Canvas for Students

Owned by Christine Sandella
Last updated: Jan 04, 2024
4 min read

Canvas is the University’s learning management system that connects instructors and students so course materials and activities can be shared and accessed online. In Canvas, students can access syllabi, announcements, assignments, discussions, quizzes and grades from their laptop, phone and/or tablet.

Get Started:

Access Canvas Dashboard

  1. Log into PirateNet using your Seton Hall credentials.

  2. Search for and click on the Canvas app.

  3. On your Canvas Dashboard, the card view will display course cards for quick access to all of your favorite courses.

    1. To view all courses, click Courses on the left menu, then click All Courses. Courses are always listed alphabetically; you cannot reorder your courses manually.

    2. You can set which courses appear in your Dashboard by marking courses as favorites. To make a course a favorite, click the Star icon next to a course in the All Courses view. When at least one course has been identified as a favorite, the Dashboard will only display your course favorites.

    3. The List View in Canvas Dashboard displays all course To Do items, allowing for easy tracking of tasks across all of your courses. The To Do list contains graded as well as any non-graded items. You can also add and view your own To-Do items in the Dashboard.

Customize Your Profile

  1. In Canvas, click on Account, then Profile.

  2. Click on the silhouette to the left of your name to add a Profile Image. This can be a picture of yourself or any picture that you would like to represent you.

  3. Click Edit Profile to add your biography and/or personal links (i.e., LinkedIn profile, digital portfolio, etc.).

  4. Click on Save Profile to save your changes.

Set Your Notification Preferences

You can set your notification preferences to choose what, how often, and where you want Canvas to send notifications.

  1. Click on Account, then Notifications.

  2. In the Settings for field, you can choose to change your notification preferences at the account level or for a specific course.

  3. Review and customize settings for each course activity.

Download the Canvas Student App

Canvas Student allows students to access their courses and groups using a mobile device. Students can submit assignments, participate in discussions, view grades and course materials. The app also provides access to course calendars, To Do items, notifications, and Conversations messages.

Canvas Student requires a Canvas account and is available for both Android and iOS devices.

Connect the Canvas Calendar to your Outlook Calendar

You can subscribe to the Calendar Feed using Outlook on your desktop or Outlook on the Web. The calendar feed will contain events and assignments from all of your Canvas calendars.

Once you have subscribed to the calendar feed, you can remove the calendar feed at any time in Outlook by opening the Tools menu, clicking Account Settings, and selecting the Internet Calendars tab.

View Announcements

Instructors may use announcements to distribute important information to you. To access all announcements:

  1. Click on Announcements in the left course menu.

  2. The announcement title, shown in a black, bold font, serves as the link to an individual announcement. To view the full announcement, click on the announcement title.

View Course Assignments

Assignments include Quizzes, graded Discussions, and online submissions (i.e. files, images, text, URLs, etc.). The Assignments page shows all of the course assignments and how many points each is worth. Learn how to view and submit course assignments.

Access Modules

In Canvas, Modules outline the structure/organization of the course and provide links to course content including syllabus, quizzes, assignments, discussions, etc. To access Modules, click Modules in the left course menu.

Note: You can advance through Modules using the previous-next progression bar at the bottom of a page. To advance to the next module item, click the Next button. To return to a previous module item, click the Previous button.

On-Demand Canvas Training

Pack your bags! Passport to Canvas provides everything you need to know about using Canvas in your class(es). The course is organized into Modules, each focused on one Canvas tool. You may move through the Modules in order or, you can choose your own adventure by completing Modules you would like to learn more about. Claim a passport stamp for each Module that you complete; earn all nine stamps for a full tour of how to use Canvas as a student. Enroll in the Passport to Canvas course.