[MODULE 1] Importing existing content into a course

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The first things instructors ask us is "How do I get my content into a course in Canvas?"

For online and modular classes, the Online Learning Office imports your course for you and adjusts all assignment due dates based on your direction during the course development. 

For on-campus classes, most instructors have some existing course materials, such as handouts, worksheets, syllabus, lecture slides, assignments, readings, documents - well, you get the idea. Therefore, importing course materials into your Canvas course shell is the logical first step.

There are THREE (3) main ways to import content into a course:

1. Importing Course Materials in Bulk*

The most common way to import course content (in bulk) is through the course import tool. Course import tool is great for the following:

  • If you have a folder on your desktop with course materials, simply .zip the folder and upload to Canvas.
  • If you are migrating from Moodle or another learning management system
  • If you have question banks and quizzes that you'd like to import all at once. (NOTE: These files need to be in the form of a QTI zip package.)

*For online and hybrid courses, the Office of Online Learning will complete course imports for you prior to the start of the semester. 

2. Copying Content from a Previous Canvas Course

The course import tool also allows you to select and copy from a previous or another existing Canvas course in your system. This works well if you want to import content from a previous semester offering of the course.

When you copy an entire course from semester to semester, it will include all Announcements and Discussions (if you choose). You can also adjust the events and due dates to coordinate with your current semester (unless you choose to decline this option in which case the old dates will transfer and you'll have to adjust them later).

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The following tutorials provide additional details on the course import tools:

Sometimes you may want to add one or few files as you develop the course, rather than bulk upload zipped content. In this case, consider leveraging the FILES tool (see #3 below).

3. Adding Course Materials via Files Tool

Another way to upload content into your course is through the FILES tab. Similar to the course import tool, you can also add files to your course. Add files as you go or upload a group of files at once. 

Canvas makes it easy to click-and-drag files from your desktop directly into your course files page! Files and folders can be locked (hidden from student view). You can also upload and edit HTML files, as well.
 

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Read additional information about the files tool below:

 

In summary, you can import or add existing content to your course shell in three ways:

  1. Using the Course Import Tool (to upload files in bulk)
  2. Course Copying another Canvas Course
  3. Adding Materials via the Files Tab