Canvas Start-of-Semester Checklist

Use the following helpful checklist to make sure your course is ready for students in Canvas!

1. Log in to Canvas [https://framingham.instructure.com] with your FSU credentials (email address and password). Email eto@framingham.edu if you experience an issue.   
2. Update your Notification Settings (Click Account > Notifications) to personalize how you are copied on Announcements or track activity in your course.   
3. Edit the Welcome page. Students first see your welcome when they log into a course. The page is great for grabbing students’ attention, providing timely information, or posting your syllabus.    
4. Add your content to Course Modules to organize or chunk your materials and provide students with a clear pathway through your course. Use a method that works best for you. Examples may include organizing content by Weeks, Units, or course Topics. If you need help getting started, review module design in the Growing with Canvas course or email eto@framingham.edu for assistance. Templates are available for different types of modules. Click on Commons in the Global Menu to find template modules (and more!) to copy to your course.
   • Course Copy [Optional]: if you are teaching a course that you have previously taught, you may want to copy previous course material to your new Canvas shell. See Course copy a Canvas course for more information​ 
5. Validate your course links to ensure you have no broken links. Check your course links using the Canvas Course Link Validator, which searches through course content and returns invalid or unresponsive links in both published and unpublished content.   
6. Set up Zoom in your course. The Zoom-Panopto integration built into Canvas allows for a longer retention of your recordings lectures and class materials. Review this guide to learn how to set up Zoom meetings for your course.  
7. Publish your course to provide access to your course materials. Items that are not published exist in a draft or unpublished state. These items are invisible to students.   
8. Use the Student View to experience your course as a student and confirm students can access your course material. Students will not be able to see your course’s content until you publish your course 
9. Clean up your Dashboard to remove course shells you are not using this semester, including last semester's courses.
10. Attend a workshop. Register for upcoming offerings or find our recordings of previous sessions.   

Not sure where to start? Email eto@framingham.edu to request a consultation.