nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Best practices for using common files across multiple courses

donnchadha

I am responsible for several sections of a course that all need to be consistent with each other. As such, I'd like to have a common repository of files that all sections can link to easily, and if those files need updating I only have to update them once in the common repository rather than having to update each course individually to point at a new file. I've come up with a few options, but none seem to work and am wondering what the best way to achieve this is.

Option 1 was to have all files in an external drive, like google drive. However, I can't replace a file in google drive, so the updated file would have a different file name/location and would need to update all of the link locations.

Option 2 was to use the "Replace" feature in canvas when uploading a file with a new version of the file. However, this only occasionally works. It should work, but it's inconsistent at best. This also involves replacing the file in each course section, thus still needing to do this multiple times.

Option 3 was having the courses link to My Files, so I would only have to do this once, but if I had a "parent" course with links to My Files that was then copied to the other sections, any files would be transferred to the course/UploadedFiles section and no longer centrally linked. This also suffers from the issue in 2 where the Replace links would also only sporadically work.

What is Option 4 that I am not thinking of?

Find more posts tagged with

Instructional Designer

Instructor

Canvas LMS

Accepted answers

All comments

Chris_Hofer

Hello @donnchadha …

Option #4 would be to use Canvas Commons. Within each section of this course, is the "Files" screen going to be visible to the students enrolled in the course so that they can download files from there? Or, will the files loaded in the "Files" screen be linked to from other content pages in the course? You could give this a try:

Create a separate course (like a sandbox course) where you are going to store all of your files for the sections of this course.
Share each file to Canvas Commons (of the three options to share, you'd probably want to select the option for just inside your institution, as the other options might not be as valid).
Once the file has been successfully shared to Canvas Commons, you can then use Canvas Commons to import that file into one or more course sections all at one time. This saves you time in that you do not have to log into each course and upload the file individually.
If and when you need to update a file, you would update the file in the sandbox course that you created in Step #1 above. Then, while remaining in the sandbox course, you re-share that file back to Canvas Commons. You'll be able to add details to the re-share such as something like "revision notes" so that you can indicate what has been updated in the file.
Canvas Commons will detect that there have been updates to the shared file, and there's a screen that prompt you if you'd like to update the resource in all the courses you imported the file into from Step #3.

Essentially what you are doing is updating once and distributing to many. So, in those individual course sections, you'd not linking back to your sandbox course. Rather, you are sharing a resource (in this case, a file) to Canvas Commons. Then each course section is importing the shared resource from Commons. And, if anything changes, you update it in the sandbox course, re-share, and then ask Commons to update all sections that use that resource.

Here are some Guides that might be helpful to you:

I hope these resources will be helpful to you. Sing out if you have any questions. Good luck!

donnchadha

I've now tried uploading something to commons, and it seems to work, however I'm a little paranoid that the "replace" feature will break at some point as it did for just a single course. It seems to work for the moment, as it did before as well. I guess it will work until it doesn't.

Would those links remain to the commons if I export a course container and then import it into a new shell? Previously, this grabbed anything I had linked as "My Files" and then reuploaded them as "Uploaded Media" within the new course. I assume I'm also doing it right by making the commons items linked via an "external link" rather than a "course link" because there doesn't seem to be an option to do it via a course link, and I hope that would be the difference here. Of course, I should just try it and see what happens.

When uploading files to the commons, is anything I allow to just inside my university searchable by others? Meaning, is there a chance that others could find/link to those files? However, if I select "Only Me" would that cause issues with other people accessing the files from the courses? I'm the only person that would be creating the courses that use the files, but I don't want to accidentally prevent students or co-teachers from seeing the files. I can't exactly test this, because of course I can access all the files that are "Only Me" because I'm "Me" and I would need a second account to be Not Me.

JeffCampbell

You can absolutely replace a file in Google Drive and maintain the link. Right click on a file, find "File Information" and select "Manage Versions." This will open up a menu where you can upload a new copy of a file. It will maintain the original share link, but show the new file. Quite honestly, based on your intended use, this might be the easiest one to help ensure all courses with that link see the updated file.

Be aware of the message about temporary files and the ability to keep the old files through the context menu, as seen in the accompanying image.

We have a single sandbox course. All edits occur in that sandbox, including any updates to files. I've never had an issue with the Replace feature, not to say errors cannot occur. We just copy the entire course over each time we start a new semester.

Jeff_F

We have history using SharePoint as a content system for files. Using this was fine until Microsoft needed to update the technology behind the generated links and then poof … all links site wide were broken overnight. The third time this happened we stopped using files shared via SharePoint links. (I was outvoted the first two times it happened). I am sharing my experience as it might be something to consider when contemplating use of such a system on a more global scale.

For the courses I teach, I make use of the Canvas Files feature. This works like a champ - I can post announcements, supplemental materials, etc. wherever and update one time. I just replace the file.

Oh - and of course all my media is within Studio - that helps ensure I am not going to run out of drive space.

JACOBSEN_C

Consider cross-listing the courses. Another option could be to create a new course, change it's visibility to Institution, publish it, have the other courses link to its files. Keep an eye on FERPA for the cross-listed courses (e.g. hide People from the course navigation column, and disable students ability to create their own groups and discussions).

