Step 2 - Plan Your Course Layout and Content (Course Schedule)

Schedule image, text is indiscernible — The Schedule is organized by modules

Use your course schedule to plan and map out your course. A well done schedule is the basis for everything you'll need to add to Canvas.

Use backward course design to build your course schedule map. This involves:

Identify desired results: What should students know or be able to do by the end of your course? (Learning Outcomes)
Determine acceptable evidence: How will you know if students have achieved the desired results, and what will you accept as evidence of student understanding and proficiency? (Assessments)
Plan learning experiences and instruction: What course elements will students read, view, or otherwise engage in to learn and prepare to demonstrate their mastery? (Course Learning Content)

The three points above are from the Wiley University Services website on course mapping. Please visit it for more detailed information on backward course design and course mapping.

Step 2 -1: Add Modules to Your Schedule and Set Your Dates

It is recommended to lay out the course schedule using modules and each module is typically one week in a 16-week semester.

SCHEDULE TABLE EXAMPLE
or
SCHEDULE TEXT EXAMPLE

How Many Modules?
For a normal semester there will be approximately 16 modules (one per week) for the course. A module typically has one main theme and contains all the items students will complete for that week.

When online courses are run in a condensed format (such as intersession or summer), the total number of modules (16) can remain the same and students simply do more modules during each of the weeks.

MODULES PER WEEK
16 Week Semester	1 module/week
8 Week Semester	2 modules/week
4 Week Semester	4 modules/week

Tip: By designing your course with 16 modules it makes it easy to teach in a 16, 8, or 4 week format and helps to ensure consistency of content across semesters.

Naming Modules
When creating modules, use meaningful titles that summarize the content of each module. As students read the title they should have a clear picture of what they will be learning.

Step 2.2 - Select Your Course Content and Add it to the Schedule

Moving Content from F2F to Online
Much of the great teaching and learning content you provide students in a traditional classroom can be converted to the online environment, as can your assessments. Ideas are included in the table below (click on links for examples and/or more information).

Ideas for Moving Content Online
On Campus Class	Online Course
Class Overviews (Intro to Topics)	Module Overviews
Lectures	Narrated PowerPoints Mini-lectures Zoom meetings Online Videos Text Pages
Activities	Zoom Websites Videos Text Pages
Student Interaction	Zoom Canvas Discussions Group Projects Peer Review Student Presentations
Assessments	Submission Assignments (papers, essays, journals, case studies, etc.) Canvas Discussions Student Presentations Quizzes and Exams

Tip: For additional information on what to add and how to add it visit Step 4, Step 5, and Step 6.

What to Include in Each Module
Below is a recommended example of what to include in each module (when teaching a fully online course):

EXAMPLE COURSE SCHEDULE LAYOUT (for 1 WEEK)
Week/ Date	Topic	Teaching & Learning Activities	Readings	Assignments
Jan 12-18	Topic 1: English Literature in the early 18th Century	Topic Overview Chapter 1 & 2 Lecture Alexander Street Video PBS Video British Literature Website	Chapters 1 & 2 Journal Reading	Topic 1 Discussion Reading Quiz 1 Paper 1

Note: Keep in mind University breaks (Thanksgiving and Spring Break) when putting schedules together.

TIP

Are you adding too much? Not enough? Use this Workload Calculator.

Step 2.3 - Add Your Schedule to the Course

The course schedule is a great resource for students. It shows them exactly what they are supposed to do and when to do it. For this reason, in an online course it is helpful to place the schedule on a separate page apart from the syllabus so that students have easy access.

The schedule can be added as a separate document (Word or PDF) or as a page in the course which is easy to update (see Step 5 for adding documents and pages).

>> In the following steps we'll look at how to use your schedule to add content to Canvas. First we'll start with Modules since they are the keepers of all your course content.