New to Canvas? Welcome!

If you're new to Canvas, you're in for an exciting new adventure Links to an external site.. The Canvas LMS (that's fancy speak for Learning Management System Links to an external site.) is rich with features to enhance any class, whether it be face-to-face or online.

For whom is this course designed?

This course is designed primarily for instructors who have never used the Canvas learning management system or who are just getting started. Instructors who already have experience using Canvas can skip straight to the assignments and quizzes. (See the module labeled "Experienced Canvas User?")

By the end of the course you should have a basic understanding of the Canvas tool set and be ready to begin using Canvas with your classes. Please note that successful completion of this course is a prerequisite to your being able to use Canvas at Highline. You must score an average of least 80% on all assessments  through module 10 to pass this course.

The orientation is intended to be a primer for those who are teaching face-to-face classes and would like to incorporate some basic elements of Canvas as a way to enhance their teaching. 

Teaching Face-to-face?

For those of you who plan on teaching only face-to-face courses, you might be thinking that you really don't need Canvas at all ... and you would be wrong:

• In face-to-face courses, you can use Canvas features such as Gradebook, Attendance, and Assignments to help manage your course.
• You can use features to gather student work via online submissions in assignments, or deliver course content such as PDFs, documentation, and presentations using Files.
• Canvas quizzes give you an opportunity to provide online practice quizzes or class surveys quickly and easily.
• Canvas modules allow you to organize units of related materials that students can access from any device with an internet connection. Organized content in modules make great stand-alone resources—review materials, videos, images, self-paced activities such as practice quizzes, or web quests. You can also use them to try new teaching practices such as flipped classroom models in select lessons.

Teaching online?

If you are teaching a hybrid or online course, or would like a fuller integration of Canvas into your face-to-face course, check out the advanced modules (after module 10) later in this course, and contact the Instructional Design team (id@highline.edu) for information about course development help.

So what will I learn in this course?

In this Canvas Orientation, you will learn to:

• get started with Canvas
• build a student-centered course
• communicate and build a classroom community
• build your course structure
• import, create, and assemble content
• use the gradebook
• get help with Canvas
• manage your Highline courses

How does this course work?

This is a self-paced course divided into modules Links to an external site.. Don't know what a module is? That's ok. For right now, just think of modules as folders. Later you'll see why that's not entirely correct but it's a good place to start.

Each module contains a specific lesson and a series of assessments. Work through them in order, and you'll learn your way through the basics of using Canvas for your classes. 

Once you've completed all the assessments and they've been graded, you'll have access to the courses you are teaching overnight. 

What browser should I use?

The browser Canvas developers recommend is Chrome Links to an external site. or Firefox Links to an external site.. If you are using Safari or Microsoft Edge, you are likely to run into some serious issues. Internet Explorer no longer works with Canvas. 

What should I do first?

Once you're ready, click on the Modules from the vertical course navigation tool bar to your left and check out all of items in the LET'S GET STARTED... Module. After looking over the content there, you can get started with Module 1.

Once you begin a module, you will see a set of buttons on the bottom of each page. These buttons will take you to the previous or next page.

 

In this class, you will do all the first-day-of-the-class things, like learn about the instructors, learn basic communication skills, and learn how to submit assignments, etc. Once you're done with Module 1, you can then move on to Module 2. Enjoy!