Resources and Support
Teaching with Canvas
In 2022, Johns Hopkins University transitioned from the Blackboard Learn Learning Management System (LMS) to Canvas.
In May 2023, Blackboard access was sunset, so our team does not have any real way to recover materials that were not saved locally or migrated.
Canvas, like all LMSes, is not going to be a one-size-fits-all solution for learning, and sometimes other technologies need to be incorporated. It’s best to think of Canvas (like Bb before it) as a hub or jumping off point for learning, student resources and content.
Information to get you started:
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In order to sign into Canvas, you will need to:
1. Access Canvas (canvas.jhu.edu)
2. Click JHU Login
3. Continue through the JHU Single Sign On process, logging in with your JHED ID
4. After successfully signing in, your Canvas Dashboard will appear
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When a course is created by SIS, it is made Unpublished by default. Once you have added any additional users and materials to your course, you will need to make it available, doing the following:
- Access your course
- You can see the publication status of your course in the Course Status options
3. Publish your course by clicking Publish
4. Your course will be available to students. While you can unpublish courses, it is best to make sure that your course is in the desired format to avoid confusion.
Carey asks that instructors open their courses to students two weeks prior to the term start (not all materials must be available to students from the start though).
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You and your students will be automatically enrolled into your course through SIS, however TAs and other members of the course must be manually added to courses.
1. Access your course and navigate to the People page
2. Click the + People button
3. Enter the email address of the user you’d like to add, select the correct role and click Next. If you are adding more than one user, enter a comma between each address
4. Once Canvas finds the users, it will confirm that you may add them to your course. Click Add Users to confirm their addition to your course
Please Note: If someone needs access to the course in the Teacher or the Student role, this must be done through SIS. Please consult the list of Canvas roles for information about the different roles and what might work.
Setting up your course
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Announcements are a great way to communicate with students, while also creating an artifact that students can access later. To post an announcement:
- Navigate to your course and access the Announcements page
2. Select +Announcement
3. Give the topic a title, and input your announcement
4. You may delay the posting until a certain date, or not select this and click Publish to immediately post the announcement
5. Depending on your students’ notification settings, this announcement will be sent to their email. There is no way to force-send the announcement, but this is the default setting
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Over the course of the term, you will likely need to share information with students. This can be done with a Canvas page. To create a Canvas page:
1. Navigate to your course and access the Modules page
2. Find the module in which you’d like to place the content
If you have not created a module, you will need to do this first
3. Click the Add Item button (the plus sign)
4. Select Page from the Add drop-down menu
5. Select Create Page and give it a title
If you had previously created a page, you may select that and proceed
6. Click Add Item
7. Provide the content you’d like to this page. You may add multimedia or any other materials you’d like
8. Click Save or Save and Publish.
9. If you do not publish the material now, you can do it later by clicking the Publish checkmark
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You may wish to have students submit assignments through Canvas, this allows organized collection of materials, and will allow you to use the Canvas grade center. To create an assignment:
1. Navigate to your course and access the Modules page
2. Find the module in which you’d like to place the content
If you have not created a module, you will need to do this first
3. Click the Add Item button (the plus sign)
4. Select Assignment from the Add drop-down menu
5. Select Create Assignment and give it a title
If you had previously created a page, you may select that and proceed
6. Click Add Item
7. Provide the content you’d like to this assignment page. You may add multimedia or any other materials you’d like
8. Provide any of the assignment details, including due date and point totals
9. Click Save or Save and Publish.
10. If you do not publish the material now, you can do it later by clicking the Publish checkmark. Make sure the module is published- if it isn’t, you will need to do so before this content is visible to students.
Video Resources
Proctoring Tools
There are two options for proctoring tools on Canvas. Most courses use RPNow because it can record video while students take the exam. When students are taking exams in-person, Respondus would be the best option since it will limit access to other programs but not record video while students take the exam.