Content Pages

Learning Intentions

Participants who complete this module will gain an understanding of creating and editing their course homepage and content pages.

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 Success Criteria

Participants will know they are successful when they can:

• edit their course homepage.
• create and edit content pages.

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Canvas Homepage Style Guide

Task: Edit your course homepage to match the CSD Homepage Style Guide.

In order to create a uniform Canvas Experience for anyone using Canvas, Canyons District has created a style guide that teachers will be expected to follow. These items are discussed briefly below and in more detail in later modules. The big picture is that the following items need to be consistent among all teachers in Canyons School District.

• Homepage design needs to be consistent.
• Sidebar navigation needs to be consistent.
• Module creation needs to be consistent (in module 3)
• An understanding that the Canvas grade book is not the official grade book, students need to understand that the grade in Skyward is their official course grade.
  
  

Homepage Elements

Your course homepage needs to include:

• Your course homepage needs to include:

  • Multimedia Element
    • Adding multimedia and changing the multimedia element regularly is a great way to add interest and avoid a text heavy class Canvas webpage.
    • The template provided in Canvas Commons are a great place to start.
  • Welcome Message
    • Your home page should include the teacher's name and a welcome message.
    • The welcome message should introduce students to you and your class and provide an overview of what they will be learning this school year, month, or term.
  • Contact information
    • Use this space to describe your preferred contact method for students and parents/guardians.
    • Consider the Canvas inbox and announcements as a way to communicate with students.
  • Disclosure Statement
    • This document is something that you share with students and parents at the beginning of the year and/or term. Linking this document on your course hoe page provides a way for students and parents/guardians to access it anytime. 
  • Canvas Expectations and Course Information
    • Have a section on your home page that explains your expectations for students and how you have set up your Canvas course. This can be a video, paragraph, link to a page, and more! Get creative!
  • Link to Supports
    • Provide links to supports that can support students and teachers. 
    • Recommended link:
      • CSD Parent Connections (Links to an external site.)
      • Student Canvas Support Guide (Links to an external site.)
      • Observer (parent/guardian) Canvas Support Guide

Hompage Examples

Sample 1:

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Sample 2: 

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Sample 3: 

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Sample 4

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Sample 5

Once student clicks the unit desired...

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Sample 6  

Once student clicks the unit desired...

Creating & Editing a Content Page 

Task: Create and edit a content page. 

Content pages are the primary method of delivering content to students in your classes. All of the learning materials needed for a lesson can be added to a content page. In this way, content pages become a student version of your lesson plan for the day/week/unit. You can include text, video, and links to your files. You can even make links to other pages. Pages are essentially wikis with a more usable interface. Canvas keeps the entire history of the page so you can see how it changes over time.

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The Rich Content Editor (RCE)

When you visit a new page, discussion, or assignment, you will see a button in the bottom right corner that says, "Edit this Page."

 

When you click on that button, you will be brought to the rich content editor for that page (shown below.)

In the large white space you can type or paste content. The rich content editor works much like any word processing program. You can bold, italicize or underline text. You can also change the color or the background color of your text. You can change the formatting to left, center, or right justified for the entire page or just one paragraph.

• You can add
• bulleted lists.

1. You can create
2. numbered lists
3. as well.

You can create tables that automatically adjust column width and row height depending on the content contained inside of them. It it important to note that once you create a table, the number of columns or rows cannot be adjusted. But, tables can be a nice way to organize your content.

You can create link to any external page (Links to an external site.). To create a link, type the text into the text field as you wish it to appear to your students (type the title of a webpage for example.) Then, select the link icon: . This will open a small window where you can paste the link to the webpage you would like to share.

Math and science teachers should check out the option to insert a math equation into a content page. Here's an example of what that looks like:

$3x^2+4x+5=9$

 

The New Rich Content Editor (RCE)

The new Rich Content Editor (RCE) can be toggled on under course Settings > Feature Options and will be the only RCE available after January 2021.

Screencast: The New RCE Links to an external site.

Documentation: The New RCE Download Documentation: The New RCE

 

More Information

More information can be found online:

• What are Pages?Links to an external site.
• How do I create a new Page?Links to an external site.
• How do I change a Page name?Links to an external site.
• How do I edit Pages?Links to an external site.
• How do I delete Pages?Links to an external site.
• How do I upload a PDF to a Page?Links to an external site.
• How do I link to other Canvas Pages?Links to an external site.
• Where is the Front Page and how do I edit it?Links to an external site.
• How do I embed a video in a Page?Links to an external site.
• How do I create a file link in a Page?Links to an external site.
• How do I view the history of my pages?Links to an external site.

Adding Text

All of the learning materials needed for a lesson can be added to a content page, including text, videos, and links to your files and other pages. 

When you visit a new page, discussion, or assignment, you will see a button in the top right corner that says, "Edit."

 

 

When you click on that button, you will be brought to the rich content editor for that page (shown below.)

 

 

In the large white space you can type or paste content. The rich content editor works much like any word processing program. You can:

• bold, italicize or underline text
• change the color or the background color of your text
• change the formatting to left, center, or right justified for the entire page or just one paragraph
• add bulleted lists
• add numbered lists

You can also create tables that automatically adjust column width and row height depending on the content contained inside of them. It it important to note that once you create a table, the number of columns or rows cannot be adjusted. But, tables can be a nice way to organize your content.

