How to Course copy in Canvas

How to Course Copy

Step 1:

Navigate to your new upcoming course in Canvas—never start in your old course!

Step 2:

Click "Import Existing Content". This will be located on the first page of your course. Look to the right-hand side.

Canvas course Home page showing the right-hand course menu with the “Import Existing Content” button highlighted by an arrow.

Step 3:

Click the Select Content Type drop down menu.
Next click "Copy a Canvas Course".

Canvas “Select Content Type” dropdown menu open, showing “Copy a Canvas Course” as an available option.

Step 4:

Under "Search for a course", click into the dropdown on the left.
Scroll through your list of courses and find the term of the old course you want to copy.

Canvas course copy screen showing the “Select a course” dropdown open, with term options visible and arrows indicating where to choose the course term.

Step 5:

Underneath the term name pick the old course you want to copy from.

Expanded course list under the selected term, with a specific course highlighted to indicate the course being copied.

Step 6:

After picking a course. Click the "Select specific content" option.

Options section showing the “Select specific content” checkbox selected.

Step 7:

Under Options check off the checkbox for "Adjust events and due dates".

Options section showing the “Adjust events and due dates” checkbox selected.

Step 8:

Under "Date adjustments" choose one of the following:

Option 1: "Remove dates"

This option removes all your old due dates. After the course copy you can add new due dates to your assignments.

Option 2: "Shift due dates"

This option will shift your old due dates forward in time so they are updated for the new semester.

Step 1:

Below "Beginning date" enter the Bristol term start date of the old course.
Enter the Bristol term start date of the new course.

Help and Tips:

To find dates, visit: Bristol Academic Calendar or Archived Academic Calendars.
Do not enter what your first and last day of class were.

Step 2:

Below "Ending date" enter the Bristol term end date of the old course.
Enter the Bristol term end date of the new course.

Help and Tips:

To find dates, visit:Bristol Academic Calendar or Archived Academic Calendars.
Do not enter what your first and last day of class are going to be.

Ending date fields showing the original course end date on the left and the new course end date on the right.

Step 9:

Click the "+Add to Import Queue" button.

“Add to Import Queue” button visible.

Step 10:

Click the "Select content button".

Arrow pointing to the "Select content" in the Progress column located on the lower ride side of the page.

Step 11:

Check off the items you want to copy. This prevents old time-specific items from following you into the new semester.

Recommendations:

Check off: Course Settings, Module, Assignments, Quizzes, Questions Banks, Pages, Rubrics (if you use rubrics) and Files.
Do not check off: Syllabus Body(this is not Simple Syllabus), Announcements (unless you want to re-use them) or Calendar Events.
Click the "Select Content" button.

Select Content for Import window showing available content types, with some items selected, some unselected, and the “Select Content” button visible at the bottom.

Step 12:

Your course copy will now begin! Under the "Progress" column you may see "Queued" or "Running" and a progress bar. You can safely leave the page while it completes.

Running status with progress bar.

Done!

You successfully started the copy process and it will automatically complete on its own. You can always repeat step 2 to view the copy progress. It will show "Completed" once done.

Completed status visible.

Dealing with Copy Errors

Step 1:

If the progress column says "Partially Completed" your course copy completed with issues. Click the "View Issues" button to read issue details and learn what might need updating in the course.

Partially Completed status, 3 issues and View Issues button visible.

Step 2:

If you are unable to resolve the issues, feel free to reach out to Bristol Online support for error assistance!

Done!

You are now able to deal with copy errors on your own or who to reach out to for support.