How to Edit your Module Overview (and other pages)

Canvas pages are an essential tool in organizing and conveying your course content. We will discuss Canvas pages in detail the next module of this course, but for now we will provide some basics that focus primarily on your Module Overview pages. These pages organize all of your week's materials into a coherent whole so students can see what they need to do each week.

 

Edit a Module Overview Page

 

In all the downloadable  CDLI Templates the homepage has links to the first page of a module rather than the module itself. We call this first page of each module the Module Overview page. We do this because linking directly  to a module will send students to the Module List rather than that specific module. It's complicated. To make this less complicated, your template is set up to automatically link to the correct Module Overview page for each week.

⚠️ CAUTION: It is important to note that if you change the title of a page in Canvas, it will break any links to that page. This is a bad design choice on the part of Canvas but that is the way it is. Therefore, we recommend leaving the titles on the module landing pages as is. However, if you want to change them, just make sure you re-link them. (See the How to Create Links page.)

◉ Begin by Opening the Edit Window

To begin editing any page in Canvas, click on the Edit button in the upper right corner to open the editing window.

Edit button

◉ Edit the Overview Text

The first section of Module Overview page is critical. It sets the tone and context for all the work that will follow during the week and provides an account of how this module fits in with the rest of the course. You might not have the time to write all of this out while you're trying to build your Framework but don't neglect to do this before publishing your class for students. For inspiration, you might want to look over these Examples of Module Overview Text from other Seattle University faculty. To  change the image on an overview page, see the Finding and Using Copyright Compliant Images page.

Module overview - overview section

◉ Edit the Sections

Editing the sections between the header bars is easy in that you can just delete the text that is there and add your own. Keep in mind that there are multiple ways to link to items within Canvas (pages, assignments, discussions, quizzes, etc.) as well as outside Canvas (articles in the library, other websites, etc.) See the How to Create Links page for help with this.

Note:  Avoid specific due dates in text. Specific dates are a nightmare to keep track of, especially the next time you run the course and have to find every date. Fortunately, due dates for Assignments will automatically appear in the module and the students' To Do list. If discussion posts and responses are due on specific days of the week, you can note this as a reminder but otherwise be very careful about adding specific dates.

Overview page instructions for what to do before the class meets

◉ Edit the Header Bars

You may want to change the text in the header bars. This is easy to do. Just put your cursor in the header bar and delete/edit the text as needed.

If you want to change the color of the header bar, 1.) put your cursor in the bar (which is a simple one-cell table) and 2.) click on the table icon in the toolbar and 3.) choose Table Properties from the menu.

 

steps for opening the Table Properties window

When the Table Properties window opens, click on the Advanced Tab and then in the Background color field, delete the current color Hex Code and paste in your own. (See the bottom of Personalize Your Homepage for finding and using Hex Codes.)

Advanced Table properties window

 

Edit Other Pages

You will no doubt require other pages in your module, if only to embed videos. You can see examples of content pages from other Seattle University faculty on the Canvas Page Examples page.

◉ Using the Canvas Text Editor

You have probably used the Canvas Text Editor before but it is useful to orient yourself to the toolbar and note some basic rules for making sure your pages are accessible.

Canvas Toolbar for explanation

In the example toolbar above there are  number of tools that you are probably familiar with  from working with Word or other text editors. You can hover over any of the tool icons to see what they do. However, in the lower bar there are four tools we would like to point out:

  1. The Insert/Embed Media tool allows you to place anything that has an embed code into a Canvas page. (See the How to Embed Media page for more information.)
  2. The Embed Image tool allows you to resize and add alternative text to an image (See the Accessibility Compliance page for more information about alternative text.)
  3. The Studio tool gives you access to your Studio Video Library where you can choose a video (or video quiz) you've already made or record one on the fly. (See the pages on video in Module 4 for more information about the Canvas Studio Tool.)
  4. The Header Menu allows you to choose a header rather than enlarging or bolding your text to denote a heading. This is important for accessibility. It is best practice to use headers rather than enlarged paragraph text. You should also always avoid colored or underlined text as these indicate hyperlinks and can confuse readers. (See the Accessibility Compliance page for more information about working with text.)