麻花影视

Some things in life are automatic, but not all courses migrating to Canvas will be. For those times when you need to move something manually, follow the steps below to make the transition as easy as any other 12 step guide involving the transfer of dozens of different content types between disparate systems.

Honestly, it's much easier than it sounds, so long as you remember Step 0.

Step 0: DON'T PANIC

Good advice in general, but especially for moving things from D2L to Canvas. We have help available to you by phone, email, and in-person (including dedicated Open Lab Hours Tuesdays and Fridays from Noon-2).

You can do this. We believe in you.

Step 1: Find Your Canvas Course Shell

To begin building your course in Canvas, you鈥檒l need to find your the shell first. While this could easily be step 2, it's always better to know you have it before you get to working on things than it is to find out after the fact.

Head to , and navigate to your Dashboard to check for your course shells. You'll use your msubillings.edu email address to log in, and the password associated with that account.

All for-credit courses from Spring 2021 through Spring 2025 will automatically be available with their content transferred over (Fall 2024 courses will be available shortly. Spring 2025 courses will be available before Summer 2025 courses begin).

Congratulations! You can stop reading here if that's all you need.

For all other courses, including development shells, non-credit courses, and elsewise, please request a course shell by .

Step 2: Clean Up Your D2L Course and Export It

To minimize the time needed to adjust your course in Canvas, we recommend you "clean up" your course prior to exporting it. Use the checklist below to help streamline that cleanup.

• • Note: Internal links (links pointing to D2L/Brightspace content) will break and need to be linked to the new Canvas version of that content once migrated.
  • Note: Due dates do not import and will need to be redone.

View the chart below to be aware of the features that can be exported, and how well they do so into Canvas. Anything not on this list will need to be manually remade in Canvas, where possible.

Some sub-features have been called out specifically where appropriate. These will not appear as their own category when exporting, but they function differently than other items in that feature (e.g. Video Notes).

Option 1: Once you've got your course where you want it, follow the video tutorial (generously borrowed from our friends in Bozeman) below to export your course from D2L.

Or, simply navigate to: Course Admin > Import/Export/Copy Components > Export as Brightspace Package, and then select the componenets you wish to copy.

Remember: While you may select as much as you want (or select the entire course to keep things simple), some selections will NOT transfer to Canvas. Please refer back to the above table to see what will and will not transfer. Large courses may need to be exported in sections, since there is an upload limit in Canvas.

Option 2: Export as a Common Cartridge

Unlike a Brightspace export, Common Cartridge can only export Content, External Learning Tool Links, Discussions, Assignments, External Links, Quizzes, and Surveys. However, Common Cartridges offer a few advantages over the Brightspace package.

• You can import quizzes into the New Quiz format, and Quiz feedback transfers more-seamlessly.
• Video Notes transfer without any additional steps. Just export and go.

These two reasons might seem like a good reason to switch to using Common Cartridges at all times, and if that were all there were to it, I'd agree. In the interest of full disclosure though, there are a few downsides as well.

• Common Cartridges don't allow you to select content before you export it. In other words, if you want just one quiz, you have to take them all, and then sort it out in Canvas later when you import it.
• For reasons unknowable, all Matching Questions in quizzes simply vanish, despite New Quizzes supporting the Matching Question type.
• All Content is transferred in as webpages (HTML files), which becomes a link when imported to Canvas. HTML files can't be edited within Canvas, and any edits have to be done in a program which can edit HTML directly. Because of this, no course files are actually transferred, meaning the original documents won't be available.
• Certain items which can be transferred to Canvas, like Announcements, simply can't be selected at all.

Step 3: Import To Canvas

In case you haven't done so already, please head to the:

When you log in, you will be in your Canvas dashboard. Go ahead and select the desired course by clicking on the course card.

The time required to import your course content from will vary depending on the size and features of your course.

Keep in mind that, because Canvas has different names for things, not everything will end up where you expect it to be. This is okay. If you'd like a handy reference table for the new names, check out our Learn Canvas page.

Finally, if you use the Common Cartridge method, you can follow the exact same video below, but be sure to select "Common Cartridge" instead of "D2L export" when importing. You'll know you did it right if you see the "Import existing quizzes as New Quizzes" option.

Step 4: Review Your Migrated Content

Since migration is not always seamless, you will need to review and edit your content before sharing it with students. As part of the import process, Canvas identifies potential issues which may need to be addressed.

