Faculty FAQs

Access

• Where are my Fall 2022 courses?

  If you do not see your Fall 2022 course(s) in Canvas:

  1. The course might be buried by your migrated courses. Canvas allows you to manage which courses show on your dashboard. You can also reorder the courses on the dashboard.
  2. If the course is not there, it is likely you have not been assigned to the course in MyCSUSM yet. Check MyCSUSM. If you do not see it there, contact your department. If you do see it there, be advised it can take up to 24 hours from when you are assigned the course in MyCSUSM to when you get added to the course in Canvas.
• Where are my past courses? Will you migrate my past courses from Moodle for me?

  Yes, we have contracted a vendor to mass migrate all 2019-2022 courses from Moodle (Cougar Courses) to Canvas. This migration is currently underway, but it is going more slowly than anticipated.

  If you cannot wait, you can manually move your own content from Moodle to Canvas. You can choose to migrate content directly into your Fall 2022 courses or create a development container and migrate the content there. We recommend creating a development container to allow you to see how the content came over and decide how to proceed. Below are a few guides to get you started:

  • To access a Moodle course from Fall 2019 to Summer 2022, go to https://cc2019.csusm.edu/
  • Create a Development course in Canvas  
  • Import Content into Canvas from Cougar Courses 
  • Review and update your migrated content.
  • Canvas Getting Started Guide 
  • If you did create a development container, here is how to import that content into your fall course.
• I see past courses listed in Canvas, but they are empty! Where is the content?

  We have contracted a vendor to mass migrate all 2019-2022 courses from Moodle (Cougar Courses) to Canvas. This migration is currently underway, but it is going more slowly than anticipated. It might be that the vendor created the shell, but has not yet moved over the content, or that there were issues migrating the content.

  If you cannot wait, you can manually move your own content from Moodle to Canvas. You can choose to migrate content directly into your Fall 2022 courses or create a development container and migrate the content there. We recommend creating a development container to allow you to see how the content came over and decide how to proceed. Below are a few guides to get you started:

  • To access a Moodle course from Fall 2019 to Summer 2022, go to https://cc2019.csusm.edu/
  • Create a Development course in Canvas  
  • Import Content into Canvas from Cougar Courses 
  • Review and update your migrated content.
  • Canvas Getting Started Guide 
  • If you did create a development container, here is how to import that content into your fall course.
• How do I access my past courses in Moodle?
  To access your past Moodle courses from Fall 2019 to Sumer 2022, go to

  https://cc2019.csusm.edu/

  For a course from Fall 2013 to Summer 2019, please see this page to get the correct URL and the process for access.

• I already manually created my Fall 2022 courses in Canvas. Can I just use those?
  Those manually created courses are just for your use. Students cannot be added to them. The good news is it is very easy to copy the content into your actual Fall 2022 courses. Here the the help guide to walk you through importing content from another Canvas course.
• My Fall 2022 courses are empty. Will you be moving my content into them for me?

  No, you will need to bring in the content yourself. If you already built your courses in development containers you will need to import the content into your Fall 2022 courses. Here the the help guide to walk you through importing content from another Canvas course.

  If you are referring to course content from Moodle, see the next question.

• My Dashboard is a mess! I can't find the courses I was working in. Help!

  Is your dashboard cluttered with extra courses? Canvas allows you to manage which courses show on your dashboard and which do not. You can also reorder the courses on the dashboard.  

• I am teaching multiple sections of the same course. Can I combine them into one course in Canvas?

  Yes, you can request your courses be cross listed. When you cross-list a course in Canvas you have one parent course (where you add the content) and the other sections are cross-listed to that course. The enrollments for these child sections are merged into the parent and the individual containers for the child sections are deleted. You will want to request a course be cross-listed prior to adding content and publishing to students.

  Fill out this form to request a course be cross-listed.

• When will students be added to courses in Canvas?
  Students were added to Canvas on August 11th. Course enrollments in Canvas will be updated once a day.
• I am ready for students to access my course, but they say they can't see it. How do I make it visible?
  For students to be able to access your course, you will need to publish it. Here is the help guide on how to publish your course.
• Can I delete a course?
  Only Canvas admins can delete a course. If it is an actual course and you are no longer the instructor listed in MyCSUSM, you should be automatically removed when the enrollments are updated. If it is a development/sandbox course you created, grab the link to the course and email it to us at cchelp@csusm.edu and we can delete it for you.

Setup 

• I am feeling really overwhelmed by the transition and the time crunch. Help!

  We understand how you are feeling. To help ease the transition we have created a Simple Quick Start Guide to streamline the process and help you focus on what is most important when getting your course ready.

  During this transition time, keep your expectations manageable and your course simple. Remember that course development is a continual process. Just as you would not task your students with too much at all once to avoid cognitive overload, give yourself permission to focus on a simple beginning this semester.

