Course Types
Three types of courses can be created in Canvas:
- Official CU Boulder courses that are for credit and non-credit.
- Community courses that are not connected to an official CU Boulder course.
- Sandbox courses you can use to explore Canvas or use as a space to develop your course before copying what you create into your official or community course. Once created, the course will be available immediately to the instructor.
Academic Courses
Request an academic course
- Most official Canvas courses are created automatically. Learn more about automatic course creation in Canvas.
To create additional courses, review our Create a Course tutorial to learn more. - Canvas courses are created as blank shells; however, you can copy course content into a new course.
Request changes to your academic course
- Log in to MyCUInfo and use the Request Course Changes tutorial for assistance with submitting a request. After submitting the form, course changes will be completed within 2 business days.
Community Courses
- Community courses can be used for orientations, trainings, workshops or any other activity that could benefit from having an online group space. Faculty, Staff and Recognized Student Organizations can request a community course, and any CU Boulder affiliate with an IdentiKey can participate in a community course. Complete the Community Course Request Form to get started.
Sandbox Courses
- Instructors will see a sandbox course on their Dashboard after logging into Canvas.
- If you don’t see a Sandbox on your Dashboard or would like an additional one, request one using this form. Staff can create sandbox courses using the request form as well. Your sandbox will be created within 2 business days. If you do not receive confirmation between 2 business days, please contact oithelp@colorado.edu.
- This tutorial explains how to adding users to your course. A variety of roles are available in Canvas. Note that all course participants must have an IdentiKey username and password to be able to access and enrolled in Canvas courses. If you wish to enroll a person in your course who does not possess these credentials, you can set up a sponsorship through the IT Service Center. Learn more about sponsored accounts.