Your CMC ID number is your Canvas username. It's always 7 digits long and starts with at least 1 zero. (TIP: add in 0's at the front of the ID number to reach 7 digits).
Your default password for your first log-in is ‘cmc’ followed by the last 6 digits of your Social Security number.
Accessing Canvas
Canvas FAQ
Accessing Canvas
What do I need to access Canvas and my classes?
In order to access Canvas, you need a computer with Internet access and an active Canvas user name and password, provided by CMC. Your user name is your Datatel Colleague/CMC ID number, which is 7 digits long, so you'll need to be sure and include any leading zeroes—your ID number must always total 7 digits. Canvas can be visited via most major web browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari, and is supported under Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX operating systems. Here is the list of browsers that will work with Canvas. Internet Explorer 8 is no longer being actively supported for use with Canvas, so please upgrade your Internet Explorer browser. Though it will work with Canvas, Internet Explorer is not recommended as a first choice. Here's how to navigate Canvas.
How do I log into Canvas for the very first time—what will my username and password be?
The very first time you log into Canvas, use your CMC ID number as your username and your default password which will be cmc and the last 6 digits of your Social Security number, for example: cmc123456. Or, if you don't have a Social Security number, your default password will be cmc, followed by the 2 digits of your birth month, followed by the 2 digits of your birthday, followed by the letters xx. So, for example, if your birthday is January 5, and you don't have a Social Security number, your default password would be cmc0105xx. If you have no Social Security number and no birthdate in the system, your password will be a randomly generated number. You would need to contact the IT Service Desk at 970-947-8438 for assistance in that case.
Your Canvas account is automatically activated and available when you enroll in a course or teach for CMC; instructors automatically receive a Canvas course for each course they are teaching. Students are automatically added to Canvas courses when they register. Other CMC employees who need to use Canvas and aren't sure that they have an active Canvas account or need special assistance, please contact the Office of Innovations in Teaching and Learning or the IT Department's Service Desk.
How do I find my CMC ID number so that I can log into Canvas?
If you're enrolled in any courses as a student, your CMC ID number is located on the top right corner of your printed Student Schedule. Your CMC ID number may be printed on your ID card; it will always be found on your paystubs from CMC. Finally, you can also contact your local campus or the IT Department's Service Desk if you are still unable to locate your CMC ID number.
How do I reset my password if I've lost or forgotten it?
If you've previously logged in to Canvas successfully but have lost or forgotten your password, then click on the link "I don't know my password" on CMC's log-in page for Canvas. Instructions for resetting your password will be emailed to the principal email address in your Canvas account. Please see this video tutorial for more details on how to change your default password to a password of your choice. You must maintain an email address in your Canvas account; we recommend using your CMC email address and CMC policy requires you to check that address.
How do I change my password or otherwise update my profile in Canvas?
Please see these illustrated steps or this video tutorial for instructions on how to log in and change your Canvas password to another password of your choice. By clicking on the Settings link in the upper-right corner of the Canvas interface, users can also:
- change their display name
- add a profile photo
- adjust notification preferences--what kinds of activities in Canvas will prompt it to send you messages, and how you prefer to receive those messages
- upload files
- create ePortfolios
- input or change phone numbers, email addresses, social media information, notification preferences, and other profile information in Canvas. Please note: your principal email address will remain your CMC email address. Changes made to your principal email address in your Canvas profile will be overridden by the system. You can add a secondary email address to your profile.
- You can link your accounts from Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Google, LinkedIn, Diigo, and Delicious to Canvas, and you can choose to receive alerts on your cell phone from Canvas too! Please see this tutorial on how to customize the notifications or alerts you receive from Canvas.
Will Canvas work on my mobile device or iPad?
Canvas functions fully on several smart phones due to its minimal use of Flash. Compatible devices include the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, Android, Palm and Blackberry. The first native mobile applications Instructure has released are SpeedGrader and Canvas for iOS. On Android devices, browsers that work well are Opera, Firefox and Dolphin Browser HD. Others are functional but these three are currently recommended. Additional mobile applications are planned or are under development. Please consult Instructure's website at help.instructure.com for the latest updates regarding using Canvas on mobile devices and iPads. You can also consult the Canvas Instructor Guide's section on mobile apps here.
