Canvas

First Time logging in?

  • Setting up your Profile

    • Your profile in Canvas gives you a place to add a biography, contact information, and most importantly, a profile picture that will be seen throughout Canvas.

  • Setting up your Notifications

    • Canvas can send you notifications in a variety of different ways that keep you up-to-date with what's happening in your courses. You can receive notifications in real-time or ask for a daily summary.

  • Global Navigation Bar

    • The global navigation bar appears on the far left of your screen in Canvas and never changes no matter what screen you're on in Canvas. In this video, learn more about what you'll find and what you can do from the global navigation bar.​

  • The new Rich Content Editor is the heart of adding content to Canvas. It can be found from Announcements to Quiz questions and everywhere in between.

Canvas Guides

Canvas supplies a wealth of information for students and instructors to assist with navigating Canvas and all of it's features. Click the link below to access that specific guide:

Canvas Training

Click on the subjects below to see resources associated with that topic.

Modules

Modules are the cornerstone of course design within Canvas. Modules will contain all of your content, including presentations, discussions, assignments, and tests.

Not sure how to best implement Modules? Don't get mad at Modules, get "Mad about Modules"! The "Mad about Modules" video explains many different ways you can design your course using Modules.

Check out this Modules Cheatsheet for more information!

Grading

In the Grades area of Canvas you will see a spreadsheet few of your students and graded items. You can type directly into the Grades area or use the SpeedGrader to see more information about what the students have submitted to you.

Check out the following resources to assist you in grading:


Communication

You can communicate in Canvas through Discussions, Chat, and the Inbox.

Here are a few resources to help get you started:

Calendar

The Calendar in Canvas shows all of the due dates for your courses and allows you add events and to-do dates that can be used as reminders for your students and yourself. You can also set up scheduling blocks for appointments that your students can reserve.

Here are a few more links to get you started:

Zoom_and_Canvas_Appointments.pdf

Manage People

As an instructor, you can access the People page in Canvas. This will allow you to see all the people in your course. Here are a few resources for managing People in your course:

Badges

Badging is a form of ‘gamification’, where the badges students earn are a visual representation of progress they’ve made in the course. Think of badges in Canvas like scouting merit badges but in a digital form. Badges can help promote learning and recognize course competencies.

Here are resources to assist in understanding Badging in Canvas:

Mobile

Canvas offers both a Student and an Instructor app. These apps are available for Apple iOS (version 10+) and Google Android

For more information on using the Canvas Mobile Apps, click this link: Canvas Mobile Guides

Copying Content

Course Link Validation

Before you copy a course, verify all external links throughout your course to ensure they are valid. You can check these links using the course link validator, which searches through course content and returns invalid or unresponsive external links in both published and unpublished content.

Specific Content Copy

When importing course content with the Course Import Tool, you can choose to select specific content as part of the import. This option allows you to select specific content areas such as assignments, settings, and files without importing the entire course.

Specific content can also be copied directly from inside Canvas rather than using the Course Import Tool. Here's a resource on how to share pages between courses: Direct Share Pages

Accessibility

VCCS Accessibility Guidelines

VCCS Course Accessibility Checklist

Canvas Accessibility within Specific Features

Several areas within Canvas have been specifically improved for accessibility. Other features may be limited at this time. This section highlights several feature areas and accessibility behaviors.

Rich Content Editor

The Rich Content Editor includes an accessibility tool that checks common accessibility errors within the editor. Learn how to use the Accessibility Checker in Canvas.

Canvas Studio

Canvas Studio is a communication tool that allows instructors and students to actively collaborate through video and audio media. Learn how to add closed captions to Canvas Studio videos.