Hopefully, Canvas treated you well this year, or at least didn’t make your life harder! As you start thinking about your next semester teaching from a Canvas course shell, this is a great time to make a few small tweaks that can save you a lot of time later on.

Here are three simple strategies that can make a real difference:

1. Import First, Then Start Tweaking

It’s tempting to jump in and start adjusting due dates right away, especially if you already know your next semester’s schedule. But here’s the catch: Canvas has a built-in Course Import tool that can automatically shift dates for you.

If you adjust dates before importing, that tool will get thrown off and then you’re stuck fixing the same dates multiple times.  Ed Tech recommends importing your course into the new term first, let Canvas do the heavy lifting on dates, and then fine-tune anything that needs it. All you have to remember is to check the box to change dates upon course import and then choose the date and day shifts as desired (see the tutorial video above for more info).

2. Clean Up Your Course Navigation Menu

Think of your course navigation menu as the front door to your class. If it’s cluttered or confusing, students feel that immediately. The good news? You have a lot of control over it. A streamlined menu helps students find what they actually need while giving you the control over course navigation that you desire.

Here’s how to make adjustments to the navigation panel:

• Head to Settings > Navigation
• Drag and drop to reorder items
• Disable anything students don’t need
• Click “Save”

3. Do a “Click Audit”

If your course started in Moodle, there’s a decent chance students are doing more clicking than necessary to get to content. Canvas and Moodle may look similar on the surface, but they behave pretty differently. What worked in one can feel clunky in the other. To audit your course, turn on Student View and actually click through your course like a student would. Pay attention to how many steps it takes to get to key materials.

If it feels like too many clicks, or too few, here are a few easy fixes:

• Combine related content onto a single page
• Put key info directly in assignment descriptions
• Make sure modules flow logically from one item to the next

A little cleanup now can make your course smoother, clearer, and a lot easier to manage once the semester starts. For a deeper dive into these three ideas, watch the connected Canvas Corner video.