Structuring Your Course

Ready to work on the design and structure of your Canvas course? Start by answering this question: How will my students know what to do, when to do it, and how to get there? Your answer to this question will often form the basis for your course design.

Course Structure Examples

Let's take a look at different methods you can use to set up your Canvas course so that your students can accomplish the tasks they need to complete for the week. Click on each method to see examples.

Templates

The following are examples you can use to build your own modules, pages, and homepages. The example modules are images to guide your course development. The pages can be used as template, however you cannot actually download and upload these pages from this course into your own course. You are welcome to copy the code into pages in your own course. If you'd like to do this, follow these instructions:

Week 0, or a Course Information Module/Page

Week 0, or a Course Information Module/Page, breaks out the elements of a Course Introduction and Syllabus into smaller and easier to find (and harder to miss) units.

Pages

Here are some ideas for page layout if you choose to organize your course around pages. It is important to be as consistent and standardized as possible in your page design so students can anticipate what to do, when to do it, and how to find it.

Example 1: Daily Page used in and outside of class [CODE]
Example 2: Simple Class Page [CODE]
Example 3: Daily/Weekly Page (this example requires a working knowledge of CSS and HTML)
Example 4: Page for an online or blended class [CODE]

Homepages

The homepage is the first thing the students see when entering your course. You may choose to use one of the other homepage options, like going straight to modules, or use a page as your homepage.

Homepage 1: General Welcome and Course Introduction [CODE]
Homepage 2: Links to pages (for Module or Page Based Courses) [CODE]
Homepage 3: Homepage requiring working knowledge of CSS and HTML [CODE]

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