Using Canvas

Canvas is the learning management system (LMS) used by UC Santa Cruz. You’re in it right now. On this page, we'll give you a brief overview of Canvas, point out some important Canvas features (notifications, timezone, and Gradebook), and provide some additional Canvas guides.

If this is your first time using Canvas, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the navigation menu on the left side of the page. You’ll spend most of your time in Home or Modules. The modules contain links to video lectures, assignments, and other materials. You'll also see Grades and other links relevant to the course, such as Zoom and Announcements. The video below offers a more complete overview of the Canvas interface.

Important Canvas Features

There are a lot of functions in Canvas - this section highlights some of the most important features to setup at the beginning of the class. First, an important note about Canvas: Like most websites, Canvas tracks your activity, including which pages you've visited, when, and for how long. All submissions (assignments, quizzes, discussion forums) are timestamped, which means that your instructor can see exactly when you turn your work in.

Notifications

You can customize how and when you would like to receive notifications from the course. Please take a moment to adjust your notification preferences Links to an external site. using the Account icon in the top-left (the icon with your profile picture or a blank space where your profile picture will go).

Timezone

In Canvas, you can set your own time zone; this means that Canvas dates are localized to display to you in your local time zone. For instance, if an assignment is due at 8:00pm PST, and you are taking this course in New York, you will see that your assignment is due at 11:00pm EST. All UC Santa Cruz courses are set in PST. Visit this guide on how to change your timezone in Canvas Links to an external site..

Gradebook

When you look at your grades, you will notice a little checkbox marked "Calculate based only on graded assignments." When this box is checked, the grade you see will be calculated only on the basis of assignments that have been graded. Uncheck this box and the grade you see will be calculated on the basis of all assignments—even those that aren't yet due. Naturally, at the beginning of the term, unchecking this box will make it appear as if you are doing poorly in the course, because there's a lot that you haven't done. Visit the Canvas guides for more information on Gradebook.

Canvas Student App

The Canvas Student mobile app allows you to access your courses and groups using a mobile device or tablet. You can submit assignments, participate in discussions, view grades and course materials. The app also provides access to course calendars, To Do items, notifications, and Conversations messages.

Learn more about setting up your Canvas Student App here: Canvas Student App.

Canvas Student Tour Videos

Canvas has produced a Student Tour video series Links to an external site. to help you learn how to get the most from this online environment, from reading content to posting discussions and submitting assignments. The tutorial videos can be viewed in any order. Total viewing time for all videos is ~ 35 minutes and the videos will open in a new window.