There is an iPad app for using Canvas in general and there is an iPad app which focuses on the SpeedGrader that is only available to Canvas instructors.
What happens in Canvas if CMC cancels my course?
If CMC cancels your course and its status in Datatel Colleague is set to "cancelled," then typically your Canvas course will be automatically deleted within a day by our regularly scheduled daily updates. You can create a course export file of your course if you anticipate that it will be canceled so that you can save your work, files, course design, etc.
I'd like to add someone to my Canvas course.
If you would like to add a CMC colleague or CMC student to your course, please contact the Service Desk at (970) 947-8438 or servicedesk@coloradomtn.edu. You can also contact the Office of Innovations at innovations@coloradomtn.edu. If you would like to add someone to your course who is not affiliated with CMC, please contact the Office of Innovations to discuss.
I'd like to have a "sandbox" course or a course for collaboration.
If you would like to have a Canvas course to store your course materials, to use for practicing, or for collaboration with colleagues, please click here and fill out this online form. This form will be sent to the Office of Innovations in teaching and Learning at CMC.
I'd like to invite a guest who's not affiliated with CMC to join my Canvas course.
If you would like to add someone to your course who is not affiliated with CMC, please log in to the MyCMC portal to review CMC's policy concerning guests in Canvas. Visit College Departments, then Academic Affairs, then Innovations in Teaching and Learning--or click here (log-in required to MyCMC). On the Innovations in Teaching and Learning page, you'll find the policy and also the forms there that you'll need to submit to the Office of Innovations in order to have your guest(s) added to Canvas.
Which time zone does Canvas operate in?
The time zone that CMC's Canvas system uses is Mountain Time (7 hours behind GMT) and we observe Daylight Savings. You can set your personal profile to reflect the time zone you are in if it differs from Mountain Time.
Canvas FAQ
How do I learn to use Canvas?
Please see our training calendar for faculty and staff. We recommend as well that you explore the tutorials in Canvas' YouTube channel and the information at Canvas Guides. The Canvas instructor's manual is posted online in the Canvas Guide for Instructors--scroll down and look for the link to download it at right.
What are the basic features of Canvas?
There are too many features of Canvas to list in this space but several of the basic features of Canvas include Pages, Assignments, Files, Quizzes, Discussions, and putting all those features together in Modules. Another key feature of Canvas is the Notifications that you can customize in your profile to enable Canvas to alert you in various ways (email, text message, via Twitter or Facebook, among others) to significant activities occurring in your Canvas courses.
I've got a question about the Canvas Gradebook.
Click here (or see link above at left) to visit our Canvas Grading FAQ page.
Who do I call or send my students to for Canvas support?
Students can click on the Help link at the top right corner of the screen while logged into Canvas to request help. Students can also call the Service Desk at 970-947-8438 or 866-642-0495. We recommend as well that students check out the tutorials in Canvas' YouTube channel and the information at Canvas Guides.
Is a student orientation for Canvas available?
Yes, we have a Student Orientation to Canvas module available that you can copy into your Canvas courses. Please contact the Office of Innovations at innovations@coloradomtn.edu or (970) 947-8408 to obtain this module.
How do I enable students to access my course?
To enable students to access your course, you'll need to "publish" it. Click here for a tutorial on how to publish your course, or click here to view an Office of Innovations tutorial on publishing a Canvas course in CMC's Canvas system. Once a Canvas course is published, it cannot be reverted to "unpublished" so be sure you publish when you're ready—this is not like Blackboard's course availability setting which could be switched off and on repeatedly. If you would like to prevent students from accessing your published course temporarily, there is a workaround which is described online here.
Note: If your students are not sure what their CMC ID numbers are, which they'll need for logging in to Canvas, you can either direct them to this Canvas FAQ page for students or you can consult your course roster in WebAdvisor which lists the CMC ID numbers of your students. For illustrated instructions on how to locate your WebAdvisor course roster and find a student's CMC ID number, please click here.
Canvas courses can be "unpublished", "published", "concluded", "deleted" "private", and "public". Learn about the various states of a Canvas course by clicking here. Concluded courses exist in a "read-only" mode; students can only view them passively. Please do not conclude your course.
Oops, I published my course--how I can hide it again from students?
