Adding content to multiple courses at one time

[llabarba]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

For details, please read through Canvas Release Notes (2020-01-18) and Canvas Release: Direct Share‌

It would be so much more efficient if you could create content and add to multiple courses at one time. 

This is especially helpful when teaching several different LEVELS of classes the same period. They are all different courses.  They will not be the same section, so I cannot share the content without choosing to export all/part of the course. This is extremely tedious and could easily be resolved.

Ex: I currently have 5 different levels of Journalism in one class period working on yearbook. They show up as five different courses. When creating content there are so many additional steps I have to take if I want the same assignment/discussion to show up in all five classes. 

BUT, it would be extremely helpful if when I create content, and before I post it, CANVAS asks me which class I want to add it to. Then I can check the boxes of all the classes I would like it added to. They would show up under the correct category (i.e.: assignment, discussion, quiz, etc) for me to move to whichever module I need to.

My last LMS had this feature and it was so much more efficient and easy to use. I have never been able to use Canvas for a few of my elective classes for this reason. Please help!

[Chris_Hofer]

 @llabarba ‌...

Would the work-around that I just replied to for your question meet your needs?

https://community.canvaslms.com/thread/36522-posting-across-multiple-courses 

[llabarba]

Chris, 

I do appreciate your response. The Creative Commons space does not work for me. It is a lot of work. I don't create my whole course at one time. I may add an assignment or two a day to a current class. Sharing it to the commons is tedious. I have tried this in the past. You have to share one assignment at a time to the commons, then go into course and find the assignment (which is a pain) and then download that assignment into each individual course.

Because I teach electives, the classes I teach have multiple levels. Currently on my Canvas dashboard I have TWENTY courses for this upcoming 2019-20 school year. Updating that many is ridiculous. It is more than likely that I will just not use Canvas for anything. The only other option is to have a course created for me that I can specify which kids to put in it. 

It really seems like such an easy fix. Just allow a checkbox list of all your courses and anytime you add content, you get to add it to all the ones you need to. Like when I add my rules/expectations for my classroom. Or if I add an assignment that I want ALL levels to do, or if I want to update my syllabus. Currently, I have to add it to five different courses. Something that could take a matter of 3 seconds, takes 3-5 minutes each time. Not sure if this makes any sense. But, again I really do appreciate you taking the time to hear me out.

Have a great day! 

Lina LaBarbara

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi  @llabarba ...

Thank for your reply.  I may be mistaken, but I think you may be missing a step in your process using Canvas Commons.  Let's say that you want to use an assignment in multiple courses.  As I had stated in my response to you last evening here, Posting across multiple courses, you would first share that assignment from your course to Commons (see my Step #1).  Once it has been shared to Commons, instead of going in to each individual course to import it (as you've mentioned above), instead click on the Commons icon on the left hand global navigation bar (see my Step #2).  Find and select the assignment that you just shared to Commons.  On the right hand side of that shared resource, you will see an "Import/Download" button.  When you click on this button, a slide-out menu will open, and you'll see all the courses listed that you are currently enrolled in as an instructor.  Each of these course should have a check-box next to it.  Here is where you would select all the courses where you want that assignment to be imported into.  Then click the "Import into Course" button.  This is the Guide I linked to last night for you which shows illustrations of this procedure: How do I import and view a Commons resource in Canvas?.  I *think* this is what you are ultimately asking for...but if I'm still not understanding, please let me know...thanks!

[awilliams]

Hi  @llabarba  Welcome to the Community! I am so glad to see that you are already getting some help on the existing ways Canvas can streamline content distribution! I can totally understand the workflow you described with creating content and then selecting which courses you want to have it in, but Canvas does do things differently. In Canvas, all assignments belong to a course and an assignment can't exist alone. So it would be quite the change to replicate the workflow of creating an assignment before choosing which course(s) it goes in. I'm not seeing an idea open for this currently, so I am going to open this up for voting, but it might be more complicated than it seems.

As Chris has pointed out there are some very useful ways of sharing content from one course to others. I personally really like the approach of keeping "master" courses that have content I want to reuse, and sharing those master courses to Commons so I can quickly import from it later. It does take a little more time up-front when creating the content for the first time, but it really pays off later on down the road when you are delivering all 20 of these courses next year.

While this idea is going through the process, I hope you will be able to find success adapting to Canvas. Change can be hard but the Community is here to help!

[Stef_retired]

Comments from Instructure

For more information, please read through the Canvas Release Notes (2020-01-18) and https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-18148-canvas-release-direct-share 

[RobDitto]

 @llabarba ‌, since it wasn't already mentioned here I want to recommend Blueprint Courses‌. At my institution we use that feature regularly for the purpose of updating several courses at once.

[Stef_retired]

Comments from Instructure

This idea has been developed and is now part of Canvas.  For more information, please read through the Canvas Release Notes (2020-01-18) and Canvas Release: Direct Share 

 @llabarba  Thank You for sharing this idea, as well as  @Chris_Hofer  Thank You  @RobDitto  Thank You. Your contributions have helped refine an idea that is now part of Canvas!

[bara_franklin]

I totally agree. I sent the same request ,and they sent back a reply that I could go through the Commons to select multiple classes, which defeats the time efficiency aspect.