Canvas provides several options to share course content to multiple sections of the same course. Options include:
- Course Copy/Import
- Blueprint courses
- Canvas Commons
- Combining sections
A common question is how Canvas Blueprint courses can help manage multiple sections. Blueprints are helpful in two specific scenarios:
- You want to lock down parts of the course so instructors cannot make changes (they can still edit unlocked parts, add new content, grade, etc.); and/or,
- You need to make updates to all sections during the semester that you want to sync into each section (instead of sending updates to each instructor which they manually add to their courses)
If you do not need the above functionalities regularly, we suggest using course copy/import or other option below. Note: The ability to request and manage Blueprint courses requires Canvas Admin access. Read about Canvas Admin access. Request access and Blueprints via Canvas Request form.
Comparison of Options
| Feature | Couse Copy/Import | Blueprint | Canvas Commons | Combining Sections |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detailed info | Copy/Import tool | Blueprints | Canvas Commons | Combining sections |
| What is does | Imports content from another course (previous semester, sandbox, development, etc.) | Syncs content from a blueprint course to associated courses | Stores and shares courses and content in cloud repository | Combines multiple sections of a course into one Canvas site |
| Example Use Cases | Instructor wants to use content from a course they taught last semester; or from a Development course shared by multiple instructors | Course with multiple sections where course coordinator wants to maintain similar Canvas site for each section | Content developer wants to share course or specific course content as an option for instructors to add to their course | 1-Instructor teaching several different courses or sections that need to be in the same Canvas course site 2-Several different instructors decide to use a single Canvas site for a course |
| Who can use this | Teachers, Designers, TAs | Departmental Canvas Admins | Teachers, Designers, TAs | Teachers, must combine sections |
| When/how content is added | Anytime, but recommended before the course is published | Initial sync before course is published, and then anytime | Anytime, but recommended before the course is published | Sections should be combined before course is published. Then content can be added anytime |
| Course update method | Import/Copy from source course, by instructor | Updated by academic department Canvas Admin | Copied from Commons once or more times, by instructor | Import/Copy from source course, by instructor. |
| Send content to courses without intervention of each instructor | No | Yes | No | Yes (content will be visible to all students, unless limited to a section) |
| Lock parts of the course so instructor cannot change content | No | Yes | No | No |
| Allow instructor to select what they want to copy (parts of course) | Yes | Yes, by Canvas Admin | Yes | Yes |
| Instructors can add additional content to their courses | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Content is overwritten when courses are synced | Copying the same content multiple times could overwrite content | Synced content is overwritten; instructor added content is not | Yes | Copying the same content multiple times could overwrite content |
| Instructors must have access to source course to make copy themselves | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Can share outside of George Mason | Yes, by exporting course as zip file | Yes, by exporting course as zip file | Yes, can make public in Commons | Yes, by exporting course as zip file |
| Each course section remains a separate Canvas course site | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |