Canvas Guide

Canvas Guide

Canvas Guide

I've thrown this guide together so that whatever your experience with Canvas, you can get into doing at least the basics to get your course to an online-ready position quickly. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we're being asked to switch from normal, in-person classes to somewhere between that and full online learning. Let's remember that we will *not* be able to fully replicate our classes or the experience of our classrooms online. Don't drive yourself nuts trying to do this perfectly, or your students may (as they have with me) make rude comments about what stress has done to your appearance.

There are basics as well as tips for more advanced usage throughout. I was going to make a video, but nobody wants to listen to me talk about this for half an hour. This allows you to click through directly to what you need.

The sections of this "guide" are listed in the links below and on the left hand side of your screen (or sometimes at the bottom if you're on a mobile device). Start where you need to and see what there is.

Note: because of Canvas' responsive layout, screenshots in this guide may not look like your screen. Screenshots were all taken while Canvas was in full screen.

You can also access this guide on a phone by scanning this QR code:

QR Code to this Canvas Guide

Please do not hesitate to send me questions, especially if I didn't cover something that you think might be useful. Drop me a line at nerfurth@kpbsd.k12.ak.us and I'll add some details and answer your questions. I'm here to help. If there are other tools you'd like a rundown of, send me an email and we'll see what I have time for.

With the exception of this page, everything is written in very clear, brief, step-by-step instructions. Details can be found in the footnotes of each page.1

If you're not sure what you actually need to learn and where to start, or just want new options, start with the "I Want To...." menu.

Disclaimer: I'm using screenshots from my district's implementation of Canvas. Your mileage may vary if you're coming from somewhere else. Welcome!

  • 1. This is an example footnote so you know what they look like and how to get to them. Sometimes advanced information will be stored here to keep the guides as simple as possible.