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Question

So confused about course copies in Canvas

  • March 4, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 14 views

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What am I supposed to tell people to do? 

I want to create instructions for teachers so that they can have either embedded collaborative whiteboards in their course, or the individual submission assignment whiteboards(submission type: lucid), and fix them after a course copy. 

But I’m lost with all the information here on what to tell them. 

So, the embedded ones, after a course copy they have to create a copy of the board and delete it from the page and re-embed it right? 

The assignments, they can’t just edit the assignment and re-set-up the external tool with a different whiteboard? They have to delete and re-create a new assignment? is that right? 

ALSO I am annoyed that when I first tested this years ago, I could set a whiteboard as a “template” in my Lucid dashboard. Then, if I selected that template in Canvas, it would automatically embed a copy of the template. Now, I have to manually create a copy from the template and select that one when embedding otherwise it just embeds the original template and then everybody is editing the template. Why?? Why would anyone want to embed an original template in Canvas? That was the one saving grace I had to make this process simpler. 

Comments

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  • Author
  • March 4, 2026

Okay, figured out one thing -- 

Templates - You can use a view-only share link on a template, then any instructor can click it and instantly add it to their account. 

Using Templates - Didn’t realize that you could add a new blank board, and in the template browser, select “created by you” or “shared with you” to see those and it will create a copy of them. That’s neat. 

So I’ll have them do that.

Another thing I think I figured out - 

Assignments using the Lucid external tool can be copied, but they don’t automatically change to a new copy, so I’ll have them edit the assignment and choose a new board from the template each semester. 

I hope that is all good. let me know if I am wrong. 


alison cheney
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  • Lucid community team
  • March 5, 2026

Hi ​@sgtlucid,

Thank you for posting in the Lucid Community!

You are correct in the information you found! I wanted to add one tidbit here that may be helpful for your workflow. While configuring the Lucid integration to treat the file as a “Template” should automatically generate fresh instances for new course shells, manually re-linking the assignment remains the most reliable way to prevent data carry-over between semesters.

Here are a few resources you can refer to that will help you utilize our powerful tools for visual communication and collaboration in the classroom.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions!