People: Student Inactive and Observer Roles

At the beginning of term you may see two new student designations in your People course roster.

Inactive. This means the student has withdrawn from the class after the start of term. You can “conclude” their enrollment (see the tutorial for this), but we strongly advise leaving inactive students in your roster if they’ve submitted any coursework. If a student uses financial aid or the GI Bill, they may need to request a record of their enrollment and activity in your course, even after they’ve dropped it.
Observing: nobody. This means the student is waitlisted and has “read only” access to the course. As in the classroom, students trying to get into a waitlisted class need to keep up with course activity during the add/drop period in case they get in. When that period is over, students not admitted will no longer be in your roster with this role.

This article was last updated on Sep 22, 2023 @ 9:45 am.

Tutorial

Setting Pronouns in Canvas

Back to Canvas TutorialsAll members of the PSU community may provide or update their preferred pronouns for use in the classroom or academic…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Using Non-Supported Applications for Teaching

As stewards of PSU’s digital learning environment, the Office of Academic Innovation (OAI) is always exploring new teaching and learning platforms,…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Use the Canvas-Google integration

Back to Canvas TutorialsThe Canvas-Google integration (LTI 1.3) allows users to login to Google from Canvas. Instructors can create Google…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Waitlisted students in Canvas

Back to Canvas TutorialsStudents who register for a course waitlist are now admitted to Canvas courses as Observers during the add/drop period. This…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Add a PSU Canvas user to a concluded course

Back to Canvas TutorialsIf a course is set to a past term the +People button will be greyed out. To make it active, you change the dates of the…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Create a Google Assignment

Back to Canvas TutorialsWith the Google Assignment external tool, students can either create a Google file (Doc, Sheet, or Presentation) to submit,…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

See a student view of Grades

Back to Canvas TutorialsThe Student View button is not active in the Canvas Grades area. To see your gradebook as a student does, you need to select…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Set up your gradebook

Back to Canvas TutorialsPreparing your gradebook in Canvas prior to the start of term will help you avoid last-minute changes. Five setting areas to…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Canvas media recorder troubleshooting

Back to Canvas TutorialsWhen attempting to record media using the Rich Content Editor, you may encounter problems with your browser or operating…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Module release options

Back to Canvas TutorialsYou can use Canvas modules to set conditions on how and when students move through coursework. For example, you can lock…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Recover deleted Canvas items

Back to Canvas TutorialsIf you accidentally delete an activity or page in Canvas, there is a way to check and see if it can be retrieved. This will…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Add an extra credit question to a New quiz

Back to Canvas TutorialsCanvas Quizzes do not have a true extra credit option for automated grading. It’s possible to award extra credit, but this…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Add an extra credit question to a Classic quiz

Back to Canvas TutorialsCanvas Quizzes do not have a true extra credit option for automated grading. It’s possible to award extra credit, but this…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

User Roles in Canvas

Back to Canvas TutorialsStudent Roles Student Primary use: Students enrolled in a course site. Permissions: The student role has permissions to view…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Quiz time extensions

Back to Canvas TutorialsThere are two Canvas setting areas to check when accommodating students who need extra time on a quiz. The time and attempts…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Display your syllabus file in the Syllabus area

Back to Canvas Tutorials The Syllabus tool can be configured to display your uploaded syllabus file. Optionally, you can also display a Course…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Incomplete Student Access to a Canvas Course

Back to Canvas TutorialsThere are two ways to give a student ongoing access to a Canvas course to complete coursework. The simplest is to re-open the…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Request Course Information from the D2L Archive

Back to Canvas TutorialsAll D2L for-credit courses with student enrollment dating back to the academic year 2018-19 are stored in an archive…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Add a non-credit student with a Provisional Account

Back to Canvas TutorialsPSU non-credit students are not issued standard Odin accounts. Instead, they create a Provisional Account using a personal…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Add your syllabus to a module and link it to your homepage

Back to Canvas TutorialsFor instructions on using the Syllabus tool in Canvas, see How do I use the Syllabus as an instructor? The instructions below…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials

Add media to Canvas

Back to Canvas TutorialsMedia maybe added to a Canvas in several ways, depending on the source and how you want it displayed. When sharing media from…

Tutorial

Canvas Tutorials