Canvas is the University of Illinois' official learning management system (LMS). This state-of-the-art, user-friendly platform provides students and instructors with one central location where they can easily access their course syllabus, assignments, announcements, grades and anything else that is pertinent to their course. (NOTE: Some niche programs may use a different LMS that is tailored to their specific needs.)

Learn more about Canvas by:

• Visiting the Canvas Transition website.
• Subscribing to the Canvas Transition mailing list to stay up on the latest developments and find an archive of previous Canvas communications.

GETTING STARTED

If you're new to Canvas, here are some steps to take to help you get started:

• Log in to access your Canvas space or request a Canvas space if you don't have one and begin exploring the features and tools.
• Enroll in Canvas 101, a self-paced faculty training course that introduces you to the most commonly used tools in Canvas. (NOTE: We recommend Mac users view the Canvas 101 course using Google Chrome.)
• Attend a workshop. There are many training opportunities available to learn about Canvas tools and features. View the training calendar and choose a workshop that is right for you.
• If you can't attend a workshop, view Canvas training videos and webinar recordings on Illinois MediaSpace. You may also consult the instructor guide or tutorial video series on the Instructure website.
• If you taught a Compass course between Fall 2019 and Spring 2021, your content will be automatically copied to Canvas. Follow our automatic content import guide to start working with your course content in Canvas.
• If you want to explore Canvas using Compass course content older than Fall 2019, follow our manual content import guide.

TOOLS AND FEATURES

Canvas is known for its intuitive tools and features. Here are a few:

• Attendance lets you easily take attendance based off a class list or seating chart.
• With Syllabus items listed in the Course Summary are automatically hyperlinked to content. The Course Summary provides an organizational view of the course based on due dates and calendar events. New assignments and quizzes automatically are added to the syllabus tool. If your gradebook uses weights, this is automatically updated.
• Collaborations allows faculty and students to easily integrate things like Google Docs and Microsoft Word documents directly in the course. (NOTE: Availability of specific items, including Google Drive and Microsoft Office 365, will be determined by campus administration and are not yet available.)
• SpeedGrader is similar to Blackboard's online grading feature but includes additional features that allow you to annotate submissions by adding comments, highlighting text, and drawing; grade with Canvas Instructor App; record audio and video feedback for student submissions; and use speech-to-text to give feedback (in Chrome).

Learn about more tools and features in Canvas.