Last revised: : 2026-06-23

The Templates at Mid Sweden University

At Mid Sweden University, all course rooms in Canvas should be based on common principles and a common template.

We use common templates to make it easier for both students and teachers to find their way around their different course rooms. The templates are designed based on educational research, as well as legal requirements, including accessibility. By working with the template and following the basic principles, it becomes easier to meet the legal requirements. Read more about how we develop the templates.

Common principles

All course rooms should be based on one of Mid Sweden University's templates.
The Inbox should be used for individual communication.
Important dates and times for the course should be in the Calendar.
Resources and activities in the course rooms should be contextualized.
Assignments should contain clear instructions and be dated.
The course menu should have a similar structure between course rooms.
Course rooms and their content should be accessible and mobile-friendly.

Template home page

There should be a home page that welcomes and orients the student in the course room. The home page should contain graphic icons that provide visual guidance to the text. These should be linked to the respective module overview page or other important elements.

The icons that lead to Course Overview, Ask the Teachers, Examinations and Student Support should be the same in all course rooms. However, icons that lead to the content of the course modules can be replaced so that they are adapted to the content of the course.

Syllabus

The Syllabus function must be used and provides information about the course's pedagogical structure, course coordinator, teachers and other important people, as well as links to the "kursplan" and any welcome letter. A Course Summary is also visible here, i.e. the automated function that retrieves information from dated Assignments etc. and lists them at the bottom of the Syllabus. The Syllabus page is important for giving students an overview of examinations and important dates in the course.

Modules

The course should be structured with the Modules tool. The modules create an overview of the course's parts and their content, which makes it easier to find. In each module, you create pages, assignments, discussions and so on based on the course's structure. Remember to create an overview page for each module, which summarizes the material there and helps the student to orient themselves in the course. It is also to this overview page that the icons on the home page should be linked.

Contextualize the content of the course room

It is a good idea to organize the content and naming of the course room based on the topic being covered. For example, you might have a module on Basic Anatomy. In that module, you could add pages with information and video clips, discussions, and assignments related to basic anatomy. See the modules as a way to guide the student’s learning, not a storage place for material. Provide context for what you add. For example, explain why you are adding an article or video clip and what your students are expected to do with it.

Pages

Information should be added to pages as much as possible rather than files. Using pages increases students’ accessibility to the material because screen readers can then be automatically used. There is also a screen reader integrated into Canvas, Advanced Reader. Pages also make it easier for teachers to maintain the course room, because anyone with teacher permissions can edit the pages and no files need to be downloaded, uploaded, or shared. Pages also work better than files on different screen sizes, especially when using mobile. Finally, using pages makes it easier to comply with current culling and archiving legislation. The Archives Act states that course rooms must be preserved as they were when the course was given and that materials must not be changed after the course has ended.

Assignments

Information about the implementation of assignments and assignment instructions should be included in the assignment itself. The assignments should be made visible in the appropriate module, either in the context in which they occur or in a special examination module.

Course menu

Keep the course menu short. This makes it easier for students to find their way. In the basic template, there is a selection of possible menu options active. If there is a menu option you do not need, you can hide it. The course menu should also have a similar order/structure between different course rooms, especially within the same program.

Calendar

All activities, such as seminars, examinations, submissions and the like, should be dated. This is so that it will automatically be visible in the course calendar, on the course Syllabus and in the course's To Do list.

Inbox

Use the Inbox function for direct communication with an individual student. As a teacher, you can also choose the option to reply to inbox messages directly from your Outlook. You set this in Canvas settings. Read more about receiving inbox notifications via Outlook.

Accessibility and mobile adaptation

To check the accessibility of your course rooms, you can use the Accessibility Checker function.

Also test your course room on your mobile phone. You need both the Canvas by Instructure and Canvas Teacher apps to be able to test as a student.

Yellow-marked information for teachers

In template 3.0, there is yellow-marked information aimed at teachers. It is primarily visible when something is edited and is not visible to students. Read the information to get support in your work with building the course room.

If you have copied material from previous course sessions, there may also be yellow-marked text on pages created with a previous template. This is information for you as a teacher and should be removed before you publish the page for students.

The development of templates is a work in progress. We welcome your feedback! You can reach us via pukontakt@miun.se