Canvas features for blended learning activities
Features that support remote and blended learning activities, including course calendar, lecture recordings, to-do list, and content availability settings.
Calendar event
A Canvas calendar event is a non-graded activity and may include non-timetabled opportunities such as a field trip or guest speaker. Events created on the calendar will show up on the syllabus page and student calendars but will not appear on the assignments page or in the gradebook.
- Calendar events can be displayed by day, week, month or list.
- Filter the calendar view by selecting or deselecting courses in the sidebar. The calendar is designed to display up to 10 calendars at a time.
- Labelling a course as a favourite course will raise it to the top of the list in the calendar sidebar.
- Subscribing to a calendar feed allows you to see course events across multiple external calendar platforms (iCal, Google, Outlook, etc.)
- Class meetings that are scheduled from your Canvas course, through either the Zoom or BigBlueButton (Conferences) menus, are added to the calendar automatically.
Video: Canvas tutorial – Calendar overview
Recordings made in lecture theatres
Panopto is the platform the University uses to create and share recorded lectures and presentation videos.
- All scheduled lectures delivered in recording-enabled rooms will be recorded automatically and released to students via the Panopto Video menu in your Canvas course. They are available to students 24 hours after being recorded.
- Capture your presentation in any platform (Zoom, Teams, camera), then upload the file to Panopto Video in your course menu to share your video with a Canvas course immediately.
- In Panopto, you can use the availability settings to choose the start and end dates your video will be available for students to watch.
Related guides:
Appointment scheduler
You can create appointment groups in the calendar, which allocate a block of available time for students to meet with you; Students select available timeslots. Appointments can be for individuals or groups.
Related guides:
To-do list
In Canvas, all graded activities will automatically be added to the To Do list of both teachers and students. This helps students manage their time and workload effectively.
To add additional activity reminders, use the options section on any Page or Discussion.
Related guides:
Availability settings
You can released content in your Canvas course on a given date and time. Some examples are:
- Modules can be locked until a given date. If published, students will be able to see the module titles and module item names, but they will not be able to access the module items until the release date.
- You can edit permissions for files and folders by changing the state of the file (published or unpublished), restricting file access to students who have the link, or scheduling availability dates for the files.
- Discussions, Assignments and Quizzes have availability settings.
- Availability dates can be set for Panopto videos.
Related guides:
Support
Support options are available through the Staff Service Centre or the 24-hour hotline. Please visit the learning technology support page for details.
Page updated: 22/02/2024 (minor edit)