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<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en-US"><head><script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-5MRHB7J');</script><title>Canvas - Overview [UW-Madison]</title><meta name="application-name" content="New KB Documents"/><meta name="google-site-verification" content="jQXNvDqpT6sB_Nm-Ov-OsWhG792Arqd2WPDbOfnnle8" /><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="description" content=""><meta name="keywords" content="KnowledgeBase, knowledge base, universities, colleges, higher education, knowledge sharing, knowledge collaboration, technical support self-service solutions"><meta name="application-name" content="University KnowledgeBase"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"><link rel="canonical" href="https://kb.wisc.edu/luwmad/page.php?id=62630"><script src="/css/common.js" type="text/javascript"></script><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="/css/froala-editor@3.2.2/froala_style.min.css"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="/css/froala-editor@3.2.2/froala_override.css"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="/css/tinymce@5/content.css"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="/css/default_layout1.css?v=20250307"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="/images/inst1/uw-theme-kb-v5.css"><style>#group-logo .group-name-hide:after {content: "Find answers to common questions at UW鈥揗adison";}</style><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="/css/uw-buttons.css"><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" href="/css/print.css"></head><body><h1 class="hidden">Canvas - Overview [UW-Madison]</h1><noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5MRHB7J" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript><div id="skip-nav"><a href="#maincontent">Skip navigation</a></div><div id="body-container"><header role="banner"><div id="top-links"><div class="section group top"><div class="col span_top_1_of_3"><span class="hidden">Canvas - Overview [UW-Madison]</span></div><div class="col span_top_2_of_3"><div id="top-left-links"><ul><li class="first"><a href="https://www.wisc.edu">University <span style="text-transform:lowercase">of</span> Wisconsin鈥揗adison</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="col span_top_3_of_3"><div id="top-right-links"><ul><li class="first"><a href="/search.php?q=showkbpartners">KnowledgeBase Partners</a></li><li><a href="/page.php?id=3">About the KnowledgeBase</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div id="logo-search"><div class="section group logo-search"><div class="col span_logo-search_1_of_2"><div id="group-logo"><a href="./"><img src="/images/inst1/uw-crest-web.png" alt="University of Wisconsin KnowledgeBase" width="" height=""><span class="group-name-hide">KnowledgeBase</span></a></div></div><div class="col span_logo-search_2_of_2"><div id="search-form" class="upper" role="search"><form accept-charset="UTF-8" method="get" action="search.php" title="Search"><span id="resultc" role="status" aria-live="polite"></span><br><label for="q" class="hidden">Search term</label><input class="inputBox" id="q" type="text" name="q" placeholder="Search the KB..." value="" size="36" maxlength="140" onkeyup="resultC(this.value)" aria-controls="resultc" aria-expanded="false" aria-autocomplete="both" > <input class="search" type="submit" value="SEARCH"></form></div><script>if(document.getElementsByClassName("search")){document.getElementsByClassName("search")[0].addEventListener("click", searchBtn);}</script></div></div></div></header><div id="container"><div id="middle-sect1"><main id="maincontent" role="main"><div id="page-content" role="article"><div class="fr-element fr-view"><h1 class="title">Canvas - Overview [UW-Madison]</h1><div style="float:right;text-align:right;padding:1px;border-radius:2px;"></div><div class="doc-summary">This document outlines resources for instructors on how to get started with Canvas at UW-Madison. <p><a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/luwmad/search.php?q=&cat=6712">Select this link</a> to list all Canvas documents from the Learn@UW-Madison Knowledgebase at the bottom of this page.</p></div><div class="doc-body"> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/group16/62630/canvas-red.png" alt="Canvas Logo" class="fr-fic fr-dii" style="width: 300px;"></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><button id="expandAll" type="button">Expand All</button> <button id="collapseAll" type="button">Collapse All</button></p> <h2 class="panel-head">What is Canvas?</h2> <div class="panel-content"> <p><a href="https://at.doit.wisc.edu/learn-uw/canvas/">Canvas</a> is UW-Madison’s centrally supported learning management system. It serves as a powerful and flexible tool for instructors and students in our digital educational space. Most other teaching and learning technologies integrate with Canvas making it the central technology in the digital teaching and learning ecosystem.