We've gathered together some Canvas Basics that will get help you get ready and running in Canvas.

Canvas for the First Time

Brand new to Canvas? Learn what's what and where's where.

Get to Know the Interface

Your Profile

Communicating in Canvas

Be sure to stay on top of new course activities and communications. If you have questions, answers, thoughts, you can reach out to your teaching staff and fellow students via the Canvas Inbox.

Your Notification Preferences

Notification Settings Video Transcript

00:07: How do I manage my Canvas notification settings?

00:11: In Global Navigation, click the Account link, then click the Notifications link.

00:17: On the notification settings page, you can manage how you receive notifications

00:21: for your canvas account and or manage how you receive notifications for individual courses.

00:27: A banner describes the settings you are managing, another banner indicates the

00:31: times when daily and weekly notifications will be delivered.

00:35: To dismiss a banner message. Click the close icon.

00:39: By default, the settings for drop-down menu displays the account option.

00:43: Account-level notification settings apply to all of your Canvas courses.

00:47: However, any course-specific notification settings override

00:51: account notification settings.

00:55: You can view your current account level settings.

00:58: Account-level notification types are listed by category.

01:01: There are notifications for course activities, discussions, conversations,

01:05: groups, scheduling, and conferences.

01:10: You can also view your contact methods, such as email addresses and push notifications

01:14: for mobile devices.

01:17: Each notification has a default delivery frequency setting. To view the

01:21: current notification delivery frequency for a notification type and contact

01:25: method, hover over the notification icon.

01:29: To view details for a notification, hover the cursor over the notification

01:33: name. View details such as the activities that trigger the notification.

01:38: Each notification is set to a default setting. To change a notification for

01:42: a contact method, locate the notification and click the icon for

01:46: the contact method.

01:49: To receive a notification right away, select the notify immediately option.

01:54: These notifications may be delayed by up to 1 hour in case an instructor makes

01:58: additional changes which prevents you from being spammed by multiple notifications

02:02: in a short amount of time.

02:05: To receive a daily notification, select the daily summary option the

02:09: date and time of your daily notifications are posted in a banner at the top of the notification

02:13: settings page.

02:16: To receive a weekly notification, select the weekly summary option the

02:20: date and time of your weekly notifications are posted in a banner at the top of the notification

02:24: settings page.

02:27: If you do not want to receive a notification, select the notifications off

02:31: option.

02:33: Unsupported notification types display the unsupported icon.

02:36: You cannot manage unsupported notifications.

02:41: If you have enabled push notifications in the Canvas Student mobile app on an Android

02:45: device or on an iOS device. You can manage your settings in the push notification

02:49: column. Push notifications can only be sent to your mobile

02:53: device right away or not at all. Daily and weekly notification

02:58: options are not supported. Some categories include limited

03:02: availability for push notifications for full details about supported

03:06: notifications for push notifications refer to the canvas notifications

03:10: resource document. 03:13: If your institution uses a third-party messaging application called Slack and

03:17: has enabled Slack as a contact method, you can add Slack as a contact

03:21: method and receive direct message notifications from Canvas and Slack.

03:26: Slack notifications may vary depending on your Slack notification settings.

03:32: This guide covered how to manage my Canvas notification settings.

Your Announcements

Announcements Video Transcript

00:07: How do I view announcements as a student?

00:10: In course navigation, click the announcements link.

00:14: The announcements index page displays global settings at the top of the page, followed

00:18: by the individual announcement.s Announcements are listed in

00:22: reverse chronological order, with the newest appearing first and the older announcements appearing

00:27: towards the bottom.

00:30: An announcement includes 3 sections: the announcements toolbar, the announcement,

00:34: and announcement replies.

00:37: The announcement toolbar will remain at the top of the screen when you are viewing announcement replies.

00:43: To search for replies or specific authors, enter your terms in the search

00:47: field.

00:49: To filter replies, click the filter drop-down menu.

00:52: You can filter by all replies or unread replies.

00:56: To sort replies by newest or oldest, click the sort button.

01:01: The announcement includes important information about the announcement including the announcement

01:05: title and description.

