Canvas
Canvas by Instructure is the Learning Management System at CSI, and the learning designers in the Teaching & Learning Center are eager to help you to learn to use Canvas in optimal and efficient ways to teach your students, whether you teach online or in person.
With few exceptions, for every Canvas question we will recommend to you the Canvas Instructor Guides, a well-written, comprehensive, and illustrated set of guides on nearly every topic imaginable. Better still, there is an entire library of Canvas Student Guides you can explore as well! We also find value in Canvas Commons, a digital library of educational content available to you with CSI's Canvas license. Simply click the "Commons" button in the Canvas Global Navigation Menu.
If you're interested in regular updates about what is new in Canvas, check out our monthly Teaching & Learning Takeout sessions, and the CSI Canvas news, tips, and takeaways we offer there.
Canvas Help for Instructors Through the TLC
New Instructors
TLC is here to help you! We have prepared a complete Onboarding Experience for New Instructors, as well as a self-paced Canvas resource course you can turn to for answers to the most frequently asked Canvas questions we find at CSI and for guidance through multiple, critical instructor processes. A short, representative list of topics available in the course follows:
- How do I build a home page? Can you give me a template I can just modify?
- How do I design my course so that it works for my students across platforms, devices, and operating systems?
- How do I manage Canvas and Zoom together?
- How do I take attendance?
This course is set up for you as a self-enroll course, meaning you only need to click the course self-enroll link, confirm your desire to join the course, and then find and accept the invitation to join on your Canvas Dashboard.
Existing Full and Part-Time Instructors
Yes, TLC is here to help our existing full, part-time, and dual credit instructors, also! We are ready to meet with you in a 1:1 consultation, or as a small group. Send us questions, and we'll bring - and demonstrate - solutions!
If you don't have time to meet right away, we can also direct you toward excellent Canvas-prepared resources that are specific to the question(s) you are asking. For example, New Quizzes is still relatively new on our campus, and there are a wealth of instructor resources ready for you at the New Quizzes Hub.
If your question is related to "how do I use Canvas to teach?", please contact either Canvas 24/7 Support - if you are learning about a new feature in Canvas - or contact the Teaching & Learning Center at tlc@csi.edu, or by visiting the "Get Help" page of this website.
If your question is related to "Canvas is broken", or "I don't have permissions to do what I need to do in Canvas", please contact either Canvas 24/7 Support, or the CSI Help Desk at 208 732 6311. To open a support ticket with the CSI Help Desk after hours, simply email helpdesk@csi.edu.
An added, excellent resource is available for you in the Canvas Global Navigation Menu. Look for and click the blue button titled "Need Help?". This opens the CSI Impact Support Center, a contextual and role-based tool that can recognize who you are and where you are in Canvas and provide article-based support accordingly.
Additional Canvas Assistance
How Else Do I Find Help for Canvas?
Getting the Right Kind of Help in Canvas
We know questions come up, sometimes about how Canvas works and other times about how to use it most effectively for teaching. Here’s a quick guide to help you find the right kind of support when you need it.
Technical or “How-To” Questions
If you are learning a new Canvas feature, troubleshooting a technical issue, or need help fixing something that isn’t working, reach out to Canvas 24/7 Support using the “Need Help?” button in the Canvas Global Navigation menu. You can also explore the Canvas Instructor Guides for step-by-step articles and tutorials.
If Canvas itself seems broken or you do not have permissions to complete a task, contact the CSI Help Desk at 208-732-6311 or email helpdesk@csi.edu to automatically create a support ticket.
Teaching and Course Design Questions
If your question is about how to use Canvas to teach, such as designing engaging modules, improving course flow, or applying teaching best practices, contact the Teaching & Learning Center (TLC) at tlc@csi.edu or visit the “Get Help” page on this site. We are happy to meet with you to talk through strategies, examples, and design ideas that support excellent online instruction.
Help with Home Page Design
We can all use a helping hand at times, and starting with a _self course shell can be challenging. We in the TLC are continually evaluating effective, mobile-friendly course design, and we shared a collection of home page options to Canvas Commons. It is easy to download this resource from Commons to your course!
Can You Help Me Cross-List?
Just knowing the steps to cross-list (or combine multiple course sections) is one thing; knowing if and when to cross-list is another. Check out this resource for questions you should ask yourself prior to cross-listing, and the steps to do so.