Digital Learning & Design’s mission is to partner with instructors to create engaging learning experiences and foster innovative teaching at Brown University. Since our work processes and systems are developed to support this mission, hosting other activities in Canvas can shift our focus and resources, at the expense of our core mission.
For this reason, all requests for (or renewals of) a non-traditional Canvas site must be evaluated and reviewed for eligibility within the system. Please read through this article to learn if your site qualifies and the responsibilities of owning and maintaining a Non-Traditional Course Canvas Site. Even if your request/renewal for a Canvas site is denied, DLD staff will help requestors identify an alternative solution.
NOTE: During the pandemic, several sites were created in Canvas to help facilitate the emergency transition to remote for a variety of learning experiences from across campus. Sites created during this time will be evaluated as part of the renewal process to determine whether the site should remain in Canvas or be transferred to another solution.
Eligibility for a Non-Traditional Course Canvas Site
| Non-Traditional Courses Eligible For Canvas |
Programs Not Eligible for Canvas |
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If your course is not eligible for a Canvas site, please review the list of alternative solutions our office compiled for you. If you are still unsure of your eligibility or want to have a discussion, please sign up for a consultation to discuss your use case.
Non-Traditional Canvas Course Technical Requirements and Restrictions
- Canvas site requests for Non-Traditional Courses must come from a Brown faculty member or Brown support staff member.
- All Non-Traditional Course Canvas sites expire at the end of the academic year it was created.
- After expiration, you must request a new Canvas site for your Non-Traditional Course via the Canvas Site Request Form for Non-Traditional Courses.
- Renewed courses will receive a brand new Canvas site.
- Canvas Site requesters/primary instructors will create/manage the content for the site.
- Canvas Site requesters/primary instructors will update, manage, and submit enrollment lists to dld@brown.edu.
- Course audience must have a valid Brown ID.
- Course audience must be undergraduate or graduate students.
- Course enrollment must not exceed 250 users.
- Course content cannot be made publicly available.
- Course content must not contain high risk data.
Learning Tools offerings for Custom Canvas Courses depend on the licensing agreement Brown University has with the vendor. The following tools are available in Custom Canvas Courses and are subject to change based on their annual renewal.
- Brown LibGuides
- Ed Discussion
- Google Assignments
- GoReact
- Harmonize
- Namecoach
- Panopto/Media Library
- TopHat
- Turnitin
- UDOIT
- Zoom
Our full catalog can be viewed on our Supported Tools page.
General questions and support for Non-Traditional Course Canvas sites will be provided by Canvas support which is available to Brown with 24/7 support via chat or phone hot-line (both options are available from the Help menu in Canvas).
Requesting/Renewing a Canvas Site for a Non-Traditional Course
Please click on the appropriate option below:
If your course meets the requirements above, submit your request by filling out our Canvas Site Request Form for Non-Traditional Course.
Requests will be honored on a case-by-case basis. After the form is submitted, you will need to sign up for a consultation to discuss your request in depth. To make an appointment, please visit our scheduling page.
Once the consultation is completed, your request will be reviewed for approval by the Learning Technology Team. When scheduling your appointment, keep in mind that the approval process may take 1-2 weeks from your consultation date.
For credit bearing course, creating your Canvas site can be done without assistance via coursetools.brown.edu. Step by step instructions are available in this knowledge-base article.
Non-Traditional Course Canvas sites expire at the end of the Brown academic year in which it was requested. Non-Traditional courses which already have an approved Canvas Site must resubmit a request annually via the Canvas Site Request Form for Non-Traditional Course.
Prior to receiving your renewed Canvas site, you may be asked to complete a consultation with our team where we would update you on new tools and features available in our Canvas space.
NOTE: Renewals are subject to revaluation. Please review the information described above to ensure that your course meets our site requirements.
Alternative Solutions
Brown Faculty and staff have a variety of tools at their disposal that would achieve their program goals better than Canvas. Review the list below and click on the learn more links to get details on those services.
Brown Sites is a WordPress based site available to faculty and staff who would like to create a professional website for academic purposes. Some examples are:
- Individual faculty and staff pages
- Conferences
- Workshops
- Lab and research studies
- Organizations and partnerships housed at Brown
To learn more, visit https://sites.brown.edu/.
Brown University Library supports the pilot program, Digital Scholarship at Brown, which provides faculty and staff access to flexible web and server space separate from Browns standard IT infrastructure. This service is available to users whose academic programs do not meet the requirements for a Canvas course, Brown site, or Google Site.
To learn more, visit https://digitalscholarship.brown.edu/homepage/guidelines/.
Brown faculty and staff have access to a variety of Google products ideal for educational purposes. The following tools can be leveraged for your program and provides you the flexibility to invite users outside of Brown.
- Google Classroom - a streamlined, easy-to-use tool that allows users to create classes, distribute assignments, grade and send feedback.
- Google Sites - an application where faculty, staff or students can design interactive websites to share information about their course.
- Google Drive - a personal cloud storage service which allows users to store and share folders, files, and collaborative documents (Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc...)
To learn more, visit https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9389764?hl=en.
Adobe Express is a suite of products by Adobe that are free to Brown users which aims to lower the barrier for anyone wanting to achieve inspirational digital designs. Express products are web-browser based, but can also be used via mobile apps, and projects are saved and published in the cloud.
To learn more, visit this resource provided by the Brown Multimedia Labs.
Instructure, the vendor for Canvas, offers a "free to individuals" version of Canvas. Creating a free Canvas account and site gives the instructor full control of their program - including enrollment management and allowing participants outside of Brown University.
NOTE: This is free tool that is not Brown affiliated or supported. Users will need to create a Canvas account specific to the free version. The site will not have integrated DLD supported tools.
To learn more, visit https://www.instructure.com/canvas/login/free-for-teacher.
Workday Learning is Brown University's new learning management system used for compliance training and professional development.
To learn more about adding your program to Workday, submit a Workday ticket here or email workdayprogram@brown.edu.