Do you remember being a student and walking into a new classroom on the first day of the term? You may have felt a bit nervous and unsure of what to expect. Perhaps you looked around for familiar faces before deciding where to sit. Did you begin to relax when the instructor welcomed you, provided a copy of the course syllabus, and shared details about what to expect in the course? You probably got a sense of the instructor's personality on that first day and you almost certainly left with instructions for what to do before the next class session.

As a parallel to the physical classroom experience, a Welcome Module in a Canvas course allows you to warmly greet students as they step into your online classroom for the first time. Use the Welcome Module to orient students to course content, organization, technology tools, and expectations. Share your syllabus. Help students relax by revealing something about your personality. Provide tips to help them succeed in the course.

More information about recommended elements of the welcome module are discussed in: Welcome’ Modules: Opening the Door to Your Canvas Course.

Below you will find Welcome Module templates you can import into your Canvas course site. There are two templates to choose from: one is designed for remote instruction and one for web (asynchronous online) instruction.

Instructions for uploading either file

Download your file of choice below.
Select “Import Course Content” (either in Settings or from the Home page).
Under “Import Content,” as the Content Type, select “Canvas Course Export Package.”
Choose File and navigate to the file.
Select “All Content.”
There are no due dates yet so no need to select “Adjust events and due dates.”
Click Import. The module package and assignments will load into your course as unpublished content.
Use the template prompts to create your personalized Welcome Module. When finished, publish the module.

Web (Asynchronous Online) Instruction

Online Course Welcome Module

Remote (Synchronous) Instruction

Remote Course Welcome Module