[ARCHIVED] Sandbox sites

[rebecca_reynold]

How do I NAME a sandbox site?

[kmeeusen]

Hi  @rebecca_reynold 

By "Sandbox site", do you mean an empty Canvas Classroom used for practice or course-building without enrolled students? If so, then this guide will help https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-26453-how-do-i-change-a-course-name-and-course-code 

Some school restrict this permission for faculty, so it may be that you will need to ask your school's Canvas Admin for help.

I hope this helps,

Kelley

[rebecca_reynold]

Hi Kelley,

Perhaps I was given the wrong information. I want to create a permanent resource site for staff and peer mentors associated with Douglass Residential College. it is not a practice site--it is an ongoing site (in Sakai I believe it was called a "project" site vs. a course site). The site will be used for training and resources.

I was told to ask for a sandbox site, but perhaps that is not what I want. Essentially I want the same thing as a course site but one that is not affiliated with an actual academic course offering.

Please let me know what I should be requesting. The training guides are absolutely overwhelming and do not provide me with this information (at least I cannot for the life of me figure out where to look).

Thanks,

Rebecca Reynolds

Asst. Dean, Director of Mentoring

and Mary I. Bunting Program for adult/non-traditional age women students,

BOLD Center

Douglass Residential College

Room 202A Carpender Hall

732-848-3026

Pronouns: she, her, hers

LGBTQIA Advocate

[rebecca_reynold]

I just responded to the same question from Kelley Meeusen. No, that was not what I meant. I need a working site that is LIKE a course, but not associated with a course number. I need to use the site permanently for staff and a few students who are serving as mentors at Douglass. I need to upload a lot of resource material, and use the site for conferences/training.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Reynolds

Asst. Dean, Director of Mentoring

and Mary I. Bunting Program for adult/non-traditional age women students,

BOLD Center

Douglass Residential College

Room 202A Carpender Hall

732-848-3026

Pronouns: she, her, hers

LGBTQIA Advocate

[cholling]

Hi Rebecca, at our institution (I always preface answers because I know some things are controlled at an institutional level), I create manual Canvas courses for the purposes you describe. I can create them in the same manner I build academic/SIS courses. Two differences I note - one, I must control the participant list manually, which means I have to add students/participants and when they leave or are finished, I must have some mechanism to track that and remove them from the roster. The second area is that our manually created courses have a one-year expiration date -- no big deal, all I need to do is to extend the date in settings or the course becomes read only. Even if that happens though it is not a big deal because by re-enabling the course and changing the date, it continues to function. Feel free to direct message me if you want to talk it through.

[rebecca_reynold]

Hi Cynthia,

I don't think I can use a course site because those need to be established with course numbers (I can only create a course site if I have a course number). I think the sandbox site will work for me, I will still need to manually add users.

Thanks,

Rebecca

Rebecca Reynolds

Asst. Dean, Director of Mentoring

and Mary I. Bunting Program for adult/non-traditional age women students,

BOLD Center

Douglass Residential College

Room 202A Carpender Hall

732-848-3026

Pronouns: she, her, hers

LGBTQIA Advocate

[kmeeusen · Accepted solution]

Hi  @rebecca_reynold 

Ah, so you don't need to change the name of an existing course, you need to create an empty course shell (or sandbox as many call it, including me).

If your school permits it, and many don't, you can follow this guide https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-12819-415241327 

If your school does not permit it, then you will need to contact your school's Canvas Admin/Support department and request a Sandbox. We do this all the time for our faculty! I would also suggest asking for guidance on adding your faculty users to your sandbox, as many schools also restrict this permission from teachers. Depending on your school and it's culture, you may need to get approval from instructional leadership.

Kelley

[rebecca_reynold]

Yes, I am just using the sandbox. It should be fine.

Rebecca

Rebecca Reynolds

Asst. Dean, Director of Mentoring

and Mary I. Bunting Program for adult/non-traditional age women students,

BOLD Center

Douglass Residential College

Room 202A Carpender Hall

732-848-3026

Pronouns: she, her, hers

LGBTQIA Advocate