01:08: You can also view the name of the author, the date and time the announcement

01:12: was published or edited, and number of replies.

01:17: Announcement replies display below the announcement topic. To

01:21: view threaded replies, click the hash reply link. To

01:25: mark a message as unread, click the mark as unread link.

01:30: The guide covered how to view announcements as a student.

Your Inbox

Student Inbox Video Transcript

00:06: How do I use the Inbox as a student?

00:09: In global navigation, click the inbox link. It's

00:13: the inbox blank includes the numbered indicator, the indicator shows.

00:17: how many unread messages do you have in your inbox. Once you read the new

00:21: messages, the indicator will disappear.

00:24: The toolbar includes global message options.

00:28: To load conversations, filter your messages by course or group and type. Filtering by type lets you filter messages by Inbox, Unread, Starred, Sent, Archived, and Submission Comments.

00:43: You can search for conversations by user in the Search by user field.

00:48: To compose a message, click the Compose icon.

00:52: Once you have selected a conversation, you can use the other options in the

00:56: toolbar. To reply to a conversation, reply

01:00: all to a conversation, archived a conversation, delete

01:05: a conversation. You can also use the more options icon 24-hour

01:09: market conversation is read or unread and star conversations.

01:15: Conversations for your selected course and Inbox filter appear in the left Inbox panel.

01:21: The Inbox is organized chronologically from newest to oldest, with the newest conversations appearing on top and the older conversations at the bottom.

01:30: You can manually mark a conversation as read or unread by hovering over the conversation and clicking the circle to the left of the conversation.

01:39: To star a conversation, hover over the conversation and click the star to the right of the conversation.

01:46: When you select a conversation, all messages in the conversation's thread appear in the right Inbox panel.

01:53: The conversation thread displays the title of the conversation.

01:57: Each message within a conversation displays the names of the message participants

02:01: with the name of the sender in bold.

02:04: You can view the course name, the author's personal pronouns, if enabled,

02:09: and the date and time the message was sent.

02:12: You can also view the message content.

02:15: To deselect the conversation, click the return icon.

02:19: To reply to the latest message in a conversation,

02:21: click the reply icon.

02:24: The reply-all, forward, archive, star, or

02:28: delete the entire conversation thread, click the more options icon, then

02:32: click one of the options.

02:35: You can manage an individual message within a conversation. To reply

02:39: to a message within a conversation, click the reply icon.

02:44: To reply all, forward, or delete a message within a conversation thread,

02:48: click the more options icon, then click one of the options.

02:53: To select multiple message conversations to Archive,

02:56: Delete Mark as read, Mark as unrea,d or Star

03:00: click the check box for each message, then click the inbox

03:04: toolbar, more options icon, and select an option.

03:09: This guide covered how to use the Inbox as a student.

Calendar & Scheduler

The Calendar lets you view everything you have to do for all your courses. You can add your own events and reminders to stay on top of things.

The Calendar also includes access to the Scheduler, which your instructor may use to schedule office hours, presentation sign-ups, etc.

Your Calendar

Calendar Video Transcript

00:07: How do I use the calendar as a student?

00:10: In global navigation, click the calendar link.

00:14: The calendar spans all courses and displays information for each of your enrolled

00:18: courses and groups in the navigation bar.

00:21: You can choose to view the calendar in week, month, or agenda view

00:25: The view I choose dictates the style of the calendar window. By

00:29: default, the calendar appears in month view.

00:33: The sidebar shows a quick view calendar, your list of courses in

00:37: groups, and undated items for your courses and groups.

00:42: Each calendar view shows any assignments or events that have been added to the calendar.

00:46: You can add events, including recurring events and

00:50: to-do items to your personal calendar at any time in the navigation bar by

00:54: clicking the add button.

00:56: Each personal, course, and group calendar is identified by a separate

01:00: color that populates the calendar view. Associated calendar

01:04: items for each course or group display when selected in the calendar view.

01:09: By default, the first 10 courses in group calendars will be selected and appear

01:13: in the calendar view. To hide a calendar,

01:16: click the box next to the name of the calendar. Calendars that are not

01:20: active within the calendar view display as faded text.