To give students access to your course, you must "publish" it. Once a Canvas course is published, it cannot be reverted to "unpublished" so be sure you publish when you're ready—this is not like Blackboard's course availability setting which could be switched off and on repeatedly. If you would like to prevent students from accessing your published course temporarily, there is a workaround which is described online here. (Click here for a tutorial on how to publish your course, or click here to view an Office of Innovations tutorial on publishing a Canvas course in CMC's Canvas system.)
What is the Course Setup Checklist?
The first few times you create a new course in Canvas, it can be a challenge to remember all of the steps required. The Course Setup Checklist exists to help you remember to cover all your bases before the course goes live. And here's a video tutorial on using the Course Setup Checklist.
Why is Canvas sending me so much email?
Canvas will contact you as part of its Notifications feature. Please see this tutorial on how to customize the notifications or alerts you receive from Canvas so that you receive the right amount of communication from Canvas. By clicking on the Profile link in the upper-right corner of the Canvas interface, users can adjust notification preferences--what kinds of activities in Canvas will prompt it to send you messages, and how you prefer to receive those messages Canvas gives users the ability to receive a variety of different notifications via email, text message, or other registered services like Twitter and Facebook. You can also set different levels of frequency for each type of notification Canvas offers.
How can I add or change a profile picture?
Please click here for a tutorial on adding or changing your profile picture in Canvas. Where does this profile picture display? Next to your discussion posts and in course rosters, for example.
How do I customize my course list?
You can customize the list of courses you see from the dropdown menu of Courses. Please click here for a tutorial on customizing that course list.
I need help with the Files area of my Canvas course.
Please consult this video tutorial on how to use the Files area of your Canvas course. It explains the basic features of this Files area.
I need help with the Pages in my Canvas course.
Canvas’ Pages feature is a content presentation tool. It is essentially a wiki --an easily editable webpage with WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) editing so that you know immediately what you're creating. It includes a rich content editor, so you can use it as a place to put course material. Here’s a Pages video tutorial we share in the Canvas: Basics Online course. Here's another general Pages video tutorial.
I want to change or reorganize the menu buttons at left in my Canvas course.
Teachers can hide and reorder the menu buttons of the navigation menu along the left side of their Canvas courses. For a tutorial on how to reorganize this menu, please click here. Please note that the Home button will always remain at the top and the Settings button (which is inaccessible and invisible to students) will always remain at the bottom. A hidden area's items can still be placed in Modules so for example a teacher could hide the Quizzes button but still place quizzes inside individual modules.
The navigation menu's buttons cannot be renamed--their names must remain the same. And by the way, each button leads to a feature-rich area of your Canvas course: none are just empty spaces or "holding tanks" for content, in other words, there are always tools and features in each area. By default, all of these buttons are active for all courses. However, it's important to be aware that buttons that link to sections that don't have any content (besides the tools and features native to that area) will be "grayed out", until content is added. For example, if there are no quizzes in the course, the "Quizzes" link will be gray. Also, if a teacher hides a navigation button, the students will not be able to see that button at all and the teacher will always see that button, but its text will be gray.
How can I set up announcements to display when students first enter my course?
The Announcements section in your Canvas course cannot be set to be the "welcome screen", unlike in Blackboard 8. Please watch this video tutorial to see two options for setting up your course so that important news is immediately presented to your students.
I want to send an email out to my students.
Canvas doesn't have an email tool that broadcasts out emails to students (the way that Blackboard 8 did). Please use WebAdvisor send an email to the students in your class--WebAdvisor enables you to send a simple text-only email to all students or to individual students.
Canvas assumes that with the ability to set up custom Notifications, students are getting the message in the channels they prefer--but that important conversations should be in one central location: Canvas itself. Instead of emailing out to users, Canvas uses its Conversations tool, an internal messaging system entirely based within Canvas. You can use Conversations to send messages to any other CMC Canvas user-- you don't need to be in a course together. So students can contact instructors whose courses they may take and have questions about-- and you, the teacher, can reply with a file attached, like the syllabus. Additionally, any responses by students to your comments, announcements, any comments that they leave while turning in assignments, etc., is automatically copied into this inbox. You can also message colleagues and know that with Canvas' powerful Notifications, your colleague will probably be alerted quickly in that a message is waiting in the Conversations inbox. Click here for a tutorial on Conversations.
How do I build an Assignment to collect work from my students online?
Please click here for a video overview of Assignments.
