Passport to Canvas - Student Canvas Orientation Course

[CanvasJackie]

There are many important pieces to consider when migrating to a new LMS or adopting an institution-wide LMS for the first time.  An important step in the process is determining how to introduce the platform to students and what resources they will need to learn how to use the platform. 

Our popular “Be the Hero” and “Growing with Canvas” courses were created as a free resource to help train new admins and instructors. Since their release, we’ve had an increasing interest in a similar resource for students. The Training team is excited to now introduce you to our newest course, Passport to Canvas, which focuses on the student perspective. 

About the Course: 

Passport to Canvas consists of nine modules of content that takes your students through everything they need to know about using Canvas as a student. Participants are taken on a tour around the globe stopping at each of our Instructure offices to learn another facet of the Canvas platform and some fun facts about each of our Instructure offices. This course has been designed for middle school through higher education students. 

Where You Can Find This Course:

You can find this course in the Canvas Commons at this link: Passport to Canvas (pro tip - make sure you're logged in to Canvas!) it is offered under an Attribution-Non-Commerical-ShareAlike license. That means you’re free to share the course, as well as to adapt it to meet the needs of your institution.

If you’ve never used a resource in the Canvas Commons before, all you need is an empty course in your Canvas instance in which to copy the Passport to Canvas course. Once Passport to Canvas is in your instance, you’re free to edit and use the course as you wish. Check out this guide - How do I use Commons? - if you need more help.

It is also available in the Canvas Network. More information about this is in the student section below. 

If you are a Canvas Admin: 

This course will give your students a nice intro to the platform. Check out the Information Module for content that is geared towards helping you get the course set up for your institution. It can also be a great way for you to learn more about the student experience side of Canvas. 

The course is configured to work with Badgr and award badges for completion of each module. Instructions are in the course for setting up the integration, using the images, and awarding the badges.

If you are a Canvas Teacher: 

This course is designed to help your students learn how to navigate the Canvas environment. This free resource will help them to learn more about the various elements of Canvas from the student perspective. This is also a great way for teachers to learn about the student experience in Canvas. If the course is not available to teachers through your institution, but you’d like to participate you can enroll in the course through the Canvas Network. 

If you are a Canvas Student: 

This course is for you to learn how to navigate the Canvas platform. If your institution has not enrolled you in the course and you’d like to participate you can enroll in the course through the Canvas Network. Check out this guide to learn more about enrolling in a course through the Canvas Network. 

Resource Document: 

This resource document offers several quick links that will be helpful when learning more about Passport to Canvas. 

New Course Orientation: 

Check out the recording of our Canvas LIVE session held on October 23rd, 2019 to introduce the course. 

Updates: 

We will post all updates to the course below, as they are made. Subscribe to this post to stay up to date!

Update Date: October 24th, 2019
Course Item	More Detail	Reason	Action Needed
3.3 | Viewing your Course Stream	Gif was not looping properly.	The video was saved incorrectly.	Download the course, then download the video and add it to your live course with participants OR download the updates to the course from Commons.
3.3 | Viewing your Course Stream	A comma was missing after the word stream.	Punctuation was not included.	Add a comma after the word stream: To see the Course Activity stream, click the View Course Activity Stream button.
8.1 | Peer Interactions | Itinerary	Change the word "a" to read "are".	Word was spelled incorrectly.	In the bulleted list change the text to read: View Groups that you are a member of
9.8 | Replying to a Discussion	Remove the additional space between About and Discussion.	Extra space was added between two words.	Remove the extra space in the page title: About Discussion in the Student App

Update Date: April 16th, 2020
Course Item	More Detail	Reason	Action Needed
2.8 | Obtaining a Pairing Code	Pairing codes can be generated from the Student App.	In a recent update to the Student App, Students are now able to generate Pairing Codes from their mobile devices.	Update the wording to refelct this update in functionality.
4.4 | Text Entry with New Rich Content Editor	New RCE version of Text Entry Assignment option.	If students are enrolled in courses with New RCE enabled this option shows them what they are experiencing.	Choose if you want to enable the New RCE version for students in addition to the classic RCE or in place of the classic RCE version.
6.4 | Replying to a Discussion with New Rich Content Editor	New RCE version of  Replying to a Discussion.	If students are enrolled in courses with New RCE enabled this option shows them what they are experiencing when replying to a discussion.	Choose if you want to enable the New RCE version of Replying to a Discussion for students in addition to the classic RCE or in place of the classic RCE version.
6.5 | Adding an Image with New Rich Content Editor	New RCE version of  Adding an Image.	If students are enrolled in courses with New RCE enabled this option shows them what they are experiencing when adding an image.	Choose if you want to enable the New RCE version of Adding an Image for students in addition to the classic RCE or in place of the classic RCE version.
6.6 | Attaching a File with New Rich Content Editor	New RCE version of Attaching a File.	If students are enrolled in courses with New RCE enabled this option shows them what they are experiencing when attaching a file.	Choose if you want to enable the New RCE version of Attaching a File for students in addition to the classic RCE or in place of the classic RCE version.

Please comment below with how your institution is planning to implement this course. We’d love to hear from you!

[adamwarecs · Accepted solution]

Well played  @CanvasJackie ‌...

