Integrating Automatically Imported Blackboard Content in Canvas

All Summer Mini, Summer and fall courses will be hosted on Canvas, and can be requested as  Canvas developmental (DEV) shells now or later this spring (during the normal fall request cycle) using the Course Request System (CRS).

Blackboard end of semester archives from 2013-2023 are available for import into Canvas. Other Blackboard course content will be automatically archived until you are ready to use it. Note that older course archives (5+years) may not reliably import into Canvas.

1. Inventory assessment tools you will need to replace in Canvas: Look throughout your course for any blogs, glossaries, journals, or wikis along with any point values. These assessment tools do not exist in Canvas and will need to be replaced.

2. Take note of any groups or group sets in your Blackboard shell: Although the import process creates a page for some of them, they are generally blank (or display little information) and have no enrollments or tools connected to them. You will need to recreate your groups and reapply them to assignments in Canvas. 

3. Take note of any Learning Modules in your Blackboard shell:  If you used Content Areas or Modules to organize your course materials in Blackboard, you will need to recreate these in Modules within Canvas. 

4. Review Tests and Question Pools: 

   • • Check each exam and delete all unwanted/duplicated exams.

     • Check the naming convention per exam. Clearly label quizzes, homework, practice test and exams to make them easy to identify. Here are some examples CH1HW, CH1Quiz, CH1Exam/ Unit1HW Unit1Quiz, etc.

     • Repeat the process for the question pools by going to Course tools –> Tests, Surveys, & Pools –> Pools.

5. Back up any Word or PDF rubrics: Save copies of any rubrics used in the course as Word documents or PDF files, and note which assignments use them. Rubrics will generally transfer, but rubric criteria can only include a point range or an individual point value, so it will require some editing before they can be usable.

6. Delete unused Categories or extra Columns in Full Grade Center: In the Full Grade Center, use Manage —> Categories to delete any unused categories.

7. Move video and audio files hosted in Blackboard to SharePoint:

   • • Look in the Content Collection (Content Collection –> expand, and click on the course ID number at the top).

     • Check for any video or audio files hosted directly within your Blakcboard course space and note where they are used in your course.

     • Save the files and upload them to the MS SharePoint cloud.

     • Delete those audio and video files from the Content Collection before exporting your course.

After importing content into Canvas, you will be able to add weblinks to your audio and video files from the MS SharePoint cloud into your course materials.

6. Clean up content: Remove any unneeded or duplication materials from Content Collection, and all content areas and content folders. How to Delete (Unneeded) Files in Blackboard Content Collection

7. Remove nested folder structure:
   NOTE: Sub-folders do not migrate to Canvas.

If your course contains nested levels of content areas or folders, you should consolidate materials where possible to omit nested levels before exporting your content. This will reduce the chance that those materials are not copied and the time you would spend reorganizing content in Canvas.

If you wish to begin working with your automatically imported content, use the following step-by-step instructions.

1. Check your course content 

• Log into Canvas to check that your Blackboard content has been added. Select “Courses” from the left-side navigation, then select “All Courses”. The Canvas navigation menu is slightly different from Blackboard. Think of the Canvas Course menu items as tools or sections.

• Content areas and folders will become modules in Canvas, and you can reorder them (Refer to step 2c below).

• Ensure that your links and embedded videos are accurate. Use the Course link validator to verify links within a course.

• Canva courses are published by default. It is recommended that instructors unpublish the course, clean up the content, and then publish.

• Wikis, blogs, and journals do not exist in Canvas, so they will not transfer. It is possible to recreate most of the functionality of those tools with Canvas pages. Learn more about the Content that does not import into Canvas and will need to be recreated.

2. Clean up your course content in Canvas

a. Course settings and navigation links

Check the Course Details tab

1. Add a course card image (if desired).

2. Scroll to the bottom of the “Course Details” tab.

3. Open “more options”.

4. Here you can set the number of announcements shown on the home page and change settings if you use discussions in your course.

Check the Navigation tab

1. In the “Navigation” tab, you can show, hide, and reorder the left-side navigation links that appear in your course.

2.  We recommend removing unused navigation links to reduce unnecessary confusion for students. It is suggested to start with Syllabus, Announcements, Modules, Grades, and Discussions (if applicable).

