved, and will start to appear on your dashboard in March 2023 (in the "Unpublished" area). If all of your 2023-24 courses have not appeared by late April 2023, please contact your School office to ensure you are listed on the Module Outline Form (MOF).
Any colleague listed on a MOF will automatically be given Teacher access to the respective Canvas course. Staff not listed on the MOF can be added manually by your School office.
If you have any queries about the course creation process, you can contact ltds@newcastle.ac.uk.
One of my favourite features of Canvas is just how easy and straightforward it is to use and navigate through its content. I also like how you can customise a course to give it its own unique identity.
Get your Canvas courses ready: checklist
Here is a handy checklist to make sure the Canvas course for your module is ready for the new academic year. You can also find answers to questions in our FAQ at the bottom of the page.
If you are creating new content, you will find a number of useful guides to creating course content in the Canvas Orientation course.
1. Prepare your Canvas Course
Course content is not automatically "rolled over" from previous years. This is to give you the opportunity to review your current course and decide which content, if any, you would like to reuse in the new course.
Canvas enables you to import (copy) selected content from one Canvas course to another quickly and easily. This includes assignments, quizzes, modules, files, pages and discussions. However, it is important that you use the “Select Specific Content” option as using the “Import All” option will overwrite any new default content added by your School for this year.
Please follow this Step-by-Step Guide for New Courses and watch the following video on how to import content.
How do I copy content from another Canvas course using the Course Import tool?
Use this guide for a more in-depth look at how to import content into your Canvas course.
How do I copy content from another Canvas course using the Course Import tool?
How do I move or reorder a module?
Use this guide to learn how to move imported content to the correct place in your course.
How do I move or reorder a module?
How do I edit a module?
Use this guide to change the title of your imported module
How do I remove module items?
Use this guide if you wish to delete content from your module
2. Create your course homepage
The Homepage is the first impression students will have of your course. Create an introductory message or video for your students and use this space to tell them how to navigate your course content and the tools you will use to communicate with them. You can also use course Announcements to send your students a welcome message and update them on important news and activities.
How do I add, edit and style text in my homepage?
Use this guide for advice on how to style text within your homepage
How do I add and modify text in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?
How do I add links to content in my homepage?
Use these guides for advice on how to add links to content within your Canvas course and external resources.
How do I create hyperlinks to external URLs in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?
How do I create hyperlinks to course or group content in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?
How do I embed images in my homepage?
Use these guides for advice on how to embed images into your homepage from your course files or from your own file store.
How do I embed images from Canvas into the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?
How do I upload and embed a media file from my computer in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?
How do I embed a video recording from Recap into my homepage?
Use this guide for advice on how to add a Recap video into your home page.
Canvas Guides: Embedding a ReCap recording in a page
3. Design your course flow
It is important to create a consistent flow through your Canvas course, so students know where to find information and course content. For example, you could publish materials using a weekly or topic structure; a basic example and layout is provided in the Module view for every new course.
Canvas Orientation Course - Modules
Use this guide for advice on working with modules in Canvas and how to set up a course flow.
4. Ready your Reading List
Reading lists are imported automatically from the library reading list system. If you have created a reading list with the Library, this will automatically be imported into Canvas.
If your course is a parent-child course (where more than one module is accessing the course) you may need to contact the Library to ensure the reading list is imported successfully.
Reading Lists for Academic Staff
Use this guide for advice and further information on the Library Reading list application in Canvas.
Reading Lists for Academic Staff
5. Check the Canvas Baseline
When developing your Canvas course, ensure that your course complies with the University Canvas Baseline. This sets out the minimum core requirements on all University modules within Canvas.
6. Ensure that content is accessible for all students
When creating content for your new 2023-24 courses, please follow our Accessibility Guidelines to ensure all learners can access your content. Use Canvas accessibility features such as Ally to check the content within your course.
Learning and Teaching @ Newcastle - Digital Accessibility Guidance
Use this site for more information on making your content more accessible.
What accessibility tools are available in Canvas?
Use these guides for more information accessibility within Canvas including accessibility tools.
What are the Canvas accessibility standards?
How do I use the Accessibility Checker in the Rich Content Editor as an instructor?
Canvas Ally
Use this guide for more information on Ally for Canvas. Ally checks how well your course content meets accessibility standards and provides guidance on what to do to improve accessibility
7. View your course as a student
The Student View feature will give you a student’s perspective of your course. Please note this feature won’t display third party integrations (e.g. Library Reading Lists, ReCap and Turnitin) but will give you a useful insight into how students see your course content.
Information on how to publish your course and materials can be found in the following guides:
Canvas courses for 2023-24 have been created and are now available for you to edit. You can access them in the Unpublished area of your dashboard.
If you need to be enrolled on a course, firstly check all of the courses you have access to in the Courses area of the menu - including the Unpublished area at the bottom of your dashboard. If you can’t see the course in your ‘All Courses’ list then any colleague named on the MOF (or a PS colleague with Canvas admin privileges) can enrol you on the course.
Canvas Courses will need to be updated and published before students start their course. The courses are now available so you can work on your new Canvas courses straight away. You can publish your course before the students are enrolled if you wish to.
Please make sure your courses are published before the start of the new academic year.
Registered students will be enrolled on their Canvas courses from the beginning of September 2023. Once enrolled, they will be able to access published courses, so remember to publish your course.
No content will be copied across automatically. By providing you with empty courses, we hope content will not accumulate from year-to-year. It will also give you the opportunity to review your course and choose which content, if any, you would like to reuse in the new course.
When importing or copying over assignments, they are placed in an assignment group called Imported Assignments. However, assignments can be moved into other assignment groups and renamed as necessary.
ReCap content is not included in the import process. Please note, if you have ReCap recordings added as a module item or embedded in a page, these will be linked to the previous years’ content that this year's students will not be able to access.
To reuse ReCap recordings from previous years you should create a copy of the existing recording(s), move the copies to the folder for 2023/24 and recreate the links within modules.
- To make copies of recordings follow this guide.
- To add a link as a module item or embed in a page follow this guide.
Please note, to do this you must be the creator of the original recording (or have permission from them) and be a teacher on both courses.