Creating and Organizing Modules

Creating and Organizing Canvas Modules

The first impression both you and your course make on your students can set the tone for the entire semester. Starting out looking well-organized encourages students to trust in you and the course you've prepared. Using Canvas Modules to help your students find everything in one place, instead of searching all over Canvas, improves course usability and reduces the amount of time they spend looking for things - time that could be spent actually learning.

The purpose of this step-by-step instructional guide is to give you the opportunity to build your course structure in the Canvas Modules tool by duplicating the template module and giving each duplicate a meaningful name indicating what you are talking about during that time. Normally a module is one week long but that can vary depending on your class length and structure. You'll also practice writing a module overview page, working with a Canvas Assignment and Discussion, and adding and deleting Module items.

Before you begin

If you have not used Canvas Modules, please make sure you have read Using Modules for Course Organization.   This page includes a video walk-through of working with Modules.

Creating your Modules

Get the full IU Fall Course Template into your Canvas course site. You'll see the homepage template when you go to your fall course. To get the rest of the template including the modules, 

1. Go to Settings in your course,

2. Look at the bottom of the list of buttons on the right side (they may be at the bottom of the page if your screen is small), and click "Apply Course Template."

3. Click "Submit"

Two things to note before doing this:

1. If you've made changes to your course navigation, those will be changed by the template

2. If you have content in the Canvas Syllabus tool, make a copy as you'll also get the syllabus template which will overwrite whatever is in the syllabus tool.

For details see " How to Apply a Template to Your Canvas Course" 

         

1. In the Modules tool in your fall course, you should see a Week 1 Module. Since you'll have more than one module in your course, the first thing to do is duplicate that template module until you have enough modules for the length of your course. To duplicate the module, click the three vertical dots to the right of the module title "Week 1" and click "Duplicate."

   

2. Once you have the correct amount of modules, edit the module title on each one to give it a descriptive title. To do that, click the three vertical dots to the right of the module title, click "Edit", and type in a title that indicates what the module is about. (For example, Module 2: Photosynthesis or Week 5: Self-Efficacy)

3. Next, create your module overview page for the first module only. Click on "Week 1 | Overview" and click the "Edit" button at the top right to edit the module overview page template. Fill in each section, describing what is happening that week and what students are to read, watch, and do.

   • In the Introduction section, please make sure all of your text there is regular and not bold. If you highlight what is there and just start typing it will all be bold.

   • Please link to any readings or resources that are available electronically. If you're not sure how to link to a file in Canvas or an external website, see the links to Canvas Guides below for instructions.

4. Finally, make sure the first module only includes the assignments and activities you plan to have in that module. Each one should have a title that describes what it is about (for example, Week 1 Interactive Lecture: Mayer's Principles) and a brief description of the assignment. You can edit the module item titles just like you edited the module titles, using the three dots on the right of each item

5. If you will be providing a video presentation, you can use the interactive lecture item to allow students to ask questions about the content. 

• • If you will be having students interact with each other in an asynchronous discussion, you can use the discussion item in the template to get started. 

    
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  • If you will have an assignment that students complete and submit to you, you can use the assignment template which is already set up using the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) format. If you are not familiar with the TILT model, please see this explanation page. 

  • If you will have a quiz, a Quick Check, or use another tool, you'll need to add it to the module by clicking the plus (+) next to the right of the module name, choosing the item type from the dropdown, and clicking [New Item]. Make sure to give it a meaningful title that tells students what it is and what it's about (for example, Week 1 | Quiz on Chapters 1 and 2). 

     
    

• Please don't add multiple files as module items. Files are better linked in the module overview page where you can provide a description of the file and any instructions for its use.

• Don't forget to delete any remaining template items in the module that you will not be using.

Self-assess your Canvas module

Review your Canvas module to ensure it includes the following elements and utilizes the recommendations below.

1. You have enough modules for the length of your course.

2. All of your modules have meaningful titles that describe the topic of the module.

3. Your Module 1 overview page provides:

   • a description of the week that is written in student-focused language (you/your) and is welcoming in tone.

   • a list of all readings and other resources for the week. If you link to a reading or resource, make sure the link text is the title of the article or website and that the URL is not visible on the page.

   • All accessibility in the template is maintained. Built-in styles are used for headings and bulleted or numbered lists. Any added images have alternative text. Any added tables are not used for formatting only.

4. All assignments, discussions, quizzes, and other activities for Module 1 are included in the module as individual module items with meaningful names indicating what they are about. (i.e. so it looks like the multimedia module above where you can see each assignment, discussion, etc. on a separate line in the module underneath the overview page.)