Background to the template

This is the first version of the Canvas course template developed specifically for doctoral education at KI. It has been created by the Unit for Digital Learning in collaboration with representatives from doctoral courses.

The template is informed by principles from Universal Design with a strong focus on web accessibility. The goal is to support inclusive course design and to help make course content easier for doctoral students to navigate and engage with.

We welcome your feedback and suggestions on how to improve the template. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

Purpose and use

This template serves as a foundation for building your course in Canvas and aims to provide a consistent and user-friendly experience for doctoral students at KI. A clear and accessible course structure helps students find relevant content, follow the course flow, and reduce unnecessary stress or confusion.

Please note that this is a flexible template—a suggested structure rather than a fixed standard. It may not fit every course exactly as it is. You are encouraged to adapt it to meet the specific needs of your course. If you develop your own version, you are welcome to publish it in Canvas Commons, but be sure to clearly label it as a template and indicate which programme it is designed for.

The template provides:

A start page
M0. This module with general information on the course.
M1. This module is for tasks to complete before the course starts.
D1-D10: Daily modules - see below.
A course menu that has been set to mirror the recommendations from KI on which menu headings to show your students.

How to use the daily modules (e.g., D1, D2, etc.)

Each daily module follows a consistent structure using numbered pages and activities. This helps students follow the flow of the course and easily locate relevant content and tasks.

Below is an example layout for Day 1 (D1), which you can adapt for subsequent days (D2, D3, etc.):

D1.1 General Information | Premises | Other
Practical information relevant to the course day, such as classroom location, guest speakers, or materials needed.
D1.2 Lecture | [Title or Topic]
First lecture of the day. Add slides, video, or summary of key points.
D1.3 Lecture | [Title or Topic]
Second lecture or session. Use the same format as D1.2 for consistency.
D1.4 Homework | Instructions
Tasks or reading to be completed after the session. Include deadlines, submission instructions, or links to resources.
D1.5 Lecture Handouts for Day 1
Supplementary material, such as PDFs, articles, or links referenced during lectures.
D1.6 Assignment | Instructions
Any graded or formative assignment linked to Day 1. Be clear about how students should submit their work and how it will be assessed.
D1.7 Get Feedback on Your [Topic]
A discussion forum for peer or teacher feedback. You can guide students on what type of feedback to give or how to engage with others’ posts.

🛠️ Customise the titles and contents for each day, but keep the numbering format (D1.1, D1.2, etc.) to support consistency and clarity throughout the course. Use “+” in the Module menu to add content, and the 3-dot menu to edit or reorder items.

Instruction video for working with the template

In this video (9:17min) Carina Bois, learning technologist from the Unit for Teaching and learning gives you a few instructions on how to work with the template once you have imported it into your empty course shell.

Extra material

In last module we give a couple of suggestions for assignment overview pages for threaded assignment types.

If you want to preview the template before downloading then click on the Preview button below.

Important!

NB!! If you import the template into a course that your have already started to edit it will override your existing course settings. We recommend that you start with an empty course room before you import the template.

Instructions for importing the template

Preview the template before you import it
Create a new course room via Dashboard > Create new course
Go to Canvas Commons via the Global menu. Search for Doctoral course in the box to search for the template. You can see the course in this image:
Open the course to preview it. To the right you can see a menu where you can Import/Download the template.
Select your newly created course room in the list of your courses.
Select Import to course.
Wait a few minutes and then go to the new course room to see if it has updated.
When the import is complete you can access the content that you have imported. Don't forget that you will need to make sure that the course's name and settings are correct for your course.

Preview and download the template

Preview the template

Preview the template here and sign up as a student to view from student perspective

Download from Canvas Commons

Download from Commons