Designing Your Canvas Course
Designing Your Canvas Course
Designing your course can be an exciting opportunity to organize and share information and engage with your learners! Consider the following when designing your course in Canvas:
- Create a central space for students to access course materials (documents, links, activities, assignments, assessments)
- Support student success by showing them how to get started, where to find due dates, grading information, and relevant tools
- Make everything accessible for all learners (use formatting such as headers, alternative text for images, caption videos). See our Universal Design and Accessibility resources
- Provide support information for all technologies used, e.g., link to a tutorial for Turnitin
- Use the Humboldt Quality Learning & Teaching (QLT) Best Practices Guide to ensure a supportive and interactive environment for all your learners
Humboldt Quality Learning & Teaching (QLT) Best Practices
The Humboldt QLT Best Practices Guide is a compilation of learning and teaching research-based best practices that are applicable across all learning formats. Chat with an instructional designer if you'd like to learn more about QLT!
Canvas Modules and Pages
Organizing your course materials can take shape in several ways. One of the main methods to organize/design your course is through Canvas modules or pages. You can use modules, pages, or a combination of both. Using Canvas modules provides the benefits of easy-to-create course set-up, easy-to-navigate for students, and consistent naming. See more details in Desiging Your Canvas Course with Modules and Pages.
Sample Humboldt Canvas Courses
- HED 446 Bone and Muscle Development - Dr. Christine Dobrowolski, CSU QOLT Award (uses combination of modules and pages)
- GSP 270 Geographic Information Systems - Dr. Amy Rock (uses pages)
- COMM 100 Fundamentals of Communication - Kim Vincent-Layon (blended learning course using modules and pages)
Canvas Templates
Accessible Syllabus Template
We highly recommend using the Accessible Syllabus Template to ensure that you have all the essential and supportive elements of a strong syllabus. Copy and paste your syllabus content into the template on the Syllabus page in your Canvas course and then add a link to the downloadble version (e.g., PDF). This is important for consistency in navigation for students who will look for the syllabus under the Syllabus link in Canvas.
Front/Home Page Templates
Use a template to create a visual page that makes a welcoming place that students land as they login to your course. Review the Front/Home Page Templates and import them into your course via the Canvas Commons. Canvas Quick Guide - Front Page Template Editing - a step-by-step guide to setting up your front page.
Course Templates
Course Templates are designed to help you set up your course by following best practices. Click on each of the templates below to look at them. If you'd like to import one of these templates to your Canvas course, go to the Canvas Commons and search keyword: Humboldt.
Click each of the Canvas Course Templates below for a preview of what you can import into your own course via the Canvas Commons.
- Humboldt Canvas Course Template | Simple
This simple course template provides a few simple elements to start you off with your Canvas course, including the Accessible Syllabus Template and a simple front/home page. - Humboldt Canvas Course Template | Topics-Based
This basic course template provides a topic structure to help users get started with the design and development of a Canvas course. - Humboldt Canvas Course Template | Basic 1 Week
This basic course template provides a 1-week modules-based architectural structure to help users get started with the design and development of a Canvas course. Use the modules provided to enter your own course materials into. - Humboldt Canvas Course Template | Detailed 1 Week
This 1-week course template provides a module structure along with detailed teaching samples and resources. - Humboldt Canvas Course Template I Basic 16 Weeks
This basic course template provides a 16-week module structure to help users get started with the design and development of a Canvas course. - Humboldt Canvas Course Template I Detailed 16 Weeks
This 16-week course template provides a module structure along with detailed teaching samples and resources.
We have many resources to help you in designing your course. Need help from instructional designer? Contact us at at@humboldt.edu or 707.826.4461.