How to add Test Student to Group to test functionality?

[glenaz]

Is there a way to add the Test Student to a group (or create a Test Group), so that as an instructor I can see the functionality that the students can see and use?

[kmeeusen]

Hi  @glenaz ‌

Currently this is not possible in Canvas. What we have done is create a number of bogus students that we use for various purposes, and we will enroll one or more of them into a teachers course when necessary.

You might want to talk to your own Canvas Admins to see if this is a possibility.

Kelley

[kblack]

To add to Kelley's sage advice, Gerald, you may want to check out the resourceful  @Chris_Hofer ‌'s post here, which has an interesting solution:  https://community.canvaslms.com/groups/admins/blog/2015/07/09/easy-student-group-access-for-instruct... .  This would involve getting your admin involved, as well. 

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi there,  @glenaz !

As I was reviewing older questions here in the Canvas Community, I noticed that we have not heard back from you since you first posted your question here on October 12, 2017.  It looks like  @kmeeusen  and  @kblack  have given you some good feedback so far.  Have you had an opportunity to review their replies?  If so, did their replies help to answer your question?  Or, are you still looking for some assistance with your initial question?  If you feel that one of the above responses has helped to answer your question, please go ahead and mark it as "Correct".  However, if you are still looking for some help from members of the Community, please come back to this thread and post a message below so that we might be able to assist you.  I'm going to mark your question as "Assumed Answered" because we've not heard back from you and because there hasn't been any new activity in this thread for over four months.  However, this will not prevent you or others from posting additional questions and/or comments below that are related to this topic.  I hope that's alright with you, Gerald.  Looking forward to hearing back from you soon!

[jdavies4]

Has there been any change to Canvas since 2018 that would now make it possible to add a Test Student to a group without administrator intervention?

[spearjh]

I have this question and think that it is absurd that there isn't an easy way for me to see what the students see in terms of group functionality.  ("Easy" is not giving me one more thing to do, like get my admin involved).  Just one more among the many bizarrely absurd things about Canvas.

[DavidRoon]

I agree with this. I'm currently teaching a course with multiple team projects. When I enter 'student view' it's impossible to ascertain if, whether, or how the students can access any of the team material... and if they message me claiming to not see the links, I have no way to help them.

[cassidy_reed · Accepted solution]

In short, there is not a way to add the test student to the groups created in the courses. What you can do to access the groups home pages is go to the course and select "People", then you will click on the tab labeled with the groups you want to view. From here you will see 3 dots to the right of each group name. Clicking on those dots will give you the option to "Visit group homepage". 

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi again, @glenaz ...

While this may not be completely related to what you are asking, in addition to the information that @cassidy_reed posted, I have a blog post that briefly describes what Canvas tools are available when a group is created.  Campus Clubs and Groups

Again, not all of the info in my blog posting will apply to your question, but the second paragraph will tell you what features are within a group.  Hope this helps!

[gahs]

Has this feature been requested? It would be very useful to be able to see what students see without having to create a pretend student account for each instructor.