You can copy an entire course or specific content from one course to another. Open the course you would like to add previously used content to and click Settings (1) in the course menu. From there you can access the Import Course Content (2) option in the right column.

Screenshot of Course Settings screen.

From the drop down menu for Content type, choose Copy a Canvas course. Search for the course you would like to copy from and select Select specific content. If you choose Select specific content you will be able to select and deselect content on the next screen after clicking the Import button. If you instead go with All content, the import will also include things you might not want to copy like announcements from last years course.

Screenshot of settings for importing a Canvas course.

If you chose Select specific content you will now see the button Select content under Current jobs.

A current jobs row with the option to select content.

The following screen then appears where you can select the content you would like to include. If you click on the small arrow in front of the content type, you will be able to select specific items. Click Select content to start the import.

Content selection window.

Note!

When copying a course containing Commons resources (like the guide Sourcewise: A Student's Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism, previously interactive anti-plagiarism guide), please note that the exact copy from the course will be included and not the latest version from Commons. To make sure you are using the latest version of Commons content, please visit the resource in Commons and import anew.

After import: Update assignment dates

Once the import job has finished, don't forget to change the deadlines for the assignments (and other dates you might have entered). If not changed, the dates from last course instance will be displayed for students. You can change assignment dates from each assignments' settings, but the easiest way to change them all in batch is to go to Assignments (3) in the course menu, click the three dots (4) and then Edit Assignment Dates (5).

Screenshot show where to find the feature Edit Assignment Dates.

What content can't be included in a copy?

Student enrollments, submissions and grades/feedback is never included in the copy. Since students are not included in the copy the student groups and group sets are also excluded. Therefore you must edit any group assignment settings after the import is done.