Organizing Your Content & Assessments

Organizing Overview

Whether teaching a course face-to-face, hybrid, or fully online, it's necessary to consider how the content will be organized in the learning management system (LMS).  The course design should facilitate ease of use and navigability making everything students need to find in the course easy to locate. Some strategies for accomplishing this may include but aren't limited to consistent layout and design throughout the course, organizing similar content together, and using headings to indicate a change in topic. Organizing course elements in Canvas is easy! Learn how below. 

Course Navigation

Your course navigation menu can be customized based on your course needs. To optimize the way students navigate in your course, consider simplifying course navigation by hiding unnecessary/non-used course navigation links. To learn how to edit your course navigation, see:

Home Page

The Course Home Page is the first page students see when they open the course. You can change your Course Home Page to reflect one of five layout options:

  • Recent Activity Dashboard
  • Pages Front Page
  • Modules
  • Assignments
  • Syllabus

Select a home page option that would place students where it makes the most sense. For example, if you plan on using Modules to organize your course content, selecting the home page to modules would bring students to this area every time they enter the course. 

To learn more about the different Course Home Page options and how to set your home page, see:

Modules

Modules allow instructors to organize content and control the flow of the class. You can organize your course content by weeks, units, chapters, or a different organizational structure. Modules can contain all of your Canvas content and create a linear flow of what students should do in a course.

How do I use the Modules Index Page? Links to an external site.

Links to an external site. How do I add a module? Links to an external site.

Links to an external site. How do I add assignment types, pages, and files as module items? Links to an external site.