Assignments in Canvas are basically anything you wish to assign students-- tasks with or without grades, and with or without a digital file to turn in. In Canvas, you can only generate more columns in the Gradebook by creating new graded items, such as tests, Assignments, and graded discussions. You can however create Assignments that are set to not require any submission by students and then manually input grades into the column that is generated in the Gradebook.
By default the Assignments page will show your students all of the Assignments that will be expected of them and how many points each is worth. The Syllabus area will also automatically gather together all of your course's Assignments in a table, above which you'll find a box that is a Page that you can edit just as you would any other Page. One other thing to know about Assignments: you can build either a fully fledged Assignment in one sitting or you can build what Instructure calls an Assignment Shell, which is basically just a placeholder that you'll edit and develop more fully later. Assignment Shells can be built in multiple places (your Calendar, the calendar in the Syllabus area, Modules, the Assignments area). Students can't submit anything to an Assignment Shell so it's possible to sketch out your course's Assignments first with Assignments Shells then fill in all the details as you edit your Assignments later. Here is a tutorial on how to create an Assignment Shell from the Assignments area.
Please visit this tutorial to learn how to edit your Assignments-- there are many choices that make this a very powerful feature of Canvas! Just a few things to know: you can require students to submit their work digitally in certain ways (upload a file, input a URL, share a Google Doc, or type in text are some of the choices) and you can specify whether there is something to submit or whether there's nothing to submit. The "no submission" choice can be used to grade attendance or oral presentations, for instance.
How do I find the work my students submitted for an Assignment?
To quickly and easily see which students have turned in work, just go to the Gradebook in Canvas. In the column for an Assignment, if a student has submitted work then an icon will replace the dash there's there by default in empty cells; the icon will vary depending on the type of submission (e.g., file upload, Google Doc, text entry, etc.) Launching the Speed Grader tool will allow you to view and download these submissions. For more assistance with the Gradebook and Speed Grader, please visit our Canvas Grading and Testing FAQ for Faculty page.
Can one Assignment accept multiple submissions?
Yes, all Assignments will accept multiple submissions as long as they are open. If you set time/date restrictions, then those restrictions will control when the Assignment will accept submissions. Each submission is marked with the date and time it was submitted so you can easily distinguish among them. Canvas will also mark if a submission was turned in past the deadline. However, please be advised that students will only see their most recent submission--not all of their submissions-- for an assignment when they return to the page where they submitted their work or check their Grades section. For a video tutorial on how to select a particular submission by a student who's submitted more than once, please click here.
How can I use the Turnitin anti-plagiarism tool with my Assignments?
For more details, please see our Turnitin FAQ page here. The Turnitin anti-plagiarism tool is integrated into Canvas for Assignments that are set to accept Online Submissions. Turnitin originality checks are only available for online submissions of student work collected through an Assignment with Turnitin enabled. Be sure as you create your Assignment to also check the box for "Enable Turnitin Submission Evaluations." You will then be able to access Turnitin reports on students’ work that was submitted via such an assignment in the gradebook and SpeedGrader. Once an assignment submission has been evaluated a Turnitin icon will appear as part of the submission details. The color of the icon is an indicator of the general level of the Originality Report. Possible colors are green, yellow, orange, red, blue (no score) or gray (score pending). However, it is critical with Turnitin as with all such anti-plagiarism tools, that the instructor carefully reads the Originality Report for each student’s submission. Long quotations, even if properly cited, can sometimes be marked as plagiarism, for example. You can find the Turnitin instructor manual with more details online here. The Turnitin student manual can be found online here.
I need tech support with Turnitin.
CMC instructors can call Turnitin at 1-866-816-5046 ext. 241, Monday-Friday, from 7:00am-midnight, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 3:00pm to midnight. CMC students and instructors can submit a ticket by visiting turnitin.com and then hovering over "Support" and clicking on "Help Center." Then, once you're on the Help Center screen, look for the red button at lower left labeled "Create a ticket." Click on that button to create your request for tech support. For more details, please see our Turnitin FAQ page here.
I would like to use an e-textbook from CourseSmart in my Canvas course.
