Introduction

Canvas is Virginia Tech's learning management system (LMS). Instructors use Canvas to manage teaching materials like assignments, quizzes, feedback, and student grades. 

• Official courses are automatically created in instructors' Canvas accounts.
• Enrolled students are automatically added.
• Instructors can reuse teaching materials by importing them to a new course site.
• Canvas provides 24-7 support by phone (833-639-7621) and chat (click Support on any Canvas screen).

The Canvas Instructor Guide and the Canvas Student Guide have full instructions on using Canvas. These instructions are specific to Virginia Tech. To see other Canvas topics, please see:

• Using Canvas at Virginia Tech (for Instructors)
• Using Canvas at Virginia Tech (for Students)

Contents

• Background
• External Tool Types and Locations
• Accessing External Tools in Canvas
  
  • Add to the Course Navigation Menu
  • Add to an Assignment
  • Add to a Module
  • Add to the Rich Content Editor
  • Start Collaborations
• List of External Tools & How To Use Them
  
  • Publisher Tools
  • Collaboration Tools
  • Multimedia Tools
  • Assessment Tools
  • Accessibility Tools
  • Other Tools
• Requesting New External Tools
• Common Canvas External Tool Scenarios
  
  • I can't find the tool in Assignments or Modules
  • I can't find the tool on the Course Navigation Menu
  • I can't find the tool in the Rich Content Editor
  • External (LTI) tools won't load
• Getting Help

Instructions

Background

Canvas can be extended by integrating external tools. Software companies, textbook publishers, and training websites all make Canvas external tools. Some are free, others must be purchased. Virginia Tech's Canvas external tools are categorized here based on broad categories for publisher tools, collaboration tools, multimedia tools, assessment tools, accessibility tools, and tools that didn't fit into those categories. 

Instructors can request new external tools be added to Canvas.

• Canvas administrators and Virginia Tech's legal, IT security, and software purchasing teams must review external tools before they can be integrated.
• Only Virginia Tech, not Canvas, can add an external tool to Canvas or to your course site.
• Not all requests can be fulfilled. 

To be easily integrated with Canvas, external tools should be designed according to the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standard. Some companies refer to external tools them as LTI tools. 

Canvas external tools are considered applications or apps. Canvas and some companies refer to external tools as LTI apps or external apps. 

External Tool Types and Locations

External tools appear in different places in a Canvas course site. See the table for tool type and where tools appear in Canvas. 

Location in Canvas	Publisher Tools	Collaboration  Tools	Multimedia Tools	Assessment Tools	Accessibility Tools	Other Tools
Course Navigation  Menu	- Attendance - McGraw-Hill ALEKS* - McGraw-Hill Connect LTIA* - McGraw-Hill SIMnet LTIA* - Access Pearson* - SCORM* - WileyPlus*	- Chat - Eli Review* - Google Drive - Microsoft Class Notebook - Microsoft OneDrive - Packback* - Piazza* - Zoom	- Media Gallery (Course Gallery)	- Credentials - Canvas Badges - Gradescope - LockDown Browser - New Analytics* - Poll Everywhere (VetMed) - Portfolium - SPOT (Course Evaluations) - TopHat - Web-CAT	- Anthology Ally	- VT Add Guests* - LibGuides (VT Library Help) - Redirect
Assignments	- Attendance - Buzz Publish Anywhere - Cengage  - FlatWorld - InQuizitive - LinkedIn Learning - Macmillan LTI Advantage - MatLab Grader - McGraw-Hill ALEKS - McGraw-Hill SimNet LTIA - Access Pearson - Pressbooks - SCORM - WileyPLUS	- Chat - Eli Review - Google Docs   Cloud   Assignment - Google Assignments - Hypothesis - Microsoft OneDrive - Microsoft OneNote Class   Notebook - Packback - Piazza	- YouTube - Vimeo	- CodeGrade - CrowdMark (Math) - Gradescope - Kaltura Video  Quiz - LabFlow (Chemistry) - Labster (Biology) - LockDown Browser - New Analytics - Portfolium - Top Hat - Turnitin Plagiarism Framework - Web-CAT	- EquatIO	- VT Add Guests - Redirect - Student Learning & Licensure (SOE)
Modules	- Attendance - Blended Teaching (Real Estate) - Cengage  - FlatWorld - LinkedIn Learning - Macmillan LTI Advantage - McGraw-Hill Connect - McGraw-Hill Go - McGraw-Hill SIMnet - Access Pearson - Pressbooks	- Chat - Eli Review - Google Drive - Hypothesis - Microsoft OneDrive - Microsoft OneNote Class Notebook  - Piazza - Zoom	- Vimeo - YouTube	- Credentials - Canvas Badges - CrowdMark (Math) - LabFlow (Chemistry) - Labster (Biology) - LockDown Browser - New Analytics - Portfolium - Top Hat - Web-CAT	- EquatIO	- Apporto - VT Add Guests - Redirect
Rich Content Editor	- FlatWorld - LinkedIn Learning - Access Pearson - Wiley Resources	- Google Apps - Google Drive - Microsoft OneDrive	- Media Gallery - My Media - Vimeo  - YouTube		- EquatIO
Collaborations		- Google Apps - Microsoft OneDrive
Files					- Anthology Ally
Discussions	- SCORM	- Google Apps - Microsoft OneDrive	- Vimeo  - YouTube
Quizzes	- SCORM	- Google Apps - Microsoft OneDrive	- Media Gallery - My Media  - Vimeo - YouTube

