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Canvas

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Canvas - Virtual Learning Environment

Canvas, developed by Instructure, is a comprehensive Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) designed to enhance teaching and learning.

This digital platform offers a structured space for lecturers to deliver course materials, set assessments, and facilitate communication and collaboration with students. Additionally, Canvas integrates seamlessly with various tools, such as assessment software and lecture video capture, consolidating resources in one accessible location for students.

Benefits and uses

Canvas VLE offers a range of benefits and uses for lecturers such as:

  • Single Platform for Sharing Your Teaching Resources - Bring all your teaching resources together so students can find them more easily.
  • Communication - Messaging tools within Canvas can provide targetted messaging to your students to provide them with timely information when they need it.
  • Collaboration - Canvas Discussions, Microsoft collaborations and Canvas Groups tools provide an environment for your students to work together.
  • Assessment - Canvas has a range of summative and formative assessment tools including the ability to integrate 3rd party tools.
  • Flexibility - Canvas can be used for various teaching methods including online, in-person and blended learning. 
  • Integration Capabilities - Through Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) 3rd Party Tools can be added to Canvas
  • Mobile Accessibility - Canvas offers mobile applications for Teachers and Students via Google Play and the Apple App Store. The system is also available via mobile web browser.

Canvas Basics

Navigating Canvas is straightforward and intuitive. Learn how you can easily find courses,  adjust your settings and customize your dashboard. You can also adjust notification settings to stay informed with your courses on Canvas. 

Accessing Canvas

Learn how to access Canvas via a web browser or the mobile application

Canvas Dashboard and Navigation

Getting Around Canvas - Learn how to use the global navigation bar and course navigation to find everything you need in Canvas. Also learn how use and customise your Canvas Dashboard.

Setting my Canvas Notification Settings

Customise Your Canvas Notifications: Adjust your Canvas notification settings to stay informed about changes that affect you.

Key features

Canvas offers a range of features to enhance course management and student engagement. Some of the key features include:

Canvas Modules

Canvas Modules are an organisational system used within the Canvas to structure course content. They help instructors create a linear flow of what students should do in a course, making it easier to navigate and follow along.

Canvas Rich Content Editor

The Canvas Rich Content Editor (RCE) is a versatile tool for creating and formatting content within Canvas. It integrates various content types, including audio/visual resources, documents, and hyperlinks, into a single page.

Canvas Announcements

Canvas Announcements are a feature that allows instructors to communicate important information to students within a course.

Canvas Assessment Tools

Canvas offers a variety of assessment tools designed to enhance the evaluation of student learning and progress. These tools include quizzes, assignments, and discussions, which can be used for both formative and summative assessments.

Canvas New Analytics

Canvas New Analytics is a tool that offers insights into student engagement and course activity. It tracks student performance and usage patterns, enabling instructors to monitor Canvas usage.

Canvas Groups

Canvas Groups are collaborative workspaces within the Canvas, designed to facilitate group projects and assignments. Groups function as mini-courses where students can work together on assignments, share files, and communicate through discussions.

Canvas Calendar

The Canvas Calendar is a versatile scheduling tool within Canvas that helps students and instructors stay organised. It can be used to book class events and schedule appointments, for example office hours, ensuring that all important dates and meetings are easily managed

Canvas Discussions

Canvas Discussions are a feature of the Canvas designed to facilitate interactive communication between instructors and students. They serve as a platform for students to engage in meaningful dialogue, share ideas, and collaborate on projects.

Canvas Sections

Canvas Sections are a feature within Canvas that help instructors organise students within a course. By dividing students into smaller groups, instructors can facilitate tailored messaging, content release, and discussion boards. This also enables bespoke filtering for delegated marking, enhancing t

Additional Features

Ally for Canvas

Ally is an external tool integrated into Canvas that automatically checks course materials against WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards, and provides feedback on the accessibility of the content.

Library Reading Lists

The Library Reading List provides students with easy access to essential and recommended resources for their modules. These lists include books, e-books, e-journals, and other materials recommended by module leaders.

Third Party Tool Integrations

Canvas integrates a variety of university tools and third-party apps, many of which are enabled at the account level and available to all users immediately. Discover the tools available for use in your Canvas courses.

Jointly Taught Courses

A jointly taught course on Canvas allows instructors to enrol students from multiple modules onto a single Canvas course. This is useful for courses that are jointly taught, with the same content but different module codes.

Course Level Roles

A course level role in Canvas refers to the specific permissions and access granted to users within a particular course. These roles are for teaching colleagues. Course level roles include Student, Teacher, Teaching Assistant (TA), External Examiner, and Observer.

Account Level Roles

Account-Level roles in Canvas give elevated access to Canvas Sub Accounts for schools administrative colleagues. These roles are commonly used to assist with assignments administration and assisting with content management. The roles include Sub Account Admin, Learning Teaching Coordinator, etc.

Canvas Support Resources

Explore a wealth of Canvas support resources from Newcastle University and Instructure, the creators of Canvas. These guides provide everything you need to know about Canvas, including how it operates at Newcastle University for course releases and enrolments:

Newcastle University Canvas Support Resources

Discover a wealth of resources, support, and communities at Newcastle University to enhance your Canvas experience. Access institutional guides, connect with fellow users, and get the help you need to make the most of Canvas:

Instructure Canvas Support Resources

Access a wealth of resources from Instructure, the creators of Canvas, designed specifically for instructors. These include step-by-step guides and video tutorials to help you navigate and utilise Canvas effectively. Stay informed about product releases and future updates through the Canvas product

Canvas Commons

Canvas Commons is a digital library within Canvas for educators to share, find, and import educational resources like courses and modules. It features resource sharing, importing, search and filter options to find the resources you need. This is often used to share university wide resources.

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