Getting Started with Canvas as an Instructor

Canvas is Stevens' institution-wide learning management system (LMS). All courses offered at Stevens automatically receive a Canvas virtual learning space that allows students and faculty to connect and collaborate.

How to Access Canvas

You (and your students) can access Canvas from the MyStevens portal page: www.stevens.edu/mystevens. Use your Stevens email address and password to log in.

Academic Requirements for Canvas Courses

To learn about how to achieve the academic requirements in Canvas courses, please check out the step-by-step instructions, articles and/or video tutorials below:

Topics

Description

Procedures for Setting Up Your Courses in Canvas

Make sure your Canvas course(s) are ready on the first day of class.

Syllabus

Publish your syllabus (which must conform to the Stevens syllabus template) in Canvas.

Files

Upload and organize files in Canvas.

Grading Schemes

Create grading schemes and post grades with weighted totals.

Assignments

Create assignments and make them visible on the course calendar.

Managing Course Content in Canvas

Please check out the step-by-step instructions, articles and/or video tutorials below:

Topics Description Modules

Modules allow instructors to organize content to help control the flow of the course. Modules are used to organize course content by weeks, units, or topics.

Pages

A page can be used to create content. Pages can include text, images, video, and links.

Files

Files can house course files, syllabi, readings or other documents, as well as profile pictures and user-specific files. Files can be placed in Modules, Assignments, or Pages.

Course Import Tool

You can copy course content such as assignments, modules, pages, and discussions from previous Canvas courses into existing courses.

Communicating with Students in Canvas

Please check out the step-by-step instructions, articles and/or video tutorials below:

Topics Description Announcements

Use to communicate and share information with everyone in the course.

Inbox

Like emails. Inbox can be used to reach all students, individual students or a group of students.

Discussions

Instructors can use Discussions to create, view and manage graded and ungraded discussions in the course.

Chat

The Chat tool in Canvas allows you and your students to interact in real-time.

Groups in Canvas

Please check out the step-by-step instructions, articles and/or video tutorials below:

Topics Description Collaborations

Canvas leverages collaborative technology to allow multiple users to work together on the same document at the same time. Collaborative documents are saved in real-time, meaning a change made by any of its users will be immediately visible to everyone.

Groups

Canvas groups allow you to create group assignments and provide your students with a workspace where they can collaborate with their peers to share files and work on group assignments.

Assessing Students Learning in Canvas

Please check out the step-by-step instructions, articles and/or video tutorials below:

Topics Description Assignments

Instructors can use Assignments to create and track graded and ungraded assignments, including online and offline submission and no submission. Creating assignment groups will allow you to assign a weight (percentage of overall course grade) to specific groups of assignments.

Classic Quizzes

The quiz tool is used to create and administer online quizzes and surveys.

New Quizzes New Quizzes is a new Canvas quiz tool available alongside Canvas’ Classic Quizzes tool. New Quizzes provides a variety of new features and question types but currently lacks some functionality from the Quizzes tool upon which instructors may rely. We recommend you review how the new quizzing tool compares with Classic Quizzes and decide which tool you think would work best for your course.
SpeedGrader SpeedGrader allows you to view and grade student assignment submissions in one place. Rubric You can add a rubric to an assignment to help students understand expectations for the assignment and how you intend to score their submissions. Discussions Instructors can use Discussions to create, view and manage graded and ungraded discussions in the course. Gradebook

The Gradebook helps instructors easily view and enter grades for students. Only graded assignments, graded discussions, graded quizzes, and graded surveys that have been published display in the Gradebook.

Timed quiz accommodations – Classic Quizzes

Timed quiz accommodations- New Quizzes

Quiz accommodations can help ensure that students with disabilities can access quizzes and demonstrate their knowledge.

Learning Analytics in Canvas

Please check out the step-by-step instructions, articles and/or video tutorials below:

Topics Description New Analytics

Track student data using an interactive chart or table.

Student Context Cards

Click a student’s name anywhere in Canvas to view a summary of the student’s progress in the course.
Individual Student Access Report

View a summary of student participation in a course.

Quiz Statistics View statistics such as quiz average score, high score, low score, standard deviation, and average time of quiz completion.

Experiencing an issue or need additional support? Contact our OneIT Team by

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Calling us at 201-380-6599