If you’re using Canvas this semester, you’ve likely noticed the link to the Canvas Commons in the global navigation bar. The Commons is a searchable digital library of educational content—such as images, pages, quizzes, and modules—that has been made publicly available for use in a Canvas course. Anyone with an instructor or administrative account in Canvas can access or share educational resources to the Commons.
Why use the Commons?
You may find the Canvas commons to be helpful in a few different ways. For instance, if this is your first time using Canvas, you could search the Commons for courses in your field to get a sense of how your peers at other universities are using Canvas.
The Commons also allows UBC instructors to share content with one another. For example, if you and another instructor are both teaching sections of CNVS 101 this semester, your colleague can share a quiz to the Commons that you could then import into your own course sections.
How to import a resource into your course
To use a real-world example, you may be interested in importing UBC’s Canvas Basics for Students guide into your course. This resource is a Canvas page featuring embedded videos on introductory Canvas topics.
Follow these steps to import the Canvas Basics for Students page into your course(s):
- Access the Canvas Commons by clicking on the ‘Commons’ button on the Global Navigation menu within Canvas
- Deselect “show public resources” to display only learning objects that have been shared specifically with UBC.
- Click on “Canvas Basics for Students.”
- Import the page into any or all of your courses.
That’s it! The Canvas Basics for Students page has now been imported into your course. To make this page accessible to your students, you can add the page to an introductory module or link to it in your course syllabus. You can also edit this page to suit your purposes.
If you’d like to learn more about using or sharing content in the Canvas Commons, check out the Canvas Commons Guide.