News – Canvas @ Tufts

April 18, 2018November 20, 2019Latest News

How to handle your migrated content

See our printable guide: Working with Content Migrated from Trunk

Summer 18 and Fall 18 course sites for Fletcher, Friedman, ASE, and PHPD courses are available on Canvas. If you have teaching materials from previous semesters on Trunk, now is the time to move them to Canvas and start building your new course sites.

We have outlined your options for migrating content from Trunk to Canvas in our migration guide. Whether you export content from Trunk yourself or request content migration from ETS, it’s important to know what material gets migrated and what is left behind.

Here’s an overview of what Trunk course material is moved to Canvas in a migration:

Any downloadable files in Resources
Lessons
Assignments
Forum topics
Published quizzes
Question pools

The following Trunk course material is not automatically migrated to Canvas:

Web links in Resources
Documents or text in the Syllabus tool
Announcements
Messages
Unpublished quizzes (retracted and working copies)

Once your content migration is complete, it’s time to take a look at your course site and get it ready for the new semester!

1. Review your Files

Any downloadable files in the Resources area of your most recent Trunk course site were migrated to the Files tool in Canvas. This includes files and folders that were hidden from students. Folders and files are named as they were originally named when they were first uploaded to Trunk.

Take a look at your Files in Canvas. Delete files that are duplicates or out-of-date, rename anything with a confusing file name, and put things into folders so you can easily find them. For more, see How do I use Files as an Instructor?

2. Review and save your links in Trunk Resources

The Files tool in Canvas does not store links, and any links you had in Trunk Resources were not automatically migrated. Go to your Trunk course site, open Resources, and make note of any web links you posted there. If you want to save any links so you can later put them into your Canvas site, here’s how:

In the Actions drop-down menu to the right of your link, select Edit Content.
Copy the address in the URL box.
Open a text editor on your computer (Notepad or TextEdit).
Paste the URL into a text file.
Repeat for any links you want to save.

3. Organize your content into Modules or Pages

The Files tool in Canvas is a basic file storage space. To give students access to files — as well as links, assignments, and other course material — create Modules or Pages.

The Module tool provides an easy way to arrange your material in lists and groups. Modules allow you to

Rearrange things quickly with drag and drop
Put files and links into multiple modules
Allow students to progress through a Module by clicking a “next” button to automatically load the next document or link
Post Assignments, Quizzes, Pages, and other course elements alongside readings and slides

For more on how to create Modules, see What are Modules?

If you prefer more flexibility in how you present your course material, you can use the Pages tool to create HTML pages with links to your Canvas content. Pages allow you to write free text, include images, and embed media files in a page along with direct links to files, assignments, quizzes, and other course elements. For more on how to create Pages, see What are Pages?

4. Review Assignments and Quizzes

Published Assignments and Quizzes were migrated from your Trunk course site. Review your new Assignments and Quizzes in Canvas, edit and update content, adjust due dates, and delete anything you no longer need.

5. Upload a syllabus

Use the Syllabus tool in Canvas to post your Spring 2018 syllabus. You can link to a Syllabus document by uploading it into Course Files and linking it in the content selector. You can also paste text from a Word document into the Syllabus page. You can even automatically generate a schedule of activities from your assignments and events in Canvas. For more, see How do I use the Syllabus as an Instructor?

6. Publish your course

After you’ve reviewed your material and you are ready to make your site available to students, publish it by clicking the Publish icon in the sidebar.

Missing something?

Don’t panic! Your previous course sites on Trunk are still available. If you lost track of a file or forgot to save a web link, log in at trunk.tufts.edu to access your old course and retrieve the material.

September 11, 2017February 16, 2022Uncategorized

Getting in touch: How to contact your students through Canvas

As fall classes get underway, many instructors are looking to reach out to their students: You might want to send a welcome email to the class, call attention to upcoming readings and assignments, alert students of a last-minute room change, or send other important messages. Canvas has two tools to help you get in touch: Announcements and Conversations.

How do Announcements and Conversations work?

	Announcements	Conversations (Inbox)
What does this tool do?	Announcements are designed to allow instructors to broadcast information out to an entire class.	Conversations can be used to communicate with a course, a group, an individual student, or a group of students.
I just sent a message. When will my students receive it?	By default, user notifications are set to “Notify me right away.” Students will get your message about 30 minutes after you send it unless they have edited their notification preferences. For more, see below: "How (and when) will students receive my messages?"	By default, user notifications are set to “Notify me right away.” Students will get your message about 30 minutes after you send it unless they have edited their notification preferences. For more, see below: "How (and when) will students receive my messages?"
Will I get a copy of messages I send?	By default, users will not receive a copy of any announcement they send. To change this, edit your notification preference for “Announcements created by me.” Change this to “Right away,” “Daily,” or “Weekly.”	By default, users will not receive a copy of any message they send. To change this, edit your notification preference for “Conversations created by me.” Change this to “Right away,” “Daily,” or “Weekly.”
Will a copy of my message be stored in Canvas?	Any announcement you send to a given course is saved in the Announcements tool in the course site.	Any message you send through Conversations will be stored in your Canvas “Sent” box.
My site is unpublished. Can I still contact my students?	Announcements can be created in an unpublished site but students will not be notified. (However, you can delay an Announcement to a later date and time.)	You cannot send a Conversation to students in an unpublished course.
Where can I learn more about this tool?	See the Canvas Guides for Announcements.	See the Canvas Guides for Conversations.

