Welcome to Canvas

Most instructors at Biola use Canvas to post grades, provide documents online, and receive class assignments. This page tells you how to use Canvas at Biola.

1. Log in to Canvas here: http://canvas.biola.edu (Bookmark this link)

2. Username: josephb3 (Your NetID - usually first name, last initial, then maybe a number)

3. Password: **** (Your NetID Password, the same password as MyAccount.biola.edu and your Biola Email)

See the I.T. web page about logging in with your NetID for more info and instructions for finding or resetting your password.

Instructors: New to Canvas? See Setting Up Your Course on Canvas

Once you log in, the "Dashboard" will show all your current courses, or you can click on "Courses" to see a link to "All Courses"

After you click "All Courses" you will see a list of all current, past, and future courses. Click on the little star to the left of a current course name to make that one course appear on your "Dashboard" for quicker access:

By default, the Canvas Dashboard will show you a list of courses in "Card View." If you're not seeing that, you may have switched your view to "List View" or "Recent Activity." To switch back to "Card View" click the vertical ellipses menu on the far-right and choose "Card View."

Enable your Email Address

As a new user, you will need to enable your email address on Canvas.  Click the "Account" icon on the left of the page. (1) Click "Settings" then enable your email address (if you see the exclamation point) by (2) clicking on your email address and confirming the email that you receive.

You will receive an email in your Biola inbox. Open that email and click the Register button in that email.

Next, click the "Edit Settings" button (3) and from there, you can choose a Language and Time Zone (default is US English and Pacific Time Zone), and set up any additional contact methods or email addresses (optional).

Set up your Canvas Profile

We recommend updating your profile, enabling your email address, and checking a few settings.

1. Click the "Account" icon on the left of the page.

2. Click "Profile" on the list.

3. Click the "Edit Profile" button and enter the information you would like people to see.

4. To change your profile photo, click the bottom right corner of the picture image, and click "Upload a picture" Then find your picture, and click the red Save button. (You should use a picture that shows mostly just your face, about 300 pixels square would be ideal.)

5. Click "Settings" if you want to connect your Canvas account to Google Drive, or add your mobile phone number, or an alternate email address (all optional).

6. Click "Notifications" to tell Canvas where and how often to notify you of changes in your classes.

The profile photo and the profile information you enter will be visible to everyone in your classes, but not visible outside of Canvas on the public internet.

Notifications

The default notification settings are fine for most people. So this section is optional.

Whenever something happens in one of your classes, Canvas generates a "notification" and you can decide how and when to receive those notifications. Types of notifications include things like: receiving a grade for an assignment, a due date is changed, a teacher posts an announcements, a discussion post was made, etc. You can receive these notifications by email, text message, Twitter Direct Message, etc. And you can decide how often (if at all) to receive these notifications.

Click Notifications on the left (#6 in two images above), and in the list, choose your preferred frequency for each type of notification event. You can set "account" notifications for all of your classes or specify settings for each individual class. If you choose "Notifications off," Canvas will not notify you. (Note: you will still see those notifications the next time you log in to Canvas, on your Home Page.)

Finding Missing Classes

Missing a class? Your list on Canvas comes from the Registrar's Office. Students: if your class is there, but grayed out - that just means the instructor hasn't yet "published" the course for students to see. If a class is missing, make sure you're officially enrolled (updates to Canvas can take up to 6 hours). Check your class list at https://myaccount.biola.edu/ and if you're looking for a past class, click "Courses" then "All Courses."

Teachers: If you're missing a class, make sure you're officially listed as the instructor (See list of courses at http://www.biola.edu/course-schedule). If something is incorrect, your department will need to contact the Course Scheduler in the Registrar's Office. To view past, closed courses see instructions at Viewing Closed Courses.