Canvas Course Layouts
Canvas course layouts have been designed by ATS instructional design experts to help expedite the course development process for CSULB faculty. Instructors can easily customize a layout to adapt to their own subject or teaching mode, including face-to-face instruction. These pre-built frameworks adhere to evidence-based, Quality Assurance standards.
Instructions for Importing CSULB Canvas Layouts
CSULB layouts are stored in Canvas Commons-- a library of teaching resources shared by educators and Canvas users nationwide. Log in to Canvas Commons through your Canvas global navigation panel (left panel) as follows:
- Log in to CSULB Single Sign-On (SSO).
- Click on the BeachBoard/Canvas tile:
- On the BeachBoard and Canvas login page, click on the Canvas Login link or image:
- From your Canvas Dashboard, select the course to which you will be importing the layout.
- On the left-hand global navigation menu, click the Commons icon:
- In the Commons site, you'll find many items that have been shared by users such as modules, videos, files, and entire courses. At the top, you will find "Featured" items created for CSULB as identified by the gold triangle and LB logo in the upper left corner of the tiles.
Look for the "Online Course Layout" tiles (Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced) created by Academic Technology Services. Review this Canvas Course Layouts Comparison Chart [PDF] to help decide which layout is best for your course.
View of CSULB Canvas Layouts in Commons:
- Click on the title of the desired layout to preview the content:
- Scan the preview to determine which layout works best for your course by clicking on the links in the course navigation. Note: In preview mode, the Course Home page is not displayed, but will be brought into your course.
Course Home preview:
- Once you have selected a layout, click the blue “Import/Download” button on the right side:
- Check the box next to the course(s) to which you want to copy the layout. It is recommended that you import the layout into a Development Course so that you can make modifications to the content before copying it into your Live course. See Course Types for more information about requesting and using Development Courses.
- Once you have selected the courses, click the “Import Into Course” button:
After the layout has been imported, you can edit the text and media assets according to your needs.
Use the Canvas Quality Assurance Checklist [PDF] to follow recommendations for meeting established quality assurance guidelines for online courses.
