The Do’s
- Use only supported browsers to work in Canvas.
- Turn on Media Gallery in course navigation if you plan to share class recordings with students. Steps 4 to 7 of this article explain how to enable the Media Gallery link.
In addition, this article lists the three options to share Zoom/Kaltura recordings on Canvas. - The recommended course navigation can be found here: Canvas Setup – Keep it Simple.
- Disable navigation links students won’t need (i.e. files, pages, assignments, quizzes etc.); organize course content by adding particular files, pages, quizzes, etc. to Modules instead.
- Students prefer Course Announcements to course emails. If you need to use email, use Canvas Inbox. Replies from a connected email address may not send attachments correctly.
- Enter a Due Date for each assignment so that they will appear on the To do and Coming up lists on Dashboard.
- Back up a copy of the grades by Exporting grades.
- At the end of the semester, monitor your SRTE response rate at https://rateteaching.psu.edu.
- If you will teach the same course again, you may end the course by making it invisible or read-only. Refer to Closing Your Course.
The Don’ts
- Do not teach from a Master Course or a Manually Created Course if the students need a grade.
- Since LionPath feeds course and roster information to Canvas, do not manually enroll a student in a for-credit class. The student may not be able to receive an official grade if he/she remains unenrolled in LionPath.
- Do not ask the registrar to make changes in LionPath as you will lose all student-generated data. Such changes include closing a course, changing class dates, dividing a course into more sections etc. If you must do so, prior to requesting the change, back up all the content material and export the course gradebook and student submissions from the original course. Be aware that this process may take 2 to 3 days.
