About Canvas at IU

On this page:

Overview
Learn more
Get help

Overview

Developed by Instructure, Inc., Canvas is IU's learning management system (LMS). Canvas includes most of the standard tools found in open source and commercial management systems (assignments, discussions, announcements, quizzes, syllabus, etc.) as well as enhanced tools and features for communication, collaboration, and assessment, including real-time web conferencing, a multimedia recorder, a Google Docs integration, outcomes and rubrics, and course analytics.

IU students, faculty, and staff can log into Canvas using their personal IU username and passphrase or an IU Guest account. Access Canvas at IU from a web browser (on a computer, smartphone, or tablet) or via the mobile apps distributed by Instructure.

Canvas accounts are not automatically created for group or departmental accounts. To establish a Canvas account for a group or departmental account, send a request to the Canvas at IU administrators. Once the Canvas administrators confirm the creation of the account, you can use your IU group account username and passphrase to log into Canvas.

For more about accessing Canvas, see Access Canvas at IU.

Learn more

IT Training resources

IU students can access Canvas training & resources for students from IT Training for help getting started with Canvas.

Canvas Community

Various online support resources are available in Instructure's Canvas Community:

Documentation: To get started using Canvas, see:
- Getting Started with Canvas as an Instructor
- Getting Started with Canvas as a Student
Additional guides intended for students, instructors, instructional designers, and system administrators, as well as guides for using Canvas mobile apps, are available at Canvas Guides.
Feature ideas: Subscribe to various discussion categories to keep abreast of work on new Canvas features. If you'd like to suggest a new idea, see About Canvas feature requests at IU. Canvas deploys a new release every three weeks; for more, see About Canvas releases.
For additional training on Canvas tools and features, check out the Instructure Live free webinar series.
Answers: Visit the Canvas Question Forum to search questions that have already been asked and post new questions for the Canvas community to answer.
Groups: A resource for posting questions to specific Canvas community groups, or posting solutions based on your experiences in forums such as Higher Education, K-12, Instructional Designers, and more.

Training videos and self-paced tutorials

Navigate to the Instructure Training Services Portal to view training videos and access self-paced tutorials about Canvas. To access the portal:

Log into Canvas.
From the global navigation menu on the left, select Help.
From the help menu, select Training Services Portal.
If prompted to allow the portal to access your account, choose Authorize.
You will first be presented with a tutorial on how to use the portal. Choose Start Tutorial to view the tutorial, or choose the x at the upper right to view the training offerings.
You can browse the offerings by category (Learning Pathways, Courses, Videos, or Portfolium). To view or participate in an offering, choose Enroll.

Get help

Instructors can get help using technology in their teaching at the teaching and learning centers on each campus.

For help from a UITS Support Center consultant, fill out the "Ask for Help" form found in the Canvas Help menu. You can also contact your campus Support Center directly.