🏗️ What Is My Sandbox Course?

A Sandbox Course has been created for you in Canvas with a basic course structure already in place. The purpose of your sandbox is to serve as a template for building your own course in Canvas.

As you progress through the Instructor Training Course, you’ll apply each of the Checkpoints within your sandbox. By the end, you’ll have a fully developed course ready for review by the Teaching & Learning Center (TLC). After final approval, the content from your sandbox will be copied into a live Canvas course—essentially turning your sandbox into your official course.

💡 Note: Your sandbox may already include content from a previous instructor. You are welcome to keep, adjust, or remove any of that material. While you’ll still need to complete all required Checkpoints, this existing content can give you a useful head start. Please note that the Checkpoints assume your sandbox starts as a blank template.

📍 Where Can I Find My Sandbox Course?

You can find your sandbox by selecting “Courses” from the left-hand navigation menu in Canvas.

Your sandbox course will typically be titled with your last name followed by “Sandbox" and the course you're scheduled to teach for the upcoming semester.

Examples:

Jones Sandbox Math 113
Brenner Sandbox CIS 110

✅ Who Checks My Sandbox Course?

After you’ve completed all the required Checkpoints and built your sandbox course, the Teaching & Learning Center will review it with you and provide feedback or suggestions for improvement.

Once your sandbox receives final approval, the TLC team will create a live Canvas course and copy your sandbox content into it.

🔒 Will I Keep Access to My Sandbox?

Yes! You will always have access to your sandbox course. This makes it an excellent place to:

Experiment with new tools and features
Test out course design ideas
Practice advanced Canvas functions

Everything you do there stays separate from your live course(s), so you can explore freely!

👉Click “Next” to continue to Course Definitions.