Types of courses in Canvas
In Canvas, each area ('container' or 'site') is referred to as a 'course'. At Oxford, there are four types of courses which serve four different needs.
Be sure to discuss with your colleagues (and your Local Canvas Coordinator) what type of course is required, before you ask the central team to create a new one.
Type of courses in Canvas
- ‘Programme’ Course (e.g. BA History): A course in Canvas within which students enrolled on one or a number of related programmes (within a programme group) can collaborate, complete programme-related activities, and access programme-related materials and announcements.
- ‘Teaching’ Course (e.g. Sociology of Latin America): A course in Canvas, associated with one or more core or elective ‘paper/module’, within which students can collaborate with other students taking the ‘paper / module’, complete related activities / assignments, and can access materials (e.g. reading lists, lectures etc.) and announcements.
- ‘Subject’ Course (e.g. Politics Undergraduate Information): A course in Canvas relating to a specific ‘subject’ e.g. Politics or French. Subject courses are typically created where students on multiple programmes within a department need to access the same subject-related materials and activities.
- ‘Tutorial’ Courses: Canvas tutorial courses are spaces in which groups of tutorial students within colleges or departments can collaborate, complete activities and access materials.
Please refer to our page about Canvas templates at Oxford – most newly-created courses will be populated with the relevant template, for you to modify and customise according to local needs.
Most departments, faculties and schools have now developed their presence on Canvas and so have the required course 'containers' for all their programmes of study and teaching courses. These courses will be rolled over at the end of one academic year, to become new containers for the new academic year.
Therefore, the need to create new Canvas courses should be small, and then only for newly approved programmes of study or teaching courses, or tutorial courses which may not yet have been created.
If you need to request the creation of a brand-new Canvas course please complete the form provided on this page: Requesting a new Canvas course container.