Building Your Course Structure In Canvas

As discussed in the earlier Orientation modules, there are a number of different options for course home pages, and a choice between organizing course content with either Pages or Modules. Once you’ve chosen an approach, you can sort your class content and activities into those tools.

When students are remote, we highly recommend using Modules, with each week of the quarter structured into that module. Online and remote-learning classes lack the in-class reminders of what to do next, and the regular patterns of class meetings. Using one module per week helps students connect course activities with the calendar.

In many courses, students will repeat a similar set of tasks each week. They’ll read and watch content, complete a set of assessable activities, then check their grades. When using Modules, there is usually one task per line of the module. If Pages are the main organizer, there’s more freedom in layout, but at some point a list of tasks should be presented to students.

Within each Module or Page, some approaches that have worked include:

• One task, for example reading a journal article or completing a quiz, is an item in the module. The module guides students through the work.
  • Variation: Create a single page listing all the reading materials for that week/unit. Add the links to quizzes and assignments in the module list, in addition to putting them on that page.
• Post all the readings, videos, and other supporting materials for an assignment in the prompts for that assignment.

The approach you use should be consistent throughout the course.