You can create link to any external page. To create a link, type the text into the text field as you wish it to appear to your students (type the title of a webpage for example.) Highlight the text that you would like to be a link.  Then, select the link icon: . This will open a small window where you can paste the link to the webpage you would like to share.

 

The New Rich Content Editor (RCE)

The new Rich Content Editor (RCE) can be toggled on under course Settings > Feature Options and will be the only RCE available after January 2021.

Screencast: The New RCE Links to an external site.

Documentation: The New RCE Download Documentation: The New RCE

 

Additional Tutorials on Content Pages

• What are Pages?Links to an external site.
• How do I create a new Page?Links to an external site.
• How do I change a Page name?Links to an external site.
• How do I edit Pages?Links to an external site.
• How do I delete Pages?Links to an external site.
• How do I upload a PDF to a Page?Links to an external site.
• How do I link to other Canvas Pages?Links to an external site.
• Where is the Front Page and how do I edit it?Links to an external site.
• How do I embed a video in a Page?Links to an external site.
• How do I create a file link in a Page?Links to an external site.
• How do I view the history of my pages?Links to an external site.
• Can students view the history of course pages?Links to an external site.
• How do I start a Google+ Hangout On Air in my Canvas course?Links to an external site.

Adding Video

Canvas provides several ways to embed a video in a content page, assignment, etc.

Here is an example of an embedded video:

 

 

Option 1: Apps

Browse or search through multiple content repositories including Vimeo, YouTube, SchoolTube, Khan Academy and Quizlet.

  

In order to add content from an app to your course:

1. Click on the apps button () in the Rich Content Editor toolbar (found when editing assignments, content pages, discussions, quizzes, and announcements). 
2. Search or scroll to find the resource that you want to use.
3. Enter search terms, like "math raps."
4. Choose the resource desired by clicking on it and this app will embed the content for students to use (some apps may link to the content instead).

 

Step 1:  Choose the desired resource.

    

 

Step 2: Search for specific content.

   

 

Step 3:  Click the resource you might want to use on your page.  This step allows you to preview the resource. Here you can also embed the resource by clicking the blue "Embed" button and choosing the size the video will appear in your page.

  

 

Option 2: Embed Code

1. Copy the embed code from the video website.
2. Click on the embed button () in the Rich Content Editor toolbar where you want the video to appear (e.g., content page, assignment, etc.).
3. Paste the embed code.

 

Step 1: Copy the embed code from the video website.

In YouTube, click "Share" beneath your desired video.

  

 

Then, choose "embed."

  

 

Copy the provided embed code. If desired, you can first set a specific "start at" time for the video.

  

 

Step 2: Click on the embed button () in the Rich Content Editor toolbar where you want the video to appear (e.g., content page, assignment, etc.).

  

 

Step 3: Paste the embed code & click "Submit."

  

 

Option 3: Record/Upload Media

You can upload videos from your computer or record directly in Canvas. However, we recommend making your videos outside of Canvas, uploading them to YouTube using your CSDDocs account, and embedding your YouTube video in Canvas.

To add your own video, click the Record/Upload Media button () in the Rich Content Editor toolbar. After clicking the icon, choose "Computer" to upload a file from your computer, or "Record" to make a new video.

 

  

 

Adding Links, Files, & Images 

 There are 3 options for adding content into a page in Canvas: Links, Files, and Images. 

1. Adding Links to Content Pages Using the "Links" tab to insert content into a page will allow you to add links to other pages, assignments, quizzes, discussions and more. Simply place your cursor in the area of your content page where you would like to insert the link (or highlight the text you would like to convert into a link), then click on the page, assignment, quiz or other content found in the list to the right of the rich content editor window. To insert links to websites outside of Canvas, you can use the Link button in the rich content editor: . Type and/or highlight the text that you would like to use for the external link, then click the link button, then paste the web address (URL) for the external website. If using the new rich content editor, you will simply click on the arrow next to the hyperlink icon .

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2. Adding Files to Content Pages Selecting the "Files" tab will bring up a list of all of the files that you have added to your course. Adding one of those files is as easy as placing your cursor in the are of your content page where you would like to insert a link to that file, then click on the file found in your list. Again, if you would like to link text to a file, highlight the text before selecting the file. To add a new file, simply click the "Upload a new file" button at the bottom of the list of files, browse your computer for the file that you would like to insert, then click Upload. The file will be added at the location of your cursor in the rich text editor window.

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3. Adding Images to Content Pages There are two ways to add images to your content pages. The first is to use the area to the right of the rich text editor shown in the image to the right. By selecting the "Images" tab, you will be able to select a photo you've previously added to your course. To upload a new image, select "Upload a New Image" and located the file on your computer. Check to see that your cursor is located in the content page where you want the image to be placed, then click on the "Upload" button and the image will be added to your course.

 

The second way to add images to your course is to use the embed image icon () in the rich content editor to add any image that you have already uploaded to your course. After selecting the embed image icon, the following window will open: