You’ve built your course in Canvas, and it looks like it’s ready to go. Read through this list of tips to make sure you’ve ticked all the boxes for the start of the new term.
- Say hi. Use the Announcements tool to add a friendly greeting that your students will see the first time they log in. You can also add photos and video, if that’s your thing.
- Keep your interface simple. If Canvas offers tools you’re not using, you can remove them from the navigation bar by going to Settings -> Navigation.
- Personalize your notifications. Go to Accounts -> Notifications to tell Canvas how often you want to receive alerts about your course. Your notification preference settings apply to all your courses and affect only you. Your students will choose their own notification preferences.
- Enable the Syllabus to let students know exactly what will be required of them. The Syllabus is automatically generated based on the Assignments and Events that you’ve added to your course. Include as much detail about your course as you’d like in the Course Description field.
- Help your students stay organized. Add important dates and deadlines to your course calendar by creating Events. These will be automatically added to your students’ calendars.
- Help students help each other out. Enable discussions (Settings -> Navigation) to give your students the opportunity to answer one another’s questions.
- Publish your course. Be sure to click “Publish” on all the content you want to be visible to your students, and remember to publish your course so that it’s “live” at the start of the semester.
- Everything looks good to you. Will it look good to them? Go to Settings -> Student View to see whether your course is set up just how you’d like.
- Make sure you’re on the same page. Many UBC students are still using Connect and might expect to find your course there. Tell your students on the first day of class that they can access your course at canvas.ubc.ca.
- Direct your class to the Canvas website for students — students.canvas.ubc.ca. There they’ll find a Canvas FAQ, links to useful resources, and a Canvas blog written by students on the Learning Technology Environment Renewal team.