Canvas FAQ
Getting Started with Canvas
You can sign in to Canvas by going to https://k-state.instructure.com/ and sign in with your eID and password.
You can add observers and TAs to your course at any time. Click the +People button on the People page to add someone. You can search for individuals by their K-State eID to ensure you find the correct person, or by their email address, eID, or WID.
Canvas is integrated with KSIS, and all sections for the term will be created automatically in Canvas at the section level. Course shells (except 900-level courses) will be created according to the schedule outlined on this page, and once creation is complete, instructors will be able to work in their courses. Instructors listed in KSIS are added to the course and will have access immediately after the course is created.
Student rosters will automatically stay in sync with KSIS, with student drop/adds occurring in near real-time. Changes to the course name/department in KSIS after course creation will not be updated in the Canvas course. To have a 900-level course created, contact the IT Service Desk.
Sections can be combined by crosslisting, and instructors can add TAs and other support roles, but not students, to the rosters.
The K-State Attendance app is simple to use; it allows instructors to take notes and attendance, and provides an attendance summary that can be printed or exported. For detailed instructions on how to use the app, see the article Assign attendance with the K-State Attendance app in the K-State Knowledge Base.
Canvas is designed for maximum compatibility with minimal requirements. Canvas works best with the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera. Be sure to keep your browser up to date. Please visit the Canvas Browser Compatibility page for more information and support for your browser.
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Course Management
A new course shell is created each term for sections via the automated KSIS course creation process. You may want to reuse material, content, assessments or settings from a previous version of your course from a past term, from another course shared with you by another instructor or from a template course you have created yourself. Copying some or all of the content from one course to another is easy. To learn more, view the step-by-step How do I import content from another Canvas course guide.
One power of Canvas is that a wide variety of tools can be easily added to Canvas at the institution, college, department, or course level. Many are already able to plug into Canvas but need some configuration. If you know of a tool or website you want to work with Canvas, please complete this form.
Semesters and Sections
Sections are groups of students organized for administrative purposes. When users enroll in a course, they are enrolled in one of its sections. It is possible to place more than one section in a course, but it is not possible to put sections within sections. All sections of a course share the same content.
Each section can have its own set of varied due dates for assignments, quizzes, and discussions. Examples of this feature include a course with sections that meet on different days of the week or in various formats (online vs. face-to-face).
Sections are also beneficial for TA-based grading and sorting in the Gradebook. By default, students are limited to only interacting with students in their section. If you would like your students to participate across sections, contact the IT Service Desk for assistance.
Students share all elements of the course. In other words, you can't hide content or restrict access to part of a course (i.e., content, assignments, etc.) by section, unless you create groups for each section.
All automatically and manually created courses are unpublished by default. Unpublished courses are courses in preparation. Students cannot access or participate in an unpublished course. Students will see the course listed in the ‘Future Enrollments’ section of their Courses menu. When the instructor publishes a course, it is subject to the Term Dates for the semester in which it is taught. Term Dates are the actual start and end dates of the terms and define when the course access begins and ends.
By default, students will have access to their courses in Canvas seven days prior to the first day of class. Students will lose access to their Canvas courses 7 days after their last class.
You can control the start and end dates of your course regardless of the Canvas term dates. View the How do I change the start and end dates for my course guide.
Term dates are defined as the actual start and end dates of the term from the K-State Academic Calendar.
When a term is created, an instructor will inherit the Term Runs from [date or term start] to [date or term end] dates unless a specific date is entered in the fields. However, if you open a course and change the access dates in the Course Details, you can override the term date settings. View the How do I change the start and end dates for my course guide.
By default, students will have access to their courses in Canvas 7 days prior to the first day of class. Students will lose access to their courses in Canvas 7 days after semester grades are posted in KSIS.
Instructors can control the dates that students have access to their course, regardless of the term dates. To learn how to change the access dates for your course, view the How do I change the start and end dates for my course guide.
By default, students will have access to their courses in Canvas 7 days prior to the first day of class. Students will lose access to their courses in Canvas 7 days after semester grades are posted in KSIS.