Please note: your students must purchase the e-book from CourseSmart in order to read it online or offline. To include the e-book(s) in your Canvas course, you must first create a module in the Modules section, then choose to "Add External Tool" to that module. There are two External Tool options for CourseSmart: the CourseSmart Bookshelf, which simply displays all the e-books each individual Canvas user has purchased (it recognizes you since your identity is confirmed by logging in to Canvas), and the "Assign Your CourseSmart Textbook," which enables an instructor to link to a particular e-book and even designate a specific page within that e-book as the first page displayed when students click on the link. With both of these External Tools, be sure to check the box for having the tool open in a new browser tab. Once you set up either tool, you can rename it, just use the editing pencil icon to the right for that tool, just like renaming other items in your module.
For technical support, Colorado Mountain College students and faculty should contact CourseSmart Solutions’ Customer Support via the following methods:
- Call toll-free: 877-216-7231.
- CourseSmart Solutions Support site at http://support-solutions.coursesmart.com/: Includes self-service options, help topic articles and other modes to contact customer support (chat and email) The Solutions Customer Support team is available 24/7.
- Please note: Your students might find CourseSmart’s regular customer support site for students that purchase directly from CourseSmart's website. Please be sure to distribute to your students the correct information listed above for the CourseSmart Solutions Customer Support team.
For advanced tech support with CourseSmart please direct your more advanced questions to the IT Department’s Service Desk at servicedesk@coloradomtn.edu or 970-947-8438 and/or the Office of Innovations in Teaching and Learning at Colorado Mountain College at innovations@coloradomtn.edu or 970-947-8408. We can then escalate your questions to CourseSmart.
How can I collect Google Docs items from my students in a Canvas Assignment?
There are some preliminary steps before you can successfully collect Google Docs items such as spreadsheets, presentations, and documents via Canvas Assignments from your students. First, all students must have a Google Account that they're familiar with using as they will need to opt for a sharing or privacy setting that will allow you to view their creations, as the default setting is to keep their Google Docs items private--and if a student posts the link to a private Google Docs item into Canvas, you will not be able to view it. Second, your Assignments should have the choice for Online Submission enabled; checking this box will provide you with some further options. Select the choices for Allow File Uploads, Allow Text Entry, and Allow Website URL. This will give your students some flexibility-- they will be able to share the links for their Google Docs items in various ways with you, by pasting their links into the text box (Text Entry), by pasting their links into the box for a URL (Allow Website URL), or, if they've added their Google Account to their Canvas user profile, through the Google Docs tab (File Uploads).
How do rubrics work with Assignments and the SpeedGrader?
To create a rubric for use with your Assignments, click on the Outcomes button, then Manage Rubrics. Then at the right, you'll see the option for adding a new rubric. For a tutorial on creating and editing a rubric, please click here.
Please watch this video tutorial to understand how rubrics work with the SpeedGrader.
What are Assignment Groups?
Assignment Groups are basically categories that you can use to sort anything that's graded in your course-- discussions, quizzes, Assignments. By default, all Canvas courses start off with one Assignment Group named Assignments. You can find it listed in the Assignments section of your course. For a tutorial on creating Assignment Groups, please click here.
I'm having trouble previewing files in my Canvas course or in the SpeedGrader.
On Sept. 29, 2012, Canvas switched from the Scribd tool for previewing files to Crocodoc. Crocodoc currently can convert PDF files, Microsoft Word files (.doc, .docx), Microsoft PowerPoint files (.ppt, .pptx), and Microsoft Excel files (.xls, .xlsx) Crocodoc currently does not display images (.png, .jpg, etc.) Files generated by Microsoft Works, the free office suite on some PCs, are NOT accepted by Crocodoc. For more information regarding Crocodoc and Crocodoc tech support, please click here. For a chart illustrating how various file types are previewed, please click here.
I want to set up my course in advance, but I'm not seeing all the buttons along the left side that are normally there—help!
You may notice that if you log in and look at a future semester's courses very far in advance that some of the buttons you would expect to see listed vertically along the left side of your course aren't there. This is simply due to a setting inside Canvas: each semester has specific dates to determine when faculty can begin working on their courses and when students can begin accessing any published courses. Please alert the Office of Innovations in Teaching and Learning if these dates are not generous enough--we welcome your feedback!
How can I view my Canvas course as my students do?
Canvas has a “student view” feature that you can use to view your course as a student, including even taking tests! Click here for a tutorial on how to launch the student view.
