Requesting a Canvas site for a Wharton Course

This article will help you request a Canvas course site, review the new site for accuracy, and publish the site.

Advisory for Blueprint Courses

The IDEA Courseware Team needs six weeks advance notice for new projects based on the Blueprint Courses feature of Canvas.

If a teaching team hasn't used this feature before, we can accommodate these for courses in the upcoming semester or quarter with at least six weeks notice. Please request an instructional design consultation to initiate consideration.
If a teaching team has used the feature before, we'll provide it again on a best-efforts basis as a specialized form of Site Copy.

Before You Start

Wharton instructors may make Canvas course site requests, as well as requests for Study.Net copyrighted readings and instructional consultations, using Wharton's Courseware Request Form. This form is one of several teaching-needs surveys made available to faculty in Wharton Instruction Center (under the Tech Surveys menu choice).

When filling out the form, if your course is not listed in the Which Course(s) selection box, choose "my section is not listed."

When preparing to use the Courseware Request Form, you'll want to gather the following information:

The course, section number(s) and Wemba cohort for any Wharton course (including Lauder Institute courses). Consider whether sections should be in separate Canvas sites or combined within a single Canvas site.
If requesting content to be copied over, please provide the full course name, section, and past semester; whenever possible, also include a link or URL for the past Canvas site to be copied. You can find a list of your past and current courses at Courses > All Courses; we can only copy other instructors' courses with their express permission.
Whether the course requires Canvas People group work.
The PennKey username for any other instructors or TAs who need access (no passwords are needed)
A finalized syllabus or other guidance about desired features as described in Step 1 below.
See below for guidance on placing non-curricular or non-Wharton requests for Canvas.

Guidance for Non-Curricular and Non-Wharton Canvas Needs

As stated in our policies, the Wharton Computing IDEA Courseware Team cannot always create a net-new non-curricular Canvas site, nor can we afford the time to consult with staff seeking to establish one of these. Requests are being answered selectively under current resource limitations.

Staff in academic departments and resource centers may contact acs-support@wharton.upenn.edu to arrange a discussion with an academic Strategic Partner about your needs.
All other staff may contact admin-support@wharton.upenn.edu to reach Wharton Computing Client Support Services.
Please also note that the Penn Libraries' non-course/special-use Canvas service offering is unavailable for Wharton School needs.

Faculty who teach for other Penn schools may request a course Canvas site through the following teams:

Graduate School of Education (GSE): email gse-help@lists.upenn.edu or use GSE's Site Request Form
Penn Carey Law: email itshelp@law.upenn.edu
For all other non-Wharton courses, please use Penn Libraries' Course Request Form.

Note: All Canvas sites for the Lauder Institute are supported through Wharton Computing, rather than Penn Libraries.

During peak periods, we will do our best to notify requesters when the start of work must be delayed due to the volume of prior requests. Once we're able to begin the work, expect up to 3 business days for a standard Canvas course site request to be completed (e.g., a single Penn Canvas site configured for a Wharton course).

For specialized learning tool setup or in-depth feature configuration, we’ll extend best-efforts service; note that some setups will be identified as projects requiring a consultation followed by an agreed-upon project plan.

Step 1: Choose your desired structure and features, or request a consultation

The Courseware Request Form guides you through a series of simple questions intended to help you obtain the functionality you need for each course you teach. For most faculty, using that form will be the easiest way to request Canvas on your own; please note that most student teaching assistants cannot currently access our form.

In the unique case that you need to request a Canvas course site via email, or to have a staff colleague or TA request it on your behalf, here's what to include in that email (please also see Before You Start above). Wharton Computing historically offers a choice of four standard Canvas site types, or configurations: template, starter, advanced and site copy. In addition to those standard types, specialized Canvas projects for teaching (such as Blueprint Courses) are usually planned by requesting an instructional design consultation.

Template

Contains only the basic elements for a Canvas site used to teach a Wharton course.

Starter

Includes the Template as well as assignments for major course deliverables, such as exams and papers, along with an associated Gradebook column. To create these assignments, we'll need a near-finalized course syllabus or other list of:

Assignment names
Due dates and times
Submission type: on paper or online. For online submissions, consider...
- Do you want to use Turnitin to check for plagiarism?
- Do you want to restrict the file type to Word files, pdfs, or even media or URL submissions?
- If you will return grades online, what are the maximum points possible for the assignment?

Advanced

Includes the Starter configuration, plus assignments for:

Class meetings
Readings to be done before class
Case questions
Special events like guest lectures and review sessions
Please include a finalized syllabus

Site Copy

Contains materials from one of your previous Canvas sites using the course import tool, as detailed below:

Assignments, Pages, Files and Quizzes. Copied quizzes carry their old dates , so they will be available to students when you publish the course unless you adjust availability dates. Published assignments will appear appear in assignments, as well as syllabus and course calendar.
Files that were published in the old site will be published in the new one. You are responsible for reviewing all copied files to ensure they are suitable for student view, or if they should be hidden.
If you use Turnitin, each assignment will need to be re-enabled by updated the due dates, along with any other optional settings.
Please note that videos stored in Class Recordings, or Panopto, cannot be copied through this method.

Please provide the full course name, section, semester and URL, when possible for the content copy.

Find a list of your past and current courses with All Courses.

Please note, we can only provide a Site Copy of another instructor's past course with that instructor's express written permission. (This is not Wharton Computing's policy, but rather one specified for us by the School; however, rest assured it doesn't apply to team teaching situations where you were one of the instructors of the past course to be copied.)

The creation of a standard Canvas course site at Wharton normally requires up to three business days. Our team will confirm completion by responding (via email) to your form submission or other request.

Step 2: Review your completed site

Once your Canvas site is created, it's important to verify it before publication to ensure the content is accurate and avoid potential issues. Please check your site to ensure that...

Quizzes and assignments are published, and that they contain the proper due/availability dates.
- If your site contains more than one section, we may have used differentiated due dates, which explains why each assignment appears multiple times in Syllabus or Calendar. (Your students will see assignments only once.)
Online submission is enabled for any assignments you wish students to submit to Canvas.
All assignments are checked and edited for your teaching needs.
All graded assignments have a point value and the gradebook is set up for your teaching needs.
All grades are hidden by default. Adjust post policies for any assignment (such as a homework quiz) where grades should be released automatically.
Student groups (if any) are in place.
Any group assignments are linked to existing student groups.
Materials in Files are available to students, or hidden, as you prefer.
Update the Course Menu Navigation and set your preferred Home page.
Ensure that your preferred teaching assistants have access.

TIP: Student View is a great way to view your Canvas site much as your students will.

Step 3: Publish your site

You must publish your Canvas site before students may access it. Only instructors (not TAs or administrators) may publish a site, and the Courseware team will not do so unless asked.

Additional Resources

Questions?

Email: courseware@wharton.upenn.edu

Each term, the IDEA Courseware Team offers a series of faculty webinars to share teaching tools and best practices. Any teaching team members or staff are welcome to attend. As new session sign-ups become available, they will show in our blog, along with Canvas Basics Training session sign-ups.