How Do I Start Learning Canvas?
We recommend you start with the Growing with Canvas course in Canvas. Choose the self-paced modules or watch recorded Canvas Boot Camp webinars in the course.
If you prefer a live session, sign up for:
- Getting Start with Canvas (bi-weekly intro session)
- Canvas Day on October 16
- Canvas Boot Camp December 3-5
- View the full events calendar
Then use your courses migrated from Blackboard and your sandbox course to practice.
Join Us for Canvas Day!
On-site Canvas Day Event. This event is designed to provide attendees with hands-on experience, best practices, and innovative ways to leverage Canvas for an enriched learning experience. Grab your device and join us for Canvas Day. Learn more at the Canvas Day page.
October 16th from 12-4:00 in the HUB Ballroom or online.
Getting Started with Canvas
Getting Started with Canvas, offered every other week, is a single session (in person and online) that introduces instructors to Canvas and includes information about Blackboard migrated courses. Participants can then view recorded Boot Camp sessions or participate in other training options to learn more.
Register for Getting Started with Canvas
Canvas Boot Camp
In the 3-day Canvas Boot Camp, participants will gain all the tools needed to start their Canvas courses, including resources on furthering their learning. Instructors are expected to attend all three days of boot camp. Previous sessions are available in the Growing with Canvas training course.
Boot Camp Details
- Day 1
- Getting Started with Canvas: Meet the Canvas environment and global navigation, understand the migration from Blackboard, and manage course details and navigation.
- Content Creation: Explore resources to create engaging and dynamic content using the Rich Content Editor.
- Day 2
- Course Flow with Modules: Create a flow within a course by organizing and structuring content with the Modules tool.
- Assignments: Delve into all the options and use cases for the Assignment tool and Assignments Index Page in Canvas.
- Day 3
- New Quizzes and Item Banks: Create and manage assessments using the New Quizzes tool.
- Grading and Feedback: Experience the power of SpeedGrader, the features of the Canvas Gradebook, and how they both are not only assessment tools, but also communication tools.
Register for Canvas Boot Camp, December 3-5
View the full calendar for other trainings
Brown Bag with Stearns Center & Faculty Mentors
Join the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning and Canvas Faculty Mentors for a weekly brown bag meeting on teaching in Canvas. These virtual meetings are an opportunity to connect with colleagues across the institution. During these informal discussions, you can share experiences, ask questions, and gain insight from your colleagues.
View the full calendar for dates and more details
Consultations with Canvas Faculty Mentors
These one-on-one consultations are designed to be a space to ask specific questions about teaching in Canvas. You are welcome to schedule with any of the mentors whose names and brief bios are listed below.
Find a time for a one-on-one consultation with a Canvas Faculty Mentor.
Faculty Mentor Bios
Alison Melley is an Instructional Associate Professor of Psychology and serves as the Director of Teaching Development in the Psychology Department, working closely with TAs and doctoral students who are preparing to teach independently. Alison teaches in most modalities: onsite, hybrid (one day on campus, one day async), hyflex (very small class, some zoom some on campus), asynchronous online, and synchronous online. Her typical undergrad courses are 250 students onsite and 50-70 online, and my typical graduate course is ten students. Alison is integrating Perusall and an ebook/quizzing tool from Flatworld. She is also working to set up an alternative grading scheme in Canvas. Alison uses a combo of specs and mastery grading in all her classes. Additionally, later in the summer she’ll be working on setting up groups and TA permissions for her larger classes.
Caroline West is a Term Assistant Professor in the Honors College, where she teaches special topics courses centered on photography and culture, community and activism, social and economic inequalities, as well as the foundational HNRS 110 course, Principles of Research and Inquiry.
Debra Stroiney is an associate professor with a term in the School of Kinesiology. Debra teaches in all modalities – face-to-face, hybrid, synchronous, and asynchronous – in courses ranging from 20 to 50 students each semester. Her areas of interest in Canvas are creating more interactive and engaging courses utilizing the LMS for all modality types. Much of this will be learning the tools native to Canvas as well as external tools that complement the LMS.
Gail Therrien is a Professor of Practice, Department of Information Sciences and Technology.
James Casey is Director of the Virginia Serious Game Institute, and Associate Professor of Computer Game Design, CVPA.
Jim McNeil teaches undergraduate and graduate/professional courses in conservation studies for the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation. As an educator, he is interested in improving science education and outreach, particularly in using hands-on methods to illustrate scientific principles.
Lila C. Fleming is an Instructional Associate Professor for the Department of Global and Community Health in the College of Public Health teaching courses at the graduate and undergraduate level. Course modalities taught include asynchronous online, synchronous online, hybrid, and face-to-face. On Canvas, I am currently working on translating adaptive release and advanced adaptive release in Blackboard to Canvas module requirements and pre-requisite tools.
Lucie Li is an associate professor in the Costello College of Business, where she teaches in-person and online (synchronous and asynchronous) courses ranging in size from 45 to 70 students per section. She is interested in experimenting with Canvas gradebook and module organization.
Megan Lavengood is associate professor of music theory (School of Music, CVPA). She teaches academic undergraduate and graduate courses of around 20 students, both online and in-person, synchronous and asynchronous. She is working in Canvas with assignment setup, quizzes, rubrics, groups, using the gradebook, incorporating content from external websites, and standards-based grading.
Michelle Trumbo is the Assistant Director of the Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis Program, as well as an Assistant Professor.
Nathalia Peixoto is an associate professor of Bioengineering with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. She teaches undergraduate and graduate level classes in engineering, in modalities such as face-to-face, hybrid, and asynchronous online. She is interested in designing ways to engage students in Canvas to increase content retention and in leveraging AI to reduce the load on instructors during the semester, especially with large classes.
Sara Gopalkrishna is a teaching assistant professor of Computer Science at George Mason University. Sara can help organize a course in Canvas Modules or show you how to love GradeScope and integrate it into Canvas Assignments.
Sharon Ray is an Associate Professor in CEHD’s Special Education Division. She teaches graduate level classes in face-to-face, online, and hybrid formats with her typical classes being 20-25 people. This summer Sharon is experimenting with using Canvas for delivering content in a course that has a mixed delivery model using both synchronous and asynchronous instruction. She is happy to discuss her process in putting this type of course together, and what she has found has been working and not working as she has been designing.
Terri Ann Guingab is an instructional designer for the College of Public Health. She helps faculty integrate technology in online, hybrid, and in-person courses. Terri Ann is happy to answer your questions about Canvas’ gradebook, including Speedgrader, grade weighting, performance/standards-based grading, module prerequisites (known as Adaptive Release in Blackboard), and other general questions about Canvas.