Eight short lessons on Canvas, the course site many colleges and high schools use: logging in, finding your way around a course, due dates, turning in work, discussions, quizzes, grades and feedback, and a weekly routine that keeps you on track.
Bookmark this page: it is your course link. Your work is saved in this browser on this device, so use the same device each time, or keep your plan by printing or copying it from the My plan page.
Everything in Canvas starts from the Dashboard. Five minutes of knowing where things live saves hours of hunting later in the term.
Most schools use single sign-on, so you log in to Canvas with the same school username and password you use for school email. Start from the link on your school's website or student portal, not from a search result. If you get locked out, your school's IT help desk resets it; nobody from a course should ever ask for your password.
The Dashboard usually shows one card for each course you are enrolled in this term. Click a card to open that course. If a course is missing, it may not be published yet by the instructor, or it may be hidden from the Dashboard; check the full course list under Courses.
The menu down the far left side of the screen stays the same in every course. It usually includes Account, Dashboard, Courses, Calendar, Inbox and Help, and some schools add more. Account is where your profile, notification settings and files live.
Instructure makes a free Canvas Student app. You search for your school, then log in the same way you do on a computer. The app is good for checking announcements, due dates and grades, but take quizzes and submit big assignments on a computer when you can.
A course you expected to see is not on your Dashboard. A good first step is to:
The course may be unpublished or hidden from the Dashboard. The Courses list shows everything you are enrolled in.
Someone emails you saying they are from Canvas and need your password to fix your course. You should:
Your school and Canvas will not ask for your password. Treat any request for it as a scam.
Every instructor sets up a course a little differently. Learning to read a course in the first week keeps you from missing work later.
When you open a course, the Home page is what the instructor chose to show first: maybe announcements, a welcome page, or the Modules list. The menu just to the right of the global menu is the course navigation, with links like Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Grades, Modules and Syllabus. Instructors can hide links, so two courses may look different.
Many instructors organize the whole course in Modules, usually one per week or unit. Items in a module can include readings, videos, assignments and quizzes, in order. Some modules lock until you finish earlier items, so a missing item is sometimes just locked.
The syllabus is the rulebook for the course: grading, late work policy, how to contact the instructor, and the schedule. In Canvas it may be on the Syllabus page, uploaded as a file, or linked from the first module. Read it all in the first week, and keep a copy.
Most questions students email about are answered in the syllabus. Knowing the late policy and the grade weights before the first deadline lets you make smart choices when the week gets busy.
A link like Assignments is missing from one course but not another. The likely reason is:
Instructors control which course navigation links students see. Use Modules or the Syllabus instead.
The best place to find a course's late work policy is usually:
The syllabus holds the course rules, including late work.
Most missed work in Canvas comes from misreading dates. Two dates matter, and the time zone matters too.
Open an assignment to see the instructions, the points, the due date and how to submit. Many assignments have a rubric, a grading chart showing what earns full credit. Read the rubric before you start, then check your work against it before you turn it in.
The due date is when the work is expected. Some assignments also have availability dates: the work opens on one date and closes on another. If an assignment closes at its due date, you cannot submit at all after that, even late. If it stays open longer, late work may be accepted but marked late.
Canvas usually shows times in the time zone set in your account. If you are in a different time zone from your school, or travel, a deadline of 11:59 pm may be earlier or later for you than you think. Check your time zone under Account, in Settings, and when in doubt, submit the day before.
The Dashboard usually shows a To Do list of upcoming work across all your courses. The Calendar in the global menu shows due dates by day, week or month, with each course in its own color. Use both, but remember they only show items the instructor gave a date in Canvas; the syllabus may list more.
An assignment shows "Until" the same day and time as the due date. After that time you:
When the availability window closes, Canvas stops taking submissions.
The Calendar and To Do list show:
Some work is listed only in the syllabus or announcements, so check those too.
Finishing the work is only half the job. The other half is making sure the right file reached Canvas in a form the instructor can open.
Depending on how the instructor set it up, you may upload a file, type into a text entry box, paste a website URL, or record media. The submit button on the assignment page, often labeled Start Assignment, shows the options allowed. Some assignments are turned in somewhere else, such as on paper or in another tool; the instructions will say.
After you submit, the assignment page usually shows that it was submitted, with the date and time, and a link to the file. Open that link and look at the file. If you do not see a submitted message, assume it did not go through and try again or contact the instructor right away.
Many assignments let you submit again before the deadline, and the instructor usually sees the latest one. Some limit the number of attempts, and some close at the due date. Do not count on a resubmission to fix a mistake; check the attempts allowed first.
Instructors often accept only certain file types, such as PDF or Word documents. If you write in Google Docs or Pages, download or export a copy in the required format before you upload. Name the file clearly, for example your last name and the assignment name.