Chris_Hofer

Hi @donnchadha …

For clarification purposes, you're not really linking to anything in Commons. Rather, Commons is more of a repository for you and others to share resources to everyone who uses Canvas, to only other instructors at your institution, or just share privately with yourself. When someone imports content from Commons into their own course(s), it's not creating a URL link, but rather it is just importing the shared resource into the course(s).

Would those links remain to the commons if I export a course container and then import it into a new shell? Previously, this grabbed anything I had linked as "My Files" and then reuploaded them as "Uploaded Media" within the new course. I assume I'm also doing it right by making the commons items linked via an "external link" rather than a "course link" because there doesn't seem to be an option to do it via a course link, and I hope that would be the difference here. Of course, I should just try it and see what happens.

I'm not sure on this. As I mentioned in my first paragraph, you're not really linking to things that exist in Commons. You are importing content that has been shared to Commons by others into your own course(s). In fact, I don't think it's possible to share a link from Commons in a course because students do not have access to the Commons interface. Only instructors and Canvas admins generally have access to Canvas Commons.

When uploading files to the commons, is anything I allow to just inside my university searchable by others? Meaning, is there a chance that others could find/link to those files? However, if I select "Only Me" would that cause issues with other people accessing the files from the courses? I'm the only person that would be creating the courses that use the files, but I don't want to accidentally prevent students or co-teachers from seeing the files. I can't exactly test this, because of course I can access all the files that are "Only Me" because I'm "Me" and I would need a second account to be Not Me.

Yes, if you choose to share it just to your university, then any other instructor who uses Canvas would be able to search Commons for your resource and import it into his/her other course(s). Again, students do not have access to Commons, so they would not be able to see this interface within their Canvas environment.

If you select "Only Me", you are the only one that sees the shared resource in Canvas Commons. For example, if you were teaching three sections of "Tent Camping 101", and you had the same content page or document in all three sections, but you didn't want to update the same thing three separate times, then you could share that resource to Commons (say, from a sandbox course), import it from Commons to all three sections, and if the resource ever needs updating, you could update it in your sandbox course, re-share it to Commons, and then use the Guide I linked to earlier to update all three sections all at once. So, for your example, once you import the file(s) from Commons to those individual sections, the file(s) exist in the course, not in Commons. You're not setting permissions in Commons for students to access the file(s) in Commons since they have been imported directly into the course(s).

I see that others have suggested other options such as using Google Drive or SharePoint. Those are good options, too. For example, I work for a college that uses Google, so that would be a good alternative for us. But, I also have worked for a College that had a partnership with Microsoft, so something like SharePoint would be good for instructors at that school.

I hope I've helped to clarify things a bit for you. Happy to help clarify where needed.

donnchadha

I'm not sure on this. As I mentioned in my first paragraph, you're not really linking to things that exist in Commons. You are importing content that has been shared to Commons by others into your own course(s). In fact, I don't think it's possible to share a link from Commons in a course because students do not have access to the Commons interface. Only instructors and Canvas admins generally have access to Canvas Commons.

So then I'm confused what you are suggesting, because that seems like a lot more work that I'm trying to avoid.

I have several class shells that all use a few common documents. I would like those documents to exist in one place and then just link to the common documents. If I have import them from Commons into each shell, and I can't just link to them, that defeats the "One copy with many links" approach I'm trying to take.

From what I can tell, this is the workflow I would have to do:

Upload document into a sandbox course.
Share document into commons
Import/Download document into each course shell
Go into each course and put that document in the correct module/link/etc., since each course now has their own copy of the document
If I need to update the document, do Steps 1 and 2 again, then in Commons I have to manually hit "update course" for each course that imported the document originally, as it does not seem to happen automatically.

That is a lot of work that I'm looking to avoid by having a permanent link to each file the course shells, especially steps 4/5. I want to upload a workable course to each section and not have to go in afterward and fix all the broken links.

donnchadha

Crosslisting is a non-starter for a couple reasons.

First, several documents are global policy issues (like lab safety policies and agreements) that cover multiple courses. I can't cross list them all.

Second, and more importantly, I'm doing this for lab courses with 25+ sections and just as many instructors. Assignments become unwieldy when one instructor is responsible for grading a small subset of assignments. For instance, you cannot download the assignments for one section without either a) downloading the assignments for all students regardless of section or b) downloading them one-by-one. There are other issues like releasing grades and how speedgrader is just horrible, but that's neither here nor there at the moment.

donnchadha

Thanks, yes this just might be the best option here. I've barely used google drive, but know that it is possible to have two files with the same name and didn't know that was a feature. I figured it would generate a new weird link name for every file.

Chris_Hofer

@donnchadha …

So, it sounds like other suggestions (such as Google Drive or MS SharePoint) might be your better bet instead of what I suggested with Commons. This way, you can just use Google Drive links to your documents, and you can make any edits to those documents directly in Google.

If you wanted to have a common course (separate from your individual course sections) where you wanted your students to be able to download those files at any time, you would need to ensure that all students from all sections of your course also had access to the common course. Then, you could link to files in that course from individual sections. If students are not enrolled in that course, then your students will not be able to access the common course.