</p> <p>See <a href="https://it.wisc.edu/services/canvas/">Canvas - UW–Madison Information Technology</a> for more information.</p> </div> <h2 class="panel-head">Tool Functionality Details</h2> <div class="panel-content"> <h3 class="panel-head">Basic Functionality</h3> <div class="panel-content"> <p>Canvas functionality is very modular. Instructors can pick and choose whether to engage several available functions. Most Canvas content is created using the <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/107509">Rich Content Editor</a>. You can create Canvas content using the following Canvas functions.</p> <ul> <li aria-level="1">Share files (of any type) with students.</li> <li aria-level="1">Trac grades in the gradebook.</li> <li aria-level="1">Assign course work.</li> <li aria-level="1">Create quizzes to be taken online.</li> <li aria-level="1">Make announcements.</li> <li aria-level="1">Add custom content, and materials that supplement textbooks.</li> <li aria-level="1">Provide students a central location that contains all course activity: readings, quizzes, assignments, exercises, exams, etc.</li> </ul> <p>Learn@UW-Madison actively supports the integration of third-party applications and publisher Digital Learning Tools (DLT) with Canvas. See <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/luwmad/65466">Canvas - Enabled Application Configurations (UW-Madison)</a> to learn more.</p> </div> <h3 class="panel-head">Advanced Functionality</h3> <div class="panel-content"> <p>Advanced functions include the following. Relevant support materials are available as Canvas Guides, housed within the online Canvas Community.</p> <ul> <li aria-level="1">Reviewing submitted assignments using an internal markup tool (<a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-SpeedGrader/ta-p/757">Speedgrader</a>).</li> <li aria-level="1">See <a href="page.php?id=62777">Canvas - Cross-listing/Merging a Canvas Course [UW-Madison]</a> to learn how to move enrollment sections from one course to another.</li> <li aria-level="1">Use <a href="page.php?id=98589">Canvas - Importing Content from another Canvas Course [UW-Madison]</a> to copy courses</li> <li aria-level="1"><a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/66259">Adding support staff to courses</a>.</li> <li aria-level="1"><a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/101386">Managing complex quiz options</a>: allowing multiple attempts, setting time limits, creating question pools, and showing correct answers.</li> <li aria-level="1">Use <a href="page.php?id=78911">Canvas - Considerations for Final Grading in the Canvas Gradebook [UW-Madison]</a> to submit final grading.</li> </ul> </div> </div> <h2 class="panel-head">Use Cases</h2> <div class="panel-content"> <ul> <li aria-level="1">Canvas is a powerful and flexible tool. You can use it to simply manage course activities, or for much more involved and complex course functions. Instructors can quickly learn how to use Canvas, but may take longer to learn more advanced functions.</li> <li aria-level="1">Use <a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/tkb-p/Instructor#Modules">Canvas Modules</a> to organize content in chronological or topical order</li> <li aria-level="1">Use Canvas to provide links or resources to supplement an in person course, such as <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/62951">embedding video content through Kaltura Mediaspace</a></li> <li aria-level="1">Use Canvas to organize content and <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/108005">meetings</a> for remote synchronous learning.</li> <li aria-level="1">Using Canvas Discussions to supplement in-class conversations.<a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/instructional-resources/search.php?cat=11136">(CTLM Link)</a></li> <li aria-level="1">Use Canvas quiz (survey) to gather mid-semester feedback <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/103882">(Anonymous Survey</a>)</li> <li aria-level="1">Use Canvas quizzes for formative and summative learning assessments.</li> </ul> </div> <h2 class="panel-head">Noncredit courses in Canvas</h2> <div class="panel-content"> <p>In addition to traditional credit-based courses, Canvas can be used to deliver <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/luwmad/page.php?id=85479">noncredit courses</a>. This includes the following:</p> <ul> <li aria-level="1">Continuing Studies/lifelong learning "L3" (enrichment or ongoing education) courses for external audiences</li> <li aria-level="1">Compliance or institutional training courses primarily for UW-Madison employees and/or students</li> </ul> <p>Canvas course shells for these purposes – noncredit, compliance, LifeLong Learning, etc – can be requested by completing the online <a href="https://tools.canvas.wisc.edu/uw-nsa">Noncredit Canvas Course Request Form</a>.