Starting the Semester Checklist in ISU Canvas for Faculty

Summary

A list of frequently asked questions about preparing to teach your course in ISU Canvas.

Body

Description

At the beginning of each term, there are several tasks to think about as your prepare to teach using ISU Canvas. We have provided a list of frequently asked questions to help guide you through the initial steps for getting your course ready to publish.

When will I be able to start work on my ISU Canvas course?

ISU Canvas courses become available as the course schedule is created at the Registrar's office. Faculty are assigned to courses at that time so courses that you have access to will appear in your Dashboard. Courses are divided into sections by Unpublished and Published.

How do I request a course prior to the scheduled course offerings?

If you want to begin developing your course before the ISU Canvas courses have been created, you may request a Canvas Sandbox using the Canvas: Sandbox Request Form. If you are transferring content from Moodle ISU to ISU Canvas, the Unpacking your Moodle ISU course backup checklist may be helpful.
Once your ISU Canvas course with student enrollments has been created, you will need to import the content from your Sandbox course. See Using the Course Import Tool for more information.

What if I'm teaching multiple sections of the same course?

If you are teaching multiple sections of the same course or a combination of undergraduate and graduate courses, you can request a metacourse. A metacourse combines several sections of the same course into ISU Canvas and automatically updates the student enrollments. To request a metacourse, please fill out the Canvas: Metacourse Request Form. You will receive an email notification from our ticketing system once the metacourse has been created.

Can I use content from a previous course?

Instructors can copy course content such as assignments, modules, pages, and discussion from previous ISU Canvas courses into new courses. You can also bulk migrate quizzes from Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes. See Using the Course Import Tool for instructions.
Instructors can also import content from Moodle ISU to ISU Canvas. See Importing Moodle ISU Content into ISU Canvas for instructions.

How can I link my lecture videos into my course?

We recommend that you use the Panopto video management system for embedding your lecture videos into a course. The Panopto activity enables instructors to upload, record, or choose videos in the Panopto video management system and then embed those videos into a course. See Adding Videos in ISU Canvas with Panopto for information. Note: The use of Panopto should be restricted to user-created videos that will be used more than one semester such as lectures, training materials, or instructional videos.
If you wish to link videos from other sources such as YouTube, Box, Google Drive, etc. you can use the Rich Content Editor in USU Canvas to create hyperlinks to external resources. See How do I create hyperlinks to external URLs in the Rich Content Editor for more information. In addition, you can add an external URL as a module item. See How do I add an external URL as a module item for more information.

My course content is imported, what else should I do to get my course ready?

Update your syllabus. See How do I upload a file for more information.
Check availability dates on assignments, discussions and quizzes. See Setting Availability Dates and Time for more information. You also have the option to update dates for multiple assignments and assessments at one time using the bulk editing feature. See Bulk Editing Due Dates and Availability Dates for more information.
Check for outdated or broken links using the Link Validator. See How do I validate links in a course for more information.
Set up and organize your gradebook. In ISU Canvas, instructors organize their grade items within the Assignments link by creating Assignment Groups. See How do I add an assignment group in a course and How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups for more information.

Seek further assistance

There are many resources available to assist you in preparing your ISU Canvas course:
- ITRC Staff | Canvas on Call Zoom Drop-in Sessions - every Monday and Thursday at 2:00pm (no appointment needed)
- ISU Canvas Faculty Essentials course - asynchronous course that will equip you with the foundational skills and knowledge to create engaging, organized, and accessible online learning environments for ISU students.
- Canvas Agent | Tier 1 Support
- Canvas Instructor Guide
- Contact the ITRC at 208-282-5880 or itrc@isu.edu

Contact the ITRC if you need additional assistance.

Details

Article ID: 168170

Created

Tue 8/12/25 1:58 PM

Modified

Thu 8/21/25 9:15 AM