One way that Canvas helps instructors get prepared for new courses is that it makes it so that instructors can copy previously created content into new courses. This content typically comes from previously taught courses already within Canvas or development courses.
Development courses are pretty simple. They are "sandbox" courses that instructors can use to create content outside of any ties to the term or to students. They are extremely helpful because they allow the instructors a place to keep a running tally of what is working and what is not working in their course and can serve as a template for all future versions of that course. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of development courses or in having a development course created for your teaching assignment, please contact Blake Ide.
Previously-taught courses are usually courses taught by the same instructor either in previous terms (or can be from the same term if the instructor teaches multiple versions of that course (NOTE: There is also another workaround that can help with this, for more information on that, see this article on cross-listing (coming soon)). An example of a previously-taught course might be: ENG-101 was taught in the Fall of 2022 by Mary Westmacott and, after an unexplained absence in the Spring of that year, she wants to copy that content into her ENG-101 course in Fall 2023.
The process for both of these situations is the same.
🎬Please view this video here to go through those steps.🎬
The other option for copying a Canvas course might be if you want to copy a course between two instructors. For example, maybe our English instructor Mary wants to help out a new hire to the department, Robert Galbraith, by allowing Robert to access Mary's version of the content. This can be done as well, but the two instructors should reach out to Blake Ide to help facilitate the transfer.