Several institutions have made the switch from Sakai (the system for WISE) to Canvas, and so there are several tutorials explaining how to import materials available online. This page gives you an overview of Sakai to Canvas equivalencies, and resources on transferring your course content from WISE to Canvas.
If you are unsure which method is best for you, please feel free to reach out to the Canvas team for advice and assistance on transferring your course content by starting a ticket in WITS!
Here are tool equivalents and details between the Sakai and Canvas learning management systems. See Canvas Instructor Guides to learn more about each tool.
| Sakai | Canvas |
|---|---|
| Sakai Home | Canvas Dashboard |
| Overview | Home | Home Customization (Video) |
| Site Info | Settings | Settings Overview (Video) |
| Site Info > Manage Participants | People | People Overview (Video) |
| Site Info > Edit Class Rosters | Settings > Sections: Add section, Cross-list section | Cross-Listing Overview (Video) Cross-listed rosters in ConnectCarolina will automatically be cross-listed in Canvas |
| Site Info > Manage Groups | People > Group Set | Groups Overview (Video) |
| Site Info > Import from Site | Settings (Course Details) > Import Course Content | Course Content Import (Video) |
| Announcements | Announcements | Announcements Overview (Video) |
| Assignments | Assignments | Assignments Overview (Video) |
| Attendance | Attendance (Roll Call) |
| Calendar | Canvas Calendar | Calendar Overview (Video) |
| Chat Room | Chat | Chat Overview (Video) |
| Forums | Discussions | Discussions Overview (Video) |
| Gradebook | Grades | Gradebook Overview (Video) |
| Gradebook Categories & Weighting | Assignments > Weighted Groups |
| Grading Schema | Settings (Course Details) > Grading Scheme |
| Grading Assignments, Forums, Tests & Quizzes | SpeedGrader | SpeedGrader Overview (Video) |
| Lessons | Combination of Modules and Pages Modules Overview (Video) | Pages Overview (Video) |
| Messages | Canvas Inbox |
| Resources | Files | Files Overview (Video) |
| Rich Text Editor | Rich Content Editor |
| Rubrics | Rubrics | Rubrics Overview (Video) |
| Sign-up | Canvas Calendar > Scheduler Appointment Group |
| Statistics | New Analytics | New Analytics Overview (Video) People: Student activity, access, interactions, summary of all student interactions |
| Syllabus | Syllabus | Syllabus (Video) |
| Tests & Quizzes | New Quizzes | New Quizzes Overview (Video) Classic Quizzes | Classic Quizzes Overview (Video) Note: Classic Quizzes will be removed from Canvas. See New Quizzes Roadmap. |
| Wiki | Pages (set page to allow anyone to edit) | Pages Overview (Video) |
| External Tools | Same external tool integrations available: Gradescope, Panopto, Poll Everywhere, UNC Libraries (Course Reserves, Library Guides), VoiceThread, (Zoom join links must be shared with students) |
| No built-in template options |
|
| No repository for educator resource sharing | Canvas Commons | Commons Overview (Video) |
| No custom learning based on performance | Mastery Paths | Mastery Paths (Video) |
| No tracking of student mastery | Outcomes | Outcomes Overview (Video) |
| No mobile app | Canvas Teacher App | Canvas Teacher App Video |
There are a couple ways to transfer course material from WISE to Canvas. One method involves using the Lessons tool, another involves creating a zip file from your Resources folder.
>> If you are ONLY concerned with exporting files like pdfs, use the zip file method explained below.
To export Sakai courses, your course materials must be in Lessons, OR you may only need to enable the Lessons tool (see directions in the first step of Transferring Quizzes from Sakai to Canvas box below). Several of these resources will tell you how to make sure you course material is contained in the Lessons tool, which you can add to your course at any time.
NOTE: only content from the following categories can be exported using Lessons: Assignments, Forums, Test & Quizzes, and Resources.
Other types of content can be exported by creating a zip archive file.
Once you have your course content saved as a Common Cartidge or zip archive file you can upload it to Canvas.
It's important to note that this process is not always clean, and you will need to check your files once they have been imported into Canvas. If you renamed files in Sakai for student view, you will need to rename them again in Canvas.
NOTE: Because these are from other institutions, they discuss options that may not be available to you (such as migrated archives).
One method of transferring quizzes and pools from Sakai to Canvas involves exporting using the Lessons tool. You do not need to have material in your Lessons, but you do need to enable Lessons in order to use this method. The LMS support team has found that this method works for some courses, but not for others. We recommend trying it out, and creating a WITS ticket if you run into problems.
To begin, navigate to a course in WISE, click the "Site Info" tab in the left side menu, then select the "Manage Tools" tab along the top of the Site Info page.
This brings up a list of Project Site Tools (the top of which is shown below).
Scroll until you see the "Lessons" tool and check the check box next to it to begin activating this tool.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "Continue" button.
Click the "Continue" button on the next page that appears, which gives you the option to make adjustments to the tool.
Click the "Finish" button that appears on the page that shows the tool or tools you have just enabled.
Now you are ready to export using the Lessons tool.
Now that you have Lessons enabled, you can export a common cartridge (a way of copying materials from a course). Open the Lessons tool by clicking on it in the course side bar. Click on the "More Tools" drop down menu at the top of the page.
Select "Export CC" from the drop down menu.
Click the check box for "Use newest version of file (version 1.3), recommended for Canvas, then click the "Download" button.
Your exported file should download and be named something like "sakai-export.imscc." You can check the name by clicking on the download button to look at the list (the image below shows what this looks like in Chrome).
If you are downloading quizzes from multiple courses, you may want to rename your downloaded files. You are now ready to upload your common cartridge file to Canvas.
To upload the common cartridge, navigate to your home page. Click on the "Import Existing Content" button at the right of the screen.
On the Import Content page, look for the "Content Type" drop down menu at the top of the page.
Select "Common Cartridge 1.x Package" from the drop down menu.
Import your common cartridge file by clicking the "Choose File" button next to the "Source" label and select the file you downloaded from WISE. You have several options on this page: to select or create a questions bank, to import all or specific content, to transform quizzes to the New Quiz format, overwrite assessment content that is already in Canvas, and to adjust events and due dates. Select the options that work for you, then click the "Import" button at the bottom of the page.
Depending on the optinos you select, any course materials that were in the Lessons tool should be uploaded along with the quizzes you are transferring. You can check this by navigating to your course Files and Quizzes tab.
If you have trouble with this process, please begin a ticket with WITS.
NOTE: When attempting to migrate quizzes from WISE, try the method described earlier in the documentation on this page BEFORE you try the method presented in this video!
Tech support: For technical assistance, start a ticket with WITS
Brainstorming: For ideas on how to use tools in your course, contact the DLS