Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

Access Canvas

Faculty access to Canvas opened Thursday, March 12, 2026. Students will have access beginning summer 2026. Faculty can login to Canvas using the link below. Please contact citl@tntech.edu with questions. 

Login to Canvas

Campus Resources

TnTech Canvas Faculty Training is now available within Canvas. If you do not see the training within your Dashboard, please contact citl@tntech.edu. 

Trainings

View our upcoming trainings here. 

Individual Consultations 

Schedule an individual consultation using the bookings link on our website. 

Support

All of the links and resources below can also be accessed using the Help button within the purple side nav in Canvas. 

Chat with Canvas Support (Faculty)

Live Chat with Canvas Support!

Canvas Support Hotline

+1 (844) 219-5804

Search the Canvas Guides

Find answers to common questions.

Report a Problem

If Canvas misbehaves, tell us about it.

Visit the Community

Explore guides, updates, blogs, forums, and resources to help you find answers.

Submit a Feature Idea

Have an idea to improve Canvas?

Conference Guides for Remote Classrooms

Get help on how to use and configure conferences in Canvas.

Training Services Portal

Access Canvas training videos and courses

Access Your Courses

Coming soon! Fall 2026 courses are in the process of being migrated from D2L to Canvas. If you are teaching a course this fall, complete the course migration form below by Friday, April 10th to help set up your course shell in Canvas. 

Fall 2026 Course Migration Form

Canvas Community Resources

• Canvas Instructor Website
• Canvas Basics Guide
• Instructor Getting Started Resources
• Instructure Community: Includes Canvas and other Instructure tools
• LinkedIn Learning: Learning Canvas: Create and Manage a Course with Canvas.

Additional Assistance

If you need additional assistance, please use one of the options below.

Canvas Support Options

24/7 Assistance

• Select the Help icon in the Canvas global navigation menu
  • Chat support
  • Canvas Support Hotline

TnTech Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL)

Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-4:30 PM

• Call 931-372-3675
• Email citl@tntech.edu
• Drop-in at Volpe Library, Room 113
• Submit a Help Request Form

Canvas Dashboard

The Canvas Dashboard is the main landing page in Canvas. It is similar to the My Home area in D2L iLearn.

Items you will see on the Dashboard

1. Global Navigation Menu – this menu is located on the left side of every page in Canvas. Learn more in the "Canvas Global Navigation Menu" area below.
2. Course Cards – each card represents a course you have access to. It also has icons that show when there are new course announcements, assignments, or discussions. These cards are divided into two categories: Published (live courses) and Unpublished.
3. To-Do List and Coming Up– shows upcoming assignments, discussions, and other activities that require your attention.
4. View Grades – shows the list of courses you are teaching so you can go directly to the grades for that course.
5. Global Announcements- are important messages from the institution that may appear at the top of the dashboard page when posted.

Learn more

Global Navigation Menu

The Global Navigation Menu is a consistent menu that is accessible throughout the system. The options available are:

user Account

Update your profile image, add a bio, and add links. Select which notifications you would like to receive and how for your account and/or specific courses. Update your account Settings, which includes language, time zone, and additional features available. The Canvas system defaults to Central Time, and all dates will be based on this time zone.

Learn more about: Editing your profile | Managing notifications | Edit account settings

gauge-min Dashboard

Goes back to your main dashboard page.

Learn more about the Dashboard.

book Courses

Shows a list of all courses you have access to.

Learn more about the Courses area.

calendar-days Calendar

Shows all course dates and deadlines. The instructor can drag and drop dates from one place to another, and it will update in the assessment dates. A user can add items to the calendar. You can link the Canvas calendar to Outlook or Google. This option is only one way, from Canvas to Outlook/Google, not from Outlook/Google to Canvas.

Learn more about the Calendar.

inbox-full Inbox

The internal email to Canvas. The email will be sent in both Canvas and to your TnTech email.

Learn more about the Inbox.

clock History

Shows the history of where you have visited in the system.

Learn more about the History.

arrow-right-from-arc Commons

Contains shared templates and courses.

Learn more about the Commons.

question Help

There are multiple ways to get help. All are accessible from within Canvas by selecting the Help icon in the global navigation menu.

• Canvas Help – 24/7 (Both a Chat and Support hotline)
• ITS Helpdesk – Monday through Friday during business hours.

Course Cards

You have the ability to personalize your course cards for your own view. You can change the color of the course card and add a nickname for the course that appears to you in your Dashboard and when you look at the Courses menu.

Change the Color

The color chosen for a course is also used in the calendar and To-Do list to visually show which course the item is associated with.