When are student enrollments added to my class?
Each semester, student enrollments are added to all Canvas courses automatically as students register. Please check the Academic Calendar for registration periods. Before students register and are added to your course roster, they cannot access your Canvas course, even if you publish it.
How do I use Collaborate (formerly called Elluminate Live) webconferencing with my Canvas course?
Please check out our FAQ page for Collaborate by clicking here or using the link above at right. The page has information about the Collaborate app for iPhone and iPad too!
Please contact the Service Desk to request that a Collaborate webconferencing session be built for you. You will receive an email from the Service Desk containing the information about your Collaborate session. To launch your session, you'll just use a browser-- no log-in to Canvas is required.
You will have a unique link for joining that session as a moderator under your own name as well as a separate link to share with students for them to join the session (they will be asked to provide their names as they enter the session). Your link should not be shared with students: it is specifically for you. The link for the students (and any other guests who aren't moderators) can be posted in Canvas in an Announcement, on a Page, via Conversations, in a Discussion, or as a URL added to a Module; or you can send it to your students via WebAdvisor's email feature.
If you opt to record your Collaborate sessions--they won't be recorded unless you select that option--you will need to contact the Service Desk to request the link for that recording, which will be different than the links for joining a session.
Please note that after August 14, 2012, CMC will be using the newest version of Collaborate (version 12), so your sessions will look different and have more features, including iPad and iPhone compatibility, and better performance. Take a free faculty/staff training and learn Collaborate version 12--the training calendar is online here.
WARNING RE COPYING LINKS for Collaborate sessions from Outlook WEBMAIL
BE CAREFUL if you copy a URL (weblink) for an Collaborate session out of Outlook WEBMAIL. There seems to be no problem in regular Outlook, only in WEBMAIL. If you copy a URL out of Outlook WEBMAIL, you have to be careful to copy it correctly. Webmail adds in extra coding into your URL and it will not function properly, even though it looks correct. Please watch this video so you’ll know the way to copy a URL out of Webmail correctly, before you paste it into Canvas!
In the future, can I copy a Canvas course from a previous term rather than creating it again?
Yes, you can! The Course Import Tool will enable you to copy an entire course or parts of a course. Please click here for a video tutorial on copying materials between your Canvas courses. Or click here for illustrated instructions on using the Course Import Tool. In Canvas, course copying should be initiated in the course which lacks the materials you intend to copy-- the Course Import Tool will import or "pull" materials into the course where you launch it. (This is the opposite of how CMC's Blackboard system worked, where you "pushed" materials over to the new course from the old course to copy them.) You can find this tool from the Course Setup Checklist (details about the Course Setup Checklist can be found here in the Canvas FAQ for Faculty) and clicking on the "Import Content" option; or by clicking on the Settings button, and then on the screen that appears, clicking on the button at right marked "Import Content Into This Course." Then select "Copy content from another Canvas course," and follow the prompts Canvas will give you to transfer quizzes from your other Canvas courses into the course where you're working. Do not select "Import Quizzes" unless you have QTI files of your quizzes.
Another option for copying materials between Canvas courses is to create a Canvas export file package (it will end with the extension .imscc), which can contain either the entire course or just the quizzes and assessment materials. This is a good solution for sharing course materials with other instructors who are not enrolled in your course and therefore cannot use the Course Import Tool to copy materials from your course. For a video tutorial on creating a Canvas export file package and then importing it into a Canvas course, please click here.
Does Canvas have a spellchecking tool?
No, Canvas does not have a built-in spellchecker. Your browser may have a spellchecker and if so, it will typically underline in red the words that it thinks aren't spelled correctly; then you can right-click or otherwise choose the correct spelling. Mozilla Firefox has such a feature that will function inside the text boxes that are part of Canvas Pages, Assignments, etc.
Can I switch my Canvas courses to a language other than English?
Yes, although the default language option is English, you can switch your course to Spanish. Click on the Settings button at lower left, then the Course Details tab. Click on the Edit Course Details button and choose Español. Although the course's navigation buttons and some other details will now be in Spanish, the same text editing toolbar will appear. There will not be accented letters such as "ñ" or Spanish punctuation marks available.
My course list doesn't show all of my Canvas courses! How do I access them?
