Canvas Free-for-Teacher FAQ

KevinMeredith
Instructure
Instructure
17
34564

Welcome to the Canvas Free-for-Teacher User Group! We're glad you're here and that you want to try Canvas using a Free-for-Teacher (FFT) account.

What features are available in FFT accounts?

Free-for-Teacher accounts contain most of the basic options available in Canvas environments. Some functionality is only available to paid customers, however. View our Canvas Course Comparison PDF or visit our Free-for-Teacher page.

How do I get started with my FFT account?

If you don't already have an account and need to create a course, visit our Try Canvas page and select the Get a Free Canvas Account button. Complete the account information fields and you’ll be on your way!

For a walkthrough of the signup process, follow the steps in How do I sign up for a new Free-for-Teacher Canvas account as an instructor? 

You can create a course any time after you complete registration. However, you must verify your email address per the email instructions to complete your registration before you are able to publish your course, use ePortfolios, or add and launch course External App (LTI) tools.

How do I get help with my Canvas FFT account?

The majority of your questions can be answered within the Canvas Community!

  • In our Q & A space, you can search to see if your question has already been asked & answered. 
  • Use the Canvas Guides to learn about Canvas features and functionality.
  • In the Join Groups page, find your user role, join a group, and collaborate with like-minded individuals! We have user role groups for instructional designers, admins, and developers, and we have interest groups such as free-for-teacher.

When should I contact Canvas Support about a FFT request?

Our Canvas Support team is able to assist you if you have one of the following four request types:

Deleting FFT Accounts

If you decide you no longer want your FFT account, you can request to delete your account. Deleting your Canvas account cannot be undone and will delete all Canvas information including courses, assignments, grades, and participation. Do not request to have your account deleted unless you are certain you absolutely no longer require any access to your prior Canvas activity.

Restoring Deleted Courses

If you've accidentally deleted a course and need to get it back, Canvas Support can help restore the course for you. 

Resetting Passwords

Ensure you have followed the instructions in How do I reset my password as an instructor? ‌, but if you're still having trouble resetting your password, please contact Canvas Support for assistance.

Making Courses Public

Canvas courses can be set to a specific visibility option, which includes having the course be public. By default, courses are not public in FFT accounts. Public course details are included in How do I customize visibility options for a course? and allow users to view most course content without participating in the course. If you require this option, please contact Canvas Support.

Similar functionality to making a course public involves an option in Course Settings that allows anyone to access your course URL and join the course, as shown in How do I enable course self-enrollment with a join code or secret URL? This functionality enrolls students who join the course and allows full course participation.

To request support help, open the Help Link in the Global Navigation Menu and use the Report a Problem option. Please allow at least 24 hours for a support reply for these types of support inquiries. You may also consult with Impact's in-app support for commonly asked questions. 

17 Comments
MarcoPorlier
Community Member

Hi. I would like to know if it is possible for a student to acces to my Canvas free course or webpage just by typing my name without having a link or a code or having been put before in the course as a participant and after access to my Canvas free course or webpage, access to the content.

Thank you for your help.

Marco Porlier, marco.porlier@csspo.gouv.qc.ca

Wadeblah
Community Explorer

It would be nice to know how to edit or remove an email address listed

Under Account > Settings > "Ways to Login" > I have two lines showing different email addresses and the organization "Free for Teacher". One of those email addresses is old an I want to edit or delete it. Sounds ordinary but I can't locate how to do this.

KevinMeredith
Instructure
Instructure
Author

Hi @MarcoPorlier, we previously included an option for a public course index, where your course would have been searchable, but that feature is no longer available for FFT users. However, you can still leverage the join codes and self-enrollment options as indicated here: 

 

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-enable-course-self-enrollment-with-a-jo...

 

Thanks!

KevinMeredith
Instructure
Instructure
Author

Hi @Wadeblah ,

 

Navigating to Account -> Settings as you indicate, you can delete email addresses in the top right under "Ways to Contact". If the undesired email is your default login, then you can toggle the alternate email with the star and then delete the undesired one. Thanks!

Wadeblah
Community Explorer

@KevinMeredith 

I have already deleted from the top right under "Ways to Contact". There is, and has been, only one email address there. Yet under "Ways to Log In" there are two email addresses.

I guess you have not experienced this for yourself. If only it worked as intuitively as you describe (or worked at all). Thanks for responding.

KevinMeredith
Instructure
Instructure
Author

@Wadeblah 

 

If you want to send your account login to me via private message (you need to enable this in the community), I can help resolve this issue for you. Thanks. 

EmiliaAcosta24
Community Member

Hola, quisiera saber si existe algún límite de estudiantes para agregar a mi curso creado en la versión gratuita para profesores ? 

Y también alguna guía de como ir agregando a estudiantes en la versión Gratuita, gracias. 

 

EmiliaAcosta24
Community Member

Hola quisiera saber si existe algún límite de estudiantes para agregar a mi curso creado en la Versión gratuita para profesores ? 

Y también una Guía para agregar a estudiantes en este mismo curso de la versión Gratuita, gracias. 

KnightlyScribe
Community Explorer

@KevinMeredith I was looking for a place to submit feedback and feature requests for the FFT iteration of Canvas and couldn't find it.  So I'm posting here.  I'd love...

-the ability to allow/disallow student comments (on assignment submissions, etc.)

-to see the "Calendar" app updated so that I can post an event to multiple course calendars in one go (i.e. select more than one course from the drop down), and it would be nice to be able to schedule an event over multiple days with simple "from" and "to" fields instead of dealing with the whole "duplicate" process.

 

Thanks much for providing this resource!

HeatherSulzle
Community Novice

Is there any other way to have students join the class other than email? 

NoahBoswell
Community Coach
Community Coach

@HeatherSulzle As far as I know, on FFT you can only add students via email. 

mwil402
Community Member

@Wadeblah Wondering if you ever got a solution to this problem. I am experiencing the same thing now and cannot find a way to delete the additional email from "Ways to Log In" on my account.

Frustrating.

DebraPierce
Community Member

I am seeing that with the FFT account, you can only add new students by email. When they accept the invitation, create an account, and are added to the class roster, there will be no name listed next to the email? Or, what? I want to start adding students to the course, but need an answer to this ASAP. I thought not seeing a field to add the name of the student was a glitch or that i was not using the correct Add People link.  How will the student appear on the student list when they are added... just the email address? So, we as instructors have to keep a listing of students handy with their email addresses in order to identify who they are on the class list? This doesn't sound right, does it?

NoahBoswell
Community Coach
Community Coach

Hi @DebraPierce ,

When your students create an account with free for teacher, it should ask them for their full name. Upon them accepting their invitation into your course, you should be able to see their full name, email and their latest activity via the people tab. You shouldn't have to do anything on their behalf.

Your students can always go into their account settings and edit their names if necessary.

Their names should appear on your people tab automatically. Is this not the case for you?

 

Hope this helps, feel free to reach out with anymore questions!

Amn2
Community Member

hello, how are you. I want to take course and to take certificate. please show me the way how can I get this credential.

LEADTraining07
Community Novice

Hi! Is there a limit to the number of students I can give class access to in the Free Teacher Canvas?

NoahBoswell
Community Coach
Community Coach

@LEADTraining07 

Hi! To my knowledge, there is no limit for the amount of students on FFT Canvas. I know people that have added hundreds of people with no problem.

Hope that helps!