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I wish to skip using CDMS for now / use my own 'standalone' Syllabus content. Is there a way?

I wish to skip using CDMS for now / use my own 'standalone' Syllabus content. Is there a way?

Method A - Point to an external link

Add a publicly hosted course outline to CDMS.

Steps:

  1. Create a custom PDF.

  2. Put this PDF somewhere publicly accessible, such as NUS Dropbox or a department website like the NUS Biz Course Outline Repository.

  3. Copy and paste the public URL into CDMS in the "Course Trailer URL" section, then save and populate onto Canvas.

 

Method B - Overwrite Syllabus page using Course Copy

Overwrite the locked Syllabus page with your own curated Syllabus contents from another course e.g., Sandbox.

Suggested: Use the 'Syllabus' in your Sandbox course, then copy it over to replace the existing controlled Syllabus page. As the Sandbox course is exclusively yours, it will be a lot easier to make changes.

Steps:

  1. Go to your Sandbox course > open the Syllabus page > and edit the contents.

  2. Save your customised Syllabus in your Sandbox course. Make sure your Sandbox course is temporarily 'Published'.

  3. Go to your actual course > do a course copy > tick "select specific content", choose only the Syllabus page, and complete the course copy. Reference: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-copy-a-Canvas-course-into-a-new-course-shell/ta-p/712 . Your Syllabus page will now match the one you edited in your Sandbox.

Important: With this method, you are copying Syllabus content from one course to another. Since you cannot edit directly in your current course (Syllabus page is locked), you will need to make changes in your Sandbox course and repeat the copying process each time.

Warning: If you used the CDMS tool to populate content after importing, CDMS will replace your existing Syllabus page with the new CDMS information. To get back your manually created content, you'll need to repeat the steps again.

 

Method C - Add your own Syllabus page

Add/ create a page in the course ‘Pages’.

Steps: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-create-a-new-page-in-a-course/ta-p/1031

Adding a new page will not overwrite the existing Syllabus page. Both are mutually exclusive. You will then have 1 Syllabus page (publicly accessible) and 1 'new' page where only your enrolled students can access.

To avoid confusion, label the newly created page with a different name e.g., ‘Course Syllabus’ to distinguish with the existing non-renamable Syllabus page.

This method essentially gives you another venue to curate your own customised Syllabus information autonomously versus the pre-defined contents via CDMS.