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Canvas Tips: Prepping for Autumn Quarter

Hello CoE Huskies! 

We wanted to send a note because Autumn quarter is just around the corner! You’ll note Canvas sites are available to start working on in Canvas. You can locate them on your Canvas dashboard in the Unpublished Courses section at the bottom of the page.  

If you would like assistance with prepping your Canvas sites, now is the time to submit your request by sending us an email at edhelp@uw.edu 

  • For those that would like us to import your content into your Autumn course site, please make sure to include a link to the previous Canvas course you would like to have imported.  
  • For those who would like us to adjust the due dates in your course site(s), please make sure to include your course schedule/syllabus for and we will make sure everything is appropriately in place with updated dates. 

For our DIYer’s we’ve included some helpful guides below to consider while setting up your course sites:  

    • We recommend using the selective import option to bring over only the materials you need but excluding items you may not want to reuse such as Announcements.  
    • If you are looking for something with a little more granular control, checkout the DesignPlus Multitool that includes a Due Date Modifier. 
    • We recommend only having the areas that are being actively used by students in the course showing on the course navigation menu bar. Typically, this would include Announcements; Syllabus; Modules; Assignments; Discussions; People; Grades; UW Libraries; UW Resources; & Ally Course Accessibility Report. 
    • When you add Modules in your course, they are unpublished by default. It’s important you remember to publish those modules when you want students to access them because even if the items within a module are published, if the module itself is unpublished, students won’t be able to access those items. 
    • If you want to set a paced schedule of module availability during the quarter, you can set unlock dates on the modules that will release the content to students on a set date and time. Keep in mind that modules need to be published for the lock dates to auto-release the content at the set date and time.  
    • This tool is super handy when checking for broken links throughout your course site!  
    • If this is the first time you’ve run the validator it will include any unpublished content. If everything in the course is updated with new dates, check the option to exclude unpublished content and re-run the validator. 
    • Also, important to note, if you use materials that are behind login portal or pay-wall, these items may be flagged as unreachable by the validator. If you click these links on the report and they function as normal than you are all set.  
    • Remember that Canvas courses are automatically set to unpublished status. Once you have everything in place and you want to release it to students, make sure to publish the course so students can access it. 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about your upcoming course sites, Canvas or how you can apply instructional design best practices to your course, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for help! 

Canvas Tips: Prepping for Summer Quarter & Beyond!

Hello CoE Huskies! 

We wanted to send a note because Summer quarter is just around the corner! You’ll note Summer and Autumn Canvas sites are already available to start working on in Canvas. You can locate them on your Canvas dashboard in the Unpublished Courses section.  

If you would like assistance with prepping your Canvas sites, now is the time to submit your support request by sending us an email at edhelp@uw.edu 

  • For those that would like us to import your content into your Summer or Autumn course site, please make sure to include a link to the previous Canvas course you would like to have imported.  
  • For those who would like us to adjust the due dates in your course site(s), please make sure to include your course schedule/syllabus for and we will make sure everything is appropriately in place with updated dates. 

For our DIYer’s we’ve included some helpful guides below to consider while setting up your course sites:  

  • How do I manage Course Navigation links? 
    • We recommend only having the areas that are being actively used by students in the course showing on the course navigation menu bar. Typically, this would include Announcements; Syllabus; Modules; Assignments; Discussions; People; Grades; UW Libraries; UW Resources; & Ally Course Accessibility Report. 
  • How do I publish or unpublish a module? 
    • When you add Modules in your course, they are unpublished by default. It’s important you remember to publish those modules when you want students to access them because even if the items within a module are published, if the module itself is unpublished, students won’t be able to access those items. 
  • How do I lock a module? 
    • If you want to set a paced schedule of module availability during the quarter, you can set unlock dates on the modules that will release the content to students on a set date and time. Keep in mind that modules need to be published for the lock dates to auto-release the content at the set date and time. 
  • How do I validate links in a course? 
    • This tool is super handy when checking for broken links throughout your course site!  
    • If this is the first time you’ve run the validator it will include any unpublished content. If everything in the course is updated with new dates, check the option to exclude unpublished content and re-run the validator. 
    • Also, important to note, if you use materials that are behind login portal or pay-wall, these items may be flagged as unreachable by the validator. If you click these links on the report and they function as normal than you are all set.  
  • How do I publish a course? 
    • Remember that Canvas courses are automatically set to unpublished status. Once you have everything in place and you want to release it to students, make sure to publish the course so students can access it. 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about your upcoming course sites, Canvas or how you can apply instructional design best practices to your course, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for help! 

Canvas Discussions & Announcements Redesign Launching June 12th!

Hello CoE Huskies!

On June 12th, UW-IT will implement the redesign of Canvas Discussion and Announcements! The redesigned discussions and announcements has all of the same functionality of classic discussions and announcements, with a new look and a few additional features.

Discussions and Announcements Redesign: What’s New?

 You can now:
  • Use the split screen to view the original post and its replies side-by-side.
  • Create anonymous discussions for more candid responses.
  • Sort Discussion and Announcement posts by date posted or filter posts to “All,” “Unread,” and “Read”.
  • Use the search tool to find posts within a discussion.
  • Use the @ character and select a person to mention them when replying to a post in a discussion that isn’t anonymous. Students who have their Canvas notifications turned on for “New Mention” will receive an email message.
  • Quickly see if the person responding is a student or instructor by using role labels.

