UO Canvas Commons is an open access repository specific to the University of Oregon. Canvas Commons allows instructors to share learning materials they've created with their peers at UO and to find and import educational content shared by others at UO.
UO Canvas Commons accepts learning objects from Canvas - from full courses to specific Modules, Quizzes, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, and documents. Canvas content uploaded to UO Commons is available to UO faculty, GEs, staff, and student employees.
Content on UO Canvas Commons cannot be shared to the global Instructure Commons site, nor can you search for or import items from the global Instructure Commons site to your UO Canvas courses.
You have access to Commons if you have an instructor role in at least one Canvas course.
Because Canvas Commons is an open access repository within the University of Oregon, content uploaded to Commons is available to a wide range of UO faculty, GEs, staff, and student employees.
Users do not have the ability to restrict access to content uploaded to Commons. Therefore, please consider using the Canvas Send-To functionality if you have content to share with specific colleagues that is not intended for the university community.
Canvas Commons is a useful tool for sharing best practices, templates, resources, and multimedia material to enhance a course. It allows instructors to showcase innovative teaching materials, explore new ways to deliver course content, and share reusable learning objects with the University of Oregon teaching community.
You might consider using Commons if:
Canvas Commons is what we collectively make it. As more faculty and departments share content, we will build a robust learning repository to help streamline Canvas course design and course-building.
You can access Commons from the Commons icon on the Global Navigation menu.
The first time you access Commons, you will be asked whether it is allowed to access your Canvas account. Click Authorize to proceed.
Anyone at UO who has at least one course in which they have the role of Teacher, TA, Grader, Designer, Learning Assistant, or Admin Staff. If students or observers had one of the roles in a current or past course, they will have access to the entirety of Commons.
In Canvas go to the item you want to share and click on the three vertical dots and select Share to Commons.
On the Sharing and License screen, complete the following sections. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are required.
* Who can use this resource? Select the All of University of Oregon option to share your resources with the entire UO Canvas community.
Select the Only Me option if you are using Commons to save and iterate resources you are working on such as assignments or quizzes and do not yet want to share them with others.
If you want to share your resource in both the Academic and Community instances of Canvas Commons, check the Select Consortium(s) box and then check the box for UO Academic and Community Canvas.
Content Type This is an optional section where you can indicate if your resource(s) is/are a template or an open textbook. You can select both as appropriate.
* License Decide how you want others to use your material. Use the Help Me Choose link to learn more about licenses.
* Title The title of your resource will auto-populate. You can edit the title of your resource if necessary.
* Description Enter a description for your resource. If you plan to share your resource with other users, be as descriptive as possible.
Tags Enter tags to make it easy for other users to find your resource (at least one tag is required). For example, you could add a STEM or Writing tag.
* Image Give your resource a distinctive look by selecting an image from Unsplash or uploading your own image.
Finally, set the Grade/Level for your course.
Select Save to add your resource to Commons.
Log into Canvas and look for the Commons link in the left-hand Global Navigation menu [1].
Items uploaded to Commons will display as cards in the initial view.
You can search by the resource title or the creator's name [2]. You can also filter by item type [3].
To view an item's content, select the resource title [4].
The Preview tab displays the content of the item you've selected.
Modules uploaded to Commons will display the Module contents [5].
You can preview any item by selecting the item's title [6].
To Import the item into your course, select the Import/Download button [7].
Select the course (or courses) you'd like to import the item to [8] then select Import into Course [9].
The imported item will appear in your Course. Look for imported Modules in Modules. Imported Pages, Assignments, Quizzes, etc. will be found in those sections of your Canvas Course.
Yes, click the Commons button in your Global Canvas navigation. You can filter the options to narrow your search. When you find an item you want to preview, click on the title.
Yes, you can share resources between Canvas and Community. Follow the instructions indicated under “How to share a resource or your course to Commons”. On the Settings page select to share with Consortium and Commons Community.
Yes, go to Commons and click on the item to display it and you will have a delete this item option.
Yes, there may be reviews for resources in Commons and you can write a review for a resource in Commons. Go to the item you are evaluating and select the Details tab. Reviews will be found there and you can write a review as well.
A license specifies the terms of how a work can be used and adapted. By default, your work will be copyright-protected, but you also have the option of assigning an open license to your work, which still provides copyright protection, but also allows you to extend a set of permissions for how others may use and adapt your work.
By default, your work will be copyright-protected, but you also have the option of assigning an open license to your work. Assigning an open license still provides copyright protection, but also allows you to extend a set of permissions for how others may use and adapt your work. Not sure which license to choose? Click on the Help Me Choose link within the Commons upload interface to read about the license types. Select carefully; Once a license is assigned, it stays with the work in permanently.
You can keep track of your favorite resources by adding resources to your Favorites list. On the resource details page, click the Add to Favorites button.
To view or manage your favorite resources, go to the Favorites page from the top navigation menu. On the Favorite page you can remove a resource from the list by unstaring it.
Canvas provides several Guides to Commons on their Canvas Commons website.
How do I import and view a Commons resource in Canvas?
