The Pages area of Canvas gives you a versatile tool in which you can bring together different types of materials (including from external sources), arranged in any order you wish and overlaid with your own narrative, to enable you to direct and focus the learner’s attention. Multiple pages can be created for different topics or applications, and you can provide links to other areas of the course. They are great for creating an eyecatching course home page or providing tutor narrative to aid navigation and student progress within the course.

When a page is created, it is automatically added to the Pages area which serves as a repository. However this repository can appear unstructured to students.

We therefore recommend turning off student access to the Pages area, but using individual pages embedded elsewhere, for example the Modules area.

To do this: go to the Settings area of the course, then the Navigation tab to configure the course menu (remembering to click Save).

In this task we will create a new page and create a link to a document

Inside your personal test course, click on Pages from the course menu
Click on the + Page button in the top right corner
On the next screen, provide a title for the page in the text field at the top of screen, e.g. ‘Lecture Materials’
Add some text in the text box (also known as the Rich Content Editor (RCE))
Click where you would like to create a link to a file
Locate the Paper symbol in the toolbar (if you can't see it, click on the 3 dots and the button should reveal)
Choose Upload Document
Select a document from your computer
The link will automatically upload into the Page
Click Save or Save & publish to see the final result

task3 pages.png

This way of creating content is similar to creating Items in VITAL and a nice way of being able to collate multiple files and add more context to the content. Feel free to add additional formatting using the Canvas text editor’s formatting buttons. If you would like to get hand-on with the underlying html code click on the HTML Editor button in the bottom right of the RCE.

Using the Modules Area to Structure Content

Building upon the Files repository, a further way of presenting content to students within an overall structure is through the Modules area of a Canvas course. Think of these as folders to organise your course materials for students to navigate. You can populate these with files previously uploaded (Task 1) or upload or create materials directly within the Modules area. They are great for quickly establishing a structure, and then adding individual materials as the course progresses.

Inside your Canvas Personal Test Course, click on the Modules button on the course menu
On the Modules page, click on the + Module button
In the Add module dialogue box provide a module name, for example ‘Topic’ or ‘Week 1’, then press Add module
Next to your new module click on the + button to start to add content to this module

modules1.2.png

To share a previously uploaded file select File from the Add menu, then select a file from the list of files (or for multiple files use the Control keyboard key), and then click Add item. Or if you’d like to share a new file from your computer select [New file] and click the Choose file

modules1.3.png

Items within modules can be rearranged into different orders or indented to suggest a pathway or hierarchy of items (students will see them in exactly the same way)

To re-order click and drag the item’s handle () to move the item upwards or downwards, or in-between modules
Click on the items contextual menu button () to increase or decrease indent
From the + button you can also create Text Headers to divide content

IMPORTANT – After finishing work on a module you need to publish it. By default it is unpublished which means that once the overall course is made available to students (from the Home area) it will still be hidden. To publish the module click on its Publish/Unpublish button ( ). Also check that every individual item in that module is also set to published.

There are other options for controlling and automating access to modules and items. These are useful for hiding certain content whilst the course progresses:

When creating a new module or editing an existing one via the modules contextual menu () it’s possible to use the Lock until option to prevent student access until a given date
For individual items, clicking on its Publish/Unpublish ( or ) button brings up different options to control availability

Make it your practice to check your work as a student will see it through the Student View button in the Home area. Remember there must be some published content within modules for the Modules area to become visible to students on the course menu.

If you are happy with the course and wish it to go live to students go to the Home area and click the Publish course status button.