Most instructors will eventually have a large number of courses on their Canvas Dashboard, including "official" courses generated by the college, as well as "sandbox" (development) courses they created manually.
Canvas automatically sends email notifications to students and instructors to alert them to activities within a course. There are many actions that can trigger a notification, such as changing a Due Date, an assignment submission, new grades posted, and so on.
The online environment can sometimes seem distant and impersonal. Adding a photo to your own Canvas profile can help your students feel just a little more connected to you and your class.