Publishing a Course in ISU Canvas

Description

This article provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding publishing an ISU Canvas course at Idaho State University (ISU).

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Questions and Answers About Publishing an ISU Canvas Course

Will courses automatically become available to students on the first day of class?

  • Instructors will need to publish their course in order for students to see it on their ISU Canvas Dashboard.

When should ISU Canvas courses be published for students?

  • The ISU Registrar has requested that instructors publish their courses by Wednesday in the week prior to the start of the semester. Publishing early allows students time to acquire required textbooks and view the course syllabus.

Can the instructor publish only a portion of a course?

  • Instructors can choose to publish the course while keeping specific modules or items unpublished until ready to share them with students.

How do I publish my course?

  • See the section below, Publishing Your Course in ISU Canvas for step-by-step instructions.

How can I tell if things are published in a course?

  • Look for the green check mark and Published label in the top right corner of your course homepage to confirm visibility for students. If you see a gray circle with a slash, the content is unpublished and hidden from students.

Can instructors view their course from a student's perspective?

Publishing a Course in ISU Canvas

Publishing at the Course Level

The Publish button on the Home page controls student access to the course as a whole.

  1. Open your course in ISU Canvas.
  2. On the Home page, find the right-hand sidebar and select Publish under Course Status.
Notes :
  • The button turns green when published.
  • Once students submit their work , you cannot unpublish the course.

Publishing Modules

You can publish a module and all of its contents, or publish the module and leave individual items unpublished. Modules must be published to release their content, regardless of the status of individual items.

  1. Go to the Modules  page.
  2. Locate the desired module .
  3. Select the publish icon next to each module. You’ll be prompted to choose:
    1. Publish module and all items: Makes the entire module and its contents visible.
    2. Publish module only: Module is visible, but only published items inside are accessible.
    3. Unpublish module and all items: Hides the module and everything in it.
    4. Unpublish module only: Hides the module, but published items may still be accessed elsewhere.
  4. Select the gray circle with a slash icon next to the module title.
  5. A green checkmark indicates the module is published.

Note:  If the module is unpublished, all items inside are hidden—even if those items are published individually.

Publishing Individual Items

You can publish or unpublish any item (assignment, page, file, quiz, etc.) individually.

  1. Navigate to the  Modules, Assignments, or relevant tool page.
  2. Locate the item.
  3. Select the gray circle with a slash icon next to the item title. Green check = published and Gray circle with a slash  = unpublished.

Tip:  Be consistent. For content to be visible, both the module and the item must be published.

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