How to Reuse Course Content from Previous Canvas Course Sites

Reusing Content in Canvas 

It is easy for instructors to duplicate, import, and reuse content and media between Canvas courses and course sections. 
 

There are two methods to duplicate content between courses. The first is best for duplicating an entire course at once, and the second method is best for duplicating individual materials such as pages or assignments.

 

How to Duplicate an Entire Canvas Course 

 

1. Go to the course shell that you are intending to copy into. Course Navigation, click “Settings” .  

 

 

 

2. In the right-hand sidebar, click "Import Course Content." 

 

 

 

3. In the Content Type drop-down menu, select the Copy a Canvas Course option.  

 

 

  

4. In the Search for a course drop-down menu, select the course you would like to copy content from. Courses are ordered alphabetically by most recent term. (You can also choose to include completed courses by selecting the completed courses checkbox). 

 

 

 

 

 NOTE: To search for a course by name, enter the name in the Course Name field. Click the name of the course when it appears.  

 IMPORTANT NOTE: If your section names have the same short name (no section number), you will need to use a different work around to duplicate one course into another. It is best to use the internal Canvas course code number (the digits for that course from the url - like 4613, 12123, etc.) Use that number within the search box and you will get the specific course.

5. Select the All Content radio button to import all content from the original site. (Alternatively, if you only want to import specific content from this course, you can select "Select specific content." 

 

 

  

6. Click the Adjust events and due dates checkbox. Check the “Remove Dates” checkbox.   

 

 

  

7. Click the Import button.   

  

NOTE: The Current Jobs area displays the status of your import. Running reports display a menu bar with the time remaining to complete the import. The import will also display other status indicators as part of the import process. View the content by clicking Modules in Course Navigation. 

 
 

The second method requires you to navigate the course where the information you want to duplicate is housed. This method may be helpful if you are navigating through the course, or need to look at different pages to determine where the content is housed. 

 

IMPORTANT NOTE ON ANNOUNCEMENTS:

 

Announcements are copied over to the new course in the process of a course import. If, after copying your course, you publish your course without editing those announcements, they will all post automatically (and your students will get spammed in their email!) because their dates are (without additional editing) still set in the past.
If you wish to reuse announcements from your previous class, you should edit each Announcement and select "Delay announcement until a different date," then pick a date after the start of the semester. For more information on how to do this, visit the following Knowledge Base article: https://help.ithaca.edu/TDClient/34/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=1272

You can also delete the announcements prior to publishing the course.
 
 

 
How to Duplicate Content in Canvas (alternative method for individual pages, assignments, etc.) 


 

  1. Go to any page (Modules, Pages, Assignments, etc.) where you can access the three dots next to material such as a page, assignment, module, etc. 

 

  1. Click on the three dots selector to the right of the material you wish to copy. 

 

  1. Click "Send to". 

 

  1. In the popup box which appears, type the title of the course you are copying content to. Select it and click "Copy."

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