</p> <p>If you'd like to set up a new L3 program, see <a href="page.php?id=87488">How to Add a New Academic Unit to the L3* Process</a></p> <p><strong>Note: </strong>If your form does not load properly, try opening it in a <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/84504">Private Browser Window</a>. If that does not solve the issue, contact the <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=1">DoIT Help Desk</a>.</p> <p>Five types of noncredit courses are available:</p> <ul> <li aria-level="1"><strong>Sandbox: </strong>Course to experiment with Canvas and/or develop content outside an official course.</li> <li aria-level="1"><strong>Continuing Studies/Lifelong Learning (L3): </strong>Used for Continuing Studies or Lifelong Learning (L3) audiences.</li> <li aria-level="1"><strong>Compliance/Institutional Training: </strong>For courses used to deliver online training material; to UW-Madison faculty, Staff, and/or students.</li> <li aria-level="1"><strong>Supplemental: </strong>These courses run alongside a Course Guide (timetable) course or for-credit program, and house tangential course materials.</li> <li aria-level="1"><strong>Blueprint: </strong>Template for sharing course components across multiple courses.</li> </ul> </div> <h2 class="panel-head">Getting Started</h2> <div class="panel-content"> <p>To get started with Canvas, see <a href="page.php?id=121975">Canvas - Getting Started [UW-Madison]</a></p> </div> <h2 class="panel-head">Additional Resources</h2> <div class="panel-content"> <h3>Training</h3> <p>Learn@UW-Madison offers a Canvas training course for <a href="https://canvas.wisc.edu/courses/144110/pages/canvas-overview-and-support-options">instructors & staff</a> that covers all Learn@UW tools. For more information on available Canvas training, please see <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/uwmadcanvas/page.php?id=63782">Canvas - Training Resources (UW-Madison)</a>. For the latest updates about Canvas, please see the <a href="https://at.doit.wisc.edu/learn-uw/canvas/">UW-Madison Canvas Information website</a>.</p> <h3>Canvas Tech Modules</h3> <p>These modules, developed by DoIT Academic Technology's Learn@UW-Madison team, are designed to help instructors introduce centrally supported learning technologies to their students. For more information, see <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/luwmad/internal/page.php?id=101694">Canvas - Student Tech Modules in Canvas Commons</a></p> <h3>Documentation</h3> <p>The <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/luwmad/">Learn@UW-Madison KnowledgeBase</a> provides documentation from UW-Madison's Canvas administrative team.<a href="https//kb.wisc.edu/luwmad/search.php?q=&cat=6712"> Select this link</a> to list Canvas documents at the bottom of this page.</p> <h3>Canvas Community</h3> <p><a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/">Canvas Community</a> is a forum hosted by Instructure (Canvas's parent company), for educators around the world. Here, you can find documents about questions other educators have asked, and ask questions for peers to answer.</p> <strong>Note: </strong>This forum is not monitored by Learn@UW Support. To contact Learn@UW Support, please see the Technical Support section above. <h3>Continuing Studies/Lifelong Learning "L3"</h3> <p>For general questions about delivering a Continuing Studies/lifelong learning "L3" course for external audiences to Canvas, please contact:</p> <p>Alan Ng (alan.ng@wisc.edu), Director of Outreach Technology, DCS</p> <h3>Compliance/Institutional Training</h3> <p>For questions about using Canvas to deliver employee/staff and training courses, large-scale training and compliance courses for employees, and compliance courses for students, please contact the <a href="https://kb.wisc.edu/kbAdmin/page.php?id=1">DoIT Help Desk</a>.<a href="page.php?id=85479">Canvas - FAQs for Noncredit Courses [UW-Madison]</a></p> <h3>Canvas release schedule</h3> <p>Instructure releases updates to Canvas monthly. Please see "<a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/community/answers/releases/release-notes-canvas">Canvas Release Notes</a>" for information on new releases. New releases also generally contain a short video summarizing changes in a release. Check the release notes often to stay informed on bug fixes or new features coming to Canvas.</p> <h3>Canvas system requirements and supported browsers</h3> <p>Please see Instructure's guide: <a href="https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2059">What are the basic computer specifications for Canvas?</a></p> <p><strong>Note:</strong> Based on feedback from UW-Madison users, Canvas functions best when used with <strong>Chrome or Firefox</strong>. 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