Avoiding Common Course Copy Problems

Overview

Course copy is a helpful way to reuse Harmonize activities from one course to another. In most cases, copied Harmonize activities work as expected. However, some course copy workflows, especially in Canvas, can create confusion if you expect copied Harmonize activities to keep syncing after the first copy.

This article explains common course copy pitfalls, why they happen, and how to avoid extra manual cleanup later.

For general course copy guidance, start with our main article on Course Copy.

Before You Copy: Use This Checklist

Before copying a course, Blueprinting a course, or using a copied course as the source for another copy, we recommend the following:

1. Finish building your Harmonize activities in the source course.
   • Check instructions
   • Check due dates
   • Check milestones
   • Check settings
   • Check rubrics
   • Check any files, videos, images, or documents
2. Open each Harmonize activity in the source course. This helps Harmonize see the activity in that course before the course is copied.
3. Copy the course.
4. Open each Harmonize activity in the copied course and confirm that each activity looks the way you expect.
5. Only then use that copied course as the source for additional copies.

This is especially important if you are working with a chain of copied courses, such as:

Original Course → Copy A → Copy B → Copy C

Long copy chains are okay, but you should open and check each Harmonize item in one course before copying that course into the next course.

Scenario 1: I updated the parent course. Why didn’t the child courses update?

What happened

This usually happens with Canvas Blueprint courses.

Canvas Blueprint can be used to push Harmonize activities from a parent course to child courses. However, once the Harmonize activity exists in the child course, the Harmonize content in the child course does not stay linked to the Harmonize content in the parent course.

That means you cannot keep editing the Harmonize activity in the parent course and expect those edits to keep pushing to the child courses. This includes changes to:

• Harmonize instructions
• Harmonize settings
• Harmonize milestones
• Harmonize rubrics
• Harmonize files, images, videos, or documents

What can still be pushed through Canvas Blueprint?

Some Canvas-side settings may still push because they belong to the Canvas assignment, not the Harmonize activity itself. These include:

• Points
• Final due date
• Anonymous grading
• Assignment category
• Canvas rubric
• Content in the Canvas Rich Content Editor

Think of Canvas Blueprint with Harmonize as a one-time copy for Harmonize content, not an ongoing sync.

How to avoid this

Before pushing Harmonize activities through Canvas Blueprint:

1. Build the Harmonize activities in the parent course.
2. Open each Harmonize activity in the parent course.
3. Confirm that each activity is complete.
4. Push the activities to the child courses.
5. Open the Harmonize activities in the child courses to confirm they look correct.

Scenario 2: I copied Course A to Course B, then Course B to Course C. Now something looks wrong.

What happened

This can happen when a copied course is used as the source for another copy before the Harmonize activities in that copied course have been opened.

For example:

Course A → Course B → Course C

If Course B is copied into Course C before anyone opens the Harmonize activities in Course B, Harmonize may not have enough information about Course B to copy from it cleanly.

How to avoid this

After every course copy, open the Harmonize activities in the copied course before using that course as the source for another copy.

A safer workflow looks like this:

Course A
↓
Copy to Course B
↓
Open and check every Harmonize activity in Course B
↓
Copy Course B to Course C
↓
Open and check every Harmonize activity in Course C

This extra check can save a lot of manual cleanup later, especially when a parent course is being copied into many child courses.

Scenario 3: I copied one item, but it brought over settings I wasn't expecting.

What happened

This issue is most common in Canvas because Canvas allows instructors and IDs to copy or import individual items between courses.

Even if you select one Canvas assignment, Canvas may send Harmonize a course copy signal in the background. From the user’s perspective, it looks like one item is being copied. From Harmonize’s perspective, Canvas may be telling us that a course copy is happening.

This matters because Harmonize course copy is designed as a one-time copy between two courses. If you copy one item from Course A to Course B, Harmonize may copy all the Harmonize content in the background. If you later update a different Harmonize item in Course A and try to copy that item into Course B, the earlier copy may already determine what Course B receives.

When is individual item copy okay?

Individual item copy can work well when you only need to copy one new Harmonize item once into another course and don't plan to copy any other Harmonize items (besides brand new items) in the future.

For example, this is usually fine:

Course A has a brand new Harmonize activity.
You copy that one activity into Course B.
You do not later try to copy any other Harmonize activities from A to B (unless they are brand new). 

When does individual item copy become risky?

Individual item copy becomes risky when you are trying to maintain two courses by repeatedly copying updated Harmonize items from one course to another.

For example, this workflow can cause confusion:

Week 1: Copy Harmonize Activity 1 from Course A to Course B.
Week 2: Update Harmonize Activity 1 in Course A and copy it again to Course B.
Week 3: Update Harmonize Activity 2 in Course A and copy it to Course B.

The problem is that Harmonize course copy is not designed to continuously update copied Harmonize activities between two courses.

Better options

If you need one new activity in the destination course, you can:

• Create a brand new Harmonize activity directly in the destination course.

If you need to push one new activity to many child courses, you can:

• Create a brand new Harmonize activity from scratch in the parent course.
• Open and check the activity in the parent course.
• Copy or push that new activity to the child courses.

If you need to make updates to an existing copied Harmonize activity, plan to make those updates manually in each course where the activity already exists.

General Best Practice

If possible, avoid copying individual items between courses. Get everything right in the original course and then copy to the destination course.

Scenario 4: I want to keep pushing instruction changes through Blueprint all term.

What to know

If you want to use Canvas Blueprint to continuously push instruction changes from a parent course to child courses, you may want to place those instructions in the Canvas assignment description instead of inside the Harmonize activity.

This is best for text-only instructions that need to stay in sync across many child courses.

