In Canvas you can organise your course material with the help of modules, making it easier for your students to understand how your course is structured, for example, what to do, when to do it, where the task is and how they can get feedback after it is marked. The advantage of using modules is that they help to create a clear path through the course: without modules, your students will need to have a prior knowledge of what type of material they are looking for in the course menu.

Organising your Modules

You can organise your modules in a way that is most suitable for your course, however, two of the simplest and most straightforward ways to organise your modules is either by time (eg. weekly) or theme. The video below shows an overview of how to create modules.

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Building modules: step by step

In the picture below, you can see how to create and name your module in three steps.

Picture showing course structure. The picture aims to have a clarifying function. The picture shows 3 different steps: How to first create a module, then rename it and finally save it. The steps are described in more detail below.

To create your module select Hem | Home and then click the + Module button.
Rename your module so that it is easily identifiable for your students.
Click on the Add module button. Done!

Repeat this process to build the rest of your structure. It is possible to rename, reorder and remove modules if something goes wrong.

Read more about how you can do this in Instructures own module guide.

Examples of a module with a thematic structure

Even if you choose to structure your course thematically, there is a lot of flexibility in how you decide to organise your content. Here you can find an example of one of the easiest and clearest ways to structure your modules for students.

This course structure includes:

A Welcome and Introduction: Two introductory modules, one that introduces the topic, and one which offers some more course-specific information.
Course Content: 4 modules that make up the course content, from the first module on 'Antiquity and the Middle Ages' to the final module on '1990 to today'.
Next Semester : Finally, there is a module which introduces the next course, which aids students in preparation for their next phase of studies (eg. knowing what course literature to buy). Obviously, this module is only necessary when there is a subsequent program to follow.

The course content could also be structured on a weekly basis (eg. Week 1, Week 2 etc.) How you choose to structure your modules depends on how you structure your own teaching. What is important is that there is cohesive thought behind your Canvas course structure, and that you are able to communicate this to your students so that they can follow along.