Your officially enrolled students will be managed automatically by KSIS and Canvas. You cannot add students manually to credit courses. For academic support courses managed outside the credit courses, it may be possible to add students. For more information, contact the IT Service Desk.
For step-by-step instructions, see the "How to cross-list course sections in Canvas" article. Cross-listing allows you to move a section into another course, so you can have multiple sections in a single course. Since courses in Canvas are created at the section level, “cross-listing” your sections into a single course allows you to teach across the sections. You can follow the steps in the "How to cross-list a course" sections in Canvas, or have Canvas support assist you. Identify the class/reference numbers for the sections you wish to cross-list and complete this form to receive assistance.
Cross-listing allows you to combine sections to distribute a single TEVAL to multiple sections.
Quotas
The K-State course storage quota is 5 GB. View the What is my File Storage quota for my course guide for more information. Please note that the default storage quota is 500 MB, but the K-State quota is set to 5 GB. To request a quota increase to accommodate your course, complete this form.
If you received a message that you have reached your quota in a course, your personal files, or for your group within Canvas, please complete this form to request an increase.
The maximum file size you can store in your group area is 500 MB. View the Where are my Personal Files as an instructor guide for more information. To request that your quota be raised to accommodate your work, complete this Service Request form. To learn more about Student Groups, view the What are Student Groups guide.
The maximum number of files you can store in your account's Settings File tool is 1 GB. View the Where are my Personal Files as an instructor guide for more information. To request that your quota be raised to accommodate your work, complete this Service Request form.
Assessment and Grading
You can add extra attempts and time through moderating the quiz or accessing student quiz results. For step-by-step instructions, view the Once I publish my Quiz, how can I give my students extra time or extra attempts guide.
In addition to setting a due date for an assignment, instructors can specify a date range during which students can submit it. These dates are called availability dates. Availability dates are the date range during which students can submit the assignment or quiz. For step-by-step instructions on setting availability dates, view the "What is the difference between due dates and availability dates" guide.
To learn about quiz settings and how they can be used to maximize your quiz security, view the Quiz Settings to Maximize Security guide.
You can give an extra attempt to an individual student, several students, or an entire class. To grant an extra attempt to an individual student, you'll need to access Student Quiz Results. To give extra attempts to an individual student or multiple students, you'll want to Moderate the Quiz. For step-by-step instructions on both processes, view the Once I publish my Quiz, how can I give my students extra attempts guide.
If you have set a time limit for your quiz, you can grant extra time. The maximum time you can extend a current attempt is 24 hours. For step-by-step instructions, view the Once I publish a timed quiz, how can I give my students extra time guide.
You can give students extra credit in Canvas using several options. For step-by-step instructions, view the How do I give my students extra credit guide.
If you are using a Rubric, simply add an additional Criterion to a Rubric for extra credit. Have the rubric worth more than the assignment total, and you can give students extra points. For additional help, view the How do I give my students extra credit guide.
In the Quizzes tool, after a quiz is complete and a student's response exists, you can view their answer in SpeedGrader and scroll to the bottom of their response, where you will find a box called 'Fudge Points.' Here you can enter positive or negative numbers to adjust the student’s score. To learn more, view the How do I use Fudge points in SpeedGrader.
If you use weighted assignment groups, you can use them to award extra credit. You can create quizzes or assignments worth zero points and place them within an existing group that is weighted for a percentage of the grade. You cannot put extra credit assignments into a group of their own, as that group would be worth zero points, and it would not be calculated. They must be in an assignment group that is worth more than zero points. So for example, an extra credit assignment worth zero points named 'Extra Credit for Exam 3' would be in the Exams group along with Exam 1, Exam 2, and Exam 3. Points awarded to that assignment would be 'extra' points in that group. For additional help, view the How do I give my students extra credit guide.
