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Canvas is a web-based learning management system, or LMS. It is used by learning institutions, educators, and students to access and manage online course learning materials and communicate about skill development and learning achievement.

Canvas includes a variety of customizable course creation and management tools, course and user analytics and statistics, and internal communication tools.

Institutions may provide users with a Canvas account, or individual users can try the free version by signing up for their own account.

Learn more about how institutions around the world use Canvas to increase student engagement and success.

Canvas Defined

Condensing something as robust as Canvas into a simple definition is quite a challenge but we'll try.

Canvas LMS is an open and reliable web-based software that allows institutions to manage digital learning, educators to create and present online learning materials and assess student learning, and students to engage in courses and receive feedback about skill development and learning achievement.

Additionally, while Canvas is primarily a web-based software, any user can access Canvas on a mobile device from the Canvas Teacher, Canvas Student, and Canvas Parent apps. Learn more about the Canvas mobile apps.

Basic Canvas Features

Canvas includes a variety of built-in course construction and management tools that can be customized to create unique and accessible teaching and learning experiences.

Instructional designers and instructors may create and share course content using Assignments, Discussions, Modules, Quizzes, and Pages. They may also choose to foster a collaborative learning experience using Collaborations, Conferences, and Groups. Depending on course settings, students can access these areas in Canvas to find learning materials and interact with other course users.

Canvas also allows institutions and instructors to add state and institutional learning outcomes to rubrics in order to measure and track student skill development and learning achievement. Additionally course creators can use the Course Import Tool to bulk-upload pre existing LMS course packages and/or course materials.

Instructors can provide students with comprehensive feedback on assignment and quiz submissions using SpeedGrader and manage grade reporting in the Canvas Gradebook. They can also facilitate real-time course interactions using Chat and communicate course news and updates with students using Announcements as well as the Calendar and Syllabus.

Instructors and admins can gain greater insight into student success and make informed instructional decisions using data provided in Canvas Analytics. Admins can also access SQL data about their Canvas user and usage details form Canvas Data Services.

Canvas also includes the Canvas App Center, where admins, designers, and instructors can enable a variety of Eternal Apps (LTI Tools) and services. The ever-growing app library offers a wide array of interactive resources, content repositories, assessment tools, social media integrations, and other digital learning and teaching resources.

Learn more about all Canvas features, review the Canvas Guides, and compare Canvas Free for Teacher features with features included in a paid account.

Additional Canvas Features

Institutions may choose to include additional Canvas features specifically designed to meet a variety of institutional, educational, and learning needs.

Canvas Catalog is a digital marketplace where students can register, enroll, and pay for courses.

Canvas Studio is an interactive video management platform that enhances student engagement and collaboration.

Canvas Commons is a learning object repository where teachers can store course content for their own use and for collaboration with colleagues both within and outside of their institution.

MasteryConnect allows designers and teachers to build, deploy, and manage formative and summative assessments across an institution. It provides schools with actionable data to improve teaching and learning.

Portfolium is an ePortfolio platform that integrates directly inside of Canvas. However, students also always have access to their Portfolium portfolios outside of Canvaseven after they lose access to the LMS.

Canvas Users

Canvas includes the following six standard user roles: Admins, Designers, Instructors, Teacher Assistants, Students, and Observers. However, institutions may create any number of custom user roles with varied Canvas access.

A user's assigned role determines their Canvas access and interactions. For example, Canvas administrators may have access to create user accounts, add course enrollments, and manage institutional grading periods. Instructional designers may use Canvas to create and manage course content and review course analytics to identify areas for improvement in teaching and learning. School counselors may use Canvas to review student course progress and assess student achievement. Parents and guardians may use Canvas to review and communicate with instructors about student course progress, including assignment submissions and grades.

Using Canvas

Anyone can use Canvas. New admins can check out the Admin Getting Started tutorial for information about setting up an account for their institution. Instructors can use the interactive Getting Started with Canvas flowchart to learn how to quickly and easily get a course ready for student participation. Students and observers may be automatically enrolled in a course by their institution, or they may receive course invitations via email. Once enrolled in a course, students can participate with their instructors, course materials, and peers.

To try a free version of Canvas, sign up for a free Canvas account.

More information about utilizing Canvas can be found in the Canvas Community, including how-to Canvas guides, question and answer forums, and special interest groups.

If you have a suggestion to improve this guide, or if you want to recommend corrections, please share your feedback

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Canvas is a web-based learning management system, or LMS. It is used by learning institutions, educators, and students to access and manage online course learning materials and communicate about skill development and learning achievement. Canvas includes a variety of customizable course creation an...

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Last week, Nick Acton, Primary Apple Specialist Trainer and Apple Curriculum Coordinator at JTRS, shared ideas on how to make the most out of Nearpod in the classroom.