1. Once your import is complete, return to the Import page inside your course.

2. To view the issues log, click on the numbered issues link next to the "completed" box under 鈥渃urrent jobs鈥� on the Import page. This will display a list of items for review.

3. Review the issues and address each as necessary. Most issues will involve broken links or LTIs.

Unfortunately, Canvas's system often links you to the general area the problem is located (e.g. link you to all of the problems in the quiz rather than just the specific question with the error), and may give you nothing to indicate what the problem is once you're there. Don't worry, we can help.

Here is a list of some possible errors you may encounter and their immediate solutions.

• The importer couldn't determine the correct answers for this question.

• Simple enough, there either was no correct answer (freeform short answer and essay questions will often see this error) or the answer was in a format Canvas could not parse (like an image). Fill in the correct answer, or don't, as the case may be.

• There was an error exporting an assessment question - No question type used when trying to parse a qti question

• The question is an Ordering type question, which don't exist in Canvas Classic Quizzes. The question will need to be remade as a Matching question from scratch.

• Import Error: Quiz - "[Quiz Name]"

• The quiz didn't import. You can try to import it again (which usually doesn't work), or remake it. If its questions were imported via the Quiz Library, then this will be much easier.

• Import Error: Module Item - "[Item Name]"

• The item didn't import. This can happen with anything, and doesn't always mean it was actually something in a module. Surveys, broken links, links which require a login, external learning tools, and more might all appear this way. You can try to import the content again (which may work for certain things like surveys), or remake the item in Canvas directly.

• Missing links found in imported content - [Item name]

• Usually, this indicates the link was to content specifically uploaded to D2L, like an image put into an announcement. In D2L, these items are referenced via a link within the HTML, thus they show up as a missing link in Canvas. You will need to reupload the item and manually put it into the content where it's missing.

4. While these issues log is a good indication of items in your course that may need attention, we recommend you follow the Post-Migration Checklist below for a more-thorough review of your content as some issues may be difficult to locate through the log.

Post-Migration Checklist

Assignments: 

• Verify if assignments have been successfully migrated.

Note: Since any graded item (including Quizzes and Discussions) appear on the Assignments tab as well, you can quickly check their transfer status too.

• Ensure titles and instructions appear as expected.
• Confirm functionality of links and attachments. (Note: Refer to the resource  to fix broken links.)
• Add Due Dates, start dates, and end dates as you prefer.

Note: If you use the Edit function from the three-dot menu on the right, you can edit Due Dates for any item on the page. Start and End dates will require editing within the specific item's page.

• Publish assignments as necessary.

Note: You can publish Quizzes and Discussions from this page as well.

Discussions:

• Check for successful migration of discussions.
• Ensure titles and instructions appear as expected.
• Ensure functionality of links and attachments. (Note: Refer to the resource  to fix broken links.)
• Pin any discussions you do not want automatically reordered by recent activity.
• Add Due Dates, start dates, and end dates as you prefer.
• Publish discussions as necessary.

Quizzes:

• Confirm that all quizzes have been migrated, including question banks if applicable.
• Ensure titles and instructions appear as expected.
• Check functionality of links and attachments. (Note: Refer to the resource  to fix broken links.)
• Determine if reordering or regrouping is needed.
• Add Due Dates, start dates, and end dates as you prefer.
• Publish quizzes as necessary.

Modules:

• Verify the migration status of existing modules.
• Verify functionality of links and attachments. (Note: Refer to the resource (say it with me this time!)  to fix broken links.)
• Determine if any reorganization is required.
• Publish modules and content as necessary.
• Note: Some activities may appear in a new module titled "Imported Assignments," created for activities that cannot be categorized into an existing module. Consider relocating these activities to a more appropriate module for your course. Use the resource  to help complete this task.

Calendar: 

• Review calendar events for accuracy. 
• Adjust any manually added dates.

Additional Things to Check:

• Edit your homepage. We've prepared a good-looking one for you, but it's a little generic in terms of content. Edit your own information in there. We believe in you!
• Ensure all content is published for student access.
• Use  to verify course appearance.

Step 5: Relax

Congratulations! You did it! You successfully transferred your course from D2L to Canvas, and no animals were harmed in the process! Exclamation point!

Why not reward yourself by signing up for one of our amazing upcoming Events?

Or maybe you have further questions, and need a little guidance? Then please contact us; there are so many ways to do it.

To schedule time with a Canvas expert, reach us by phone at (406)657-2112, email us at msubonline@msubillings.edu, , or stop on by our two locations: University Campus COE 328, and City College Tech B001.