Canvas guides for teachers at the start of the semester
We have some suggestions that may be useful for getting started in the new semester.
General reminders
Publish your course
A friendly reminder that course coordinators are asked to publish their Canvas course two weeks before the start of teaching.
Declutter files with UDOIT
UDOIT’s File Review offers a simple solution to declutter your course and boost content accessibility for students.
Student guide
Our Canvas Student Guide lists the essential knowledge and skills students need to study on Canvas. The basics of Canvas, e.g., what is Canvas and how to access it, are included in the guide with links to step-by-step instructions.
Please promote the student guide during the first week of classes.
Cross-listed courses
Year-long courses and courses with different codes but with the same content are potential candidates for cross-listing. Cross-listing means you that you will be able to edit the content of multiple courses in only one course. We strongly recommend that you get your courses cross-listed before you start the course setup. Once students submit an assignment, we will no longer be able to perform cross-listing.
Once you have made your decision, please request the cross-listing of your courses via our Staff Service Centre (SSC) Portal.
Read more on our Canvas resources page:
Video tours of Canvas for teachers
Canvas Essentials
These Canvas introductory videos include the topics:
- Communication channels
- Using the rich content editor
- Creating and managing modules
- Canvas access and notifications
Video playlist: Our in-house learning technologies specialist, Karl McGuirk, steps us through the Canvas ‘must knows’. The videos are presented in Panopto: staff login required.
Canvas Assessment
These Canvas videos include the topics:
- Creating assignments
- Creating and attaching rubrics
- Using assignment groups
- Turnitin integration
- Assignment options
Video series: Karl McGuirk presents tips for creating and managing assignments in Canvas. The videos are presented in Panopto: staff login required.
Marking and grading
These Canvas videos include the topics:
- Navigating the Gradebook
- Grading in the Gradebook and additional features
- Entering feedback in SpeedGrader
- Annotating and Grading in SpeedGrader
Video playlist: Karl McGuirk demonstrates aspects of marking and grading with Canvas. This video is presented in Panopto. The videos are presented in Panopto: staff login required.
More tips
- Course Access Coordinators (CACs) can add instructors (teachers, TAs, teaching support, etc.) to Canvas courses. But CACs cannot edit or add content. CACs can also add themselves to a course as a teacher or a teaching support.
- Our UoA Tutoring Central is a home for tutor training and professional development resources. It includes modules on aspects of the tutoring role, resources collated from within and outside the University, including links to faculty tutor training pages, and spaces for tutors to connect and discuss.
- If you will teach or support a course in the new semester / quarter, but don’t see the course on your Canvas dashboard, please request access to a Canvas course via our SSC Portal.
- Instructors can validate links in a course using the Canvas link validator.
See also
Preparing for teaching
A checklist of tips to prepare for teaching including suggestions for Canvas.
Canvas Baseline Practices
The Practices promote a more consistent and accessible student learning experience.