Navigating a Canvas Course

How to Find Course Content

The left hand menu in your class Canvas course site contains your course materials. Other things, like Inbox, Groups, Calendar, and Help are found in the far left menu (global navigation menu) as they may apply to multiple courses. Each instructor will design their course differently, so you may have some of these items but not all. Don't be alarmed if you don't see everything from this list. But here's a general overview of where to find things.

 

Course Files and Activities

  1. Syllabus - usually contains the course syllabus 
  2. Modules - folders that contain course content, assignments, quizzes, discussions, and videos either organized by Week or by Lecture Topic. Note: Depending on the class, Modules could contain ALL of the course's files and activities so you only have one place to check.
  3. Files - may be available to find lecture notes, PDFs, or other file downloads (some professors use Modules instead)
  4. Assignments - your assignments, submitted through Canvas or sometimes marked as in-class submission 
  5. Quizzes - quizzes or surveys for class, conducted online
  6. Discussions - online discussion boards
  7. Collaborations - online document shared editing/whiteboarding
  8. Pages - may be available and contain course content organized in a website layout

 

General Items

  1. People - Find who is in your class
  2. Grades - Look at your grades
  3. Announcements - notes from your instructor or TA
  4. Home - Go back to the main course page
  5. Conferences - web conferencing
  6. Class Climate - WPI course evaluations, will become active towards the end of the term

 

Add-on Items

Some instructors may incorporate textbook material or other optional plugins to their Canvas course site.

  1. Piazza - an alternative to the traditional Canvas discussion board
  2. Echo360 - lecture capture recordings
  3. Macmillan Higher Education - textbook
  4. MyLab and Mastering - textbook