Why Canvas?
Canvas offers increased collaboration, communication and engagement. There are many features in Canvas that can help enhance teaching, but here are a few tools to start with:
Online Discussion Forum– Can be used to increase student participation and provide feedback, while allowing for further discussion of a topic.
Peer Review—Allows for anonymous or non-anonymous peer reviews. Assignment rubrics can also be used by the peer reviewers.
Speedgrader - Allows for a variety of types of feedback on student work from annotating a document, to submitting general comments, or using the audio/video feedback feature.
How is Canvas different from Blackboard?
View the Blackboard-Canvas Feature Comparison Chart.
Who is using Canvas?
There are over 1500 Fall 2019 courses published in Canvas.
In addition to many of our peer R1 institutions, including Indiana University, University of Michigan, Yale and Stanford, 60 UC faculty and nearly 3,000 UC students have piloted and adopted Canvas.
Will I have to manually enroll students, create a new account or request a Canvas course?
No. The process will be similar to the one we used with Blackboard. Your Canvas course shell is created each semester. Your roster will be added to your Canvas and synched with enrollment updates, so enrolled students will be able to see the course after you publish it.
Can I import final grades from Canvas to Catalyst?
Starting in Spring 2020, instructors will be able to import their Canvas grades directly to Catalyst. A guide and template for this process are available here: Entering Grades from Canvas to Catalyst.
Can I create my own Canvas course?
No. Canvas course shells are created automatically. However, you can begin building your course in one of your Sandboxes. You will be able to copy your Sandbox content into your course shell, once it is available.
When are Canvas courses created?
The Canvas Courses and Enrollment KB article has links to relevant information regarding the creation and enrollment of Canvas Courses and Final Grade entry. IT@UC publishes a Knowledge Base article that includes Canvas Maintenance Dates and Deadlines.
How do I request a Canvas account, sandbox or course shell?
All instructors and academic support staff should have a Canvas account and three sandboxes. At this time, course shells will be created at the request and with the permission of the home college only.
If you find you do not yet have an account or sandbox in Canvas, or if you would like to have an additional sandbox added to your current account you can make your request by submitting an IT@UC Portal Incident Form. To do this, go to IT@UC and click "Report an Issue." After logging in, complete the following information on the form:
1. Insert the subject: “Canvas Account/Sandbox Request”
2. In the Description field:
Is there a recommended browser for Canvas?
Yes. We recommend using the Chrome browser. See this guide for more information about operating system, browser and device requirements.
Are there mobile apps for Canvas?
Yes. There is a Canvas App for Instructors and a Canvas App for Students.