Canvas displays up to 12 courses in the Courses drop-down menu. Once users have more than 12 courses, they may customize the drop-down menu to choose which courses will display. Click here for a tutorial on how to do so. After a semester ends, your courses from that semester will be retired from your course list. Also, if you're involved in many courses at once during a semester, you may not see all of your courses on your course list. In any case, you can always access all of your courses, past and present. Click on your course list and when that dropdown list pops open, look for the text at lower right that says “View all courses.” Click on that text and you'll be taken to a new screen which will list all of your courses, past and present alike. Click on a course's name to enter it.
Students aren't able to attach files to their Discussion posts in my course--help!
By default, Canvas discussions don't allow students to attach files. They can link to items that are housed online, such as images in Flickr, websites, or other online items. This is a course-specific setting that you as the course's instructor can adjust for each of your Canvas Courses. For a video tutorial on enabling this setting, please click here. Here are the basic instructions: Click on the Settings button at lower left, then click on the Course Details tab; next click on the "Edit Course Details" button and look for "More options" at the bottom, and click on that. You should see then see the option for enabling students to attach files to their Discussion posts.
Students can't embed images in their Discussion posts-help!
Students cannot embed images into discussion posts the same way an instructor can. To summarize: students are only able to embed images already online outside of Canvas in their discussion posts. They cannot upload an image file and embed that image into their posts.
Students have 2 options for including images with their discussion posts. First, they can attach files to their posts, if you’ve enabled that permission. The files are attached to the post, not embedded. You can confirm your discussion settings by visiting the Discussions area of your Canvas course, then clicking on the gear wheel icon at right. Please see this topic in our Canvas Faculty FAQ. The second option students have is to embed an image that is posted online elsewhere, not in Canvas, e.g. a photo posted at Flickr.com, or another website. Please click here for instructions.
How can I use the Canvas Calendar and Scheduler that I see when I first log in?
Please click here for a tutorial on using the recently updated Calendar feature. Please click here for a tutorial on using the Scheduler, which is great for setting up appointment time slots.
How can I find the URL (web address) of an image that is already online, so that I can embed it in Canvas?
Please click here for a video tutorial explaining how to locate the URL (web address) of an image that is already online so that you can embed it in a Canvas wiki page, assignment description, etc.
Course Cartridges in Canvas
Textbook publishers commonly provide "course cartridges", "e-packs" or other supplementary materials. Since Canvas is still a fairly new LMS, you may have to ask your publisher if they are producing supplementary materials in a Canvas-readable format. This page from the Canvas wiki documents known compatibilities and possible workarounds for different publisher materials. First and foremost, faculty should ask the publisher if they can or will provide a Canvas-compatible course cartridge. Even if you know they don't have one, this kind of feedback may encourage the publisher to embrace Canvas.
If a Canvas cartridge is not available, try to import a Blackboard or Angel format cartridge into your Canvas course with the Course Import Tool, as Canvas supports both of this course package types already. Please see this tutorial on the Course Import Tool. You can also ask the publisher if a "Common Cartridge" format package is available. Common Cartridge is a global format for learning materials packages and Canvas accepts Common Cartridge.
Finally, please note that if your course cartridge or digital textbook originally required a code or key to install it or make it accessible, there is a good chance that it will not copy into a new course. Please contact your publisher for new materials and/or technical assistance if you have tried to copy it from Blackboard to Canvas and the copying fails, or creates empty items (quizzes with no questions, for instance).
Why did a student vanish from my People section and Gradebook?
If a student drops your course, he or she will no longer appear in the People section and the Gradebook once the system has had time to process this change in registration (typically one day).
What if I want to copy materials from my old Blackboard 8 courses?
Please see the Blackboard to Canvas FAQ page for detailed answers and tutorials on this topic. A limited version of CMC's Blackboard 8 system was available for instructors to access for consultation purposes until Jan. 31, 2013. The Office of Innovations maintains offline archives of all past Blackboard courses. Please contact the Office of Innovations at innovations@coloradomtn.edu or (970) 947-8408 for assistance with archived Blackboard courses.
Is CMC's Blackboard 8 system still available?
A limited version of CMC's Blackboard 8 system was available for instructors to access for consultation purposes through Jan. 31, 2013. It is no longer available online for instructors to consult. The Office of Innovations maintains archives of all past CMC Blackboard courses. Please contact the Office of Innovations at innovations@coloradomtn.edu or (970) 947-8408 for assistance with an archived Blackboard course. For help with migrating course materials from Blackboard to Canvas, please see the Blackboard to Canvas FAQ page for detailed answers and tutorials.
