Canvas FAQs for Staff

What you can do within a module in Canvas is determined by the role you have been assigned in that course. There are 5 different roles.  These are;

• Observer: Access to view learning materials, discussions and announcements. This role is unable to participate in any of the activities, build content, view grades or view student and module statistics or reports.
• External Examiner:  View only access role, to view announcements, discussions and all grades. This role is unable to participate in any of the activities, build content, grade or view student and module statistics or reports.
• Course Designer:  This role has access to view materials, discussions and announcements. Course Designers can also build learning content (collaborations, discussions, outcomes and rubrics) and have the ability to publish and extend module/activity dates. This role does not have the ability to grade or view student and module statistics or reports.
• Teaching Assistant: This role can view and build learning content, collaborate with students and grade submissions. This role does not have the ability to view student and module statistics and reports.
• Teacher:  This role can view and build learning content, collaborate with students and grade submissions. This role also has the ability to view student and module statistics and reports.

Note: Canvas roles are not related to job titles and should be set based on level of permission required.

Further information for Support Staff and how to apply Canvas Roles in Qsis can be found in this blog post. Note: In line with Data Protection requirements, Canvas must protect the privacy rights of individuals when processing data.  Those responsible for assigning Canvas roles, should remember that data being accessed by staff members must be limited to what is necessary for their role. More information on Data Protection  

Yes.

Familiarisation Areas: These are available so that academics can experiment with the various features and tools available. This is your own personal space, no other academics or students are enrolled in this area. 

Test Student: You have access to a ‘test student’ via the ‘student view’ feature. This will let you view and interact with your module content to test what it is like from the student perspective. To access the student view feature, click Settings then click Student View on the right hand menu.

Note: The ‘test student’ feature can be used for most functionality in Canvas and can be reset as required.

Canvas Guide: How do I view a course as a test student using Student View?

At this time, the initial focus of the roll-out will be on credit-bearing academic modules whose enrolments come through QSIS, our student record system. However, we are aware of this requirement and will be investigating this further in the future.

Canvas is being implemented across the university in phases.

All Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught modules will be on Canvas in the academic year 2019/20.

More information:  Digital Learning Programme and Canvas

To create, view or interact with Office 365 content, you and your students will first need to login to Office 365 through the link in the Canvas course navigation menu.

If an ‘unexpected error’ message is displayed when creating a collaboration:

1. Please check that there are no spaces at the beginning of the collaboration’s document name/title and that none of the following special characters have been used:  \ / : * ? ”
2. If the error continues to occur please:
   a) Go to the main module home page, click office 365 in the course navigation menu on the left, your office 365 files should then appear.
   b) Click log out on the right-hand side. Once logged out, sign back in, by clicking  log in (you may have to enter your sign in credentials again).
   c) Once you have logged back into office 365, navigate back to the collaborations section and create the collaboration.

   

3. If the error persists try deleting your browser cache/history and cookies (see guides for all supported browsers here: Mac or PC) then repeat step 2.

If the message ‘you are not allowed to view this content’ is displayed when opening a collaboration:

1. Please check that the user attempting to open the collaboration has been added as a collaborator.
2. If the user has been added to the collaboration and the error persists, please log out and back in to Office 365 within Canvas, by completing step 2 above.

Note:  Please ensure that you are not signed in to different Office 365 accounts (staff/student/personal etc) even if using separate browsers, as this can cause issues with linking to the correct Office 365 account.

Canvas Guide: How do I create a Microsoft Office 365 collaboration as an instructor?

The ’email all students’ function is done in Qsis, not Canvas, depending on the permissions of the staff member.

In Qsis, open Main Menu / Self-Service / Faculty Centre then My Schedule and select a relevant class to open in Class Roster. You may need to click on view all to display all components of a class (such as Tutorials etc.).  Select the option to email an individual student or a group of students.

To email an individual student: Click on their Name and a message will open in your own email account.

To email a group of students: Click the Select All link. You can then un-tick those you do not want to notify.

a) Click the Notify Selected Students button and the Send Notification screen will open.

b) Your email will be in both the From and To fields, this ensures you get a copy of any sent emails.

c) The students selected will be in the BCC field.

d) You may wish to add other staff to the CC field.

e) The default subject can be changed.

f) You can also spell check the message using the book icon.

g) When ready, click the Send Notification button.

If you wish to export the email addresses to excel please click the following icon at the top of the table:

More Information: Please see page 3 of this guide.
More Information: How to view/print a module roster of student photographs in Qsis

Note: If you require any further support, please contact the Qsis Support Team on studentsystemssupport@qub.ac.uk

QSIS: Enrolment and registration first takes place in Qsis and then this information flows through to Canvas.

Canvas: In Canvas you can check the student enrolment information by clicking on People in your course navigation menu. Clicking on the All roles dropdown will show you each Canvas role in your course, with the number of active users beside each role (See Fig. 1).

Contact your School Administrator and ask them to confirm with Qsis, the number of students in your course, or alternatively, contact the QSIS Support Team.

Canvas Guide: How do I use the People page in a course as an instructor? 

Module Names in Qsis: Information in Canvas, (including module name/course title) flows through from Qsis. There is a 30 character limit in Qsis for a course title (short name), anything above this will not be included.

Course Titles in Canvas: To change your Canvas course title and reduce the number of characters, please contact QSIS Support Team  and amend to 30 characters or less (including spaces & punctuation).

Once complete in Qsis, the new course title will automatically flow through to Canvas in 24-48 hours.

