Organize Your Canvas Pages, Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes Using Modules
Any Canvas savvy teacher knows the inevitable: ending up with a TON of pages sitting in your Canvas course. The good news is that this is a fantastic problem to have!
With a few quick clicks, you can easily organize all of your Canvas Content into Canvas modules for the best student user (not to mention teacher user) experience.
However, if you're new to Canvas and have NO content created, this will help you to stay organized from the beginning of your Canvas content creation journey!
Modules Overview
The best way to think of a module is like a binder. The module is just the place holder for the materials that go inside the binder, whether those materials are readings for the students, actual assignments, quizzes, or discussions--any of the things that students can do or complete in Canvas.
If organizing your modules by units, typically the first page of a module would be a unit overview and then the subsequent items would be the actual content students are reading, or assignments they’re completing, etc. See below for examples of my own Canvas content.
CANVAS PAGE WITH PRESENTATION
CANVAS PAGE WITH READING MATERIAL
CANVAS ASSIGNMENT
CANVAS DISCUSSION BOARD
CANVAS QUIZ
You can add unlimited content to any Canvas module! Also, if you delete an item from a Canvas module, that content still exists in the "pages," "assignments," "discussions," or "quizzes" tab on your Canvas course--it doesn't disappear!
To set up this technology, go the modules tab in your Canvas course.
1. Click the "+" icon to add a module.
2. You're going to want to give your module a name, and then your new module will appear on the modules page. (Note: New modules you create show up at the bottom of page; drag them to the top as needed.)
3. On the module, click the "+" (plus icon) twice. A dialogue box will appear.
4. Choose the type of content you wish to add to your module. (An assignment, a quiz, a file, a page, a discussion).
5. If adding existing content, select the correct item from the list provided and click "Add Item." Continue adding as needed.
6. If you need to create new content, click the first option that says "[Create Assignment]." You will need to name the item and then click "Add Item."
If creating a new item, you will need to click on that item once it's added to your module. This will take you into that particular item, where you can edit the content like normal. (Click back on the modules tab to return to your Canvas module after editing your item.)
You can make each item as simple or elaborate as you wish. For instance, even Canvas assignments can be fully designed like an in depth Canvas page. For more on how to use Cidi Labs to create Canvas content, read my blog post on creating Canvas pages here.
7. Click the green check mark next to the module's name to publish it when you're ready for students to see the entire module. You will ALSO need to be sure each individual page you want students to see in the module is published for them to access it. (Note: If you have all items published in the module, but the module itself unpublished, students won't be able to see the module at all.)
Student User Experience
When designing anything in Canvas, take a moment to consider how the user will feel when navigating your information.
Consideration #1: How do you wish to organize your modules? A module can be a collection of anything you like! One option is to name it by “Week 1” or whatever the dates of the weeks are that students will be working in. You could have September 1st through September 5th, Week 1 of school, as a module. Week 2 of school could be another module, thereby creating a new module for every week.
Another option is to organize your modules by units. And of course, you can have a combination of these options depending on the needs of your students and the purpose of each module you create. Since I import my modules into my new Canvas courses each year (if teaching the same course), I organize my modules by units. This way, I do not have to spend time altering dates in the modules' titles each year.
Consideration #2: In modules, you can add pages, assignments, and discussions...or just make everything as pages. Then later you can create an assignment that simply links to your page(s). (I do this in my example assignment above.)
Why?
Assignments come with dates, which show up in the gradebook. This means if you import your module into a future Canvas course, you will need to make sure these assignments, discussions, etc., don't appear in the gradebook before you're ready for students to see them.
If you don't want to deal with seeing all of this in your assignments tab in your teacher view (since you can't hide them completely as a teacher), you can create all your work as a page and then create the assignment when you're ready for it. Simply title your assignment and provide a link to your appropriate Canvas page. I usually write something like "Assignment details can be found on the Children's Book Canvas page" with a hyperlink to the appropriate page. However, creating assignments when you need them and hyperlinking to the appropriate page will create a bit of duplicate work for you. Consider which option is more manageable and less work for you.
Consideration #3: When students click on the dropdown of your module, will they understand the titles you have given each piece of content? You can name each content with a date or with a lesson sequence number to help students understand your navigation, such as "Lesson 1: The Hero's Journey" and "Lesson 2: Archetypes."
Hands down, if you are using Canvas for students, modules are the natural tool to organize all of your digital materials. Furthermore, creating modules will be a lifesaver for the following school year when you can easily import all your content. Imagine starting a new school year and having everything you've done previously already organized! Good luck!
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