I reviewed your five steps that you summarized, and I agree with most of it.

For Step #3, you're selecting all your course sections in one step, and then Commons takes care of adding that resource to all courses that you selected.
For Step #5, after you upload a new version of the file and send it to Commons to be updated, Commons already knows which course(s) you had originally shared the file to, so you just tell it to update all courses, and you're done.

I think going the Google or SharePoint direction is a better option for you, though…if you are ok with storing your files outside of the Canvas environment. The benefit of what I was suggesting is that things remain all within Canvas.

Apologies if I added to the confusion, but hopefully this has been some food for thought.

Chris_Hofer

Hi again, @donnchadha …

Just for fun, I tried the following, and it worked like I had hoped:

Created a MS Word document on my laptop with one line of text.
In my sandbox course, I created a brand new content page, and created a link to the MS Word document that was uploaded to the course "Files". Saved the new content page. (You could have several different links to documents on this page, links to other websites, images, etc.)
Shared the content page to Canvas Commons privately (only shared with myself)
Used Commons to import that page to a second sandbox course. Verified that the content page and the MS Word file were in the second sandbox course exactly the same way I had designed it in my first sandbox course.
Re-opened the MS Word file on my laptop, and added a new line of text to the document. Saved the file.
In my first sandbox course, went to "Files" and uploaded the MS Word file to the same folder location, selecting the option to replace the existing file.
Re-shared the content page I created in Step #2 to Canvas Commons, where there was a toggle asking me if it was an update to an previously shared resource.
In Commons, navigated to my "Shared" tab, and opened up the shared resource page, and clicked on the prompt to update the resource in my second sandbox course. (Here is where you would be able to select any or all of the sections you wanted to update all at once.)
Logged back in to my second sandbox course, and verified that the content page was still there, and the link to the MS Word document also updated with the new line of text I had added to it.

I hope this helps in some way.

JeffCampbell

You are welcome. I have a set of Canvas exports I have shared within our private content network. To help make things easier, I used this method to ensure that the share link stays the same. This way, I can push out an update and everyone can just use the link I have previously shared with them.

I saw another comment about the number of sections and instructors who may be using the content (25+). Make sure that when shared, you maintain control of the file. If you give others editing ability, it can generate some issues down the road if someone makes an edit or accidently moves/deletes the file. Been down that road before….

JACOBSEN_C

ok, dont do that then

Hildi_Pardo

Hi @donnchadha - Would a Blueprint course help with this? Then you can make updates in the Blueprint and push any updates to your "child" courses. Some parts of the course could be "locked" to not be changed by the individual instructors, but if they wanted to add additional content, they still could.

donnchadha

No, for two reasons.

The most important is that my local IT has said that blueprint courses aren't active/available for us. They haven't enabled that feature, for whatever reason.

However, each section needs to be slightly customized with due dates (Monday sections have due dates on Mondays, Tuesday on Tuesday, etc.). If I started with a blueprint course, I'd have to then manually modify each section after the first update. My current plan is to create bespoke course containers to import, which can be automated/scripted on my end to make all the variations (i.e., using something like Canvas API, but locally, because of course local IT isn't giving us real API access either).

JeffCampbell

If blueprints are not turned on, then the option is clearly not available.

Just a note that Blueprints can be set up with no due dates, allowing the teachers themselves to manage that on there end. Bigger chance for teachers to mess it up, but less work modifying each section.

Unanswered Questions

Solicitud de apoyo – Error al modificar opciones de respuesta en New Quizzes
Cordial saludo Actualmente estamos presentando una inconsistencia en New Quizzes al momento de realizar la migración y posterior edición de las evaluaciones. Específicamente, al intentar modificar una pregunta y eliminar una de sus opciones de respuesta, el sistema no permite ejecutar dicha acción. Con el fin de descartar…
Rubric with letter grade while Gradebook shows points
Is there a way for me to create a rubric that shows BOTH points and a letter grade, while the Gradebook in both my view and student view shows JUST points? I tried setting up the rubric showing a letter grade in the grading scheme, and a letter shows in the Assessment box…but then my gradebook also shows the letter grade,…
Canvas Outcomes – Best Way to Structure Multiple Skill Sets for Reporting?
Our institution is setting up 9 institutional outcomes in Canvas. Several of our outcomes have multiple skill sets within the rubric. For example: Critical Reading – Skill Set A Critical Reading – Skill Set B Critical Reading – Skill Set C Our understanding is that Canvas Outcomes data reports can provide the overall/total…
Outcome rating descriptions
I am just curiousas to why there is not a field to enter a description for an outcome at the account level? Or at least edit the rating when you attach/link an account level outcome to a rubric. When you create a new criterion for a rubric, you enter a decription for a rating, but for an account level outcome.
Guaranteed Order of Analysis CSV Export File in New Quizzes
We use a pre- post- model to measure learning which requires student-question matching from two time periods. This requires exporting quiz data to CSV to do the analysis properly. (I can get into more detail if needed.) The New Quizzes Student Analysis CSV export has repeated blocks of ItemID then columns related to that…