Canvas is generally very reliable, but users may occasionally experience delays or errors. Be sure to check the status of various Canvas services and get information on any current or recent issues that might be affecting performance.
Checking the status of Canvas can also be helpful when confirming student complaints about failed file uploads, or other technical issues.
Canvas is updated every three weeks. Each update typically includes a variety of small fixes and minor improvements, but occasionally there are more substantial updates to specific tools, or new features added.
Highlights in the 2018-12-8 Release Notes:
Canvas is updated every three weeks. Each update typically includes a variety of small fixes and minor improvements, but occasionally there are more substantial updates to specific tools, or new features added.
Highlights in the 2018-11-17 Release Notes:
It can be hard to know just how much students are actually using your Canvas course, or what content is accessed the most, or the least.
Every course includes access to a Course Analytics report that displays course activity, assignment submission timing, grade distribution, student activity, and more.
The Canvas Teacher mobile app can give you easy access to grading, communicating and updating your courses.
It’s easy to install, simple to use, and adds a convenient way to manage content and stay connected with your students.
See the Canvas Guides:
What is the Canvas Teacher app?
Canvas Teacher App – iOS Guide
Canvas Teacher App – Android Guide
Download the app (mobile devices only):
Instructors can easily send a Message about an assignment to students directly from within the Gradebook. You can choose to send a message to students who have:
This is a quick an easy way to communicate with all of the students who meet a particular criteria. Instructor contact is one of the keys to student success!
See the Canvas Guide:
Canvas automatically generates a running total of each student’s current grade. However, this only includes assignments that have a grade entered. If no grade is entered, the assignment is not counted in the Total grade calculation, which can lead to students misunderstanding their current grade.
To ensure an accurate point total/percentage, be sure to use Late Policies to automatically enter a “O” for all missed assignments. The instructor can manually update the grade later if the assignment is submitted past the Due Date.
NOTE: The default value for a missing assignment is set to 100%. This should be changed to 0%.
See the Canvas Guide:
How do I apply a Missing Submission policy in the New Gradebook?
NOTE: The Treat ungraded as zero option in the Gradebook only affects the instructor view, and does not actually adjust the point total. It also is for all items in the Gradebook, not individual assessments.
Faculty may wish to add other instructors to their course for a variety of reasons. Please keep in mind that official enrollments are handled automatically, so there is no need to add instructors who are already assigned to a course.
Other instructors (or administrators) may be added to permit them to import (copy) some or all content from the course, collaborate on course development, or just browse the course. Whether or not the other instructor can make changes to the course depends on the role they are assigned when added.
Faculty have the ability to create new Canvas courses for experimentation and course development. These courses are often temporary in nature, and rarely used with students. Over time, they can accumulate and should be deleted if no longer needed.
Have you checked your Courses list in Canvas lately? If you have old and unused courses, take a few minutes to clean house and remove the clutter.
Any course that you have created yourself (using the Start a New Course option), you can also delete.
NOTE: Official scheduled courses cannot be deleted.
Instructors may preview a Canvas course as a student at any time. This is an essential part of developing and testing a course before it is actively used by students.
While in Student View, the instructor may navigate the course content, submit assignments, post to discussions, take quizzes, and more.
Whether you are just learning Canvas or are an experienced user, taking the time to examine your course as a student is an important part of understanding how to best use the tools effectively.
See the Canvas Guide:
