Davidson-Davie Community College

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Canvas Activities and Resources
• Add a Canvas Element
• Removing Canvas Elements from a Module

Introduction

Canvas contains a number of built in tools that instructors can use to create assignments and resources.  This chart provides information about each one and ways they can be used.  When you add a Canvas element to your course, the icon associated with the assignment or activity will be gray to denote it is unpublished.  If you publish the element, it will change to green. 

Note: The icon for an external URL and external tool is the same.  Make sure you're naming for each is unique to reduce confusion for students.  

Canvas Activities and Resources

Canvas Element Icon	Element Description	Element Uses
Assignment	Used to create a graded task for students. It links to the gradebook and creates a column where grades can be entered. Instructors can attach resources, videos, or examples for students to view as well.	Graded tasks for submission of Files Online Text Files can be restricted to particular file types. Online Text can include MathType, ChemType, and YuJa videos. Use the TILT framework to design transparent assignments and learning tasks for your students.
Quiz	Used to create graded or ungraded quizzes or surveys within Canvas	Formative and summative assessments of student progress and mastery of content Gather student perspectives with survey questions
File	Used to add a variety of media to a Canvas course. This can include text documents, images, or videos.	provide students with additional resources upload reading materials or videos for students to peruse before class discussions share a Google document with students to use for taking collaborative notes
Page	Used to create a link to a page that displays the content created by the instructor. The Text editor allows the page to display many different kinds of content such as plain text, images, audio, video, embedded code or a combination of all these.	Add lesson content to be read by the student  Create a page with directions, examples, and links to resources for a complex or ongoing project so that students can revisit as needed Create a front page for your Canvas course
Discussion	Used to post and manage asynchronous discussions	Hold asynchronous discussions in an online course Ask students to introduce themselves to their peers at the beginning of a course Ask students to post work samples to get feedback from peers Allow students to post images, video, nor audio files as part of the discussion as well as text
Text Header	Used to add text between other resources in the different sections.	Create clear labels between items listed with a module to denote which are instructional materials and which are assignments
External URL	Used to provide students with web links. In the settings you can choose whether the link opens a page, creates a pop-up, or embeds into Canvas.	Embed a video so that students have easy access to it without the video taking up space on your Moodle course homepage Link to news articles that provide real-world context to course content Provide students with a starting place for researching course topics
External Tool	If you need to link a third-party LTI in a module, you can do so with the external tool option.  Notice that the icon for an external tool and external URL look the same.  Make sure you use a unique, student-friendly naming system to help students know the difference.	Third-party course materials and LTIs such as YuJa Video Zoom Wiley Resources Pearson Cengage Perusall

Add a Canvas Element

The process for creating content in your Canvas course follows the same basic steps.  First, decide how you want to create your content:

• Directly in the module for which it belongs
• Through the individual tabs located in your Course Navigation menu

If you add your Canvas element to your module first, it will automatically populate in on the appropriate index page in your Course Navigation menu.   

1. Select the plus button located in the right corner of the module you would like to add your content.  A popup window will appear for you to select your Canvas element
2. Name your Canvas element.  Make sure this is unique enough to easily identify the element from a list.
3. Determine your desired level of indentation
4. Click on the Add Item button
5. Click on the element name to add your content
6. Save and/or Save & Publish to make the element visible to students

Removing Canvas Elements from a Module

Should you decide to Remove any Canvas created content from the Modules page, the Canvas element will still exist within the Index tab it aligns to.  For example, if you create a Page for a module, and then remove the page from the module, the page will still exist on your Pages Index tab located through the Course Navigation menu.  

This can be helpful if you decide to undo your changes to the module.  However, if you decided to create a new page later with the same title as the previously removed page, you may end up with duplicate page names, similar content, a Page list longer than you expected, and potentially a frustrating experience when it comes to adding or linking Canvas elements within your course. 

Therefore, you may wish to remove Canvas elements directly from its element's index page to remove the content from your course entirely.