[Bobby2 · Accepted solution]

Hi traciebosket‌, that sounds tricky.

Did you try to get the course while you were logged into Canvas first?  

It worked for me, I think it was because I was already logged into Canvas. 

[adamwarecs · Accepted solution]

Well played  @CanvasJackie ‌...

[Bobby2]

I love this  @CanvasJackie  Nice Work.

Having the suite of courses available is magic. 

[traciebosket]

Hi  @tug89112 ‌,

I am not able to access the passport. I am already logged into Canvas and the Community. It asked me to log in again (with my Facebook or Canvas account). I used my Canvas account, but I got this...

{"errors":[{"param":"server-error","msg":"There was an error"}]}

Any ideas about it?

[Bobby2 · Accepted solution]

Hi traciebosket‌, that sounds tricky.

Did you try to get the course while you were logged into Canvas first?  

It worked for me, I think it was because I was already logged into Canvas. 

[traciebosket]

I was too, but it wanted me to login to a different instance or with a Facebook login. So weird. I'll go clear my cookies and see if that solves the problem...

[CanvasJackie · Accepted solution]

Tracie,

Were you able to get it to work? You will need to be logged into Canvas for the link to work. You can also go directly to the Canvas Commons in your instance and search for Passport to Canvas.

Thank you, 

Jackie

[traciebosket]

Hi Jaclyn,

No I can't get it 😕 I tried  both ways. When I tried to download it from the Commons, I got the same prompt. It wanted me to login but I got the same thing...

{"errors":[{"param":"server-error","msg":"There was an error"}]}

[CanvasJackie]

Hi Tracie, 

I would recommend that you go to Commons in your Global Navigation in Canvas. If you search for Passport to Canvas you should find it there. We are working on getting the link above to work from the Community. 

Thank you, 

Jackie 

[traciebosket]

 @CanvasJackie  It totally worked

(I embedded it into another Canvas page so the students do not need to leave Canvas)

[Shanaecooper]

I am lost, what do I do and where do I start?

[sypi6407]

Wow, lots of information that i should have known before starting my class.  This would have been so helpful for submitting assignments , reading materials, etc.  Was i supposed to have Canvas orientation before my class started , i hope due to not knowing how to navigate the platform, or how to submit my assignments or collaborate with groups that i dont fail.. I felt very confused even trying to message my professor for help.. Why didnt she say in her first Lecture to her students to take the orientation to better navigate the platform .. Our syllabus should have focused on Passport to Canvas .

I really missed out on some great knowledge.

Syl

[knoxd]

I am so grateful to have discovered this course!  We have been discussing the need for something to help our students become acclimated to Canvas and we also plan to use it as a PD with our teachers to remind them of all the great things they SHOULD be doing with this.  Thank you SO much for putting forth this resource that models best practice.  This is invaluable!

[chrhitch]

I've seen some parents raise concerns about their students (and the parents) not really understanding how to navigate Canvas or use it effectively in the district my children attend. I might reach out to someone at the district to see if they know about this resource. 

[traciebosket]

Hi  @chrhitch ‌

Do you need your district add it to your course, or can you just embed, or link to it?

[chrhitch]

It sounds like the course is available in Canvas Commons. I would think that an admin for the school or district would need to create a new course and then import the Passport to Canvas course from the Commons. 

[traciebosket]

That sounds right.

I set my Passport to Canvas shell as "Public" then all of my colleagues can send their students to it also.

[knoxd]

That's exactly what I did a few weeks ago when we used this for a teacher PD session.  Next year we are planning to incorporate this into the curriculum that all of our new student user groups will work with and I'm looking at importing it (and adding our personalization) to multiple courses.  

[schachernp]

Thank you  @CanvasJackie  for this valuable resource!  What would be the best method to add this for each of our teachers so they could edit to their liking.  In addition, is there a quick method to add all of our students to the course.  Thanks in advance for and assistance!!

[CanvasJackie]

Hi Pam, 

If your institution is using Canvas I'd recommend adding it at your institution so that students aren't enrolled in multiple copies of the same course. Additionally, you can use a CSV upload to load students into your courses using the enrollments CSV formatting found in this document: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-12585-4214164118 Please let me know if you have additional questions! 

Thank you, 

Jackie 

[DRIREID]

Greetings, hoping everyone is doing well. I'm experiencing difficulties login into Canvas Passport can anyone assist me please thanks.

[bcrook]

Hi training team!!  Thank you for ALL that you do!  When will updates be made and pushed out for this summer for this course?  I know there are lots of features and changes happening within Canvas itself in the next 30 days, and I'm hoping to get our students rolling in orientation at their own pace during August before they arrive.

Sending lots of pixie dust! 🐼❤️

[clpatter]

Are there any plans to update the Passport to Canvas course for the Assignment Enhancements?

We would like to use this course at our University, but we're using Assignment Enhancements, so everything in the "Assignments" module and a few things in the "Grades & Feedback" module are wrong. 

[mbaker]

I really appreciate the time and effort it took to put this course together.

One big issue... it's not at all accessible.  It appears that there are 200+ images that don't pass the rich content editor or Ally Accessibility checker.  The current score in Ally is 21%

If you fixed this, I know of a whole bunch of people that would be tempted to use parts or all.

Marti Baker