You uploaded your essay, but the page does not show it as submitted. You should:
No confirmation usually means no submission. Fix it before the deadline.
The assignment accepts only PDF and you wrote in Google Docs. You should:
Export to the real format. Renaming the file ending does not change what is inside.
Online courses often grade discussions, and they are where your instructor and classmates get to know how you think.
Open the discussion, read the prompt and any rubric, and use the reply box to post. Many discussions require one main post plus replies to classmates, often with separate due dates. Check the prompt for word counts and how many replies are expected.
In a threaded discussion, replies nest under the post they answer, so a conversation can grow several layers deep. Reply to the specific post you mean, not to the main prompt, so your reply lands in the right place.
Some instructors turn on a setting so you must post before you can read classmates' posts. This keeps the first answers original. Write your own post first; you will see the rest once it is up.
Be specific, kind and on topic. Name the idea you are responding to, add something new such as an example or a question, and disagree with ideas rather than people. Read your post once before sending, since edits may be visible or limited.
You cannot see anyone else's posts in a new discussion. The most likely reason is:
Many instructors require your own post first. Post, and the others appear.
A strong reply to a classmate:
Engage with their idea and add something new.
Online quizzes have rules that paper tests do not, such as timers that keep running and limited attempts. Knowing them ahead of time prevents panic.
Before you start, read the quiz details: the time limit, the number of attempts, and the available dates. In most timed quizzes the clock keeps running once you begin, even if you close the window, and the quiz may submit itself when time runs out. If more than one attempt is allowed, check whether the highest, latest or average score counts.
Canvas usually saves your answers as you go, but do not rely on it alone. Move steadily, do not leave many questions open in other tabs, and submit before the timer ends instead of waiting for it.
Take quizzes on a reliable connection and a charged computer, not on a phone. If your connection drops, reconnect and reopen the quiz quickly; your saved answers are often still there. Then email the instructor right away with the time and a screenshot of any error message, calmly and factually.
Some courses use a lockdown browser or online proctoring that records the screen or camera. Install and test it days before the exam. Follow the stated rules about notes, other tabs and other people; the honor code applies online just as it does in a classroom.
You start a timed quiz, then close the browser for ten minutes. Usually the timer:
Once begun, the clock usually keeps running, so do not start until you are ready.
Your internet drops in the middle of a quiz. After reconnecting, the best next step is to:
A prompt, factual message gives the instructor what they need to help.
The grade on the screen is only part of the picture. The comments and the weights tell you what to do next.
In a course, the Grades link shows each assignment, your score, and often a running total. Labels such as Late or Missing usually appear next to an assignment; a Missing label means the course thinks nothing was turned in, so check right away. Some instructors hide the total, so you may need to calculate it from the syllabus.
Many courses weight groups of work, such as exams at 40 percent and homework at 20 percent. When a course is weighted, Canvas usually shows the weights in a small table on the Grades page. A low homework score matters less than a low exam score in that course.
In many courses you can click a score on the Grades page and type a hypothetical number to see how it would change your total. These what-if scores are only visible to you and do not change your real grade. Use them to see what you need on the next test.
A comment icon next to an assignment usually means the instructor left feedback. Open the submission details to see comments and, for some files, notes drawn right on your paper. Read every comment before the next assignment, since instructors often grade the next one on the same things.
You type a what-if score of 100 on the next test. Your real grade:
What-if scores are private estimates and do not change your actual grade.
An assignment you turned in shows a Missing label. You should:
Confirm the submission, then send a short, polite note so it can be fixed.
Students who check in a little every week rarely get surprised. Clear, polite messages get faster help.
The Inbox in the global menu is where course messages arrive and where you can message your instructor or classmates. Announcements are posts from the instructor to the whole class, often with schedule changes. Read every announcement; instructors expect you to know what they post.
Under Account, the Notifications page lets you choose how and how often Canvas alerts you, for example right away, as a daily summary, or not at all. Turn on immediate alerts for announcements, due date changes and grades at minimum. Check that the email Canvas uses is one you actually read.
Use a clear subject with the course name, greet the instructor by the title they use, ask one specific question, and sign with your full name. Check the syllabus first so you are not asking something already answered. Give a reasonable time to reply, often one or two business days, before following up.
Pick one time each week, such as Sunday evening, to read announcements, check the Calendar and To Do list for the next two weeks, open each course's Modules, and look at new grades and comments. Do your own work, cite your sources, and ask before using any outside help; academic integrity rules apply to everything in Canvas.
A good subject line for an email to a professor is:
Name the course and the topic so the instructor knows right away what it is about.
The main purpose of a weekly Canvas routine is to:
A short, regular check keeps surprises small.
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