Canvas FAQs

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Instructional Design help

Automatic Course Creation

Division of Information Technology has implemented a new procedure that will allow all courses to be created automatically in Canvas. Course shells (except 900 level courses) will be created based on the schedule outlined on this page , and once course creation is complete instructors will have the ability to edit and make changes to their courses.

Student rosters will automatically be kept in sync with KSIS with student drop/adds happening 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 .

Canvas terminology

K-State Attendance

Canvas technical requirements

Canvas is designed for maximum compatibility with minimal requirements. Canvas works best in the most recent versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer, and with the most current version of the flash plugin. Be sure to keep your browser and flash player up to date. Please visit the Canvas Browser Compatibility page for more information and support for your browser.

Screen Size

The average size of a notebook is a minimum of 1024x600 pixels.
If you want to view Canvas on a device with a smaller screen, we recommend using the Canvas mobile app .

Computer Speed and Processor

Use a computer 5 years old or newer when possible
1GB of RAM
2GHz processor

Operating Systems

Windows Vista and newer
Mac OSX 10.7 and newer
Linux - ChromeOS
DO NOT use Microsoft Edge

Mobile Operating System Native App Support

iOS 7 and newer
Android 4.2 and newer

Internet Speed

Along with compatibility and web standards, Canvas has been carefully crafted to accommodate low bandwidth environments.
Courses that utilize video will require a bandwidth of at least 2Mbps

Screen Readers

JAWS 14 or 15 for Internet Explorer 11 & 12 and Firefox 27
Latest version of VoiceOver for Safari
There is no screen reader support for Chrome

Create a Canvas course shell 'sandbox'

Update a Canvas course shell

A new course shell is created each term for sections via the automated KSIS course creation process (link this to the /createcourses.html page). 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 another course, you have access to into another course is easy. To learn more, view the step-by-step How do I import content from another Canvas course guide.

Canvas makes this very easy. To learn more, view the step-by-step How do I import content from another Canvas course guide.

File Upload Plugin Workarounds

Add Teval

Request a third-party application or plugin

Granting access

For features like notifications and mobile access to work for your participants, they will need a K-State eID. To begin, have your participants create an eID at https://eid.ksu.edu . Once they have created an eID, participants can provide you with the eID they created so you can request that they get access to the needed resources. The sponsoring K-State employee or unit will then complete the Special Access (for general use) request form located at https://www.k-state.edu/its/forms . In this form, you provide the eID of your participant(s) and what resources they need to access. In this case, you should check 'Canvas.'

Request Canvas admin access for academic college or department

Some academic colleges or departments may want a local staff member to assist with supporting and managing the academic unit's students, instructors, and courses. Canvas provides options that allow central ITS to give approved staff members access to support the users and course just in their college or department. To request this access and get some training, please complete the Canvas Sub-Account Admin Access form .

Sections

Sections are a group of students that have been organized for administrative purposes. When users are enrolled in a course, they are enrolled in one of the sections of that course. 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 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.

Course availability

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 ‘Future Enrollments’ section of their Courses menu. When the instructor publishes a course, it becomes subject to the Term Dates for the semester in which the course is taught. Term Dates are the actual start and end date 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 courses in Canvas seven days after their last class.

Custom term dates

Term dates

Intersession or unique term dates

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.

Students access

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 on 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.

Manually add students

Cross-list sections

For step-by-step instructions, view the How to cross-list course sections in Canvas article. Cross-listing allows you to take one section and move it into another course so you can have multiple sections in one 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 course sections in Canvas or you can 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.

Manually create a section

Course storage quota

Increase storage quota

Course group’s file quota

Personal file quota

Email students

You can have conversations with your students in Canvas. Click Inbox in the upper right corner of Canvas, select the course you want, and then click the Address Book icon on the right side of the toolbar. The Address Book options include: ALL for the course, all students, all TAs, or you can select a specific section of students or individuals. Ensure that the Send individual messages box so each student receives a personal message instead of a group message. To learn more about conversations in Canvas, view the How do I use Conversations guide. Messages sent through the Canvas Inbox are sent to you and your students via the notification methods you have set up for Conversations in Notifications. By default, all messages are sent to your K-State email inbox. This allows you to receive email notifications about messages in Canvas. You can reply to these notifications just like a standard email, or you can click the link in the notification and be taken back to the Canvas Inbox to respond and manage your messages.