Set or change your course home page

1. To set up a custom home page, you must first create and publish a new page.

2. Then, you can set it as the home page of your course.

b. Move or copy your syllabus content

You have three options to post your syllabus:

1. (Recommended) Use the Canvas Syllabus tool

2. Create a module titled “Syllabus”

3. Upload your syllabus as a file

REMINDER: Check the text in your syllabus and other pages to replace any text references to “Blackboard”.

c. Reorder or remove unnecessary modules 

• Content areas and folders will become modules in Canvas, and you can reorder them by manually dragging and dropping the module or using the Move To option, which is also accessible for keyboard users. You can also move or reorder module items.

• Since Canvas does not nest items, the "nested" approach to course design that you may have used in Blackboard won't translate well to Canvas' linear format, and you will need to reorganize your materials after importing them. 
  For example, a Blackboard folder with nested folders imported to Canvas becomes a Canvas module by using the parent name as a module name, the name of the nested folders in Blackboard becomes a text header, and its contents are displayed indented underneath the text header.

d. Recreate groups or group sets

Review your groups and any connected assignments or discussions. You may need to recreate any missing groups and/or group sets in your course.

e. Check your assignments

1. Visit the Assignments area to check due dates and point totals for all assignments.

2. You can update due dates and availability dates for multiple assignments at one time.

3. Recreate Turnitin assignments. They do not transfer and will need to be recreated in Canvas.

Consider grouping assignments by category or type. This can help greatly improve your grading options and overall course maintenance experience.

f. Organize, review, and set up discussion forum settings

NOTE: During the automatic content import, group discussion assignments may have created duplicate forums you will need to remove.

Consider pinning some discussions to standardize the order on the Discussion Index page.

g. Review your quizzes and surveys

NOTE: Quizzes from the automatic content import are created as Classic Quizzes. Please take this opportunity to carefully review all of your quiz content, including point values, question groups/pools, and quiz settings.

• Recreate quiz instructions, display dates, feedback, and test results/feedback. They do not transfer well.

• “Calculated Formula Questions” are imported as “Formula questions” in Canvas. Learn more by visiting  Fixing issues with formula questions in Canvas.

• The following question types are unsupported in Classic Quizzes: Hotspot, Quiz Bowl, and File Response. They need to be replaced.

  • You can use the File Upload question type in Canvas to recreate File Response questions.

• Please check any quizzes that use images or equations.

• Canvas does not allow automatic lettering or numbering of answer options.

  • If you plan to format answers in this manner, you will need to manually add the letter or number to the option (e.g., instead of “apple”, you will need to type “C. apple”).

• You cannot randomize answer options for individual questions in Classic Quizzes.

• Imported quizzes are unpublished by default. Switch them to published once you have finished reviewing.

h. Review your rubrics and confirm all point values and descriptions have correctly transferred

NOTE: Descriptions in the rubric will be copied, but point values or percentages are not carried over.

• We recommend creating rubrics on the Rubrics Index page rather than from within the assignment itself. Doing so will prevent accidental data loss if the rubric is later deleted from the assignment.

• Visit the following Canvas guides for instructions on how to add rubrics to assignments, graded discussions, and quizzes.

• If rubrics are used for more than one assignment, you will not be able to edit the rubric until you remove it from other associated assessments.

i. Lock down files that should only be visible to instructors and teaching assistants

By default, course files are visible and accessible to ALL users. Any content you do not want students to access should be moved into a locked folder.

• Consider adding folders for improved organization.

• Remove duplicate files and older files that are no longer used.

j. Review any date restrictions

• Review date restrictions on modules if this is important for your course. In Canvas, modules can be locked until a certain date and time.

• Individual Pages cannot be date restricted unless you move the page into a locked module.
  
  

3. Use Student View to ensure that students have access to only that portion of content that should be available to them.

4. (If needed) Copy from a Development to Registrar-Affiliated Space

If you built a Canvas course in a development space and have decided to use it for an upcoming semester, you will need to request a copy of your DEV course using the Course Request System and selecting the DEV course you want to copy from the drop-down list.  For more information, review the steps outlined in the following tutorial: How to Request a Canvas/Teams Course.

• • For information on how to organize your Canvas course effectively, visit our Organizing Your Canvas Course and Canvas Transition FAQ's pages.

  • Visit the Canvas Instructor Guide for guides and answers to specific tools and features in Canvas.

• • View more Canvas tutorials at the Instruction@UH Knowledgebase. 

• • Visit the NSM-IT Canvas Site for tips and guides.