Nearpod helps educators make any lesson interactive whether in the classroom or virtual. The concept is simple. A teacher can create interactive presentations that can contain Quiz's, Polls, Videos, Collaborate Boards, and more. You can access thousands of pre-built K-12 standards-aligned lessons or upload your existing lessons and make them interactive.

The students can access a teacher's presentation through a code and the teacher then moves the class through the presentation and lets students interact with the media as they go. Teachers can also opt for Student-Paced mode, where the student controls the flow of the lesson. This mode is perfect for sub days, weather days, homework assignments, or independent work. The app is web-based and works on any device with an internet connection. Below are just ten ways of utilizing this multifaceted tool.

1) Simple presentation delivery

At it's most simple, you can use Nearpod as a substitute for other presentation tools. Instead of running a Powerpoint or Google Slides, you can utilize Nearpod and make the lesson more interactive. You can even 'drag and drop' your existing Google slides, PDFs and PowerPoints into the app for it to instantly create a Nearpod presentation. Then you can select from countless interactive activities and formative assessments. The presentations will be beamed to each students' device in the classroom. You also do not have to rely on students being able to see the board.

2) Personalized provision

Following on from the idea of using Nearpod as a simple presentation tool, you could isolate the use of the app to one child or a small group. It could be that you are beaming extra teaching provisions to particular pupils during a starter. This could be the missing link that provides more support for a child with visual impairments. It could provide that extra bit of help for a low attainer in your class.

3) Distributing resources

Using the app to distribute resources is another simple way of using it in the classroom. You can fill your presentation with images or worksheets and ask the students to use the Students Notes Feature to save the presentation to their drive to access the information later when studying for an exam or completing homework.

4) Live formative assessment

The app can become even more useful if you insert one of Nearpod's many formative assessment activities into your presentation. As a teacher, you can create customized Quizzes, Polls, Open-ended Questions, Matching Pairs, and more that can be used to check for students' understanding in real-time. The teacher can instantly gain insights into the classes' overall understanding and make adjustments on the fly.

5) Ongoing assessment

Why not utilize the formative assessments in Nearpod throughout a term to ascertain ongoing assessment data? When the students have finished a quiz, Nearpod will automatically create a report for you. You can access the reports directly through the app and download the data as PDF overviews, CSV files (to be embedded in Excel) as well as reports on individual students. This really helps you to gain a completely comprehensive understanding of your students' ongoing progress. It takes the grading out of your hands and does it for you.

6) Self-assessment

It is common practice in Primary and Secondary schools for students to assess themselves and evaluate their own confidence levels. This is usually achieved through a traffic light system that children are encouraged to draw in their workbooks. Red indicates a poor confidence level, amber indicates a fair understanding and green indicates a very good understanding of any given learning topic. Nearpod contains the option of inserting a 'Poll'. In this situation, students' opinions are questioned. This makes the 'Polling' tool a perfect feature to use when 'traffic lighting' in the classroom. The information is then saved in the aforementioned reports!

7) Modeling

The app also has a feature called 'Draw It' that can be built into your presentations. This beams an interactive whiteboard to the students' devices. The teacher's device will display all of the students' 'drawings' and the teacher can then 'share' individual whiteboards with the entire class. Hitting share will cause the chosen 'drawing' to appear on every device. This enables teachers to share good work and model good progressions.

8) Open-ended tasks

Nearpod allows for creative flexibility. The 'Open-Ended Questions' feature allows the teacher to pose a question or set up a scenario for the students to respond to. With this tool, you can facilitate creative writing tasks. As a result, the advantage of using something like Nearpod for this kind of activity is that the 'Open-Ended' answers are then automatically logged in the reports.

9) Setting homework

All of the above examples revolve around the idea of using Nearpod in a Live session, but students can also engage on their own time. You can provide a Student-Paced code and they can access the Nearpod lesson at home, or anywhere with an internet connection.

10) Sharing and using pre-made resources

One way of using Nearpod involves almost no work at all. Tapping on the 'Explore' button within the main landing page of the app will take you through to a library of pre-made Nearpod lessons. You can find interactive presentations on almost anything for K-12.

Nearpod in the classroom

The customizable nature of the app means that it can be applied to any age range and teaching context. It saves you time with real-time formative assessment and session reports and helps build a connected culture in and outside of the classroom.
Get started!

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10 ways to use Nearpod in the classroom - Nearpod Blog

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Last week, Nick Acton, Primary Apple Specialist Trainer and Apple Curriculum Coordinator at JTRS, shared ideas on how to make the most out of Nearpod in the classroom. Nearpod helps educators make any lesson interactive whether in the classroom or virtual. The concept is simple.

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30 collaborative Google Apps activities for schools

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G Suite Apps are collaborative, which makes them highly powerful. They offer opportunities for students to engage unlike ever before. Here are 30 ideas

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Case Studies of School Districts Experience with Google Apps

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Case Studies of School Districts Experience with Google Apps

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Impact stories from around the globe | Google for Education