Types of Canvas Course Shells

There are several types of Canvas course shells available in Canvas:

Academic Course Shells

Academic Course Shells should be used to teach your course. This shell will receive student enrollments from Colleague. You will need to publish your Academic Course Shell for students to view and participate in the course. Please note that students do not have access to the course until the first day of the term.

Assessment Course Shells

Assessment Course(s) are used by Academic Units to save student artifacts and assessments. Students are manually added to the Assessment Course(s). Examples of Assessment Courses include Exit Surveys and Academic Unit Comprehensive exams.

Collaborative Spaces

A Collaborative Space is designed to mimic a web-based platform that collects information from different sources into a single user interface and presents students with the most relevant information for their academic program. A Collaborative Space can be developed in Canvas, Google Site or Google Classroom.

Development Course Shells (Sandbox)

A Development Course Shell (Sandbox) are created by request for Instructors of Record. Sandboxes can be used to develop course content and copy or store content from a previous semester. Sandboxes do not have any associated student enrollments and cannot be used to deliver course content.

Blueprint Course Shells

Blueprint Course Shells allows instructors to create course materials and push it out to a number of associated courses through course syncing. This is most useful in courses with shared content across many different sections taught by multiple instructors.

Orientation Course Shells

Orientation Course Shells in Canvas are for Student Life to provide information for incoming students to ease the transition into college. Freshman and transfer orientations are a way for students to meet other students, become familiar with campus services, and register for courses.

Cross-List Request by Course Managers

University Scheduling and Canvas Administration defines a course manager as an individual that has permission to cross-list courses and course sections they are not assigned as the instructor of record (IOR). The procedure for Canvas Administrators is to open the Course Manager SQL Report and if the instructor requesting the cross-list is included in the Course Manager SQL Report for the course(s) and course section(s) they request to be cross-listed, we complete the request.

There are times that the Canvas Administrator receives a ticket to cross-list courses from a course manager that is not listed in the SQL Report for the course(s) and course section(s) they are requesting to cross-list. The Canvas Administrator assigns the ticket status to Complete and asks the Course Manager to work with University Scheduling to update the Course Manager SQL Report. Once that step is done the course manager can resubmit a new ticket or respond to the completed ticket to request the cross-listing.

Student Interaction in an Academic Course

When a course is published, the published content is visible to students who are enrolled in the course. However, the course restricts students from viewing the course before term start date, at which time students are able to interact with the course content, including posting on Discussions, submitting Assignments, and taking a Quiz. Please note that courses are NOT automatically Published. This needs to be completed by the course instructor.

How to Manage the Course Dashboard

If your Courses list does not display any courses, you may not be enrolled in a course, course participation may be restricted, or TWU may not have updated the course enrollments in Canvas. Once registered, courses may take up to 24 hours to show in Canvas. You may need to reach out to the Registrar or submit a Service Desk Ticket for assistance.

Resources:

How do I view my favorite courses in the Card View Dashboard as a student?

Resolving Incompletes in Canvas

If the Instructor decides to resolve the incomplete in Canvas, the instructor of record (IOR) for a course has the ability to request an Incomplete section in Canvas. The student can complete the course work in the course that was not completed or in the current semester course. Submit a Service Desk Ticket with the name of the student with the incomplete, the Course ID the student will complete the coursework, and the dates the student will need access to the Canvas course.

*After the Course Available Until date has passed, courses will be removed from the Canvas dashboard for Students. Course will be removed from the Canvas dashboard for Teachers and TAs one-year after the Course Available Until date. Courses will then move to the Past Enrollments section under All Courses.

There are several reasons to limit the time courses will be available:

Resource Management: TWU has limited resources, including administrative support. Keeping old courses active requires ongoing maintenance and services that can strain these resources.
Focus on Current Courses: TWU wants to prioritize resources and support for current courses and students. Making past courses unavailable helps maintain focus on current academic offerings.
Copyright and Licensing: Some course materials, particularly those involving third-party content or proprietary information, may have restrictions on how long they can be made available to students.
Course Updates: Courses often undergo updates and revisions to reflect new information, changes in the field, or improvements in teaching methods. Making courses unavailable allows instructors to update and improve them without concerns about outdated materials being accessed by students.
Student Privacy: In some cases, courses may contain sensitive information or student data that should not be accessible after the course ends for privacy and security reasons.
Encouraging Completion: Making courses unavailable can also encourage students to complete the course within the specified timeframe, rather than relying on indefinite access to the materials.

The dates in the table above are for the main part of term at TWU. There are shorter term courses whose start dates are not reflected in the table. Instructors have 4 days prior to the start of classes to cross-list courses. To identify the exact date for when the course will be available to students to begin interacting, please refer to the dates located within the Settings > Course Details of a course in Canvas.