When will my course be deleted from the Canvas learning management system?
At this point, we are not scheduling any deletions of older courses in the Canvas learning management system. Please do not attempt to delete or "conclude" your Canvas course yourself.
I'm curious about Big Blue Button, the webconferencing tool accessed via the Conferences button in my Canvas course.
Please click here for a tutorial on how to set up a webconference using Big Blue Button. For a tutorial on the interface that you'll see while in a Big Blue Button webconference, please click here. Please note: Big Blue Button does not offer the option of recording your webconference. It also limits participation to 25 users at a time.
To learn more about Big Blue Button, please visit their website.
For a more robust webconferencing tool that can record your webconference and handle many more users, please use Collaborate (which will eventually be integrated into Canvas). The Service Desk can set up a webconference in Collaborate for you--please see the Collaborate topics on this page as well.
How I can use videos from Films On Demand in my Canvas course?
Please click here for a video tutorial explaining how to integrate videos from the Films On Demand service into your Canvas course. CMC has a license for all of our faculty to use this service. To get started with Films On Demand, a leading source of high-quality video and multimedia for academic, vocational and life-skills content, please visit www.coloradomtn.edu/innovations and look for the "Memberships" link, or click here to go there directly.
I'd like to use Respondus StudyMate Author to create content for my Canvas course.
A free 30-day trial version of Respondus StudyMate Author is available here. CMC instructors and staff can obtain a license from CMC to install Respondus StudyMate Author permanently on their computers by registering for and completing the Respondus licensing course offered by the Office of Innovations. Please consult the training calendar at www.coloradomtn.edu/training for that course's details and WebAdvisor registration information.
I'd like to use Respondus 4.0 to create tests or migrate tests from Blackboard to Canvas.
Respondus 4.0 is currently available as a free trial version valid for 30 days that anyone can download by visiting this website. CMC instructors and staff can obtain a license from CMC to install Respondus 4.0 permanently on their computers by registering for and completing the Respondus 4.0 Licensing course offered by the Office of Innovations. Please consult the training calendar at www.coloradomtn.edu/training for that course's details and WebAdvisor registration information.
You can find our help page for Respondus 4.0 by clicking here or visiting www.coloradomtn.edu/canvas
Respondus 4.0 is a powerful tool for creating and managing exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to Canvas and other learning management systems (such as Desire2Learn, Moodle, and others). Exams can be created off-line by creating a specially formatted Word document that is then processed by Respondus; and Respondus can extract assessment materials such as tests, surveys, and question pools from certain learning management systems and then place them in another. So it is possible to use Respondus to extract ("retrieve") assessment materials from one school's learning management system and then upload them into a Canvas course. Howver, since CMC's former Blackboard 8 system has been taken offline it is not possible to use Respondus with CMC's Blackboard 8 system. Respondus preserves media associated with your materials quite well. Please note, you can only connect via Respondus to courses (in any LMS) where you’re already enrolled as a teacher. However, Respondus does not currently have the capability to extract tests, etc., from Canvas though it can upload assessments directly to Canvas.
I'd like to use SoftChalk in my Canvas course.
CMC's Canvas system is configured for SoftChalk's cloud-based product. For more information and tutorials on using SoftChalk, including how to publish a lesson to SoftChalk Cloud, please click here to visit SoftChalk's training website.
I'd like to embed a Khan Academy video in my Canvas course.
You can embed a Khan Academy video quickly and easily into your Canvas course. Here are the steps: you'll see an icon that resembles a green leaf on the editing toolbar that appears when you're editing Pages, Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, and the Syllabus area. Click on that icon, then search for the Khan Academy video you'd like to embed. Click on the video, and it will be embedded; be sure to save your changes. Or find the Khan Academy channel on YouTube.com, grab the sharing link for the specific video you'd like, and paste that into Canvas.
I'm interested in teaching an open online course via Canvas.
Colorado Mountain College does not offer open online courses or massive open online courses (MOOC) at this time. However, Instructure conducts open online courses via Canvas Network. Please visit Canvas Network for more information and to apply to teach.