New Semester Course Preparation Checklist

Note: If course content has not been copied into your course and you cannot access a previous term's course, please contact your program coordinator.

Canvas Instructor Guide (Instructure Community)
Canvas Quickstart Guide (ODU ITS)
Canvas for Instructors Resource Page (ODU ITS)

The following checklist can serve as a succinct list of to-do items with relevant support documentation in order to get your course online quickly.

Please note that not all items may apply to every course.

Note: If your course's content has already been copied into your course, skip this section and proceed to Update and Publish Your Course.

Reset your new course shell to prepare for your course copy/import to avoid duplicate content from the default template. 

• Step 1: Open your course and, from the Course Navigation Menu, click Settings.
• Step 2: Choose Reset Course Content on the right side of the page. Read the warning pop-up carefully before choosing Reset Course.
  • Warning: This is a permanent action that cannot be undone. 

Copy/Import course content into a blank course shell 

• How do I copy content from another Canvas course using the Course Import tool? 
• How do I select specific content as part of a course import? 
• How do I view the status of current and prior course imports? 

Update the Instructor Information page and course Home Page if one is provided in your course copy. 

• How do I edit a page in a course?
• How do I change the Course Home Page?

Check the course syllabus and update it as needed. 

• How do I use the Syllabus as an instructor? 
• How do I edit the Syllabus in a course? 

Update assignments and associated dates as needed. 

• How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• How do I add or edit details in an assignment?

Check/Update/Add any relevant course content 

• Announcements
• Discussions
• Assignments
• Quizzes
• New Quizzes
• Pages
• Rich Content Editor

Verify all links within your course are functioning properly 

• How do I validate links in a course?

Check the course using Student View before publishing your course 

• How do I view a course as a test student using Student View?

Publish your updated course 

• How do I publish a course? 

Verify that Respondus Lockdown Browser has no errors 

• Copying a Canvas Quiz With Respondus Lockdown Browser From One Course to Another (Bowling Green State University) 

Verify SmarterProctoring is set up properly for quizzes/exams

• Add SmarterProctoring to the course navigation menu 
  • How do I manage Course Navigation links? 
• Set up exams within SmarterProctoring 
  • How to set up your exam with SmarterProctoring (Kaltura) 
  • SmarterProctoring - Instructors (SmarterProctoring-ZenDesk) 

Update your faculty profile within the Canvas Global Navigation menu 

• How do I edit my profile in my user account as an instructor? 
• How do I change the settings in my user account as an instructor?
• How do I add a profile picture in my user account as an instructor? 
• How do I select personal pronouns in my user account as an instructor? 
• How do I change the language preference in my user account as an instructor? 
• How do I set a time zone in my user account as an instructor? 

Update your account-level and course-level notification settings 

• How do I manage my Canvas notification settings as an instructor? 
•  How do I manage notifications for a single course as an instructor? 
  •  Note: Instructors cannot control notification settings for students