Canvas
PSU Learning Management System
Canvas by Instructure is PSU’s learning management system (LMS). Canvas features may be used to support in-class, hybrid, or for fully-online teaching. This page covers support articles within the Canvas LMS. Additional learning resources are available with Canvas Guides for PSU, or you can schedule a training session with OAI staff.
Digital accessibility changes for PSU faculty
In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice updated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to set clear requirements for accessible web content and mobile applications used by public entities, including public universities. The rule adopts WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard. The original compliance date of April 2026, has been extended and the new compliance deadline for PSU is April 26, 2027. Learn more about Title II compliance at PSU.
Navigation and Course Management
Review information about navigation, Canvas course settings and permissions.
- User roles in Canvas
- Add a User to a PSU Canvas Course
- Waitlisted students in Canvas
- Incomplete student access to a Canvas course
- Create and manage Differentiation Tags
- Student Inactive and Observing: nobody roles
- Remove ("conclude") an inactive student from your roster
- Restore a concluded student to your roster
- Add a non-credit student with a Provisional Account
- View a student's course Access Report
Communication tools
Explore how to communicate in Canvas, including reaching out to students.
Course Content
Find resources about the course set up in Canvas, such as how to add dynamic content, edit text, and update resources in a course.
- Access the Rich Content Editor
- Add and modify text in the Rich Content Editor
- Use the menubar in the Rich Content Editor
- Create hyperlinks to external URLs
- Create hyperlinks to course or group content
- Upload a document in the Rich Content Editor
- Upload and embed an image in the Rich Content Editor
- Add media in the Rich Content Editor (embed or link)
- More…
Activities
Explore assignment instructions and settings for course activities, including discussions, quizzes, groups, and assignments.
- What is the difference between a Canvas Assignment and a Canvas Activity?
- Create an online assignment
- Add or edit details in an assignment
- Assign an assignment to everyone, individual students, differentiated tags, or sections
- Accomodations in Canvas
- Use Turnitin with a Canvas assignment
- What is the difference between assignment due dates and availability dates
- Delete an assignment
- Use the Assignments Index Page
- Create an assignment group in a course
- Create rules for an assignment group
- Submit an assignment on behalf of a student
- More…
- Create a discussion
- Edit a discussion
- Discussion Checkpoints: Add multiple due dates to Canvas discussions
- Reply to a discussion
- Availability Dates won’t update on Graded Discussions
- Students not finding the “reply” button in Discussions
- Assign a graded discussion to everyone in a course
- Use the Discussions Index Page
- Using video in Canvas assignments and discussions
- Understanding Threaded Canvas Discussions
- More…
- Create an assessment using New Quizzes
- Migrate a Canvas Classic quiz to New Quizzes
- Create a True or False question in New Quizzes
- Add feedback to an assessment question in New Quizzes
- Edit an assessment in New Quizzes
- Add an extra credit question to a New Quiz
- Quiz time extensions
- Give a student extra time or attempts on a New Quiz
- Edit the assignment details of a New Quizzes assessment
- Manage settings for an assessment in New Quizzes
- How do I use the Moderation page in New Quizzes?
- How do I moderate a student's quiz attempt in New Quizzes?
- How do I add accommodations for a student in New Quizzes?
- Restrict students from viewing assessment results in New Quizzes
- Preview an assessment in New Quizzes
- Grade an assessment in New Quizzes
- More…
- What quiz types can I create in a course?
- Create a quiz with individual questions
- What options can I set in a quiz?
- Quiz time extensions
- Use Assign To to give selected students individual Availability dates/times for a quiz
- Use Moderate Quiz to give selected students extra time or attempts on a quiz
- Add an extra credit question to a Classic quiz
- Delete a quiz
- Create a survey in my course
- More…
Panorama for course accessibility
Panorama is an accessibility checker and remediation tool that works right inside your Canvas course.
- AutoPilot Remediation for Proposing Accessibility Fixes
- Structural Remediation: The Document Is Scanned
- Structural Remediation: The PDF Is Not Tagged
- Structural Remediation: The Document Does Not Have Any Headings
- Structural Remediation: The Document Has Reading Order Issues – YuJa Help Center
- Structural Remediation: The Document Does Not Have a Language Set
- Structural Remediation: The Document's Heading Structure Goes Beyond Six Levels – YuJa Help Center
- Structural Remediation: The Document Heading Structure Does Not Start at 1
- Retagging PDF Elements Using Structural Remediation
- Removing Elements in Structural Remediation
- Adding or Merging Elements Using Structural Remediation
Assessment
Find articles about grades, rubrics, and the attendance tool.
- Set up your Gradebook
- See a student view of Grades
- Use the Gradebook
- Arrange columns in the Gradebook
- Use Differentiation Tags in the Gradebook
- Create assignment columns for non-submission assignments in the Gradebook
- Use the icons and colors in the Gradebook
- Get to SpeedGrader from the Gradebook
- Get to SpeedGrader from an assignment, quiz, or discussion
- Weight the final course grade based on assignment groups
- More…
Non-Credit Canvas and Canvas Catalog
Find onboarding materials intended for non-credit and professional education facilitators.
Looking for your Canvas course shells?
They’re typically created the week students begin registering for the term. Check the PSU Academic Calendar for the Priority Registration (Group A) date—that’s when courses start appearing. Because of the volume, they may show up on your Dashboard gradually over a few days.