UMass Boston

Getting your Course Ready for the New Semester

All courses will be migrated to Canvas in Spring 2025. You may choose to save backups of your Blackboard courses while you still have access to the system (by July 2025).

Remember

  • Course shells are automatically generated for every course listed in WISER, at least 2 months before the semester starts.
  • Courses open for students 3 days prior to the WISER class start date and remain open for 28 days after the end date.
  • An instructor must be listed as PI in WISER for their course to appear on their Canvas account. 

Book a consult Review Canvas Migration Resources

Teaching in Canvas

  1. Request Course Content: Submit the Course Content Request Form or if you are starting from scratch, request a template by emailing learningdesign@umb.edu.
  2. Import Course Content: If you are building your course in a migration shell or your sandbox remember to import your course into your live course shell. Watch this video to learn How to Import Course Content or email learningdesign@umb.edu for assistance.
  3. Cross-list your sections: If you typically merge courses in WISER, cross-list them in Canvas. Watch this video to learn How to Crosslist Course Sections. Remember do NOT cross-list lectures and labs.
  4. Student enrollments and TAs: will only update once a day. If a student enrolls or drops the change will take 24 hours. If you have Teaching Assistants, Peer Mentors, or Tutors, follow these instructions to Enroll Assistants in Your Course.
  5. Set up an Announcement in Blackboard pointing students to Canvas.umb.edu and hide all other content on the Blackboard course menu.
  6. Run the Link Validator tool: Canvas Link Validator Resource to find all broken links in your course.
  7. Use the Batch Edit tool: Canvas Batch Edit Tool to bulk change all course due dates and availability dates. To ensure accessibility, web links should describe the link’s destination. 
  8. PUBLISH your course: Don’t forget to publish your course three days before the start of the semester. How do I Publish my Courses?

Also note: 

  • Please use Chrome or Firefox with Canvas and remind your students to do the same.
  • Review the Resources posted on this page for more useful tips.

Resources

Get Help from Learning Design Services

Write to us: learningdesign@umb.edu

Book a Consult

Visit our Virtual Office