Canvas at U-M for Faculty

Getting Started

  1. Go to canvas.umich.edu
  2. Choose the appropriate login method
  3. Prepare your course material
  4. Publish your course so students have access to the course

Things To Know When Getting Started with Canvas

  • All courses are automatically available to instructors but must be published before students can access them.
  • You must publish Modules, Quizzes, Assignments, and Discussions to make them visible to students.
  • Students can resubmit assignments after the due date until the “Available Until” date.
  • To post grades for all students at once, set a manual grade posting policy. Otherwise, each student gets his or her grade as soon as you enter it.
  • You can easily add images, video, URLs, and more to announcements, assignments, etc.
  • Use MyMedia and Media Gallery in Canvas to make screen and webcam recordings, upload and caption media, create video submission assignments, and add interactive features.  
  • Assignments and calendar events will display on the course syllabus.
  • Set up groups where students can share files, post announcements, have discussions, do peer reviews and more.

New Quizzes

New Quizzes is a quiz engine that integrates with Canvas as an LTI tool and will replace the Classic Quizzes functionality existing in Canvas There is no timeline for removing Classic Quizzes at this time. To learn more visit the New Quizzes Migration Project.

External Tools

Canvas offers a number of external tools that extend the functionality of Canvas. Some external tools are pre-installed in Canvas and can be enabled in a course by adding the tool to the course navigation menu. See Canvas External Tools for a list of the tools currently available for all course sites.

Note: External tools frequently have accessibility challenges due to the nature of the material.

Sensitive Data

Canvas can be used for certain kinds of sensitive data detailed in the Sensitive Data Guide to IT Services. You are responsible for using Canvas appropriately with sensitive university data.