Sakai to Canvas – Resources Export and Import

To copy only Sakai Resources to Canvas Files

Original material provided By Wayland Caldwell

Use this method if you only want to copy the files in the “Resources” section of Sakai into Canvas, and skip everything else (however some resources – specifically web links and citation lists – will not transfer since these are not real files). You can also do this as a final step outlined in  the “entire site” method may miss some resources, and doing this will guarantee that all your resource files come across.

Video Instructions – by Scott Claybrook

Part I – Export Resources from Sakai

1. Go to the “Resources” tool in your Sakai site.
2. The top item in the list of resources will have the name of your site. Click the “Actions” menu to the right of that top item.
3. Select “Compress to Zip Archive”
4. Wait. This may take a while depending on how many resources you have and how large they are.
5. Eventually you will see a new resource with a long name that is a random series of letters and numbers (it’s actually your Sakai SiteID)
6. Click directly on the the name of the new file.
7. Check the “Downloads” folder on your own computer, you should now have a copy of the file.

Part II – Import the files in Canvas

1. Click “Files” in Canvas
2. Click “Upload” (in the upper-right corner)
3. Choose the “zip” file that you downloaded from Sakai Resources (it should have a long name of random numbers and letters).
4. Choose to “Expand it” when Canvas asks what to do.
5. Wait. This may take a while, depending on the number and size of the files.
6. When done, you’ll see all your files in Canvas, minus any web links.

______________________________________________________________________________

Problems and things to check

• If you renamed resources in Sakai, they will revert to the original names. You need to rename the files again in Canvas.
• If you copy the entire site, Sakai may fail to include some Resources when exporting. You may need to upload individual files.
• Canvas does not allow you to re-order files, they will always be in alphabetical order. You need to use either the Pages or Modules tool to control the display order.
• Canvas does not allow you to edit “Files” in place (you can download and edit them off-line, then upload again). The ability to edit in Canvas is in the “Pages” tool, but all material that is copied from Sakai will be placed in “Files” where it cannot be edited.
• You will need to check the individual items in Canvas to make sure the dates are appropriate (do this even if you chose to “shift dates” – many dates simply will not come through the transition).
• The Sakai “Syllabus” tool will not copy over to Canvas (this only applies to the tool, i.e., many faculty add a syllabus file to the resources tool, and that will copy correctly). If needed, you can click the “Print View” in the Sakai Syllabus tool, then copy and paste the text into the Canvas “Pages” tool.
• Certain types of Sakai Resources will not copy over (web links, citation lists). You will need to recreate these in Canvas.
• Sakai Lessons and Canvas Modules are not exactly comparable. Lessons will be converted into a series of links in Canvas Modules, and the content itself will end up in the Canvas Files (in a folder name “attachments”). To create an experience that is more similar to Sakai Lessons, you may want to copy your content into Canvas “Pages”.
• Sakai discussion forums must have an added topic. Forums with no topics will not copy into Canvas.
• The Canvas “Files” section may still be invisible to students (it will be light gray). If this happens, go to Canvas Settings, click “Navigation” then click the menu next to “Files” and choose “Enable”. You may also need to drag the “Files” item into the upper box (out of the “hidden from students” section).
• If you copy question pools and your questions have images or attached files, you will need to re-attach those images or files again in Canvas.  The images do not export with the CC and are not included in the Sakai Resources files
• The CC export will only bring over published assessments/quizzes.