*Hidden by default from the Course Navigation Menu. 

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Accessing External Tools

How to access and use a tool depends on where it's integrated in Canvas:

• Add the Course Navigation Menu - Control which tools display in the Course Navigation Menu.
• Add to an Assignment - Set up a Canvas Assignment that uses the tool.
• Add to a Module - Link the tool's content or an Assignment to a Module.
• Add to a Rich Content Editor - Link the tool to a Page or to the Syllabus.
• Add to Collaborations - Use the tool inside of Canvas Collaborations.

Add to the Course Navigation Menu

1. Log in to Canvas.
2. Go to the course you want to add the tool to.
3. Click Settings in the Course Navigation Menu.
4. Click the Navigation tab.
5. Click and drag the tool from the area below Drag items here to hide them from students to the area above it.
   
6. Scroll down and click Save. The tool will be added to the Course Navigation Menu.

Add to an Assignment

1. Click on the Assignments tab in the course navigation menu and click +Assignment to create a new assignment. You can also edit an existing assignment.
   
2. For Submission Type, choose External Tool from the drop down list and click Find. 
   
3. In the Configure External Tool window, click on the tool you want to add and click Select. 
   

Add to a Module

1. Click on Modules in the course navigation menu and click the plus sign to add the external tool to an existing Module, or you can create a new Module by clicking +Module.
   
2. For Add, choose External Tool from the drop down menu. Click on the external tool you'd like to add from the list and click Add Item.
   

Add to the Rich Content Editor

1. Create or edit an assignment, page, or discussion post.
2. Mouse-over the two buttons in the Rich Content Editor circled below. In order from left to right, they are: 
   
   • Google Drive 
   • Embed Kaltura Media
   • Plugins
     
3. Click the Plugin button then click View All. 
   
4. You'll see more external tools:
   
   • Common Favorites
   • Embed Kaltura Media
   • Google Apps
   • Insert EquatIO Equation
   • Microsoft OneDrive
   • Vimeo
   • YouTube

Start Collaborations

1. Click Collaborations in the Course Navigation Menu. 
2. Under Start a New Collaboration, for Collaborate using, choose Google Apps or Microsoft OneDrive. 
   
3. Choose the collaboration medium:
   
   • For Google Apps, under Kind, pick Document, Spreadsheet, or Presentation.
   • For Microsoft OneDrive, next to Type, pick Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. 
     

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List of External Tools & How To Use Them

Click the category to pull up the article or click on each tool for more information.

