Build Your Course from Scratch
Follow the steps below to build your course from the ground up.
Request a Course Shell
Before you begin building your course in Canvas, you’ll first need to obtain a new course shellby completing the Course Shell Request Form. Be sure to choose Canvas Request at the top of the form!
Note: This course shell will not be accessible to students but will be used to develop your course materials before the “live” course is created in Canvas.
Navigate to your Canvas Course
- Log in to Canvas at https://montana.instructure.com/login/saml.
- When you log in, you will be in your Canvas dashboard.
- Select the desired course by clicking on the course card.
Note: Depending on where we are in the migration schedule, you may not see all your courses right away. All courses that will be migrated for you will appear by July 2025.
Update Your Homepage Template
Each new course shell will feature an MSU-branded homepage. This default homepage includes a banner and a designated area where instructors can share essential details about themselves and the course. Please refer to the Update Your Homepage Tutorial on personalizing your homepage.
Organize Your Course
Before adding content to your course, creating an organizational structure using Modules is a good idea. These Modules can align with topics, weeks, or any other format that works best for your course. To begin, review the tutorials on our Organize Your Course page.
Create New Content
Some migrated content elements may not transfer well and will require rebuilding. Canvas offers a versatile toolkit for creating new content, including pages, assignments, discussions, quizzes, links, documents, and external tools.
Canvas Content Tutorials
Use the links below to the webpage and video tutorials to learn more about each content item.
Announcements
are a quick way to communicate with your students.
Pages
provide a platform for presenting course materials.
Assignments
track student progress and facilitate feedback.
Quizzes
assess student understanding with various question formats.
Discussions
foster collaborative learning environments.
Modules
structure the flow of your course and its content.
LTIs,
like Panopto, are integrated external tools to support your course.
Set Up the Gradebook
Each assignment's grades can be calculated as points, percentages, complete or incomplete, pass or fail, GPA scale, and letter grades. Assignments can be organized into groups for weighting. Only graded assignments, discussions, quizzes, and surveys published are shown in the Gradebook. “Not Graded” assignments will not be shown.
To get started, review the written Gradebook Tutorial or the Gradebook Video.
Weighting Grades
You can organize your graded Canvas activities into groups such as "quizzes" or "homework." When you select this option, you assign a weight to the assignment group rather than to individual assignments. Canvas calculates the grade by dividing the total points a student has earned by the total possible points for all assignments in that group.
For detailed instructions, refer to the Weight Your Gradebook Tutorial or Video.
Copy Course
Once your content is complete in your shell and your live course becomes available before the start of the semester, you can copy your content over using the Copy a Canvas Course Tutorial.
Next Steps
Canvas and ATO provide a variety of live training courses and webinars. Visit our Training Calendar Page to view and sign up for upcoming sessions.
Additionally, explore our On-Demand Resources Page for links and information about Canvas live training, content-specific courses, and instructor-focused videos and guides.