“Getting Started with Canvas as a Student” in under 30 minutes! Watch this mini-series of six quick videos to learn how to use Canvas, set up notification preferences, use the Canvas Student app, navigate the dashboard, and access and submit assignments. 

If you would like to take an even deeper dive into Canvas, students may take the open self-paced course “Passport to Canvas” at any time. It consists of nine modules of content that take students through everything they need to know about using Canvas as a student. 

Canvas Overview for Instructors

Here is a 6-minute Canvas Overview for instructors to learn about the Canvas dashboard, sidebar, global navigation menu, and course interface. 

Set Up your Canvas Course in 30 Minutes or Less

In this mini-series, Instructors will learn to “Set Up your Canvas Course in 30 Minutes or Less!” These 7 videos will get you started with an overview of Canvas, how to build and manage a course, and how to create and manage course content. 

Understanding Your Course Settings 

The different tabs within Settings allow you to customize many of your course settings. You can watch this Course Settings video.

Test Your Course Settings, Activities, and Grade Setup through the Test Student

The Test Student is automatically enrolled in your Gradebook, and this student view allows you to see the course as your students experience it. By clicking on "Student View," you can submit work and confirm your course is just the way you intended. Reset Test Student to clear out data and start over as needed. See how to view your course as a test student in Student View. 

See "Crosswalk Between Sakai and Canvas" page. 

Sending Announcements

You can send announcements to your whole course or individual sections and schedule them ahead of time. Students can interact by adding comments and liking announcements (can be disabled). Learn more in the Announcements Overview video. 

See All Assignments and Course Events in the Syllabus Tool

The Syllabus provides a snapshot of all assignments and course events, which are automatically generated based on dates. You will see the course’s grading groups, have the option of adding customized content, and view/access items to grade in your To Do List. Students will see upcoming assignments in their To Do list. Learn more in the Syllabus for Instructors video. 

Create Asynchronous Discussions 

Discussions allow you to create dynamic asynchronous discussions for students. You have options to grade them, require students to post before seeing others’ posts, and allow students to edit and delete their posts. Learn more in the Discussions Overview video. 

Break up Students into Smaller Groups

Student groups are commonly used for assigning group projects or breaking up larger discussion into smaller groups. Learn more in the Groups Overview video.

Here are some features on using groups:

• Assign Group Leaders to designate a student to coordinate interactions and activities within their group

• View all group activity and student participation within their groups

• Organize enrollment by assigning and reorganizing students as needed into selected groups

• Students can create groups to collaborate, share files, start discussions, and set up study opportunities

Adding Users manually to a Canvas site

Teachers can now add users (students, TA's, designers, etc) to a Canvas site that they are a Teacher in. Please refer to the documentation on how to do so in order to prevent adding incorrect accounts. 

Sharing Files with Students 

Files uploaded to your course Files space are easily shared with students. You can create subfolders, hide items from students, and reuse files when imported from one course to another. Learn more in the Files Overview video. 

Customize Your Course Home Page

This is the first thing your students see when they enter your course. You have five display options for your Home Page. Watch this Course Home Page Customization video. 

Using the Rich Content Editor

Add your customized text and course content through the Rich Content Editor (RCE). Learn more in the Rich Content Editor video. We highly recommend using the built-in Accessibility Checker to make sure your content is accessible to all students. 

Set the Flow of Your Course through Modules

Similar to Sakai Lessons, the Modules tool is how you structure your course content, which can be by weeks, units, topics, chapters, etc. You can add Assignments, Quizzes, Pages (customized content through the Rich Content Editor), Discussions, external links, and more. You can also require students follow a specific flow of activities by setting prerequisites before students may proceed to the next item in Modules, lock Modules to open automatically on a set date, and streamline your course so it’s easy for students to see their tasks and how the course progresses. Learn more in the Modules Overview video. 

Add Customized Course Content through Pages

Add images, files, multimedia, and external content through the Rich Content Editor (RCE) in Pages. You can easily add direct links to other course items from other Pages, Assignments, Quizzes, and more. We highly recommend using the built-in Accessibility Checker to make sure your content is accessible to all students. Learn more in the Pages Overview video. 

Collect Student Work through Assignments 

You can set up Assignments to have students submit their work online in a variety of formats, including text entry, website URL, media recordings, student annotation, and file uploads (can restrict file types). If students are submitting their work in person, you can also select On Paper/No Submission and grade them through Assignments. Group submissions and peer reviews are options in Assignments as well. Learn more in the Assignments Overview video. 

Streamline Grading through Rubrics

Use Rubrics to set up outcome-based assessment criteria for grading student work. Grading rubrics communicate to students expectations of quality and provide a fair way to assess student work. Rubrics can be added to Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions. Learn more in the Rubrics Overview video. 

Set Up Your Course for Grading

First, enable a grading scheme for your course (see more on using grading schemes in a course). Then, set up assignment groups in the Assignments tool. This is where you will weight the final course grade based on assignment groups. Learn more on setting up assignment groups and weights in the Assignments Overview video. 

View and Grade Assignment Submissions in the SpeedGrader

SpeedGrader allows you to view and grade student submissions in one place using a simple point scale or complex rubric. The SpeedGrader can be accessed through Assignments, Quizzes, Graded Discussions, and the Gradebook. Learn more in the SpeedGrader Overview video. 

Using the Canvas Gradebook

To learn about the Canvas Gradebook, see the Gradebook Overview video.  By default, the Gradebook is set to Automatically Post Grades to students so that grades are visible to students as soon as you enter them. You can change the Grade Posting Policy to Manually Post Grades so that students will not see scores until you actively release them. You can also change the policy on each individual Gradebook item. See how to select a Grade Posting Policy in your Gradebook. 

External Tool Integrations

Note: Be sure to first enable the tools you wish to use through course settings.

Gradescope, Zoom and Piazza 1.3 are intergraded into HMC Canvas.

All digital content must be accessible to all users. We recommend regularly using the built-in Accessibility Checker in the Canvas Rich Content Editor.

Also, the Academic & Research Computing Services  (ARCS) team offers accessibility assessments for course content, guidance on fixing issues, and resources to learn more.