Add Canvas Calendar to Outlook

Notification Preferences

Some users choose to have all their messages automatically forwarded out to their external email systems using Notifications where they can respond from Webmail, Outlook, etc. and have the communication go back to where the person they are communicating with chooses to read it. This is what we have set up by default for Canvas users. For step-by-step instructions, view the How do I set my Notification Preferences guide.

Filter Conversations

You can filter the Conversations in your Inbox for easier organization, especially if you are enrolled in multiple courses. Filtering Conversations allow you to view Conversations based on who is involved selectively. If you participate in several courses, Canvas allows you to identify which courses your messages belong to quickly. For step-by-step instructions, view the How do I filter a conversation guide.

Student Groups

Delete Groups

Message Entire Class

Calendar appointments

Course announcements?

By default, students will receive an email in their K-State e-mail notifying them of an announcement in their class immediately after the announcement is posted. Student can, however, change their notification preferences (link to https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1286 ) to change what they do and do not receive as well as the frequency. Students can also add additional contact methods (link to https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2281 ) to add their personal email and phone number to their Canvas notification. Notifications received using email will have a subject line that consist of the announcement subject, as well as the name of the class, the notification received via text, will not have a subject line. If students are not receiving the necessary notification, please have them check their notification preferences.

Extra time or extra attempts

You can grant access to an individual student, several students, or the entire class to have extra attempts on a quiz. If you have set a time limit on your quiz, you can also grant access for extra time.

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.

Due dates and availability dates

In addition to setting a due date for an assignment, instructors can specify a specific date range that students can submit the assignment. These dates are called availability dates. Availability dates are the date range where students can submit the assignment or quiz. For step-by-step instructions on how to set availability dates, view the What is the difference between due dates and availability dates guide.

Understanding Canvas Quiz security options

Extra attempts on a published quiz

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.

Extra time on a timed quiz

Extra Credit in the Canvas Gradebook

Copy Grades to KSIS

Final grades due dates

Extra credit points in Gradebook

If you want to award extra credit points to students, simply create a new assignment with zero points possible, and in the Submission type drop-down field, choose the No Submission option. After students complete the work, manually add points in the Gradebook. You can also just add points to an existing score in the Gradebook. For additional help, view the How do I give my students extra credit guide.

Extra credit using a Rubric

Extra credit on a quiz

Extra credit for weighted assignment groups

If you use weighted assignment groups, then you can use the groups to help with 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.

Extra credit within a quiz or assignment

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 then the 26^th question would be of 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 have 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.

How do I override a student's final grade

Grading scheme

A grading scheme is the mapping of your points or percentages to a letter grade such as A, B, C, D, or F. A course Grading Scheme must be enabled to publish letter grades to KSIS at the end of the semester. You can create your own scheme or enable an existing grading scheme for your course by going to your Course Settings and checking the 'Enable course grading scheme' box. Once you check this box, a new link below that will show up labeled View Grading Scheme. There you can click 'Select another scheme,' and you can pick or design your own. View the How do I enable a grading scheme for my course guide for step-by-step instructions. NOTE: After you check the Enable course grading scheme, you MUST click 'View grading scheme' and SELECT a grading scheme. Kansas State University does not accept plus or minus grades, so chose a grading scheme that meets the university requirements.

