LibAnswers: Instructional Design

Important: Please refer to the LibAnswers guide on using the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning's custom cross-list tool.

Overview

Cross-listing courses on Canvas allows you to manage two or more sections of the same course from one Canvas shell. However, it's crucial to maintain specific cross-list settings, as otherwise it may violate FERPA. If course sections do not meet together and are cross-listed in Canvas, instructors should take steps to ensure compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Students in Canvas cross-listed courses should not be permitted to see or interact with students in other sections unless these sections are listed as cross-listed in PAWS.

A Word from Records and Registration on FERPA

The College of New Jersey recognizes that there is a delicate balance between the responsibility for maintaining student privacy rights and providing effective and efficient service to our students. To maintain this balance, it is essential that members of the campus community understand the issues related to student privacy and the handling of student information pursuant to the federal law known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

TCNJ Records and Registration maintains informational offerings on FERPA and student privacy rights.

Ensuring Student Privacy in Canvas

Use the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning's custom cross-list tool. This tool ensures the course is compliant:

• Set section privileges for all students enrolled in the course.
• Disable announcement replies for an entire course.
• Disable “Let students organize their own groups” in your course settings.
• Disable the following course navigation links in your course settings:
  • Chat
  • Conferences
  • Zoom (see below)
  • Collaborations
• If you add a TCNJ user participant under "People," such as a Learning Assistant, set “Can interact with users in their section only.”

Specific Canvas Settings

• Groups: If you create a Group, require group members to be in the same section.
• Discussions: Create separate discussion boards for each cross-listed section. 
  • For graded discussions, create differentiated due dates under "Assign to" for discussion topics restricted to individual sections.
  • For ungraded discussions, use the "Post to" option to post topics to individual sections instead of the entire class.
• Inbox: If you send a Canvas message to two or more students in different sections, select "Send an individual message to each recipient." 
  • This setting sends a separate copy to each recipient and hides the recipient's names in the message header.
• Zoom: If you use Zoom within Canvas, you must disable cloud recordings because all course participants have access to the recordings tab. Students should only attend the Zoom session for their section. Alternatively, you can create Zoom sessions outside of Canvas and share those links only with the appropriate sections.