Canvas Course Types and Uses

This document provides information on the various course types available within Canvas and what each variation is intended for.

Details about the different types of Canvas courses and how they are used

Tarleton uses specific names to distinguish the use cases of courses in Canvas.  All Canvas courses are generally the same; some just have restrictions based on their intended use. 

Here are some terms you may hear when it comes to Canvas courses. 

• Course Content – Also just called content, items such as quizzes, assignments, a syllabus, resources, course layout and organization, or other things used to teach a class.  Content is tied to a course/shell.  It can be duplicated into other courses. 

• Student data – Anything related to a student in a class.  Student data includes grades, submitted assignments, discussion posts, and anything else a student adds to a course.  Student data is tied to a course, it CANNOT be copied or moved to another course. 

• Enrollment – The act of adding people to a course. 

  • Enrollment methods and restrictions are one of the key differences between different types of shells. 

• Shell – This is the fundamental concept of a place to hold stuff.  It is synonymous with course and, with no other designation, has no other meaning.  It is usually used when talking about a non-credit course, such as a development shell or community. 

• Course –Like a shell, it is a place to hold stuff.  It is usually used when talking about a for-credit course. 

• For-credit course – An official course created based on the official Banner records. 

• Live Course – Similar to a For-credit course, but actively being used or part of the current term.  Sometimes, the term Live Course will be used instead of for-credit course even for past courses.  The idea is that it is the official course for teaching. 

  • These are “shells” or “courses” that house the course content, student enrollments, student data, and are used for instruction.  Enrollments such as students and instructors are strictly tied to Banner as the official system of record. 

• Canvas Communities – These are areas used for non-official gathering or communication.  They cannot be used for teaching official classes.  Suitable for organizations or teams needing a place to house content but not for official instruction. 

  • These are shells where the owner/teacher controls the enrollment or students.  We usually do not call them courses because that may infer that they are used for teaching, but as mentioned above, they are a type of course. 

• Development Shells – Used to house content but not student data, also called DEV shells.  Dev shells are good for preparing content in a sterile location where changes will not affect current or past student data. 

  • These are shells requested with no intent (or ability) to add students.  We use them to move content from live courses to review or update. 
  • They are usually used to develop content for a particular live class.  Content can be copied from a dev shell into a live class when ready. 
  • We do not add individuals to classes containing student data unless there is a business need to do so. Instead, we make a copy of the course without the student data and call it a dev shell. 

• Sandbox – Another shell that can hold content but is more intended to practice using Canvas and the tools within. 

  • This is a shell that will not have students and usually does not relate to a specific class. 

• Commons – A location that holds course shells and the associated content to be shared.  It is a separate system from Canvas, with courses organized into departments aligned with the university.  A department administrator in the Commons area must grant access to each department. 

  • Any course can be added to Commons and shared at the University level, or the department level. 
  • Commons only housed content, never student data. 
  • It is possible to only add parts of a class to Commons, such as a module, page, or quiz. 
  • Courses in Commons cannot be edited. It is only a storage location. 

• Term – Terms at Tarleton are synonymous with Semesters.  We have three main terms, Spring, Summer, and Fall.  Each term houses a new set of live courses with enrollments for teaching.  Content can be moved from one term to another for the same course, but it is not automatic. 

A summary of the most common type of Canvas courses

There are four types of Canvas courses, three of which may be created upon request.  Here is some quick information to help determine what you may want. 

1. For-credit Courses 

• NOT available to request 

• ONLY official location for teaching in Canvas 

• Should include grades, syllabus, and any other content used for teaching 

• Must originate in Banner 

• Student enrollments must take place in Banner 

• May be cross-listed in Banner 

2. Canvas Communities 

• Used for groups and organizations 

• Cannot be used for teaching official courses 

• Enrollments are managed via the People menu by the Teacher 

• It has no start or end date but may be published or unpublished. 

3.  Development Shells 

• Intended for staging, preparing, reviewing, or storing Canvas content outside of a for-credit course. 

• Cannot be used for teaching official courses 

• Restricted enrollments (cannot add students) 

• Usually named to reflect a specific course 

• Not officially tied to any term, but a term reference can be added to the name if desired. 

4. Sandbox 

• Intended as a place to learn how the Canvas system works and practice course-building techniques 

• Experiment without impacting content intended for use 

• Not tied to any term or course 

• Restricted enrollments (cannot add students) 

Filling out the Request 

1. The Requester will auto-populate with the individual logged into the Service Request System.  Upon completing the request, this individual will be placed in the course as a Teacher.  This may be changed if a request is submitted on someone else’s behalf. 

2. Provide a name for the course 

• For communities, the prefix CANVAS COMMUNITY will be added before the name entered.
• For development shells, the prefix DEV will be added before the name entered. 
• For sandbox courses, the prefix Sandbox Course will be added before the name entered.

4. Select the type or course to be requested using the information provided above. 

5. Provide a reason for the request.  This will be the official record of the creation of the request, we may contact you for more details if the reason is unclear. 

5. Set the priority level and Submit 

Upon submitting the request, the Academic Technology team will receive notification of the request.  The request will be updated for each action taken, and emails will be sent to the requester with each update. 

Most requests are executed within one business day. 

Updates to expect upon submission: 

1. The creation of the ticket 

2. Verification that the requester has a valid Canvas account 

3. Verification that the requester has permission to request the type of course requested. 

4. Verification that the request was successfully completed - The course will be available in Canvas. 

5. Notification that the request has been marked as resolved with a link to the new course.