Limiting visibility of course

[BenjaminLowe1]

I am new to Canvas - my first day--and migrating from Blackboard which will end in the Fall semester.  I have been able to upload a past course from the Fall of 2023 into Canvas.  I need to make sure when I Publish I only make it visible to one student who needs the course visible for the Spring.  Is there a way to do that?

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@BenjaminLowe1 ...

Typically what schools do is set up brand new course shells each semester rather than re-using the same course.  This way, you can keep your students separated per semester, and you can easily copy course content from semester to semester.  Schools usually have some sort of SIS (Student Information System) in place that automatically sends course shells and enrollments to Canvas...so there is really no work you'd need to do on your part for that.  I would suggest that you have a conversation with your school's Canvas administrator or someone from your school's Online Learning / eLearning / Distance Education team on what their process looks like.  They would be able to give you the best advice as it relates to your courses.  Essentially, your one student for the Spring 2024 semester would be loaded into a completely separate course from the students who were in the Fall 2023 semester.

As far as copying content from one course to another is concerned, you'll want to use the instructions in this Guide:

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

You'll want to be logged into your new Spring 2024 course as you follow these instructions...as you'll be selecting your Fall 2023 course when choosing which content to import (copy) into the Spring 2024 course.  This short video also shows how to use the course import tool.

Course Content Import (Instructors)

I hope this will all be helpful for you.  Let us know if you have any questions...thanks!

[SusanNiemeyer]

@Chris_Hofer's advice is spot on.

At my community college, students are automatically enrolled in my Canvas shells through SIS. When I publish my course, all students are enrolled in it will have equal access to it. It is not possible to limit access to just one student. 

[RecycledElectro]

If that student is the only student enrolled in the course, they should be the only one to see it, right?

I'm missing something.

Look under "People" and see who is enrolled in the course.

[Chris_Hofer]

@RecycledElectro ...

Yes, if the instructor and the student are the only ones enrolled in the course (assuming it is set up as a new course for the new semester), then they would be the only ones who would see it ... aside from the school's Canvas admins who typically have access to everything in Canvas.