Currently, there is no option to include extra credit points within a quiz or assignment. A workaround to add extra credit questions to a quiz would create a separate quiz for the extra credit questions and then link to the extra credit quiz in the last question of your original quiz. For example, if you had a 25-question quiz and 5 extra credit questions, you would make two separate quizzes. The first quiz would have 26 questions: 25 actual questions, and the 26th would be the question type 'Text (no question).' This would be a link to the second quiz with the 5 extra credit questions. Students would complete the quiz and on the 26th question, click a link to go to the extra credit quiz. You could create an assignment group called 'Quiz 1,' and that group would contain 'Quiz 1' and 'Quiz 1 Extra Credit'. For additional help, view the How do I give my students extra credit guide.
You can copy the final grades you have recorded in Canvas over to KSIS, where you can approve and officially submit your final grades. For step-by-step instructions, view the Copy Final Grades from Canvas to KSIS article.
Once students have taken a quiz, you cannot change the question type. However, you can still award students points as if it were a multiple-choice question. You, the instructor, will need to follow these steps: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-5361.
Once you have chosen a second answer, you will have a few options for regrading.
- If you want only two correct answers, choose the option Award points for both corrected and previously correct answers.
- If you want more than two, you will have to choose the above option, save the quiz and go back to choose the third answer.
- If you want all answers to be correct, choose the option "Give everyone full credit for this question."
Grade Rosters will be available in KSIS for grade entry the day after the last day of class.
As needed, you can use the Gradebook to excuse a student from an assignment, discussion, or quiz. You can also excuse a student from a group assignment. Excused assignments are not calculated as part of a student's total grade. Type an EX in the appropriate cell to excuse the student. For step-by-step instructions on how to excuse an assignment, view the How do I excuse an assignment for a student in the Gradebook guide.
By default, students will have access to their courses in Canvas 7 days prior to the first day of class. Students will lose access to their courses in Canvas 7 days after semester grades are posted in KSIS.
Instructors retain access to their courses for one semester after classes end, after which the course will be concluded. When a course is concluded, the instructor will have read-only access to the course. For example, instructors can access their fall courses during the following spring semester, but not the next fall. This allows instructors the ability to make changes in the Gradebook and handle incompletes. As a result, instructors will always see courses from their current and past semesters in their Canvas course list.
Once a course is concluded, instructor-based roles will no longer have the same access in the course resulting in loss of course functionality and user information. If full functionality is still required for instructors, but the course is set to conclude the instructor must explicitly set an end date of the course. Otherwise, instructors should allow their course to conclude through the automated process. If courses are manually concluded, all enrollments are removed from the course and placed on the prior enrollments page.
If you submit an "I" Incomplete as the grade for a student in KSIS, they will automatically be given access to the same course for the next semester, so they can work with existing content and assessments and coordinate with you to complete the necessary work. If they got a letter grade or no grade, then they are handled by this process.
Approximately 1 week before the start of the next term, a new section named Incompletes will be created in the course and any students with an Incomplete will be automatically enrolled in that section. Instructors can continue to update, re-assign, and work with the student in that course until the work is complete. The section will automatically conclude at the end of that current semester and the instructor does not need to do anything to add or conclude the student in this process; it is all automatic.
The instructor should communicate with the student to access the course and complete any work as needed. Contact the IT Service Desk for any questions about this process.
Mobile App
Canvas has a free mobile app that shares many of the same features as the web version. Note that functions vary between phone and tablet versions and between Android and iOS devices. Versions of mobile apps for all devices are updated regularly. To download the Canvas by Instructure app for iOS devices , go to the iTunes App Store. To download the Canvas by Instructure app for Android devices , go to the Google Play Store.
With Canvas, you can easily set up your cell phone to receive notifications. Follow this step-by-step guide to How do I add a text (SMS) contact method in Canvas .
Canvas Teacher replaces the existing Android and iOS SpeedGrader apps. Existing users may continue to use the legacy SpeedGrader app, though it will no longer be supported. Additionally, the Android Canvas Teacher Tools app has been discontinued. SpeedGrader is no longer supported for mobile devices. SpeedGrader is still available for use and supported in Canvas, and is included in the new Canvas Teacher app.