Canvas FAQs for Staff

Yes. However it is important to note that some of the activity/resource types in Moodle do not exist in Canvas, and this will impact on how some of the Moodle course materials appear in Canvas. The table below shows some of the activities/resources in Moodle which do not exist in Canvas and explains how they will be imported (based on Moodle version 3.0). Advice: It is advised that you make an audit of your Moodle course before importing, and make a note of the features listed in the table below.

Moodle activities/resources not featured in Canvas	What happens when imported to Canvas?
Book	Will import as a series of Canvas Pages
Database	Will not import
Glossary	Will import as a Canvas Page, but the terms and definitions will not display.
Label	Will import as a Canvas Page, but the layout and details of the text in the page may need to be reformatted or reorganised.
Lesson	Will import as a series of Canvas Pages, but the connections between pages will be lost.
Question banks	Canvas will not import Moodle question banks on their own, but question banks can be imported if you choose to also export the Moodle quiz they’re associated with.
Quiz Question types: * Drag and drop * Missing word(s) * Matching	Most question types within Moodle will be imported into Canvas with no problems. However, those question types mentioned in the cell to the left will not import.
Wiki	Will not import

Back up your Moodle Course

The next step is to back up your Moodle course.  To do this, go to your Moodle course, click the Turn Editing On button and click the Backup menu item within the Course Administration menu. (If you don’t see this, you will need to ask for help from the administrator of your Moodle site.) Follow the instructions on how to create and save the back up (Note: Make sure you do not include the enrolled users in your back-up file). Then you can log in to Canvas and import the contents of your Moodle course into your Canvas course. Canvas Guide: How do I import content from Moodle into Canvas? (Canvas Community Guide)

Yes. However it is important to note that some of the activity/resource types in Moodle do not exist in Canvas, and this will impact on how some of the Moodle course materials appear in Canvas.

The table below shows some of the activities/resources in Moodle which do not exist in Canvas and explains how they will be imported (based on Moodle version 3.0).

Advice: It is advised that you make an audit of your Moodle course before importing, and make a note of the features listed in the table below.

Moodle activities/resources not featured in Canvas	What happens when imported to Canvas?
Book	Will import as a series of Canvas Pages
Database	Will not import
Glossary	Will import as a Canvas Page, but the terms and definitions will not display.
Label	Will import as a Canvas Page, but the layout and details of the text in the page may need to be reformatted or reorganised.
Lesson	Will import as a series of Canvas Pages, but the connections between pages will be lost.
Question banks	Canvas will not import Moodle question banks on their own, but question banks can be imported if you choose to also export the Moodle quiz they’re associated with.
Quiz Question types: * Drag and drop * Missing word(s) * Matching	Most question types within Moodle will be imported into Canvas with no problems. However, those question types mentioned in the cell to the left will not import.
Wiki	Will not import

Back up your Moodle Course

The next step is to back up your Moodle course.  To do this, go to your Moodle course, click the Turn Editing On button and click the Backup menu item within the Course Administration menu. (If you don’t see this, you will need to ask for help from the administrator of your Moodle site.)

Follow the instructions on how to create and save the back up (Note: Make sure you do not include the enrolled users in your back-up file).

Then you can log in to Canvas and import the contents of your Moodle course into your Canvas course.

Canvas Guide: How do I import content from Moodle into Canvas? (Canvas Community Guide)

Once you have finished developing content in your ‘Module Development Area’ you can import it into your ‘live Academic Module’ (i.e. available closer to go-live, where students will be enrolled) by completing the following steps:

1. In your live Academic Module, click Settings then click Import Course Content.
2. In the Content Type drop down menu, click Copy a Canvas course.
   
3. Search and click on your Module Development Area. (it will have DEVELOP at the start of the title)  Click on All content then click Import. 
   
   Note: You can click ‘Select specific content’ if you want to select individual items (i.e. a page, a discussion, a quiz etc) and do NOT want to copy over all content.
   
4. The job will be queued under Course copy and should take just a few moments to complete, depending on the amount of course content involved.
5. Navigate to different areas of the live Academic Module to confirm the content has been imported and check for any content that requires re-activation / re-insertion (see below).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some settings and content are NOT INCLUDED in the course import and will require RE-ACTIVATION/RE-INSERTION in the module. The links below provide more information on the items that are not included and how to use the course copy/import tool.

Canvas Guide: How do I copy content from another Canvas course using the Course Import tool? 
Canvas Guide: What is the Course Import Tool? (includes a list of items that are not included in the course import)