Publisher Tools Blended Teaching (Real Estate) Buzz Publish Anywhere Cengage Learning FlatWorld Knowledge InQuizitive LinkedIn Learning Macmillan LTI Advantage McGraw-Hill ALEKS McGraw-Hill Connect McGraw-Hill SIMnet Pearson Pressbooks SCORM WileyPLUS Collaboration Tools Chat Eli Review (English only)  Google Apps/Google Drive Google Assignments (LTI 1.3) Hypothesis Kritik (Chemistry only) Microsoft OneDrive Microsoft OneDrive Cloud Assignment Microsoft OneNote and Class Notebook Packback Piazza Zoom

Multimedia Tools Media Gallery (Course) and My Media (Personal) Vimeo YouTube Assessment Tools CodeGrade Credentials - Canvas Badges (formerly Badgr) CrowdMark (Math) Gradescope iClicker Kaltura Video Quiz LabFlow (Chemistry) Labster (Biology) MatLab Grader New Analytics Poll Everywhere (VetMed) Portfolium Respondus Lockdown Browser SPOT Top Hat Turnitin Plagiarism Framework Web-CAT (Computer Science) Accessibility Tools Anthology Ally EquatIO Other Tools Apporto LibGuides (VT Library Help) Redirect Student Learning & Licensure (SOE) VT Add Guests

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Requesting New External Tools

Canvas external tools are evaluated for integration based on level of interest. If the tool you want is already under evaluation, please request it anyway!

• Only Virginia Tech can add a new tool to Canvas or your course site. Canvas Support cannot. 
• Not all Canvas external tool requests can be fulfilled.

1. Search for LTI-compatible tools at EduAppCenter. If a tool doesn't follow the LTI standard, it still might be able to be integrated with Canvas. You can still request it. 
2. See if the tool is already integrated in Virginia Tech's Canvas.
   
   • If the tool is listed under List of External Tools & How To Use Them, it's integrated in Canvas.  
3. See if the tool is Under Evaluation or On Hold and request it.
   • If it's not on the list of external tools, please request it anyway! More requests mean more need, potentially expediting the approval process. 

 

On Hold	Under Evaluation	Reviewed and Approved	Reviewed and NOT Approved
	Perceivant	Approved tools appear under Using External Tools: Publisher Tools	FlipGrid
	Perusall

1. Request tools by filling checking Request External Tool be Added to Canvas on the Canvas Learning Management System request form. 
2. Follow up by replying to the request form's confirmation email. 
3. Please be patient - Virginia Tech Legal, IT Security Office, ITPALS, and Canvas admins must all review the request.

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Common Canvas External Tool Scenarios

I can't find the tool in Assignments or Modules

Make sure the tool is approved for use in Virginia Tech's Canvas.

• If it's approved, it will be listed under List of External Tools & How To Use Them.
• If it's not approved, you can request it be added to Canvas.

I can't find the tool on the Course Navigation Menu

1. Make sure the tool is approved for use in Virginia Tech's Canvas.
   
   • If it's approved, it will be listed under List of External Tools & How To Use Them.
   • If it's not approved, you can request it be added to Canvas. 
2. See if the tool is hidden. Go to the site's Settings -> Navigation. Drag the tool to the top list and Save. 
   
   • See Add Tool to the Course Navigation Menu. 
3. See help information for that tool. 
4. Make sure script blockers aren't affecting tool display. See Script Blocker Problems in Canvas - Using Canvas at Virginia Tech (for Instructors).

I can't find the tool in the Rich Content Editor

1. Click the Plugin button in the Rich Content Editor to see if it's there. 
2. Make sure the tool is approved for use in Virginia Tech's Canvas.
   
   • If it's approved, it will be listed under List of External Tools & How To Use Them.
   • If it's not approved, you can request it be added to Canvas.

External (LTI) tools won't load

See Recommended Browser Privacy and Security Settings for Canvas.

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Getting Help

For instructions on resolving common issues with Canvas, see:

• Troubleshooting Canvas (for Instructors)
• Troubleshooting Canvas (For Students)
• Recommended Browser Privacy and Security Settings for Canvas

Instructure, the creators of Canvas, provide 24-7 Canvas support, including live chat and a support hotline.

To get Canvas help, click Support on any Canvas screen and choose from help options:

• Search the Canvas Guides: Search Canvas documentation. 
• Chat with Canvas Support: Open a chat window in Canvas (or call the phone number). 
• Contact Virginia Tech 4Help: Submit an incident on 4Help or call 540-231-4357.
• Browse Virginia Tech Resources: See other Canvas Knowledge Base articles.
• Report a Problem: Submit a Canvas support case by filling out a short form.
• Ask the Community: Go to Canvas user community resources. 
• Submit a Feature Idea: Search a list of current feature idea conversations. Add to an existing conversation or start your own!

In Canvas, use the new Help Docs button located near the Support button that will provide quick access to a knowledge base located inside Canvas.

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