Creating, Renaming, and Modifying Canvas Commons Groups

Canvas Commons is a digital library that allows Ohio University instructors to find, share, and import instructional materials to or from your Canvas courses. Within Commons, it is possible to create groups for sharing purposes. This article describes how to request the creation of, renaming of, or membership modification to a Canvas Commons Group.

Description

Canvas Commons is a digital library that allows Ohio University instructors to find, share, and import instructional materials to or from your Canvas courses. Within Commons, it is possible to create groups for sharing purposes. For example, a group could be created to share resources only amongst the instructors of a particular course offering or department. 

Environment

Canvas in your web browser

Considerations

• Before a person can be added to a Commons Group, they must first access Commons and agree to the Acceptable Use prompt.   

• Commons is only available to those with the Instructor role in a Canvas course or a Sub Account Administrator role within Canvas. 

• It is not available to students or teaching assistants

• The process for creating and managing Canvas Commons Groups is a highly manual process; please allow two weeks of processing time for your requests. 

Solutions 

Requesting a New Canvas Commons Group

1. To request a Commons Group be created, select Create Ticket.  

2. Under “What kind of Canvas request are you making?” select I have a general request in Canvas.

3. In the Description field, please include: 

   • Name of the Group

   • Description of the Group Purpose/Function

     • For example: Regional campus instructors who will need access to shared resources specific to their campus. 

   • Name and OHIO email address of each member of the group 

     • Please note, these must be Instructors, and they must have already accessed Commons and accepted the user agreement. 

Requesting a Canvas Commons Group be Renamed

1. To request a Commons Group name be changed, select Create Ticket.  

2. Under “What kind of Canvas request are you making?” select I have a general request in Canvas.

3. In the Description field, please include: 

   • Old name of the Group

   • Desired new name for the Group

Requesting a Membership Change to a Canvas Commons Group

1. To request a Commons Group's membership be changed, select Create Ticket.  

2. Under “What kind of Canvas request are you making?” select I have a general request in Canvas.

3. In the Description field, please include: 

   • Name of the Group

   • Name and OHIO email address of each member of the group that should be modified

   • Action you would like to take. For example: 

     • Add Rufus Bobcat, bobcat@ohio.edu

       • Reminder: If you are adding a user, they must be an instructor, and they must have already accessed Commons to accept the user agreement. 

     • Remove Joe User, user@ohio.edu 

 

Outcome: You should now be able to request the creation of, renaming of, or membership change to a Canvas Commons Group. 

Get Help from Canvas

• Live chat with Canvas support (Faculty) 
• Get 24-hours/7-days a week Canvas support  
  • Dial the Canvas Support Hotline number located under "Get Help" in the Canvas Global Navigation Menu 
  • Contact OIT at 740-593-1222 for questions related to logging in, test courses/manually created courses, or third-party tools (Panopto, VoiceThread, Inclusive Access, etc.) 

Get Help from OIT

• Use the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) ticket form to submit a help ticket 
• Visit the Technology Resources and Training page for available training 

Additional Resources 

• Canvas Basics Guide 
• Canvas Instructor Guide 
• Canvas Video Guide 
• Mobile Guides 
• Canvas Course Accessibility Checklist
• Canvas LMS Implementation updates
• Canvas Experts Corner Blog