Pepperdine Canvas New Term Checklist

Overview

As a new academic term begins, here are the Top 10 essential steps to get your Pepperdine Canvas class site ready.

Top 10 Faculty Checklist

Access Your Pepperdine Canvas Class: Log in to Pepperdine Canvas and select your class site from the Dashboard.
Publish Your Class Site: Select "Publish" on the Home page of your site so students can access it.
Add and Publish Your Syllabus: Use either the Canvas Syllabus Tool or the new Pepperdine Syllabus Tool to share your syllabus with students.
Customize Your Class Site Menu: Add, reorder, or hide tools to focus student attention through Settings and Navigation.
Set Up Your Class Assessments and Grading Structure: Add your Assignments, create Assignment Groups to weight activities, set up your Gradebook, and verify your Grade Scheme.
Add Files, Activities, Links, and Pages to Modules: Structure your class sequence and provide the resources for student learning.
Import Content from a Previous Class Site: Use the "Import Existing Content" option to bring in materials from past terms.
Combine Sections (Cross-List Your Classes): If you are teaching cross-listed classes or want to combine multiple sections of the same class into one class site, use Cross-Listing. Be mindful of FERPA and other limitations/implications!
Verify or Update Due Dates: Use the "Edit Assignment Dates" feature to review the open and due dates for all course activities. Compare with your syllabus to align your deadlines for student work.
Check and Verify Digital Accessibility: Use the Accessibility Checker in the Canvas LMS rich-text editor to check your page work. Use the checkers in Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat to verify document accessibility. Use GrackleDocs to produce an accessible PDF from a Google Doc. Learn the elements of an Accessible Syllabus and check your Pepperdine Syllabus for accessibility issues. Refer to the Faculty Digital Accessibility Guides to learn more.

Don't see a site?

After class site creation has happened and you don't see a site, please check your WaveNet Faculty Center to verify your teaching assignment. If you don't see your class in WaveNet, then you will not see it in the LMS. If that happens, please contact your school program or division office for guidance. Refer to additional faculty guidance as needed.

Other Common Tasks

Add a TA or GA: Add People to enroll teaching assistants, graduate assistants, or co-instructors. All official enrollments are automated. Do not add official students; they must officially register for classes.
Select a Home Page: Choose a Home Page to welcome students to your class site.
Manage Groups: Create Group Sets in your class site to set up group activities, display some content to select groups, etc.
Add Student Accommodations: Use Time Adjustments in New Quizzes to allow extra time for student accessibility accommodations.
Declutter Your Dashboard: Customize your Course List to hide old courses by favoriting only the sites you wish to see on your Dashboard.
Structure Your Content with Modules and Pages: Use Modules to outline your course, scaffold your lessons, add requirements, and guide student progression. Use Pages to explain lesson content, embed videos, and more. Be sure to publish your content!
Track Participation with Attendance: Use the Roll Call Attendance tool or other participation methods to monitor student attendance.

Training & Support Resources

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