• I already manually created my Fall 2022 courses in Canvas. How do I get that content into my Fall courses?
  Those manually created courses are just for your use. Students cannot be added to them. The good news is it is very easy to copy the content into your actual Fall 2022 courses. Here the the help guide to walk you through importing content from another Canvas course.
• I want to reuse content from a past course. How do I get that content into my Fall 2022 course?

  Do you see the past course in Canvas?

  Past courses are currently being migrated by a vendor from Moodle to Canvas. That process is still underway. They will appear either under Unpublished Courses on your Dashboard or (if you have too many courses) in All Courses under the Courses link on the global navigation. It will be named exactly as it was in Moodle. For example, Spring 2022 MATH 101 (01) 55555.

  If you do see it, you can import the content from that course into your Fall 2022 course by following this guide.

  If you do not see the past course in Canvas yet:

  This means it has not been migrated yet. You can either wait until it is or, if you are eager to get working, you can manually migrate the content yourself. Please see our help guide on importing content into Canvas from Moodle.

• How do I fix up the content migrated from Moodle?

  We have developed guides to assist you in the conversion process: 

  • Course Conversion Guide 
  • Getting Started Guide

  Additional resources can be found on our CSUSM Canvas webpage - see the Canvas Guides section at the bottom of the Canvas Support page. 

• Will all my content from Moodle come over?

  Likely most items in your courses in Moodle will come over. The core activity and resource types (files, pages, external URLs, Assignments, Quizzes, and Forums) all have very similar equivalents in Canvas and should come over. However, not every activity or resource will come over or come over exactly as-is. Check out our equivalencies guide to learn more.

  Note: if you see "stub" in your converted course it means the vendor was not able to import that item from Moodle and into Canvas. You will want to recreate/reupload that item directly into Canvas.

• I am teaching multiple sections of the same course. Can I combine them into one course in Canvas?

  Yes, you can request your courses be cross listed. When you cross-list a course in Canvas you have one parent course (where you add the content) and the other sections are cross-listed to that course. The enrollments for these child sections are merged into the parent and the individual containers for the child sections are deleted. You will want to request a course be cross-listed prior to adding content and publishing to students.

  Fill out this form to request a course be cross-listed.

• Can a copy a module or item to another one of my courses?

  Yes, you can easily copy an individual item or entire module to another course in Canvas.

  1. From the Modules page, click the three dots to the right of the activity/page/module you would like to copy.
  2. From the dropdown menu select Copy To.
  3. Start typing the name of the course where you want to send it, and select the course when it comes up.
  4. Optional: choose the specific module to copy it to.
  5. Click the Copy button.

Course Management

• Can I rename my course?

  Is this an actual course with students? If so, the name cannot be changed. However, you can give the course a nickname which will display on your Dashboard and in the breadcrumbs in the upper left when in your course. Nicknames are only visible to you, not anyone else in the course. Please see this help guide on how to manage your Dashboard, including how to set nicknames.

  If it is a manually created development or sandbox course, please email us at cchelp@csusm.edu with the current name and the desired change.

• Do I have to manually add students to my course?

  No, students are enrolled in Canvas automatically if they are enrolled in the course in MyCSUSM. Enrollments in Canvas are updated once a day.

  If you do not see students in your container in Canvas, check to ensure you are in your actual Fall 2022 course and not a manually created development container/sandbox. Students cannot be added to development containers.

• How do I add a TA to my course?

  To add a TA to your course:

  1. Click on the People tab on your course navigation.
  2. Click the +People button in the upper right.
  3. Enter the TA's CSUSM email.
  4. Choose the appropriate role:
     
     • TA - can add/edit content and grade
     • TA (Facilitator without Gradebook Access) - can add/edit content but cannot grade
     • TA (Grader without Design Access) - can grade but cannot add/edit content
  5. Click Next.
  6. Confirm the right person and role was selected and click Add Users.
• How do I remove someone from my course?

  Students who are dropped from the course in MyCSUSM will automatically be dropped from the Canvas course within 24 hours. You cannot manually remove a student from a Canvas course.

  To remove someone you added manually (TA, other instructor, etc.), follow this help guide.

• Can I share my course content with another instructor?
  Yes! There are actually several ways you can share your course content with another instructor. See our help guide on sharing content for more information.
• I am teaching multiple sections of the same course. Can I just use one container in Canvas?

  Yes, you can request your courses be cross listed. When you cross-list a course in Canvas you have one parent course (where you add the content) and the other sections are cross-listed to that course. The enrollments for these child sections are merged into the parent and the individual containers for the child sections are deleted. You will want to request a course be cross-listed prior to adding content and publishing to students.

  Fill out this form to request a course be cross-listed.

• How can I look at my course from my students' view?
  Please see this help guide on how to view your course in student view.
• Can I hide modules/items from student view?

