Navigating in Canvas

These links remain on the left side bar no matter where you are in Canvas and provide easy access to all of your courses and global tools.

The Dashboard displays the global activity stream which lists all new items occurring in currently active Canvas courses.

1. Global Navigation – In the top portion of the Global Navigation menu, you will find links for your account, your Courses, any Groups that you might belong to, Calendar, and Inbox.  

2. Help (?)  – In the bottom portion of the Global Navigation, you will find a Help link. This is where you district may provide resource links.

 

3. Course Cards/Global Activity Stream– The course cards are the default option for the Dashboard. Course activities will be listed as icons along the bottom of each card under the course title. When there is recent activity in areas of the course represented by the icons (assignments, discussions, files, announcements), a circle with a number will display next to the icon. The card color associated with the course can be changed by clicking the gear icon in upper right corner of the card. This will coordinate with the calendar colors for the course as well. The course can also be nicknamed.

4. Dashboard/Recent Activity Toggle– The dashboard can be toggled off (slide to the right) to display the Global Activity Stream, which contains a stream of recent activity from all of your courses. The activities are grouped by type (announcements, assignments, discussions, etc) from your active courses.

5. Sidebar Options– The right sidebar contains four (4) groupings: The To-Do List, Coming Up events, Recent Feedback, and Grades. You can dismiss items on the To Do list by clicking the gray X . 

All Courses

In Canvas, you can select courses as "favorites" which means only the "favorited" courses will display on the dashboard. This same list of courses will also be viewable by clicking on Courses (1).

The Courses list can display up to 12 courses alphabetically in the menu.

Clicking on All Courses (2) will bring you to the list of all of the courses of which you are a part.

How the Course List Works

In the All Courses list, active courses will display at the top of the list. Click the star to the left of course title to mark a course as a favorite. Course favorites will display a yellow star. Doing so will also make a course card for the Dashboard.
Click the star again to unmark a course as a favorite. 

• Active courses will display at the top of the list in alphabetical order. Instructors can add any course to the dashboard by listing it as a favorite - the "favorited courses will remain on the All courses list. Courses are available to students for 10 days past the official end of the term.
• Past Enrollments – Courses are accessible to instructors for one (1) year after the conclusion of the course. Courses listed in Past Enrollments cannot be edited. 
• Future Enrollments – Courses with a start date in the future will be listed under Future Enrollments. Students cannot see courses until the start date. Your district determines and sets the start date for online courses.  At Webster University we set this to be the Friday before the official start of the term.