Faculty Frequently Asked Questions
Access
How do I access Canvas?
At Valencia College, you can access Canvas directly by visiting online.valenciacollege.edu.
Do I need to Publish my course?
You should Publish your course if you want to use the Inbox messaging, or allow Students to access your course syllabus, before the start of the term. Otherwise, all courses will be automatically Published by 12:01am, on the first day of the term.
Why did my course disappear from my Dashboard?
As an Instructor, your courses may disappear from your Dashboard if 1) your Dashboard view is set to “Recent Activity”, or 2) your Department edited your course assignment in Banner. First, click on the Courses menu and select “All Courses”. If the course is missing from this list, contact your department and ask if they edited your course assignment/s in Banner. If they did, Banner will automatically add you back to the course overnight, and no action is required. If they did not, open a Help Desk ticket.
How do I access my old, Blackboard course?
Complete the Form “Restore Blackboard Archived Course” and provide the term code, course ID and CRN (ie: 201620-ENC1102-22334). OIT will import the Blackboard course into a Canvas Sandbox for you.
Communication
How do I communicate with students before my course starts?
Faculty may use the Canvas Inbox to communicate with Students before the course starts. To use the Inbox, under the course settings, deselect “restrict students from viewing the course before the start date” and then Publish your course.
How do I communicate with my Students during the term?
Canvas provides numerous communication tools to increase interactions among users. Use the Announcements tool to send weekly updates, reminders, information about upcoming events, or other messages. Canvas Conversations is the equivalent to email in Canvas. Faculty can send emails to the entire class or to individual students. Students will be alerted to new messages on their dashboard screen upon logging in and via email or text based on their established notification settings. There are also Discussions, Chat and Conference tools available in each course.
Building Courses
How do I copy a sandbox course into a CRN?
After you prepare your courses in your sandbox, you will copy the content into your upcoming CRN. Within your CRN, open the course Settings, and select Import Course Content. Once you select to Copy a Canvas Course, Canvas will provide search options for you. Select the appropriate sandbox and import. A message when the course is queued, running, and complete is provided.
How do I obtain additional Sandbox courses?
All faculty receive 5 sandbox courses; all staff receive 1 sandbox course. For additional Sandboxes, use the self-service Sandbox Creation Tool. You can find it in Atlas > Courses Tab > Sandbox Tool (lower right corner).
How do I change the name of my Canvas Sandboxes?
To rename a Sandbox, please complete the Form Change Canvas Sandbox Name .
How do I create assignments and manage my gradebook?
The Assignments Page is where you manage your gradebook and view all course assignments. On the Assignments page an Instructor can add their different course assignments and organize them into groups called “Assignment Groups”. You can find additional assistance with assignments and gradebook management, at your campus Center for Teaching/Learning Innovation.
How can I get my Kaltura media into Canvas?
Kaltura is already connected to Canvas, which means you already have all the same media you accessed in Blackboard through your My Media. Learn how to add new media, insert existing media using the text editor, add a media gallery to your course, and how students can upload media through using our Kaltura Tutorials.
How do I access additional tutoring services?
How can I combine multiple classes into one, online class?
We are currently exploring cross-listing as part of Valencia’s strategic planning for online courses and whether it can be integrated into our technical systems. Cross-listing is not available at this time.
Gradebook
How do I work with the New Canvas Gradebook?
The New Canvas Gradebook provides additional functionality for faculty to easily view and enter grades.
How does New Canvas Gradebook differ from the current Canvas Gradebook?
Canvas has provided a Functionality Comparison Chart to help navigate and identify differences in gradebook features between the two Gradebook
options. The chart also contains helpful links to Canvas guides for clarity pertaining
to each function of the Gradebook.
How do I submit grades to Banner?
As the course instructor, you will need to sync students’ final grades in the Canvas Gradebook with Banner when:
In the Gradebook, you will use the Sync Grades button, to report final grades to banner. After verifying that the grades are accurate, and reviewing any error messages, you will use the Submit Grades to Banner button, for the selected students.
How do I find and submit a Student’s Last Day of Attendance (LDA)?
The official “LDA” (Last Day of Attendance) is the student’s last demonstration of academic activity. Acceptable evidence of an academically-related activity in an online course include:
- student submission of an academic assignment,
- student submission of an online assessment,
- documented student participation in an interactive tutorial or computer-assisted instruction,
- a posting by the student showing the student’s participation in an online study group that is assigned by the institution,
- a posting by the student in a discussion forum showing the student’s participation in an online discussion about academic matters, and
- an e-mail from the student or other documentation showing that the student-initiated contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course.
In the Canvas Gradebook, locate the latest demonstration of academic attendance for the student. Hover over the grade cell and click the Comments icon. The “Submitted” date is the official LDA. After you locate this date, you will need to click on the Sync Grades button to send this data to Banner.
People Menu
Why are there so many “Inactive” students on the People page in my course?
Inactive students had once been enrolled in your course, but they either dropped the course or they were withdrawn. An inactive student will not have access to your course. Refer to the Gradebook for a list of current, active students.
How do I add people to my course?
On the People page, click on the +People button, select the Email Address, and enter their Valencia email in the space provided. You may select the Role of TA (Teaching Assistant), SL (Student Leader), or Designer. If you select Student or Teacher, that person will be removed from the course, overnight, when Banner syncs with Canvas. If you need to add a Student or a Teacher to your course, open a Help Desk ticket.
Professional Development
What development options are available for Canvas?
There are a variety of development opportunities to learn more about Canvas. You can register for Canvas webinars through the Valencia EDGE, visit your campus Center for Teaching/Learning Innovation, and browse the 24/7 available resources through Canvas Community and Canvas Commons.
Canvas Tools and Resources
How do I get help with Canvas?
You can chat live 24/7 with Canvas support by using the “Help” link on the bottom left inside Canvas. You can also call Valencia’s Canvas Support 24/7 at (407) 582-5600, submit an OIT Help Desk request, visit one of the Centers for Teaching/ Learning Innovation or email onlinehelp@valenciacollege.edu during regular business hours.
What happened to the Canvas webinars?
Access to the Canvas webinars expired on 06/15/2018. You may contact one of the Centers for Teaching/ Learning Innovation for an introduction to Canvas, or search the Canvas Guides.