Is instructure.com the same as "Canvas"?

[benjamingslade]

My school is using instructure.com as their parent portal.   When I go to <school_prefix>.instructure.com it gives me this list of options in the left column:

• Dashboard
• Courses
• Calendar
• Inbox
• Resources (containing a link to Guides in community.canvaslms.com)
• A link to "the parent portal" which is confusing since I thought I already was on the parent portal.  Whatever.

My question is, is instructure.com the same as "Canvas", the same as canvaslms.com?

Thanks

Ben

[KristinL · Accepted solution]

Hi Ben ~Great questions!

[schoolnamehere].instructure.com is the customized URL that the institution claims for their personalized Canvas experience. 

Instructure is the parent company of Canvas, yes!  If you visit www.canvaslms.com, you'll see that it's actually rerouted to www.instructure.com/canvas

Some schools refer to the Observer experience as the "Parent Portal", even though Canvas doesn't use that terminology anywhere in its documentation. If you have any questions about the Observer role, reply and let the Canvas Community know. We'll do our best to connect you with resources.