Want more information?

Here is a quick resource from UW-IT: UW IT Connect Announcement & FAQ.

Prefer to take a deep dive into the documentation? Check out the updated Canvas guides:

Canvas Tips: Prepping for Spring Quarter

Hello CoE Huskies! 

We wanted to send a note because Spring quarter is just around the corner! You’ll note Spring and Summer Canvas sites are already available to start working on in Canvas. You can locate them on your Canvas dashboard in the Unpublished Courses section.  

If you would like assistance with prepping your Canvas sites, now is the time to submit your support request by sending us an email at edhelp@uw.edu 

  • For those that would like us to import your content into your Spring or Summer course site, please make sure to include a link to the previous Canvas course you would like to have imported.  
  • For those who would like us to adjust the due dates in your course site(s), please make sure to include your course schedule/syllabus for and we will make sure everything is appropriately in place with updated dates. 

For our DIYer’s we’ve included some helpful guides below to consider while setting up your course sites:  

  • How do I manage Course Navigation links? 
    • We recommend only having the areas that are being actively used by students in the course showing on the course navigation menu bar. Typically, this would include Announcements; Syllabus; Modules; Assignments; Discussions; People; Grades; UW Libraries; UW Resources; & Ally Course Accessibility Report. 
  • How do I publish or unpublish a module? 
    • When you add Modules in your course, they are unpublished by default. It’s important you remember to publish those modules when you want students to access them because even if the items within a module are published, if the module itself is unpublished, students won’t be able to access those items. 
  • How do I lock a module? 
    • If you want to set a paced schedule of module availability during the quarter, you can set unlock dates on the modules that will release the content to students on a set date and time. Keep in mind that modules need to be published for the lock dates to auto-release the content at the set date and time. 
  • How do I validate links in a course? 
    • This tool is super handy when checking for broken links throughout your course site!  
    • If this is the first time you’ve run the validator it will include any unpublished content. If everything in the course is updated with new dates, check the option to exclude unpublished content and re-run the validator. 
    • Also, important to note, if you use materials that are behind login portal or pay-wall, these items may be flagged as unreachable by the validator. If you click these links on the report and they function as normal than you are all set.  
  • How do I publish a course? 
    • Remember that Canvas courses are automatically set to unpublished status. Once you have everything in place and you want to release it to students, make sure to publish the course so students can access it. 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about your upcoming course sites, Canvas or how you can apply instructional design best practices to your course, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask for help! 

Your Old Canvas Courses Need Attention!

Courses created in Canvas before Summer 2018 will be deleted on December 18 of this year. If you would like to preserve any course content from this period, you can create a course archive by exporting your Canvas content ahead of December 18th. If you need assistance with this process, please submit a request to edhelp@uw.edu and we will help you create this export package.

How to check your Course’s Expiration Date

You can easily check course expiration dates on your All Courses page using the following steps:

  1. Sign into UW Canvas LMS by visiting Canvas.
  2. Once you’re logged in, click Courses on the Canvas global navigation bar on the lefthand side of the page.
  3. A flyout menu will open on the lefthand side of the page. Scroll to the bottom and click All Courses.
  4. When the page opens, to the far righthand side page there is a column that is labeled Expires and any dates listed in red are the courses that are set to expire and be deleted at the upcoming retention deadline.

Panopto Recordings

Beginning December 18, 2023, recordings created or last edited five or more years ago that haven’t been viewed in the last year will be deleted and will not be recoverable. Recordings not viewed in the last 18 months* will be archived.

The next set of courses to expire, from academic year 2018-2019, will be deleted June 30, 2024, and we will send additional reminders as that deadline approaches.

We are here to help! If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to us at edhelp@uw.edu and we can create a retention plan for your course’s specific needs.

Coming this Winter: Canvas Retention Policy

Content created in the UW Canvas LMS is retained for five years after the end of the academic year (considered to be June) in which the course section was offered. As this is the first year the policy will be implemented, courses from Autumn 2012 through Spring 2018 will be deleted on December 18, 2023.

To check which courses will be impacted by this change:

  1. Sign in to UW Canvas LMS by visiting http://canvas.uw.edu
  2. Click Courses in the global nav at the left.
  3. In the Courses flyout menu, scroll down to the very bottom.
  4. Click All Courses.
  5. Click the heading of the Expires column to list the courses set to expire this year first.

If you wish to keep the course contents, please review the archival instructions from UW IT.

Panopto Retention Policy

To comply with the University of Washington’s records retention policies — and to adapt to a new Panopto contract that charges for the number of recordings created, archived and stored — UW Information Technology will begin implementing a retention policy for Panopto recordings in June.

  • June 12, 2023: recordings not viewed in the previous 24 months will be archived in Panopto. If needed, you will be able to retrieve and view them.
  • December 18, 2023:
    • Delete recordings created or edited more than five years prior and that have not been viewed in the previous 12 months.
    • Archive recordings not viewed in the previous 18 months.
    • Deleted recordings can be retrieved from the recycle bin within 90 days of deletion.

UW IT recommends you to download any recordings you want to keep and to delete recordings no longer needed.