01:24: Expanding undated items link will show you a list of events and assignments

01:28: that are not dated. The assignments and events will be differentiated by

01:32: icons and by the personal, course, or group calendar color.

01:37: In the month, you click the arrow buttons to move from month to month. To

01:41: view events for the current date clicks it today button.

01:46: To view a specific date, click the month link

01:50: then enter a date in the date field or select a date from the calendar.

01:55: Assignments are shown with an icon next to the assignment title. The icon

01:59: reflects the assignment type.

02:02: Discussion

02:05: Assignment

02:08: Quiz

02:11: Or events

02:14: Ungraded items with a to-do date may display in the calendar for a course.

02:19: Each item on the calendar is color-coded to match

02:21: the courses and calendars in the sidebar.

02:25: Give you full details for an assignment or event, hover over the item.

02:30: Calendar assignments can also be crossed out, which is a simple way to keep track

02:34: of assignments. Assignments are crossed out.

02:37: once the assignment has been submitted. However assignments that have been

02:41: awarded a grade, but do not contain an actual submission will not be crossed out.

02:46: All the events display the events icon and do not include a specific event time.

02:51: If you want to extend an all-day event across multiple days, hover

02:55: over the edge of the event until you see a black arrow. Drag your event

02:59: across all required dates in the current month.

03:03: Assignments are shown with an icon next to the assignment title. The icon

03:07: reflects the assignment type.

03:10: To view the calendar by week, click the week button. The week view shows

03:14: all calendar items by date and time. Note that some assignments

03:18: may be due at 11:59 p.m., which appear at the bottom of the calendar

03:22: view.

03:24: All day events appear at the top of the calendar week. These events

03:27: do not include a specific event time. Like in the month view,

03:31: if you want to extend an all-day event across multiple days, hover

03:36: over the edge of the event until you see a black arrow. Drag your event

03:40: across all required dates in week view.

03:43: You can only drag your event to the end of the week that you are viewing.

03:48: Have you all your calendar items in an agenda format? Click the agenda button.

03:54: If your institution has enabled Scheduler appointment groups, you can sign up for

03:58: an appointment in the calendar sidebar.

04:01: This guide covered how to use the calendar as a student.

Sign Up For An Appointment

Appointment Sign-Up Video Transcript

00:06: How do I sign up for a scheduler appointment in the calendar as a student?

00:11: In global navigation, click the calendar link.

00:15: In the Calendar sidebar, click the Find Appointment button.

00:19: If a course includes an appointment, the name of the course displays in the Course drop-down menu. Select the course where you want to look for an appointment, then click the Submit button.

00:30: View the appointments available for the course. Faded time slots indicate the time slot has been reserved.

00:37: In the calendar, click the time slot you want to reserve in the appointment

00:41: window. You can view the appointment time calendar and details.

00:45: If you want to leave any comments for your instructor, you can write them in the

00:49: comments field. To sign up for the time slot,

00:53: click the reserve link.

00:56: Once you have reserved a time slot, the time slot phase in the calendar.

01:00: If you want to choose another time slot instead, click the new time slot and

01:05: repeat the reservation process.

01:08: If you choose another time slot, the Calendar will confirm you already have a reserved appointment. If you want to reschedule with the new appointment time, click the Reschedule button. However, if you want to keep your original appointment, click the Do Nothing button.

01:24: When you are finished with course reservations, click the Close button.

01:29: View the appointment added to your course calendar.

01:32: To completely cancel your appointment, click the appointment time and click the Un-reserve link.

01:41: Click the Delete button.

01:44: This guide covered how to sign up for a scheduler appointment in the calendar as a student.

Access to Prior Terms

To access your prior term course sites, navigate to your "All Courses" list and find them listed under "Past Enrollments." This list is accessible from the "All Courses" link in your "Courses" flyout menu.

The Canvas website for this course will remain available to enrolled students for a limited time after the course concludes. You are encouraged to download coursework and materials you wish to keep before the term ends. See Course Formats & Required Technology for additional information on Canvas access.