Course Readiness
A practical checklist for getting a Canvas course ready for students — not a full instructional-design course. If you're new to teaching here, pair this with New Faculty Canvas Course Launch.
Understand it
"Ready" means a student can enter your course and immediately tell where to start, what to do, and how to reach you — before you worry about anything more advanced. This checklist walks the course the way a student would experience it, not the way it's organized behind the scenes.
What "ready" actually covers
Access & entry
Editing access, publication status, Student View, and the student's very first action in the course.
Settings & structure
Navigation, grading structure, dates, imported content, visibility, and required institutional setup.
Content & organization
Module naming, dates, locks/requirements, publication, and first-module usability and accessibility.
Assessment & communication
Assignments, quizzes, rubrics, submission/grading settings, announcements, and how students see grades and feedback.
Try it — the readiness check
Work through this in your own course. Nothing here is saved or submitted — check items off, then print or screenshot before you close the tab.
Use it
Found something you can't resolve on your own, or want company while you work through it? Bring it to a Build Lab or request support through Get Help. New to teaching entirely? New Faculty Canvas Course Launch walks through this same ground with guided support. Need the click-by-click Canvas how-to for any of these steps? See Canvas Launchpad.