Canvas for Instructors

How do I log into Canvas? / One of my students is having trouble logging into Canvas - how can I help?

You log in to Canvas at https://guilfordcollege.instructure.com with your Guilford username and network password (the same password you use to sign into campus WiFi or campus computers). If you do not know or have not set up your network password, or if you have any issues logging into Canvas, please put in a Help Desk ticket via email at webhelpdesk@guilford.edu (as the self-serve ticketing system at https://webhelpdesk.guilford.edu requires your network password for you to log in). The ITS Help Desk is equipped to assist with campus account, password, and log-in issues, including Canvas ones.

One or more of my students are not showing up correctly in my Canvas course - what do I do? / My Canvas course is not showing up for me as the instructor - what do I do?

Information from Banner flows into Canvas when synced manually by ITS, which happens 3 times a day (at 9 AM, 1 PM, and 5 PM) on business days. Check Banner first: if the course enrollment information is not correct there, it needs to be corrected there first: students need to add the class in Banner, and instructors need to check in with the Registrar's Office to make sure they are correctly listed as the instructor. If information is correct in Banner, it should flow into Canvas the next time Canvas and Banner are synced with one another - please put in a Help Desk ticket at https://webhelpdesk.guilford.edu or webhelpdesk@guilford.edu if the issue is not resolved by the next business day.

How do I import content from a past course into my current course?

You can use the Course Import Tool, available on the course settings page, to import some or all content from a past course into a current course. See this walkthrough in the Canvas Instructor Guide for a step-by-step rundown.

How do I merge multiple courses that I want in the same course shell (ex: IDS 450 and WGSS 450 or multiple sections of BIOL 203)?

You can merge multiple courses into a single shared Canvas shell using a process Canvas calls crosslisting. The Canvas Instructor Guide has step-by-step instructions on how to do so, and there is also a helpful video on crosslisting. Please note: crosslisting will overwrite the content in the "child" course that has been added to the "parent" course. If you want a particular course to be the "parent" course (for example, if it already has content in it that you do not want to overwrite), then you will start in the child course shell, and from the Settings Section cross-list page, input the parent course shell information. Please note that instructors unfortunately cannot manually edit the course name to reflect the merged status of the course, so you may want an Admin to change the name for you. If you need assistance with this process or would like the course name to be adjusted to reflect the crosslisted state, please put in a Help Desk ticket at https://webhelpdesk.guilford.edu or webhelpdesk@guilford.edu.

How do I add a student as a TA (or a colleague as a Teaching Observer...) for a course?

You can add TAs, Teaching Observers, additional Teachers, and Observers to Banner-created courses from the course People page. (You cannot add students to Banner-created courses: this process needs to happen through the Canvas-Banner sync. Please do not add students in different roles to your Canvas courses if they are taking the course as a student.) Different roles have different permissions within a course: you can view this rundown of Canvas role permissions at Guilford College for help. Click the red "+ People" button, input the person's G number (which Canvas refers to as SIS ID), and select the role you would like them to have in your course. Please add by G number instead of username or email address, as this avoids the potential creation of duplicate accounts.

How do I add an external user (such as an external co-teacher without a Guilford account) to a Canvas course? 

External users cannot be added to a Canvas course without a Guilford College account and log-in information. Requests can be made to HR to request the creation of an affiliate account for the external user, which happens on a case-by-case basis. Once the user has a G number, Guilford username, you can request via https://webhelpdesk.guilford.edu or webhelpdesk@guilford.edu that they be added to Canvas, and they can then be given log-in information and added as a co-teacher to the course.

How do I remove my middle name from Canvas?

Please put in a Help Desk ticket at https://webhelpdesk.guilford.edu or webhelpdesk@guilford.edu to make this request. And please see this document, Checklist for Instructors: Being Mindful of Student Middle Names in Canvas, for more information on how to assist your students with how names are displayed in Canvas.

How do I share Canvas content with another instructor?

There are several options for this:

• for a fellow Guilford instructor, you can request to have them added to a past Canvas course as a Teaching Observer via https://webhelpdesk.guilford.edu or webhelpdesk@guilford.edu - please share the person's name, the course number, and the semester shell you would like them to be added to. Once this add is processed, they will be able to access the course from the Courses page (https://guilfordcollege.instructure.com/courses), under past enrollments, just like you would access any other past course.
• for fellow Guilford instructors or for external users with whom you might like to share course content and resources, you can export your course as a file, which the Guilford instructor can import into a course of their own, or the external user can re-import into their Canvas instance or other Learning Management System

I would like an empty Canvas course shell to use to try new things - is this possible?

Of course! We can create one or more of what is called a "sandbox course" for you to test things out or create content - this course is separate from Banner, is not tied to students or enrollment. The course is only populated with you as the teacher to start, but you are welcome to share the course with colleagues and act as guinea pigs in each other's courses by adding each other as students from the Canvas People page. When you email Garrett Collins, please include course information, if applicable, in your request (e.g., ENGL 400 Literature and Ethics).

I would like a Canvas course shell for a committee or co-curricular program - is this possible?

Yes! We can manually create a course shell for this kind of need. Simply make a request at https://webhelpdesk.guilford.edu or webhelpdesk@guilford.edu. Courses can be set up as a self-enroll course, in which users add themselves to a course using a link (what we have done historically for committee course shells), or you can manually add students yourself by G number.