Tutorial Best Practices

This content is meant as a supplement to the following resources:

• Canvas 101 - a UNL self-paced Canvas module designed to introduce you to basic tools and features of Canvas
• Canvas PressBook - a UNL PressBook that covers Canvas best practices and policies
• Canvas Instructor Guide - from the Instructure (Canvas vendor) Website

Use the tabs at the left to explore:

• Getting a Sandbox
  • How can you get access to development space in Canvas?
• Sharing Content
  • What are the best ways to share content from Canvas? What are the best practices for adding materials to the Canvas Commons?

For questions about the information provided in this guide or for help getting started, contact Melissa Gomis (melissa.gomis@unl.edu).

When you're ready to start creating content in Canvas, you will want to use a Sandbox Course. This is a course that only you have access to and you can use this space to create modules quizzes, and test out Canvas functionality. It is possible to add others as instructors in your Sandbox Course if you are collaborating or working with a team. 

If you don't have a Sandbox Course, request one from UNL ITS. In the short problem description field select "I need a sandbox course created". 

For questions about the information here, or to talk through questions or ideas about creating content in Canvas, contact Melissa Gomis (melissa.gomis@unl.edu).

Once you’ve created content (i.e. modules, quizzes, etc) that is ready to be used, you will need to publish the content and decide where the content should permanently live.

Each piece of content (pages, assignments, quizzes, etc.) will need to be set to published individually before students will be able to interact with it. In your Modules section of your course site you can see which content is published. Anything with a green checkmark next to it is published. 

Options include:

• Keep the modules inside your Sandbox. If you are a Librarian inside an instructor’s course, you can import your modules from your Sandbox into their course. 
• Share the content with the UNL community and/or the Canvas user community through the Canvas Commons

Sharing Library Content to the Canvas Commons

You can share an individual page, quiz, assignment, or module to the Canvas Commons. This is best for materials with a fairly broad audience e.g. students in a particular department across several classes, new graduate students, first-year/second-year students, digital humanities courses etc.

1. Select the three dots to the right of the module title, then select "Share to Commons"

2. You will now have the opportunity to edit the associated metadata before uploading it to Canvas Commons. Metadata includes, title, description, creative commons license, and more. It is required that you select who can use this resource - this controls the visibility of the item. It is recommended that items shared to the Canvas Commons should be shared at minimum to the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and/or under Select Consortium the University of Nebraska System. 

Licensing: I recommend that you license your materials as either CC-Attribution or CC-Sharealike whenever possible. The Canvas Knowledge-base provides more information on licensing options. 

Tags: Using tags is strongly recommended to increase findability. All library content shared in the Commons should have the tags "UNL Libraries" and "Library". CDRH content should also have the tags "unl cdrh", "unl dh", and "digital humanities". Additionally you may add tags related to your module content.

3. Once you have finished entering all of your metadata, select the blue Share button at the bottom of the page. 

For Instructors Page

It is a good idea to add an unpublished page to your module titled "For Instructors: Name of Module". Use this page to provide basic instructions, some context about the module, information on quizzing or assignment information (if included) and contact information for additional help or questions about the module. Contact Melissa Gomis (melissa.gomis@unl.edu) for a template.