The Canvas Course Copy feature is an effective way for instructors to copy some or all their course materials from one Canvas course into another. Course Copy helps instructors reuse as much material as possible, without having to reinvent the wheel at the beginning of each semester. Materials can be deleted, added, or edited after Course Copy has been performed so that the course is up to date as possible. 

However, as helpful as Course Copy is, it can potentially cause problems when used later in the semester. Specifically, Course Copy can accidentally overwrite previously-copied materials when used more than once—and it can overwrite student submissions and grades. 

An alternative to “Course Copy” is “Copy To”

Copy To allows instructors to copy single items or an entire Modules’ worth of items from one course to another. Most importantly, it is not possible for the Copy To feature to completely overwrite a course; this is added insurance that makes it the preferable copying function once the semester is underway. 

Best practice recommendations: 

• Use Course Copy between semesters and at the very beginning of each semester 

• Use Copy To after the start of the semester 

You can find more information about the Copy To function in the Canvas Instructor Guide.