Canvas Learning Management System (LMS)

Description

Canvas is Ohio University's learning management system (LMS). Canvas provides a central location for course materials, assignments, grades, communication, and learning activities.

Academic courses and instructors are loaded into Canvas on the first day of priority registration. Students are enrolled approximately two weeks before the course start date.

Access

Academic Course Availability

  • Faculty and staff 
    • Courses are created in Canvas on the first day of priority registration based on information in PeopleSoft.
    • Instructors can build course content as soon as the course is available.
    • Students can access course content after the course is published and within two weeks of the course start date.
  • Students 
    • Students enrolled in a course can access the course when: 
      • They are enrolled in the course.
      • The instructor has published the course.
      • The course start date is no more than two weeks away.

Please Note: If you recently added or dropped a course, it may take up to 12 hours for Canvas enrollment updates to appear.

Manually Created Courses

Manually created courses (sometimes called test, development, sandbox, or prime courses) can be used by faculty and staff to explore Canvas features, develop course content, or support activities such as training, orientation, and resource sharing. These courses are not intended for academic instruction or student enrollment in credit-bearing courses.

All instructors automatically receive an Instructor Test Course in Canvas. You can find it on your Canvas Dashboard or from the Courses menu. The course name includes "Instructor Test Course" and your OHIO ID. You can also create additional personal test courses by selecting Start a New Course from the Canvas Dashboard. These courses are intended for individual exploration, content development, and testing.

If you need a manually created course that will be shared with others, such as for:

  • Faculty or staff training
  • Program or department orientations
  • Resource distribution
  • Developing and sharing content before it is copied into academic courses

Please submit a request for a manually created course. Requesting these courses through OIT helps ensure the course is created in the appropriate Canvas organizational space.

Features

Instructors & Organizational Leaders

  • Apply OHIO course templates
  • Create tests and assignments in one central location
  • Organize articles, documents, videos, and other media files for your course 
  • Provide grades and feedback for assessments and assignments 
  • Communicate with students via announcements, discussion boards, and groups
  • Import shared modules, assignments, quizzes, discussions, pages, or files from Commons to your Canvas course
  • Review reports to see what students/participants are accessing
  • View all upcoming due dates and to-do items across multiple courses in one calendar 
  • Create accessible course content based on automatic feedback from the accessibility checker
  • Access 24/7 support for faculty, students, and staff
  • Use the Canvas Instructor mobile app to view and edit content, grade assignments, and communicate with students

Students & Participants 

  • Access content for your courses
  • Take tests and submit assignments in one central location
  • View and add course due dates and to-do list items in one calendar
  • Review assignment feedback and grades
  • Update preferred name and pronouns
  • Access 24/7 support for students, faculty, and staff 
  • Use the Canvas Student mobile app to view courses, participate in discussions, and interact with your instructor

Connect with Other Applications

Additional Resources

Join the Teaching and Learning Advisory Community

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 if you need help logging in, accessing test or practice courses, or using tools that connect to Canvas.

Get Help from OIT

Accessibility

Ohio University strives to make its digital resources and services accessible to all visitors, including those with disabilities who may also be using assistive technology. If special steps are necessary in order to improve the accessibility of experiences for end-users, those steps must be taken. 
 
If you experience a barrier that affects your ability to access OHIO websites, videos, online forums, documents, or other information technology, please let us know. 
For further information about OHIO's digital accessibility resources, see:

Security

The Ohio University Information Security Office strives to educate and empower the University community to appropriately manage risks and protect OHIO’s information and systems. This effort is facilitated through policies, standards, and information security risk management program, as well as other tools and guidance that are provided to the University community. This modern approach creates a safe computing environment in which the University community can teach, learn, and conduct research. 

For additional information about OHIO’s security resources, see:

 
Get Help with Canvas

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