If you want to continuously push rubric changes, you may also want to remove the rubric from the Harmonize activity and keep the Canvas rubric instead. When a Harmonize rubric is passed to Canvas, it is still your Harmonize rubric, but it lives on the Canvas side. This means Canvas Blueprint can push rubric changes to child courses.

Important caveats

These approaches have tradeoffs. If your instructions live only in Canvas, Harmonize cannot treat that content as Harmonize activity content.

That means:

• Harmonize cannot make those instructions accessible through Harmonize accessibility tools.
• Harmonize cannot generate captions, transcripts, audio descriptions, or image alt text for media in those instructions.
• Harmonize cannot generate a rubric from those instructions.
• Students cannot add timestamped comments to videos in those instructions.
• Students cannot add line comments to documents in those instructions.
• Students cannot interact with those instructions using Harmonize’s media and critique tools.

Keeping the rubric in Canvas also means the rubric cannot be used for features inside Harmonize, such as:

• AI Student Coaching
• Student rubric ratings in Peer Review
• Any Harmonize workflow that depends on a rubric inside the Harmonize activity

For that reason, we only recommend these approaches when:

• You are using Canvas Blueprint.
• You need to push text-only instruction updates and/or Canvas rubric updates throughout the term.
• You understand that the instructions and/or rubric will function as Canvas content, not Harmonize activity content.

For most Harmonize activities, it is better to finish the activity and rubric in the parent course before copying or pushing it to child courses in a single copy or push.

Scenario 5: Can I duplicate a Harmonize activity within the same course?

No. Do not duplicate Harmonize activities within the same course.

Course copy is designed to copy Harmonize activities from one course to another course. It is not designed to duplicate Harmonize activities inside a single course.

Duplicating Harmonize activities within the same course can cause serious issues, including:

• Student work disappearing
• Grades disappearing or failing to pass back
• Lost instructions or content

This warning applies in any LMS that appears to allow duplication of LTI activities within the same course. Blackboard, for example, may appear to allow this workflow, but it should not be used with Harmonize.

To create another Harmonize activity in the same course, create a new Harmonize activity from scratch.

Moodle Note

Moodle does not communicate due dates for external tools in the same way as other LMSes. After copying a Moodle course, you will need to open each copied Harmonize activity and set the final due date in the new course.

This is especially important if you are creating multiple versions of the same Moodle course, because due dates need to be adjusted independently in each copied course.

If Something Looks Wrong

If a copied Harmonize activity does not look the way you expected, contact Harmonize Support before trying repeated imports, copies, deletions, or workarounds.

When you contact support, please include:

• The source course URL
• The destination course URL
• The affected Harmonize activity URL
• The LMS you are using
• The copy method you used, such as Canvas Blueprint, full course import, selected-content import, or Copy To
• What looks wrong in the copied activity
• Whether students have already posted, submitted, reviewed, or received grades in the activity

Support may be able to help identify what happened and recommend the safest next step.

Summary: Best Practices

To avoid common course copy problems:

• Finish Harmonize activities before copying or Blueprinting.
• Open each Harmonize activity in the source course before copying.
• Open each Harmonize activity in the copied course before copying from that course again.
• Treat Blueprinting as a one-time copy for Harmonize content, not an ongoing sync.
• Avoid repeatedly copying individual Harmonize items between the same Canvas courses.
• Do not duplicate Harmonize activities within the same course.
• Create new Harmonize activities from scratch when you need a fresh version.
• Contact Harmonize Support before trying unusual workarounds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Canvas Blueprint with Harmonize?

• Yes. You can use Canvas Blueprint to push Harmonize activities from a parent course to child courses. However, Harmonize content is copied once. Later edits to Harmonize instructions, settings, milestones, rubrics, files, videos, images, or documents will not continue syncing from the parent course to the child courses.

Can I update one Harmonize activity in a parent course and push that update to all child courses?

• No. Once the Harmonize activity exists in the child courses, updates to the parent Harmonize activity need to be made manually in each child course.

Can I still push Canvas assignment settings through Blueprint?

• Some Canvas-side settings may still push because they belong to the Canvas assignment, not the Harmonize activity. These may include points, final due date, anonymous grading, assignment category, assignment instructions entered in the Canvas Rich Content Editor, and the Canvas rubric.

Can I copy one Harmonize activity from one Canvas course to another?

• Yes, as long as you are copying one new Harmonize item that has not been previously copied between these course.
  • Warning: Do not do this if the parent course contains multiple existing Harmonize items that you intend to copy between the same two courses later.

Can I keep two course shells in sync by copying individual Harmonize items back and forth?

• No. Harmonize course copy is not designed to keep two course shells continuously synced. You can add new Harmonize activities and copy those new activities once, but updates to already-copied Harmonize activities will need to be made manually in each course.

Can I create a new Harmonize activity in one course and then copy it to another course?

• Yes. If the Harmonize activity is brand new, it is generally safe to copy it to another course. This is different from trying to update an existing copied Harmonize activity by copying it again.
  • Warning: Do not do this if the parent course contains multiple existing Harmonize items that you intend to copy between the same two courses later.

Can I copy a copied course?

• Yes, but be careful. Long copy chains are okay. However, before using a copied course as the source for another copy, you need to open and check each Harmonize activity in that copied course.

Can I duplicate a Harmonize activity within the same course?

• No. Do not duplicate Harmonize activities within the same course. To create another Harmonize activity in the same course, create a new Harmonize activity from scratch.

What should I do if a copied Harmonize activity looks wrong?

• Contact Harmonize Support before trying repeated imports, copies, deletions, or workarounds. Support can help identify what happened and recommend the safest next step.