1. Select the three-dot menu in the upper-right of the course card.
2. Select a color from the list or enter a hex color code.
3. Click Apply.

Add a Nickname

This option could be helpful if you have multiple sections of the same class and would like to rename them to the days they are offered. These nicknames are only visible to you. The official course name will still appear for students. Students can also set a nickname in their course card.
For example: Rename Research and Argumentative Writing – ENGL-1020-001 to MW ENGL 1020.

1. Select the three-dot menu in the upper-right of the course card.
2. Enter the nickname you would like to use in the Nickname field.
3. Click Apply.

Canvas Teacher Mobile App

Download & Install Mobile App

1. Go to the appropriate app store

  

2. Search for Canvas Teacher

3. Download and install the Canvas Teacher app (developed by Instructure)

Additional Resources

•  Android

  • Download App
  • Canvas Teacher Android Guide

• iOS

  • Download App
  • Canvas Teacher iOS Guide

TnTech Course Template

The TN Tech Course Template, included in all new Canvas courses, provides faculty with a ready‑to‑use foundation for building and organizing their courses. It offers a consistent structure while allowing instructors to easily customize content for their own teaching needs.

• Editable default homepage for instructors to customize with their course content
• Instructor Information module with resources for creating Canvas pages, TN Tech branding, Canvas support materials, and Sample Content Pages
• Student‑facing Module 0: Getting Started, which includes:
  • Two editable pages for instructors to add course‑specific information
  • Student‑friendly Canvas guidance and links to TN Tech resources
• Example instructional module to model effective course organization and design

Announcements

Announcements allow instructors to communicate with students about course activities and post interesting course-related topics. One difference between D2L and Canvas is that an announcement cannot be set as a Draft.

Learn more about the Announcement Tool in the Faculty Training here or view Canvas guides below.

Canvas Community Guides

• Add an announcement
• Edit an announcement
• Delete an announcement
• Copy an Announcement to Another Course
• Show recent announcements on the Course Home page.
  • NOTE: It is recommend to not show more than 3 items at a time.

Content Modules

Modules are used to organize course content by weeks, units, or a different organizational structure. Modules essentially create a one-directional linear flow of what students should do in a course. They allow instructors to organize content to help control the flow of the course.

The Modules area contains the content and links for the course. Unlike D2L, it is not set up in modules and sub-modules. You will have a module with links to pages, files, external links, or assessments that guide the student through the course.

Learn more about the Content Tool in the Faculty Training here or view the Canvas guides below.

Canvas Guides

• Add a module
• Add content to a module
• How do I require the student to progress through the content in a specific way? Similar to Release Conditions in D2L.
  • Add Prerequisites – if specified, it will lock the module until the student has completed any prerequisites.
  • Add Requirements – these are defined requirements within a module that a student must complete.
• Publish a module
• Copy your module to another course
• How to edit or delete a module

Using the Rich Content Editor (RCE)

The RCE is an online editing tool for creating content.

It appears throughout the Canvas system in Announcements, Assignments, Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, and Syllabus sections. It is available for faculty and students.

Learn more in the Faculty Training here. 

Assignments

Assignments include Quizzes, graded Discussions, and online submissions (i.e. files, images, text, URLs, etc.).

While the Assignments tools in both D2L and Canvas are where the course assignments are found, the tool works differently in Canvas than in D2L.

• In Canvas, it not only lists the assignments in the course, but you will also see graded discussions, quizzes, and attendance (using the Attendance tool). All graded assessments will be listed in the Assignment area.
• The assignment tool in Canvas is also where you set up the assignment groups and their corresponding weight in the total grade. In D2L, this was done in the Grades area by choosing a Weighted grade system, creating Grade Categories, and setting the weights of the category.

Learn more about Assignments in the Faculty Training here or view the Canvas guides below. 

Creating Assignments

• Canvas Assignments versus Canvas Activities
• Create an assignment [PDF] (Coming soon!)
• Add extra credit
• Enable Turnitin for an Assignment

Creating Assignment Groups for Weighting Grades

• Create Assignment Groups
• Weight the Assignment Groups
• Create rules for Assignment Groups

Quizzes

Instructors can use New Quizzes to create quizzes using a variety of questions types. New Quizzes display as assignments in the Assignments page and can be duplicated. Students can take New Quizzes quizzes within their Canvas courses.

Quizzes in Canvas slightly differ from the Quizzes in D2L.

Similarities

• You will have similar settings and question types when creating your quiz. 
• You can store your questions in a central location to reuse and manage them. In D2L, it is the Question Library, and in Canvas, it is the Item Bank.

