Canvas Tutorials, Guides, and Tips

ACU uses Canvas as the campus-wide learning management system, a cloud-based learning management system that ACU has used since Spring 2015. Here are some tutorials and instructions you might want to check.

Quicklinks to Canvas:  

• https://acu.instructure.com (It can also be re-directed from acu.edu/canvas)
• You can also find the link in “quick links” of MyACU.

You will need to use your regular ACU username and password to access Canvas.  If you have difficulty, contact the IT Support Center.

Take a video course:

• You can learn to use Canvas by watching Linkedin Learning videos on Canvas.  You could skip the parts about course creation, cross-listing, and student enrollments as we handle them differently as the course shows. Instead, see the tutorials below. Log in to LinkedIn Learning here. If you have issues logging in, send a ticket to IT Support Center (support@acu.edu).

Get started

• Request your Canvas course
  
• Cross-list your Canvas courses
• Copy Canvas course from another course shell
• Share course content between colleagues
• Add teaching assistants to your courses
• Use Blueprint courses to manage changes for multiple sections
• Semester Course Template
• Use Canvas Commons for Shared Resources

General Course Management

• End-of-semester reminders
• Check Canvas status
• Change start/end dates for Canvas courses
• Copy or send course content
• Change Time Zones in Canvas
• Add an orientation module in your online course
• Shift dates between semesters
• Clone a course with different dates

Assessment

• Give students extra time/attempt for Canvas quizzes
• Change quiz time for individual students
• Check if students viewed your feedback
• Allow resubmission of assignments
• Integrate Turnitin (for plagiarism detection) in Canvas
• Submit individual work to Turnitin
• Manage peer-reviewed assignments
• Turn in assignments from Google Docs
• Use Respondus to convert Word to Canvas tests
• Things to consider before an online test
• Automatically deduct for late submissions
• Selectively release a quiz
• Write good multiple-choice questions (Podcast)`

Grading

• Grading anything in Canvas
• How to drop a grade
• How to calculate total grade / change percentage to points
• Should I add extra credit?
• Adding extra credit
• How to excuse a grade
• Posting and muting grades from students
• How to hide the grade distribution from students

Content

• Choose Canvas content types
• Embed a Google Slides presentation in Canvas
• Use Studio video in your course
• Create a video and add it to Canvas
• Add a PowerPoint with narration in Canvas
• Make a page into a to-do item
• Solve “not authorized to access” issue on a page

Other tools

• Adding library materials directly in Canvas
• Creating ePortfolios in Canvas
• How to sign up for an ACU account with Zoom to use Zoom through Canvas

Apps

• Customizing entry page in Canvas app

Tips

• Canvas Hacks for the Happy Grader
• Check word count in Canvas
• Can I put my course on autopilot?
• Displaying pictures in Safari
• Creating a discussion with two due dates

Get Help

To get help with Canvas, click on “help” on the Canvas menu, you will then see a list of options for you to get help.  When you contact anyone for help, unless you are on the phone, always include URL of the page you have a problem with.  For instance: https://acu.instructure.com/courses/1825476/modules.

If you are on the phone, let the person on the phone know the identifying number of the course, in the example above, the identifying number would be: “1825476”. You can find it by going to “modules” of your course and then see the number in the address bar.

If you experience issues with a particular feature or function, you can also check Canvas Status for updates.

Getting instructional design support in using Canvas:

Canvas help is best for answering specific product-related questions (“How do I upload an assignment?” “Speedgrader keeps logging me out.  What can I do?”).  For instructional design questions (“Should I use quiz or assignment for this activity?””I am suspecting a student cheating in this exam, can I find out?””Does Canvas have a way for me to …”),  contact Scott Hamm or Amy Boone.