Canvas Quick Start Guide

https://micds.instructure.com/ WELCOME TO CANVAS! Canvas is a powerful Learning Management System that provides an intuitive interface for posting and collecting assignments, sharing documents, providing audio and video feedback, sending announcements, collaborating via Google Docs, and has quiz and portfolio functionality. This Quick Start Guide was designed to help you start using the basic features and functions of Canvas to manage your courses. Each Task in the Guide includes a checkbox to record your progress and should be completed sequentially. If you need assistance with a Task, more detailed information, including video tutorials, is available at the Canvas support website: http://support.instructure.com/index.php/Main_Page

LOGGING IN To begin using Canvas, visit https://micds.instructure.com/ and log in using your MICDS username and password.

Once logged into the system, your Toolbar will provide access to your Courses, Assignments, Grades, and Calendar.

Click on the Courses link to display your Canvas Courses as shown below:

ote: You will notice that each Section you teach is a separate Canvas course. This separation of sections into courses allows you to customize any/all content, including assignments and due dates, for each group of students you teach.

Select one of your courses from the list; when the Course Page opens you are ready to begin adding content and building your online presence.

ADDING ASSIGNMENTS There are many forms of content that can be incorporated into a Canvas course page. This Guide will focus on adding Course Assignments, customizing the Course Navigation, and adding Calendar Events. To begin, click the Add Course Assignments link under the Next Steps menu.

ip: Assignments can be organized into Assignment Groups. These Groups, though not required, can be useful for identifying trends in student performance (e.g. essays, lab reports, etc.) and will become categories in your grade book (should you choose to use it).

Click the Add an Assignment link to enter the name of the assignment, the due date, and the points assigned (if any).

Once this information has been added, click the more options link and enter the assignment details. The toolbar can be used to insert text, images, symbols, and audio/video instructions. Experiment with the different formatting and content options.

The Insert Content into the Page menu allows you to link to existing course content, files, and images. Upload a file or image and add it to your assignment using the tab menu.

ool Feature: The Images tab includes the option of searching for Creative Commons images on Flickr. If you are not familiar with Create Commons images, visit http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/ for more information.

ADVANCED ASSIGNMENT FEATURES Assignments can be locked (i.e. not available) until a specific date using the Lock Until feature. Work can also be collected/returned electronically using the Canvas Submission feature. The submission option can be turned off on a specific date to control late assignments.

Click the Submission link to enable online submissions. Note that you can allow File Uploads, Text Entry, a Website URL, and/or Media Recordings to be submitted. When finished, click the Update Assignment button to save your work.

ool Features: Once an assignment has been created, you can add a rubric to the exercise and/or use the SpeedGrader tool for marking the assignment. More information on these options is available from the Rubric and SpeedGrader wiki pages.

MANAGING FILES For every course, you have different files on your computer that you have associated with the course. The files tool in Canvas allows you to upload and store those files right in your course with the same organization that you have them stored on your computer. By default, these files are public to everyone in the course, which means that everyone can view the files. If you have certain files or folders that arent appropriate for everyone in the course (such as answer keys and test files) you can easily lock the files so that they are only available to the teachers and the TAs in the course.

Click the Files link from the Navigation Menu and upload either a file or folder. Note that you can hide files that you do not want students to see.

irefox Feature: Firefox contains a unique feature which allows the teacher to add to files by simply dragging and dropping the files from a file window directly into the Canvas file repository. In the screenshot below, you can see the user dragging a file from their workstation into the Files area within Canvas.

CUSTOMIZING NAVIGATION By default, the side bar navigation menu contains the full array of Canvas options, some of which you may not use (or want to use) with your students. These unused options can be hidden by clicking the Settings link, then choosing the Navigation Tab as shown below. Open the Navigation Tab and at a minimum hide the Chat and Grades functions by moving them to the bottom of the page. When finished, be sure to click the Save button.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Announcements can be sent to the entire class and are visible in the students Course Stream. This stream can be added to your portal course page via RSS (this will be covered in a separate training session). Click the Announcements link from the Navigation menu and create a new Announcement. Notice that the Announcement window is very similar in form to the Assignment window (i.e. the process for adding content is identical.

CALENDAR Each Canvas user has a calendar that is specific to their courses. Notice that assignments are shown on the date they are DUE. Teachers can change the due date of an assignment simply by dragging it to a different day on the calendar.

Open the Calendar and change the due date of an assignment by dragging it to a different day on the calendar. CANVAS PAGES In addition to posting assignments and announcements, teachers can also create Pages that feature course content. Canvas refers to these as wiki pages but they are simply web pages that can contain text and media. Click the Pages link from the Navigation menu and create a new Page. Notice that the Page window is very similar in form to the Assignment and Announcement window (i.e. the process for adding content is identical). NOTIFICATIONS Canvas can send you email or text updates whenever there is course activity. Because these updates can be overwhelming, you may wish to revise the default Notification settings. Click the Profile link in the upper-right corner of the page to view your personal profile.

When the Profile page opens, select the Notifications link as shown below. Change each of the Notification Preferences to suit your needs. When finished, click the Save Preferences button.

PUBLISHING YOUR COURSE By default, your course will not be visible to students until it is published. To make the course available to your class, click the Home link from the Navigation menu and publish the course.

SHARING CONTENT BETWEEN COURSES You may recall that each section you teach is a separate course in Canvas. On a practical level, this allows you to keep a separate grade book and assignment Submission folder for each section/course and vary the due dates for assignments between sections. However, this approach also requires that you copy your course content (assignments, files, announcements, etc.) into each discrete course. Fortunately, this process is quick and simple.

ip: Although copying content to other courses is an easy, straightforward process, it can be cumbersome to perform on a daily basis. If possible, enter your Canvas content by week, cycle, or unit.

To copy content from one course to another, open the empty/destination course (i.e. where you want the content to go). Once the course is opened, select the Course Setup Checklist button (upper-right corner) from the main page.

When the Checklist window opens, select the Import Content link under Next Steps.

When the Import Wizard window opens, select the Copy content from another Canvas course link.

Search for the source course (i.e. the course with the content you want) from which to copy content and click the Copy From This Course link.

Select the content you wish to port to the empty course. Note that you can copy everything or specific resources. For the first Copy Content, select all content. As the course progresses, you may wish to choose only recent/updated assignments, announcements, etc. so as not to overwrite due dates.

CHANGING ASSIGNMENT DATES When assignments are copied from one course to another, the due dates are copied as well. This works well for courses that meet every day and/or are progressing at the same rate. Courses with drop days will need the due dates adjusted to reflect when the assignment is actually due. Recall that teachers can change the due date of an assignment simply by dragging it to a different day on the calendar. To modify your assignment due dates, open the course calendar and move the assignment dates accordingly. ADDITIONAL FEATURES This Quick Start Guide only highlights some of the basic tools available in Canvas. Additional training sessions and resources for using the Grade Book, Google Docs, e-portfolio, and other features will be provided in the near future. In the meantime, feel free to explore the Canvas environment and visit their Support wiki for more information. http://support.instructure.com/index.php/Main_Page