Differences

• Any updates made to a question in the Item Bank will push out the update to the question in the quizzes.
• In Canvas, the creation process is not all on one screen. You will enter the basic information, including point values and dates, before building the quiz by adding questions and selecting the settings.
• In Canvas, the Item Bank, which is equivalent to the Question Library, can be shared with other courses and people. It is a user-specific bank of questions as opposed to a course-specific bank of questions

Learn more about Canvas Quizzes in the Faculty Training here or in the Canvas guides below. 

• » Create Quizzes

  Create Quizzes

  • Create a quiz
  • Manage the quiz settings
  • Add accommodations for students
  • Edit a quiz
• » Item Banks

  Item Banks

  • Create an Item Bank
  • Add an item to the Item Bank
  • Edit an item in the Item Bank Question
  • Add an item from an Item Bank to a quiz
  • Add all items or a random set from the Item Bank
  • Share an Item Bank
• » Question Types

  Question Types

  • Categorization
  • Essay
  • File Upload
  • Fill in the Blank
  • Formula
  • Hot Spot
  • Matching
  • Multiple Answer
  • Multiple Choice
  • Numeric
  • Ordering
  • True or False
  • Additional fields
    • Stimulus
    • Text Block

Discussions

Discussions allow for interactive communication between two or more people; users can participate in a conversation with an entire class or group.

Unlike D2L, in Canvas, you do not need to have a Forum to have a Topic. In Canvas, you will simply create a discussion.

Learn more about Discussions in Canvas in the Faculty Training here or view the Canvas guides below. 

Canvas Guides

• Create a discussion
  • Make sure to select the Graded option to create a graded discussion. This will automatically add the grade column in the Grades area, and it will be in the Assignments list.
• Edit a discussion
• Create a group discussion
• Create a peer review discussion
• Reply to a discussion

Rubrics

A Rubric is an assessment tool for communicating expectations of quality. Rubrics are typically comprised of rows and columns. Rows are used to define the various criteria being used to assess an assignment. Columns are used to define levels of performance for each criterion.

Rubrics can be set up as non-scoring rubrics, which allows for assessment-based and outcome-based grading without points.

Learn more about Rubrics in Canvas in the Faculty Training here or view the Canvas guides below. 

Canvas Guides

• Create a rubric
• Manage rubrics
• Attach rubrics to different assessments
  • Assignments
  • Graded discussions
  • Quiz

Grades

The Gradebook stores all information about student progress in the course, measuring both letter grades and course outcomes.

Learn more about Grades in Canvas in the Faculty Training here or view the Canvas guides below. 

Canvas Guides

• Understanding Grades in Canvas (CREATE PAGE)
• Getting started with Grades
• Settings
  • Set a Missed Submission policy
  • Set a Late Submission policy
  • Set a grade posting policy for the course and/or assignments
• Enter grades
• Leave comments for students
• View all grade changes
• Extra credit

SpeedGrader

As an instructor, SpeedGrader allows you to view and grade student assignment submissions in one place using a simple point scale or complex rubric.

Learn more about SpeedGrader in Canvas in the Faculty Training here or view the Canvas guides below. 

Canvas Guides

• Getting started with SpeedGrader
• Accessing Speedgrader
  • From Grades
  • From graded assessments
• Utilizing Speedgrader
• Rubrics in Speedgrader

Additional Tips for Speedgrader

• Sort the student list
• Hide student submission details while grading
• Files compatible with SpeedGrader

People

The People area shows the list of students and people enrolled in the course. The students are added by our SIS system integration and cannot be added manually. Click the links below to learn more about this tool.

• Access the People enrolled in your course.
• View user details for an enrollment.
• Use Differentiation Tags to assign specific content to a customized set of students.
• View a summary of all your interactions with a student in a course.
• View the course access report for an individual student.
• View the last date the user attended the course.

Group Sets

The groups for Canvas are created in the People tool. You can set up different types of groups for use in your course. Click the links below to learn more about this tool.

• Creating a Group Set
  • Auto-enroll student groups
  • Self-enroll student groups
  • Manually assign students to a group
• Edit or delete a Group Set
• View all groups in a course

Course Settings & Course Navigation

Course Settings is where you can easily update and view course details, sections, navigation link options, external app configurations, feature options, and integrations.

• Set Course Details
• Edit the start and end dates for the course
• Manage the Course Navigation Menu
• Show recent announcements on the Course Home page.

Software Integrations with Canvas

Canvas has the ability to integrate with many different tools that are used on campus. These include publisher content, research resources, Microsoft or Google documents, Teams, Zoom, and more.

View the list of current integrations

Canvas Release Updates

Check out the Canvas Releases page to stay up to date with the most recent Canvas releases.