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

• Managing Students
  
  • Creating Student Groups
  • Changing Student Enrollments
  • Checking Student Access Reports
  • Removing a Student Profile Picture
• Holding a Class Online
  
  • Adding Teaching Materials
  • Creating an Online Discussion Forum
  • Setting Up Office Hours
  • Holding a Video Conference
  • Creating and Posting a Video with a Webcam
• Sending Announcements
• Grading in Canvas
• Exporting Grades/Uploading to HokieSPA
  
  • Configuring the Gradebook
  • Exporting Midterm Grades
  • Exporting Final Grades
  • Uploading Grades to HokieSPA
• Getting Help

Managing Students

Creating Student Groups

• Use student groups to give different discussion topics or assignments to sets of students.
• Use student groups for group assignments. 
• You can set up student groups and discussions and assignments for those groups before you add students.

See the following Canvas Guides on how to create groups:

• How do I automatically create groups in a group set?
• How do I manually create groups in a group set?

Changing Student Enrollments 

Canvas is updated with student enrollment information four times a day. Once a student adds or drops a class, Canvas should be updated within 12 hours.

• If a student has dropped a class, but you still see them in Canvas, see if they officially dropped the course in HokieSPA. 
• If a student has officially added or dropped a class and Canvas hasn't updated in 12 hours, go to your site, then click Settings > Sections to check if you have a manually created section. If so, click into the section and remove the student. Manually created sections do not have a SIS ID associated with it.
• If you need further assistance, contact 4Help by clicking Get Help on the 4Help portal

Checking Student Access Reports

You can see what students do in your Canvas site, including if they have viewed course materials or if they attempted assignments and quizzes. 

1. Go to People and click the student's name. 
2. A student overview window will pop up. Click the student's name. 
3. On the student's user page, click Access Report, which shows:
   
   • Content - what the student viewed
   • Times Viewed - how many times the student viewed it
   • Times Participated - whether the student started the activity or quiz
   • Last Viewed - when they last viewed the content
4. If the student began an assignment or quiz, you will see a number under Times Participated. If they only viewed it, Times Participated will be blank. 

Removing a Student Profile Picture

To remove an inappropriate student profile picture:

1. Go to the Canvas course site in which the student is enrolled and click People on the Course Navigation Menu.
2. Click onto the student's name.
3. Next to the inappropriate image, click Remove avatar picture. 
4. Tell the student why you removed their picture. 

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Holding a Class Online

For instructions specific to moving courses online due to COVID-19, go to the Canvas course TLOS Continuity - Moving Online. If class has been canceled, or if you can't attend class, you can set up Canvas to hold class remotely whether or not you use Canvas to teach.

Adding Teaching Materials

• Click Files on the course-navigation menu (second menu on the left). Then drag and drop files from your computer into Canvas files. 
• You can then sort into assignments, page, or modules. See the Canvas Instructor Guide for more information on how to use these tools.

Creating an Online Discussion Forum

1. Go to your course site and click Discussions.
2. Click +Discussion, enter the title and details, and choose the discussion options and available dates.
3. Click Save & Publish.

For full instructions, see How do I create a discussion as an instructor? 

Setting Up Office Hours

See How do I add a Scheduler appointment group in a course calendar?

Holding a Video Conference

See Use the Zoom Canvas Tool in Video Conferencing - How to Hold Zoom Conferences on a PC or Mobile Device. 

Creating and Posting a Video Using Your Webcam

1. On the course navigation menu, click Media Gallery. 
2. Click Add Media.
3. On the Add Media page, click Add New -> Webcam Recording. 

You can use Media Gallery and My Media to do much more than post webcam recordings. See Video Content Management - Using My Media and Media Gallery (for Instructors).  

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Sending Announcements

1. In Announcements, click +Announcement. 
2. Choose a topic title.
3. Type a message.
4. Under Post to... choose which sections to send the announcement to.
5. Click Save.

For full instructions, see How do I make an announcement in a course?

• Send a "Welcome" message to students directing them to the essential introductory pages in your course (e.g. your syllabus).
  
  • It is recommended to send students the link to Canvas - How to Use Canvas at Virginia Tech in this announcement.
• Create any additional course announcements, if necessary.
  
  • You can create multiple announcements and choose the publish/availability dates for each to be posted.
  • It is recommended to utilize announcements for special events, updates, and news items.

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Grading in Canvas

Please see Grading in Canvas for topics on assessments, grade setup, Canvas Speedgrader, and Canvas New Analytics.

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Exporting Grades and Upload to HokieSPA

You can export HokieSPA-compatible grades from Canvas. Before exporting, you must correctly configure the Grades tool. 

Configuring the Gradebook

Exporting Midterm Grades

Canvas no longer supports direct export of midterm grades. Instead export grades then format the file for upload to HokieSPA.

1. In your Canvas site, click Grades.
2. Click Export ➔ Export Entire Gradebook (do not click VT Export).
   

   

3. Then in the exported CSV file, delete all columns except two: SIS User ID and Current Grade.

   

4. Delete the first three rows These do not contain grade information.

   

5. Save the file as a CSV.
6. Upload it to HokieSPA.

Exporting Final Grades

1. MAKE SURE GRADES ARE CORRECT!
   
   1. Enable a grading scheme. See How do I enable a grading scheme for a course?
   2. Assign all missing grades a 0 (see B. Assign missing grades a 0). Either:
      
      • Manually enter 0s for all missing student work. See also How do I enter and edit grades in the New Gradebook?
        OR
      • First, in the Assignments tool, set Due dates for all assignments (see: How do I add or edit details in an assignment?). Then, in Grades, click the settings gear. In the Late Policies tab, check Automatically apply grade for missing submissions, enter 0 for Grade percentage... and click Update.
   3. Post all graded items. If grades in the Totals column have an eye icon, exported grades will be incorrect. Go to any Grades column with an eye icon, click the three dots ➔  Post Grades ➔ Post. See D. Post hidden grades and How do I post grades for an assignment in the New Gradebook?.
2. In the Canvas gradebook, at the top right of the screen, click VT Export.
3. Download the exported grades. There's only one file, even if the course has multiple sections.
4. A window will pop up giving you the option to open or save a file, which will be named "[Canvas course name].csv".

Uploading Grades to HokieSPA

Follow the registrar's directions to upload grades to HokieSPA. If you have more than one section, upload the same file to each, and HokieSPA will add grades for the correct students. 

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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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