Canvas is the learning management system (LMS) that supports online and web-enhanced learning at UCLA Extension. It provides a virtual place for instructors to organize course materials for students to access and to post assignments for students to complete and submit.
Canvas Features Glossary
To review Canvas feature glossary terms, click the tabs below.
Home
Home is the landing page for your course.
By default, your course's Home page shows an activity stream that lists announcements, discussion activity, upcoming due dates, etc. However, you can customize your Canvas course's Home page to provide a course description, general instructions for navigating and joining Zoom meetings, and other key information about your course.
Announcements
An announcement distributes course-wide communication to all students in your course. An announcement can be created beforehand, then posted at a specific date and time.
Use an announcement to:
- Welcome students to your course and provide information on how to get started.
- Provide instructions on how to connect to your Zoom meetings.
- Remind students of upcoming events and due dates.
- Recap key concepts discussed during a class session and address questions that may still need to be answered.
- Leave a message for the entire class with video or audio comments.
- Celebrate student success and important events that may interest your students.
Course Syllabus
The Course Syllabus provides the following course details:
- Logistical information (e.g., course start and end dates, modality, meeting locations)
- Instructor and department contact information
- Course description
- Objectives and outcomes
- Evaluation criteria and a grading breakdown (i.e., graded assignments and your course's grade scheme)
- Required materials (textbooks, other readings, videos, software, and supplies students will need to purchase)
- Course policies (policies you set for your students)
- Institutional and additional policies (policies set by UCLA Extension)
- Schedule
Consider your Course Syllabus as a contract between you and your students and the blueprint for developing your entire course.
Modules
The Modules area in Canvas is a space where you can create the structure of your course and provide your students with all course-related materials, such as lecture content, support materials, practice activities, and graded assignments.
Individual modules organize your course content and activities logically for students; for example, you can create a separate module for each week in your course. This "modular" approach provides a guided learning path for students to follow.
Build out modules by adding:
- Pages
- Assignments
- Discussions
- Quizzes
- Files
- Text Headers
- External URLs
- External Tools
Grades
The Grades area is your course's gradebook; it lists all graded assignments, discussions, and quizzes in your course.
The Grades area appears very differently for instructors and students. Instructor view provides a snapshot of graded work submitted by all students enrolled in your course. Student view displays for an individual student any grades and comments you have provided for work they have completed.
Instructor View
Use the gradebook to:
- See which students completed each assignment.
- See how an individual student is performing.
- Identify assignments that are on time, late, or missing.
- Get a snapshot of current cumulative grades for all students.
- Use the SpeedGrader feature to enter a grade and comments for a graded assignment, discussion, or quiz.
Student View
Your students can use Grades to:
- See their current standing in the course.
- View grades for individual graded assignments.
- View your feedback for each graded assignment.
Please note: When submitting an assignment through Canvas, students can include comments to their instructor.
Assignment
An assignment in Canvas is an interactive feature that allows students to submit information (text, links, files, documents, etc.) to their instructor for feedback.
- Assignments can be graded or ungraded.
- Graded assignments are automatically added to the Grades area.
Create assignments for students to submit their work to you.
Quiz
A quiz is an interactive feature of Canvas through which students answer a series of questions you have provided. Create a quiz when you want students to indicate proficiency in knowledge and skills or answer survey questions to provide feedback.
- A quiz or survey can be graded or ungraded.
- Graded quizzes/surveys appear in your Canvas gradebook.
You can create a quiz whenever you need to create some sort of test (midterm or final exam, self-assessment, reading quiz) or survey (entrance, mid-course evaluation).
Files
The Files area of Canvas is a space that organizes all files you have uploaded to your course and any pages you have created. You can provide direct access to a file (PDF, PowerPoint, Word document, etc.) that you have uploaded to your course in other areas of Canvas.
A file must be added to a module and published or linked from a published Page, Assignment, Discussion, Quiz, or Announcement for students to view and access.
Page
A page is like a webpage that is created within your Canvas course. You can create pages to present content to students in the form of text, images, videos, and links to additional resources. Also, you can link to documents, such as PowerPoint Presentations, PDF files, etc., from within a page.
A page must be added to a module and published for students to view and access.
Discussion
A discussion is an interactive feature in Canvas that allows students to communicate with one another, with you, and in small groups asynchronously online on a specific topic or set of questions you provide. Students can post an initial response and reply to one another's posts.
- Discussions can be graded or ungraded.
- Graded discussions appear in your Canvas gradebook.
You can use a discussion to enable your students to communicate with one another, share ideas, and reflect online.
Text Header
A text header visually subdivides a module into sections and/or adds a label to a group of items.
Use text headers to organize your course materials and activities within a module. Text headers are added directly within a module.
External URL
An external URL links directly to a webpage or web resource that is outside of your Canvas course.
External URLs are added directly within a module.
External Tool
An external tool provides students with direct access to a tool outside of your Canvas course, such as a digital app or website accompanying a textbook.
An external tool is added directly to a module.
Zoom
Zoom is an audio and video web conferencing tool that allows you to interact with your students online in real-time. Facilitating live meetings will require access to Zoom, which is integrated directly into your Canvas course. It is one of many tools you can use to create collaborative learning experiences for your students.
Use Zoom to:
- Conduct live, remote class sessions with your students.
- Conduct virtual office hours to meet with students one-on-one.
Videos - Panopto
The Videos link in Canvas's course navigation menu provides access to Panopto, a video recording and hosting platform that you can use to record new videos and upload and share videos that you created using another application. Panopto works with common presentation tools like PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, and Prezi.
Benefits of using Panopto include:
- Provides a secure and centralized location for all videos within your Canvas course.
- Sets no limit on the size and number of videos that can be uploaded into your course.
- Allows you to embed videos in a page, announcement, or assignment. (Click the green Panopto icon in the rich content editor's toolbar.)
- Adds a table of contents, captions, and notes to videos.
- Allows viewers to search for keywords within a video and jump forward to precise video segments.
- It provides an interactive video player that is supported on multiple devices, including tablets and phones.
Canvas Features Glossary Handout
You can also download a PDF version of the Canvas Features Glossary.