Change a multiple choice to multiple answer question after students have taken a quiz

Once students have taken a quiz, you cannot change the question type. However, you can still give the students points as if it were a multiple answer 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 then 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 Roster

Incomplete assignments or missing grades

In Canvas, if a student does not have a score for an assignment, they have a dash (-) in the Grades tool. In Classic, instead of dashes, N/A was used. Canvas does not do it automatically based on a date; instead, it leaves it to the instructor to do when they are ready. Once you are prepared to have incomplete/missing work changed from a dash to zero (0), you can change them by hand to zero just as you would enter any other grade, or you can use the Default Grade option. The Default Grade option in Grades allows you to set all ungraded dashes to a score of zero (or something else). This is the easiest way to set all dashes to zeros for an assignment. DO NOT check the Overwrite already-entered grades option. For step-by-step instructions, view the How do I set a default grade for an Assignment guide.

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.

Missing grades or ungraded assignments

When viewing grades online, unsubmitted/missing grades are ignored - they are not calculated as zeros. If you export or download the scores via a CSV file, that file will include a Current Score and a Final Score. The Final score calculates all missing grades as zeros, while the Current Scores ignores them. You have both sets of data in an export. If you want to view current vs. final score when viewing grades online, Canvas has an option in the Gradebook called Treat Ungraded as 0. With this option selected in the Grade’s Gear menu, assignments that do not have a score will be treated as if a student received a score of zero. The assignment groups and total columns will automatically factor in scores of zero into the overall percentages for each student cell that is missing a score. Note: Even when this setting is enabled, Canvas will not populate zeros in the Gradebook. Dashes will still display for each student submission. Only the totals change. This allows you to understand what assigning zeros would do to the students’ scores. For step-by-step instructions, view the How do I treat ungraded assignments as zero in the Gradebook guide.

View grades for concluded student

Concluded courses policy

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 have ended, then 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 semester and the past semester in their Canvas course list.

Once a course is concluded, instructor-based roles will no longer have the same access in the course and will result 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.

Excluding an assignment from the final course grade

Mobile app

Canvas has a free mobile app that shares many of the same features of the web version. Note that functions vary from phone to tablet versions and Android to 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.

Cell phone notifications

Canvas Teacher app

SpeedGrader mobile app

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.

Add My Mediasite

Upload videos to My Mediasite

File size limit

Link a video to a Module

Yes, you can link a video from a Catalog or Channel. Channels are self-created and belong only to you; they allow you to organize and distribute a group of presentations you created. Catalogs must be requested, as they are associated with Shared Folders; they allow you to distribute a collection of scheduled Hardware Recorder presentations or presentations on which you have worked with others. Follow these step-by-step instructions to Link a Catalog from My Channels in a Canvas Module .

Embed a catalog in a Module

Yes, you can embed a video from a Catalog or Channel. Channels are self-created and belong only to you; they allow you to organize and distribute a group of presentations you created. Catalogs must be requested, as they are associated with Shared Folders; they allow you to distribute a collection of scheduled Hardware Recorder presentations or presentations on which you have worked with others. Follow these step-by-step instructions to Embed a Catalog from My Channels in a Canvas Module into your Canvas course.

Embed a video in a Module

Embed a video in a Canvas Assignment

Embed a video in a Canvas Quiz

Embed a video in a Canvas Page

Help moving video files

What are the Canvas Terms of Use?

How is “Instructure” related to Canvas?

Does Instructure obtain any intellectual property ownership rights of the content I upload to Canvas?

Can Instructure use my content in any manner they see fit to support their business objectives?

Absolutely not. The key phrase in this provision (Section 4.2 Your Content) is “solely to operate and provide the Instructure Properties to you and your Entity’s other Users.” This language is at least as, if not more, favorable than the terms we accept in many technological platforms we use in our daily, personal, and professional lives. Although it may seem unnecessary to call this out in a legal agreement, this phrase is merely granting Instructure the right to maintain the content you post on your course site and to make your content available to Kansas State University students and your teaching staff.

Section 4.2 in the Canvas Terms of Use also requires me to “represent that I (you) have the authority to grant the aforementioned license to Instructure.” What does this mean?

Can Instructure change their Terms of Use?

FAQ

Getting Started with Canvas

Course Management

Semesters and Sections

Quotas in Canvas

Communication

Assessment and Grading

Mobile

Using Mediasite within Canvas

Canvas Terms of Use