What you can do within a module in Canvas is determined by the role you have been assigned in that course. There are 5 different roles.  These are;

• Observer: Access to view learning materials, discussions and announcements. This role is unable to participate in any of the activities, build content, view grades or view student and module statistics or reports.
• External Examiner:  View only access role, to view announcements, discussions and all grades. This role is unable to participate in any of the activities, build content, grade or view student and module statistics or reports.
• Course Designer:  This role has access to view materials, discussions and announcements. Course Designers can also build learning content (collaborations, discussions, outcomes and rubrics) and have the ability to publish and extend module/activity dates. This role does not have the ability to grade or view student and module statistics or reports.
• Teaching Assistant: This role can view and build learning content, collaborate with students and grade submissions. This role does not have the ability to view student and module statistics and reports.
• Teacher:  This role can view and build learning content, collaborate with students and grade submissions. This role also has the ability to view student and module statistics and reports.

Note: Canvas roles are not related to job titles and should be set based on level of permission required.

Further information for Support Staff and how to apply Canvas Roles in Qsis can be found in this blog post.

Note: In line with Data Protection requirements, Canvas must protect the privacy rights of individuals when processing data.  Those responsible for assigning Canvas roles, should remember that data being accessed by staff members must be limited to what is necessary for their role.

More information on Data Protection

 

The ’email all students’ function is done in Qsis, not Canvas, depending on the permissions of the staff member.

In Qsis, open Main Menu / Self-Service / Faculty Centre then My Schedule and select a relevant class to open in Class Roster. You may need to click on view all to display all components of a class (such as Tutorials etc.).  Select the option to email an individual student or a group of students.

To email an individual student: Click on their Name and a message will open in your own email account.

To email a group of students: Click the Select All link. You can then un-tick those you do not want to notify.

a) Click the Notify Selected Students button and the Send Notification screen will open.

b) Your email will be in both the From and To fields, this ensures you get a copy of any sent emails.

c) The students selected will be in the BCC field.

d) You may wish to add other staff to the CC field.

e) The default subject can be changed.

f) You can also spell check the message using the book icon.

g) When ready, click the Send Notification button.

If you wish to export the email addresses to excel please click the following icon at the top of the table:

More Information: Please see page 3 of this guide.
More Information: How to view/print a module roster of student photographs in Qsis

Note: If you require any further support, please contact the Qsis Support Team on studentsystemssupport@qub.ac.uk

At this time, the initial focus of the roll-out will be on credit-bearing academic modules whose enrolments come through QSIS, our student record system. However, we are aware of this requirement and will be investigating this further in the future.

QSIS: Enrolment and registration first takes place in Qsis and then this information flows through to Canvas.

Canvas: In Canvas you can check the student enrolment information by clicking on People in your course navigation menu. Clicking on the All roles dropdown will show you each Canvas role in your course, with the number of active users beside each role (See Fig. 1).

Contact your School Administrator and ask them to confirm with Qsis, the number of students in your course, or alternatively, contact the QSIS Support Team.

Canvas Guide: How do I use the People page in a course as an instructor? 

Module Names in Qsis: Information in Canvas, (including module name/course title) flows through from Qsis. There is a 30 character limit in Qsis for a course title (short name), anything above this will not be included.

Course Titles in Canvas: To change your Canvas course title and reduce the number of characters, please contact QSIS Support Team  and amend to 30 characters or less (including spaces & punctuation).

Once complete in Qsis, the new course title will automatically flow through to Canvas in 24-48 hours.

To create, view or interact with Office 365 content, you and your students will first need to login to Office 365 through the link in the Canvas course navigation menu.

If an ‘unexpected error’ message is displayed when creating a collaboration:

1. Please check that there are no spaces at the beginning of the collaboration’s document name/title and that none of the following special characters have been used:  \ / : * ? ”
2. If the error continues to occur please:
   a) Go to the main module home page, click office 365 in the course navigation menu on the left, your office 365 files should then appear.
   b) Click log out on the right-hand side. Once logged out, sign back in, by clicking  log in (you may have to enter your sign in credentials again).
   c) Once you have logged back into office 365, navigate back to the collaborations section and create the collaboration.

   

3. If the error persists try deleting your browser cache/history and cookies (see guides for all supported browsers here: Mac or PC) then repeat step 2.

If the message ‘you are not allowed to view this content’ is displayed when opening a collaboration:

1. Please check that the user attempting to open the collaboration has been added as a collaborator.
2. If the user has been added to the collaboration and the error persists, please log out and back in to Office 365 within Canvas, by completing step 2 above.

Note:  Please ensure that you are not signed in to different Office 365 accounts (staff/student/personal etc) even if using separate browsers, as this can cause issues with linking to the correct Office 365 account.

Canvas Guide: How do I create a Microsoft Office 365 collaboration as an instructor?

Canvas is being implemented across the university in phases.

All Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught modules will be on Canvas in the academic year 2019/20.

More information:  Digital Learning Programme and Canvas

Yes.

Familiarisation Areas: These are available so that academics can experiment with the various features and tools available. This is your own personal space, no other academics or students are enrolled in this area. 

Test Student: You have access to a ‘test student’ via the ‘student view’ feature. This will let you view and interact with your module content to test what it is like from the student perspective. To access the student view feature, click Settings then click Student View on the right hand menu.

Note: The ‘test student’ feature can be used for most functionality in Canvas and can be reset as required.

Canvas Guide: How do I view a course as a test student using Student View?

Canvas is a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for facilitating learning and teaching. Current processes for pastoral care will continue.

No. Canvas is a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for facilitating learning and teaching. We have other tools available within the University for this purpose.