  Yes, you can unpublish items you do not wish for students to see. From the Modules page, go to the module or item and hover over the published icon (green check). The hover text will confirm you want to unpublish the item. Click the icon to confirm. Keep in mind unpublishing a module will unpublish all items within that module.

  To publish a module or item, from the Modules page click the unpublished icon (gray circle with a slash). The hover text will confirm you want to publish the module. Click the icon to confirm. Keep in mind publishing a module will publish all items within that module.

  For a visual, here is the help guide on how to unpublish or publish an entire module. 

• How do I delete something from my course?

  The process for how to remove or delete something depends on that item:

  • Delete an activity (assignment, discussion, quiz)
  • Remove an item from a Module
  • Delete a file from your course
  • Delete a page from your course
• Can I take attendance in Canvas?
  Yes! Please see these help guides on taking attendance in Canvas. Note: The Attendance tool has been installed at the admin level, you just have to enable it in your course. To do so, you need to add it to your Course Navigation. Here is the help guide on how to manage your Course Navigation.

Adding Resources

• How do I add a file to my course?

  Here is how to upload a file to the Files area of your course.

  Once you have the file uploaded to your Files area, you can link to it in Modules or on a Page. Here is how you can link to a file in Modules. And here is how you can link to a file on a Page.

• How do I add an external link to my course?

  Here is how you can add an external link to a Page.

  And here is how you can add an external link to a Module.

• How do I add a video to my course?

  Do not upload a video or audio file directly to Canvas. Instead upload the video to a streaming server like Mediasite, Microsoft Stream, or Youtube and then add the link to your Canvas course (see above).

  Mediasite is actually integrated into Canvas. In the Rich Content Editor click the Apps icon and from the dropdown choose Mediasite to be connected to your Mediasite account where you can select from your uploaded videos to embed in the page.

• Can I set it so a module opens on a certain date?
  Yes, you can! Please see this help guide on how to lock your module.

Communication Tools

• How do I send a message to all my students at once?
  You can post an Announcement, which will be emailed to all your students. Make sure your course is published first. Also, make sure it is after your course start date (announcements posted prior to this date will not be sent out to students). By default the course start date for Fall 2022 courses is August 22. To see your course start date go to Settings.
• How do I set my notification preferences?
  You can set both site-level notifications preferences, and you can also set course-specific notification preferences.

Assignments & Turnitin

• How do I use Turnitin in Canvas?
  Please see our help guide on how you can create a Turnitin Assignment in your course.
• Can students submit as a group to an Assignment or Turnitin?

  Yes, students can submit as a group to an Assignment or a Turnitin Assignment using the Plagiarism Framework. Please see this help guide on how to enable a group assignment. Turnitin Assignments using the LTI method do not allow for group submissions.

• If students can submit as a group, can they also be graded as a group?
  Yes, you can grade as a group or assign grades individually, depending on the settings you enabled in the assignment. Here is the help guide on grading a group assignment.
• Is Turnitin down right now?
  To check if Turnitin is down for you and your students, visit the Turnitin Status page: https://turnitin.statuspage.io/

Discussions

• Can I set up a Discussion so that students must post before they can see the posts of the other students?
  See this help guide for how you can require that students first respond to the Discussion prompt before seeing the posts of their peers.

Quizzes

• Can I upload quiz questions from a publisher?

  Yes! The process depends on what format the quiz questions are in:

  • If the publisher labels the file as a Canvas format, that means it is a QTI file. Follow this guide on how to upload a QTI file to your course. Note: If the process says it has completed, but no quizzes or questions were created, it might be that you have to unzip the file and upload the individual chapters one at a time.
  • If the publisher provides the quiz questions as Word or Rich Text documents, you will want to use Respondus through CougarApps to upload the questions.
• How can I give a student extra time on a quiz?

  For Classic Quizzes: please see this help guide on how to give extra time.

  For New Quizzes: please see this help guide on how to give extra time.

Groups

• How can I set up randomized groups?
  Please see this help guide on how to create random groups.
• Can students create or choose their own groups?

  Yes!. Please see this help guide on creating self-sign up groups to have students choose their group from a set you created.

  Please see this help guide if you want students to be able to create their own groups.

Analytics  

• Are there reports/logs that allow me to view a student's participation in the course?

  Yes, you can view course access reports for individual students. Here is the Canvas guide on viewing these student access reports .

  In addition, there are several other ways to view student analytics – here is the full list of Canvas Guides for Analytics and New Analytics.

Gradebook

• How can I enter grades for an activity student did on paper/in-person/outside of Canvas?
  Please see this help guide on how to create grade columns for no submission Assignments.
• How can I weight my gradebook?
  Please see this help guide on weighting the course grade.
• How can I give extra credit?
  Please see this help guide on how to give extra credit in a course.

External Tools

• How can I get a publisher's tool integrated into my course?
  Please see this help guide for more information on how to request a publisher integration or other external tool plugin.