About this course

Hi! I'm going to guide you through some of the core features of Canvas that every instructor should know about. I won't cover ALL of the amazing things you can do in a Canvas course, but I will get you started and show you where to go to learn more.

This course is designed to walk you through the process of building your first Canvas course, step by step. By the time you have finished you will have learned:

How to navigate the Canvas interface and adjust your Notification Preferences
How to customize the Course Navigation and Course Home Page
How to add events and Assignments to the Calendar
How to invite students and publish your course so they can access it
How to add Announcements and Discussions
How to evaluate student work in SpeedGrader™ and the gradebook
How to embed media in a content Page
How to edit the Syllabus Description
How to create a simple Module
How to find answers to your questions in Canvas Guides and the Canvas Community
How to import course content

Ready to begin?

IMPORTANT

There are several ways you can approach this course, depending on your previous experience with Canvas and your learning preferences:

One approach is to walk through each of the pages in each of the modules in sequential order, taking the time to complete all of the suggested tasks inside of an empty Canvas course shell.
Another approach is to skim through each of the 25 steps and see if you have any questions. If you do, read the help articles that follow and then move on.
Finally, if you've had previous experiences with Canvas, consider skipping directly to the assessments and activities. Go directly to the "Check your understanding " and "Try It Yourself" activities at the end of each module. You may be able to complete most of the tasks already and simply reference the lesson material when needed.