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Instructional Continuity
Canvas has released a backup reminder feature that prompts you to back up your course content and student grades every 60 days. When you see the exclamation marks under your course tiles on the Canvas Dashboard, it is time to back up!
Click the exclamation mark, and you will see two prompts: Download this course and Download student grades. You can also click Dismiss for 7 days to snooze the reminder.
Canvas Backup Reminders FAQ
Clicking the exclamation mark opens a menu with two primary prompts:
-
Download this course: Saves a copy of your course content WITHOUT student grades.
-
Download student grades: Exports your grade book data.
After you
What to Do During an Outage
When Canvas or other college systems are unavailable, your first step should be to communicate with students and inform them of what to expect. The checklist below outlines recommended steps for communicating with students in the event of a Canvas outage:
- Send updates using college email
- Clearly explain next steps and temporary expectations
- Share where materials and assignments will be accessed
- Reassure students that flexibility will be provided
You may choose to use the sample message below to share information about an outage with your students.
Sample Message to Students
Dear Students,
Canvas is currently experiencing an outage that may impact access to course materials and activities. During this time, please monitor your COC email for course updates and instructions. Our class will temporarily use [email, Zoom, etc.] for communication and course continuity until Canvas access is restored.
Thank you for your patience and flexibility.
Preparing for Outages and Exporting Canvas Content
In addition to using the Canvas backup reminder feature, to prepare for future Canvas outages you may:- Save copies of course materials
- Maintain updated student email communication practices
- Prepare backup Zoom links
- Include contingency expectations in syllabus
Instructors are encouraged to keep personal copies of course material for record keeping and continuity purposes. There are several options for exporting and retaining your Canvas course materials outside the platform. Follow step-by-step guidance below for downloading your course content for storage in OneDrive or locally on your device.
In addition to use the Canvas back up reminder feature to download student grades, you can also export scores from the Gradebook and download them to your computer as a CSV file. Once exported, you can save the file to your computer or to your OneDrive account, where you can view and edit the file with Excel.
Open Grades
In Course Navigation, click the Grades link.
Export Scores
Click the Export button [1], then click the Export Current Gradebook View link [2].
When the export is completed, Canvas downloads the CSV file automatically to your computer.
View Exported Scores
If you made changes to the Gradebook after exporting a file and want to export a new file, click the Export link again.
Notes:
- Gradebook export files include the date and time of the download to differentiate between multiple exports. The export filename format is YYYY-MM-DDTHHMM, followed by the course name.
- Gradebook export files automatically save to your user files in an Unfiled folder.
In addition to using the Canvas backup reminder feature to export course content, you can also export your course as often as you want via Settings. The file will be saved as an .imscc file. Because these files are large, it is recommended to save them both locally to your device and to your OneDrive account.
Once downloaded, the file can be viewed outside of Canvas by simply renaming the file extension from .imscc to .zip, allowing your operating system (Windows or Mac) to recognize it as a standard archive.
How to export a Canvas Course:
Open Settings
In Course Navigation, click the Settings link.
Export Course
Click the Export Course Content link.
Select Export Type
In the Export Type heading, click the Course radio button [1]. Click the Create Export button [2].
Note: If you have previously exported the course, Canvas will display prior exports under the Content Exports heading.
View Export Process
View the progress bar. Exporting a course in Canvas may take a few minutes, depending on its size. You will receive an email when the export is complete.
Download New Export
When your download is ready, click the New Export link.
You can now save your export to your OneDrive account following the steps at the bottom of this page.
If you have videos stored in your Canvas Studio library, you may download them and save them to your OneDrive account as a backup. You may also choose to upload the saved videos to YouTube to more easily share them with students outside of Canvas if needed. To download your Studio videos, follow these steps:
Open video from your Studio Library
Hover over the media and click the View link.
Download Media or Transcript File
Click the More Options icon [1].
To download the media file, click the Download Media link [2].
To download the media transcript file, click the Download Transcript link [3].
Notes:
- If the Download Media link does not appear in the list, the media is copyright protected and can not be downloaded.
- If the Download Transcript link does not appear, the media does not include captioning.
You can now save your export to your OneDrive account following the steps at the bottom of this page.
Once you have exported any content you wish to keep, you may save them in your COC OneDrive account with the following steps:
- Log into OneDrive with your COC credentials by visiting Microsoft OneDrive
- In OneDrive, click create or upload in the upper left
- Select the file you want to upload and click open.
Done! Now you can access your files any time by clicking "My Files" in your OneDrive account.