Modules are a great way to organize your course and help students keep on track. You can use them any way that makes the most sense to your course (for example, you can organize material by weeks, units, or other organizational structures). Modules essentially create a linear flow of what students should do in a course. Each module can contain files, discussions, assignments, quizzes, and other learning materials. Modules can be easily organized using the drag and drop feature. Elements within the modules can also be reorganized by dragging and dropping.
In this example I will set up a module to move students chronologically through the course.
Canvas Instructor Guide: Modules
A module is a container for organizing course content. It allows instructors to organize and present course materials, assignments, discussions, and quizzes in a structured and logical manner. Instructors can control the visibility of modules to ensure that students only have access to relevant materials at the appropriate time. Items in modules can be moved by dragging and dropping and/or edited by clicking on the ellipses for each item or the module itself.
Modules can be used to:
Modules can be filled with different types of content.
Each module item also includes an icon with its type:
First, locate the module tab in the left side bar menu on your course's home page.
This will take you to the page where you will build your modules. There are two ways to create your first module. You can click the large "Create a new Module" button in the center of the page, or the red "+ Module" button at the top right of the page. This is the button you will use to create subsequent modules.
A pop up will appear. Enter the name of your module. Since I am organizing material by weeks, I simply named this "Week 1."
Your newly created module will be empty. You can add material to it by clicking the "+" symbol in the top right corner of the module box.
Now that your module is created, you can add material to it by clicking the "+" symbol in the top right of the module box.
For this tutorial I'm adding pages for each day of class and a discussion assignment. If you have already created pages, assignments, or other materials you can simply select them from the drop down menu that appears when you click the module's "+" symbol.
Alternatively, you can create a page, assignment, etc. from this screen by clicking "[ Create Page ]" in the drop down menu. To demonstrate, I have added text describing what the class will cover for the first day, and included links for the first set of readings. Be sure to click "Save" or "Save & Publish" before closing this page! "Save & Publish" immediately makes the page visible to students when the course is published.
Another option is to add an assignment like a discussion. Select that option from the drop down menu when you click the module's "+" button and add your prompt to the page. If you look under the "Options" section on the Discussion creation page, you can see checkboxes that give you options like "Allow threaded replies" – letting students respond to each other's posts, and "Users must post before seeing replies."
Because I want this to be a graded discussion, I checked the "Graded" box in this options section, which brings up more fields like "Points Possible," a drop down menu for the groups you want to assign the discussion to, and information to fill out about when the Discussion assignment is due.
Once you have added materials to your module, you can see them and rearrange them by dragging on the items in the list.
Once you have the pages, assignments, discussions, and so on that you want in your module, you have several options. One is to set requirements for the module. This is optional, but it helps students keep on track, and you can set up your course so that students must complete certain tasks before Canvas will allow them to access others. To learn more about these specifics, see Canvas's tutorial here.
To set requirements (or take other actions with your module) click the three dots at the far right of module box, and select "Edit" from the drop down menu.
In the pop up that appears you can select the appropriate requirements for you module. In this example, I selected the option "Students must complete all of these requirements" and then used the drop down menus to select the various files in my module, then select the action that I wanted students to complete. Be sure to click the "Update Module" button when you want to save your requirements.
Once your requirements are set, you'll see the indication in the module box.
Once your module is ready for students, be sure to publish it. If a module has not been published, you'll see a gray circle with a slash through it next to the "+" symbol. Click on this gray circle and the drop down menu will give you several publishing options. You can change this setting at any time, but avoid doing so while students need access to the module!
A published module will look like the image below. Note that all the circles are green with a checkmark indicating that the module and all components within it have been published are are available to students.
Repeat this process for all the modules you wish to create!
You can reorder files within a module by clicking on the set of dots at the left and dragging the file to the correct position. Modules can be reordered using the same process by clicking the set of dots to the left of the module's title. You can also click on the three dots at the right of any item and access a drop down menu allowing you to edit, duplicate, delete, and take other actions.
You may want to provide students with material only after they have completed an assignment. For example, you may assign an essay and want students to access answers or tips after they have submitted their essay. You can achieve this using module requirements.
First, click on the three dots at the far right in the module box to reveal the dropdown menu of actions and select "Edit."
Next, adjust the requirements for the module. Be sure to check the box "Students must move through requirements in sequential order" – this controls the way students access the materials.
Be sure to click the red "Update Module" button to save your changes! Now when a student looks at the module they can see that they must complete all items in the module, but they can only access the certain items. Below, the first page in the module appears with black text, while the rest of the items are grayed out. As a student completes each item, the next item in the module list is unlocked for them.
You can access the student view of Canvas to double-check that modules' requirements are set correctly. Do this by clicking the "Student View" button at the top right of any page in Canvas.
You can add several types of items to modules; choose what you think would work best for your course.
To add an item to a module, click on the "+" at the far right in the module's title bar. A modal will appear, and you can use the drop down menu to select the type of item you wish to add: Assignment, Quiz, File, Page, Discussion, Text Header, External URL, or External Tool.
Once you have added items to a module, you can reorder them at any time in the way that makes the most sense for your course. If a student clicks on an item, they will be able to navigate back and forth between the items using "Previous" and "Next" buttons at the bottom of the page, so consider this when you arrange your items.
The image below shows two sample modules with different types of items. Week 3 contains two pages ("3.1 Insular Art, Carolingian Art" and "3.2 Carolingian Art, Race & the Middle Ages"), an assignment ("Topic and Preliminary Bibliography"), and a discussion ("Week 3 Reading Response"). The Week 4 module contains examples of a Perusall reading assignment ("Medievalism and Cinema (Perusall)," an external URL ("Medieval Myths Bingo"), and a quiz. If you have uploaded files to your course, you can also include those directly in a module, or create a link to them on a page.
If you have worked with a librarian to create a LibGuide for your course, you can embed the guide directly into your course modules.
First, click the "+" button in the module title bar.
Next, scroll down to the bottom of the pop-up modal. Enter the URL and Page name of the LibGuide you want to add to your module. You can choose to load the guide in a new window by checking the box labeled "Load in a new tab." If you do not check this box, the LibGuide will appear directly in a Canvas page.
Click the "Add Item" button.
Be sure to publish the Lib Guide!
You can duplicate all materials in Canvas, including modules. This allows you to create a basic module that you can reuse throughout your course. For example, you may want to create a module for each class period or week. You an save yourself time by creating a basic module that acts as a template, duplicating it, and then editing the materials inside each module as needed. The duplication process creates a copy of almost everything in the module (pages, assignments, etc) – Classic Quizzes are the exception, and modules that contain Classic Quizzes can NOT be duplicated.
NOTE: Modules that contain quizzes can NOT be duplicated. I recommend creating duplicates of your modules, then adding quizzes in afterwards.
To duplicate a module:
Tech support: For technical assistance, start a ticket with WITS
Brainstorming: For ideas on how to use tools in your course, contact the DLS