Question: How do I access Canvas?

Canvas is an online system where all of our online classes take place.  You can access Canvas on your laptop or on your mobile device.  You can also use the Canvas Student App to access the course on your smartphones or mobile devices.  

If you need help with Canvas, you can use the chat service within Canvas available through the Help icon on the main Canvas navigation bar.

See below for instructions on how to access Canvas, and scroll further down for a brief visual orientation to Canvas.

Getting to Know Canvas

Explore Canvas and identify the main navigation menu on the left.

Your Account: Go here to here to personalize your Canvas profile with your picture and information.  You can also set up your notifications and much more.

The Dashboard: This is the landing page after you log into Canvas.  Here you can see notices and college announcements.  Scroll down to see your current classes.

Courses: Click here to see links to all of your courses in Canvas.  

Calendar: Keep track of due dates and deadlines

Inbox:  This is the internal e-mail messaging system within Canvas.  This is the tool you want to use in order to e-mail your instructor in a particular course within Canvas.

History: View links for Canvas pages that you recently visited.

Help: Go to "Help" to find instructions on how to use Canvas and to get technical support through chat.

Going to a Course Inside Canvas

Once you have logged into Canvas, and you are on the Dashboard:

1. Review any announcements, if applicable
2. If you don't need to see the announcements, you can close them to make them go away by clicking on the X for each corresponding announcement
3. Scroll down the page to see your courses.  Click on the appropriate class, or you can access a list of all the courses in Canvas by clicking on the "Courses Menu" button located on the left navigation bar.

Navigating a Particular Course Inside Canvas

Once you have entered a course, take the time to get familiar with the course layout and the course navigation on the left hand. 

The main Canvas navigation bar will remain on the far left, but next to it you will find the course navigation menu.  Each menu will look different from course to course.  Professors can arrange their courses in different ways, so it is best to take time, in the beginning, to become familiar with the layout for each course.

Note*  Once you enter each class, you will see a variation of this menu.  Instructors can decide the items and the order of this menu, so this will be different for every course.  Some of the following links may or may not be listed, and your professor may add other links to the course menu.

Home: Landing page for a course

Announcements: Check this daily for messages from your instructors.

Syllabus: This is where you can find the electronic version of the course syllabus.

Modules: This is where you can find content for a class. Modules could be arranged by the week, by unit, or by chapters of textbooks.  Modules could contain assignments, quizzes, discussions, content pages (reading, videos, etc.), and much more.

Assignments: Find links to different assignments in the class. Check this often.  Assignments could range from typing responses into a text box, uploading a file, or more.

Discussions: You can find a list of discussion activities for you to complete.  Instructors often require students to participate in discussions that could ask them to respond to a prompt and to respond to other students' posts.

Quizzes: Check here often to find any quizzes or tests.  Pay careful attention to time limits, the number of times you can retake the quiz, and the number of questions.

Grades: You can go here to find scores for assignments and to keep track of your grades.

Student & Faculty Tutorials: Link to guides on how to use Canvas.

Student Support Hub: Link to guides on how to use Canvas, and get support from different departments using chat.

Zoom: Your professor may schedule live online web-conferencing sessions during the semester.   Access the live sessions or recorded sessions from this link.

Uploading and Submitting a Document from OneDrive 

If your professor allows file uploads for an assignment, then you can follow the steps below to submit assignments from OneDrive.  This is useful if you are using a Chromebook or working with online documents.

If you created a document in Word Online, you can submit the assignment in Canvas by uploading it right from OneDrive. Submitting files from Google Docs is very similar to the steps below.  

1. From the appropriate assignment in Canvas, click on Submit Assignment.
2. Click on the Office 365 tab, then click on Log in.
3. Log into Office 365 from this window using your student email address and password.
4. Click on Yes or No (up to you).
5. Scroll down and locate the file that you need to upload, then click on the checkbox on the left side of the appropriate file.
6. Click on the Attach File button.
7. Click on Submit Assignment.