Canvas: Sharing Site Content as an Archive or an ePub

As an instructor, there are times when you may need your own access or want to share a Canvas site with someone in order to allow them to see your course materials or curriculum. This article describes options for sharing, storing, or viewing your Canvas content. For assistance with any of these options submit a Middlebury Help Desk ticket with details: Request an archive copy of one or more Canvas sites

If you want to share your course materials with someone who already has access to Middlebury Canvas, then you’ll probably want to request a hosted archive copy of your site. However, depending on your circumstance, you may prefer to export your course in a couple of other formats. The exported archive copy or common cartridge package allows you store your content externally and to import your course into an instance of Canvas at another institution or with a personal account on the free instance hosted by Instructure. On the other hand if you need to share your materials with someone outside of Middlebury or in a more portable format, the ePub archive option may be the best choice. Each of these sharing options address privacy concerns about student data as no student data is carried forward.

Hosted Archive Copy of a Canvas Site

A hosted archive copy of a Canvas course site is a copy of all of the content without the student activity.

The hosted archive is a copy of a Canvas site stored in Middlebury’s instance of Canvas so that an instructor can add additional people. This option is most useful in cases where the viewing course structure, materials, and assignments within the context of the Canvas environment is important for the sharing internally with people who have Middlebury network access. For instance, this would be a good option when a colleague would like to see how a version of a course from a previous term was taught, or if an instructor is up for review.

• Canvas guide: How do I copy content from another Canvas course using the Course Import tool?

• Canvas guide: How do I add users to a course?

Exported Archive Copy of a Canvas Site

An exported archive is a copy of a Canvas site that is packaged as a common cartridge IMSCC ZIP file for personal storage outside of Middlebury Canvas. Exported archives can only be opened by programs that support Common Cartridge files. You can also change the extension from .imscc to .zip and treat it as any other ZIP file. This option is most useful in cases where an adjunct instructor may not have year round access to Middlebury Canvas or if the instructor's relationship to Middlebury changes and they plan to re-purpose content in another instance of Canvas. *Note: exported archives may not function the same way in other instances of Canvas, especially if external tools are part of the course design.

• Canvas guide: How do I export a Canvas course?

• Instructure Canvas for personal use (requires an account)

• Canvas guide: How do I import a Canvas course export package?

Exporting Your Course as an ePub

ePub is a downloadable file format that is used for e-books and can be viewable offline in an eReader. The file will include published content for the course site, it will not include the Canvas look and feel. This strategy is most useful when access to Middlebury’s Canvas or the internet is a challenge. Use this strategy to share content from your Canvas site with a colleague at another school, or students that need the information for a future course.

1. Check to make sure the ePub exporting feature is on for your course. It is not on by default. Canvas Guide: How do I manage new features for a course?

2. Canvas Guide: How do I view course content offline as an ePub file as an instructor?