Responsibilities for Canvas Course Owners
Canvas is a robust system for creating learning experiences, allowing you to build lessons, assignments, quizzes, and discussion spaces in ways other tools may fall short. However, owning a Canvas course comes with responsibilities you'll want to consider before choosing a technology solution. This guide outlines the expectations and requirements associated with using Canvas for manual courses not listed in the Banner course schedule, including appropriate use, managing enrollments, building the course, maintaining content, ensuring privacy, and meeting digital accessibility standards.
Appropriate Use
- Canvas courses should be requested for creating instructional interactions such as discussion, assignments, and quizzes.
- Communication hubs and content repository needs are better handled using Microsoft Teams or SharePoint.
- Audio and video files are to be stored in OneDrive or another media tool, not uploaded into a Canvas course.
- Course owners are responsible for monitoring content accuracy, privacy, and accessibility, and privacy at all times.
- Inactive courses should not remain visible or accessible indefinitely.
Enrollment Management
- Course owners must add and remove Teachers, Students, and any other users manually using UIW emails.
- Only individuals who have a legitimate educational or administrative purpose should be enrolled in roles other than Student or Observer.
- Enrollment lists must be kept current and accurate to comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Course Development and Content Maintenance
- Course owners build or curate all course materials.
- Courses must have a contact option for participants to ask questions and ask for help with the course content.
- Owners are responsible for maintaining the course over time, including updating outdated links, files, and embedded media.
- When the course is no longer needed, you must request that it be concluded or deleted.
Privacy Compliance
- Ensure your course and enrollment practices adhere to all expectations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
- Do not include or share any personally identifiable student information (PII) unless the course is officially approved for that purpose.
- Canvas data, grades, or submissions should never be shared externally such as via screenshots, exports, or shared logins.
- Avoid using open discussions or collaborations that expose student information to unintended participants.
Digital Accessibility
- Course owners must follow the Department of Justice's regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- All course materials such as documents, videos, images, and links must be accessible to all users, including those using assistive technology.
- All digital materials online and web apps must meet all Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for both Level A and Level AA.
- Course owners are responsible for ensuring digital accessibility for both content they create, and content created by someone else when shared in the course.
- Any third-party integrated apps must also meet or exceed the compliance standards.