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The Syllabus provides your students with a centralized way to view upcoming due dates and deadlines, as well as a place for instructors to provide information about the course. Files allows you to post documents, images, and other files, for your students to access either directly (via the Files page within your course), or when those items are linked in a page or a module.

You may find, after adding assignments, quizzes, pages, files, modules, and other items to your course, that your course's sidebar is becoming a bit cluttered; you can use the Course Navigation settings to add or remove items from your course's navigation sidebar.

Syllabus

The Syllabus within your course space is a dedicated area for the purpose of providing an overview for what is expected of students. The Syllabus automatically lists all course assignments and quizzes by due date (if a due date has been set), as well as any events that have been entered into the course calendar. The assignments and events listed on the Syllabus can not be changed within the Syllabus tool; they can only be changed by editing those respective assignments or calendar events.

The Syllabus also provides you with a space in which to put other information including a course description, absence policies, makeup policies, and more. Some instructors may prefer to upload their course syllabus to ELMS-Canvas via Files rather than reproduce it in this area, in which case the Syllabus would be a perfect place to embed a link to that file. (Links to an external site.)

For more information, please consult the following documentation:

How do I use the Syllabus as an instructor? (Links to an external site.)

How do I edit the Syllabus description in a course?

Best Practices

If you already have a Syllabus in a word processed format, consider copying-and-pasting the Syllabus into the Syllabus page rather than upload it and link it as a File; this will insure better compatibility with all platforms, and will make it more convenient for your students to access.
When migrating course data to a new term, be sure to update the due dates for all Assignments and Quizzes, such that the Syllabus accurately reflects the new semester.

Files

Screenshot of course navigation sidebar, highlighting the "Files" page

The Files section of your course space allows you to upload and store documents, images, assigned readings, and other documents within ELMS-Canvas. Once a File has been uploaded, you can link to it on any page or module. Files allows you to organize items in folders, and those folders - as well as the items within them - can be published or unpublished the same way that any Page, Module, Assignment, or Quiz can be. (Links to an external site.)

For more information, please consult the following documentation:

What are Files?

How do I use Files as an instructor?

Best Practices

- Hide "Files" from your students in the course navigation settings and provide access to them in a different way, through Modules or Pages. Using Modules or Pages allows to link to files enables you to contextualize their importance in relationship to other activities or content presented through these tools.

Organize your files using folders, so you can easily find what you're looking for.

Course Navigation

The Course Navigation menu, found on the left sidebar of your course space, is the primary means by which you (and your students) can access the components of your course. The links present in the navigation menu can be reordered, removed, or added by clicking on Settings, then choosing the Navigation tab.

Screenshot of Course Settings folder tabs, highlighting the "Navigation" tab

For more information, please consult the following documentation:

How do I use the Course Navigation menu as an instructor? (Links to an external site.)

How do I manage Course Navigation links?

Best Practices

Hide any items that you do not wish to use or show to your students, to avoid unnecessary clutter and confusion. For example, many instructors choose to hide the Files and Pages items, as they prefer to link to Files and Pages within modules or within other pages rather than allow their students to freely browse them.
Reorder items to determine what items students should see first when they look at the Navigation menu.