How (and when) do students receive my messages?

Communications in Canvas work differently than in Trunk. All Canvas users, including students, control their own notification preferences. Students can decide what kind of notifications they receive from Canvas, when they receive them, and what email addresses or mobile phone numbers they’ll be sent to. By default, every student receives notifications as emails to their Tufts email address; however, they can opt out of emails by changing their preferences. You cannot override a student’s preferences and force Canvas to send them a message.

How can you make sure students see the messages you send? Here are some tips and best practices for communication in Canvas:

At the beginning of the semester, tell your students how you plan to communicate with them. Will you post Announcements, send messages through the Conversations tool, or directly email students via an elist or the SIS roster tool? Will you send communications frequently or only when information is critical and time-sensitive?

If you plan to use Announcements, consider requiring your students students to set their preferences to receive immediate notification of Announcements.

Show recent announcements on your course home page and encourage students to log into Canvas and check the course site frequently.

If you plan to send regular communications, such as a weekly overview of upcoming assignments, do so on a consistent schedule and tell your students when to expect the message (say, Sunday nights at 6pm or every Tuesday and Thursday after class).

For more ideas, see what other teachers are saying in the Canvas Community: Communicating with students in Canvas.

Need help planning your communications strategy or have questions about the tools? Reach out to the Canvas Support team at canvas@tufts.edu.

September 8, 2017February 16, 2022Uncategorized

Notifications: Recommendations for Instructors

Canvas includes a set of default notification preferences you can receive for your courses. Notifications are sent to your Tufts email address and any additional Canvas Contact Methods you add to your account. However, you can change the default settings and set your own notification preferences.

These preferences only apply to you; they are not used to control how course updates are sent to other users. Each individual student and instructor can decide what notifications they want to receive and how frequently to receive them.

To edit your notifications preferences, click on the Account link at the top of the navigation menu in Canvas and select Notifications.

Notification icons and what they mean

Checkmark: Receive notifications immediately. (“Immediate” notifications are still delayed by about an hour. This prevents users from getting multiple notifications if, for example, an instructor writes an announcement and immediately edits it to fix a typo.)

Clock: Receive all notifications in a daily email.

Calendar: Receive all notifications in a weekly email.

X: Do not receive notifications for that item.

Note: Each notification preference will apply to all of your courses. They cannot be set for each course individually.

Recommended Notification Settings

Canvas gives all users the same default notification preferences. We recommend that instructors make changes to the following items:

Notification type	What triggers a notification	Recommended setting
Course Activities
Announcement Created by You	You write and post an announcement A student or instructor replies to your announcement	Notify me right away
Submission Comment	A student or instructor comments on an assignment submission	Notify me right away
Conversations (Inbox)
Added to Conversation	You are added to a conversation	Notify me right away
Conversation Message	You have a new message in your Canvas inbox	Notify me right away
Conversations Created by Me	You send a message to another Canvas user or users	Notify me right away
Scheduling
Student Appointment Signups	A student signs up for an appointment	Notify me right away
Appointment Signups	A new appointment is added to your calendar	Notify me right away
Appointment Cancellations	An appointment on your calendar is cancelled	Notify me right away

This content is adapted from the Canvas @ Yale documentation.

September 8, 2017February 16, 2022Uncategorized

Notifications: Recommendations for Students

To edit your notifications preferences, click on the Account link at the top of the navigation menu in Canvas and select Notifications.

Notification icons and what they mean

Notify immediately: Receive notifications immediately. (“Immediate” notifications are still delayed by about an hour. This prevents users from getting multiple notifications if, for example, an instructor writes an announcement and immediately edits it to fix a typo.)

Daily summary: Receive all notifications in a daily email.

Weekly summary: Receive all notifications in a weekly email.

Notifications off: Do not receive notifications for that item.

Note: These notification preferences will apply to all your courses. To set notifications for an individual course, see How do I manage notifications for a single course as a student?

Recommended Notification Settings

Canvas gives all users the same default notification preferences. We recommend that students set the following items to Notify Me Right Away to ensure that they don’t miss important course communications:

Notification type	What triggers a notification	Recommended setting
Course Activities
Announcements	A new announcement is posted in one of your courses	Notify me right away
Submission Comment	An instructor comments on your assignment submission	Notify me right away
Conversations (Inbox)
Added to Conversation	You are added to a conversation	Notify me right away
Conversation Message	You have a new message in your Canvas inbox	Notify me right away
Conversations Created by Me	You send a message to another Canvas user or users	Notify me right away
Scheduling
Appointment Cancellations	An appointment on your calendar is cancelled	Notify me right away
Appointment Availability	New appointment timeslots are available for signup	Notify me right away

This content is adapted from the Canvas @ Yale documentation.