Canvas FAQ for Students

Canvas is an educational software that is used in conjunction with many classes. Canvas is where you go to access online course content here at Shoreline. 

Many instructors use modules to organize their courses. Modules control the entire flow of the course, along with its content. Here is a Canvas guide on How do I view Modules as a student?

Canvas Student Guides is a resource available to students who are looking for answers or assistance with Canvas. If you need help posting an assignment, want to update your profile picture, or need help troubleshooting an issue you are having, please view Canvas Student Guides for videos and tutorials on these subjects and many more. 

For Canvas-specific questions, you can reach out to Canvas 24/7 Help Live Chat at Chat with Canvas Support (Student). 

You can find a link to Canvas Guides on the Help button on the menu bar in Canvas. 

Canvas guides are on the top of the pop up Help Menu. 

Here is a Canvas Guide article on How do I use the Calendar as a student?

If you don't see your previous courses in your dashboard, please trying viewing all your courses in Canvas. If you can't find your course when viewing All Courses, please reach out to your instructor to talk about options.

For information on how to use the syllabus in Canvas, view How do I use the Syllabus as a student? in Canvas Student Guides. 

Visit "How do I submit an online assignment?" for a text guide and video. 

If your instructor has download recording from your Canvas class enabled, follow the instructions below. 

1. Click the Download Icon on the top right of Panopto Video. For this download button to appear, the instructor will need to have enabled downloads in the back end settings.
2. Once you click the Download Arrow a pop-up screen will appear
   
3. Click Save and choose the destination to where you want to save the video. 

For more information, view How to Download a Video as an MP4 on Panopto's website. 

If you are enrolling for the first time at Shoreline Community College, your Canvas account will be activated two weeks prior to the first day of instruction.

For more information on Canvas, see Canvas Login & Support on our website.

If you are having issues accessing Canvas, please view the current computer and browser requirements at What are the browser and computer requirements for Instructure products?

The assignments are most likely locked because you need to work through the module content before accessing the assignments. Please click on the course tile on your Canvas Dashboard, the home page will open and from there you can click on the Module tab on the left or on the big green button in the middle of the page labeled "First Module: Welcome!" Then you are required to read the pages and submit the assignments. Once you have officially done that for a module, the next one will open for you.

There are times when you log into Canvas and can not see all the classes for which you have registered. There are a couple of common explanations for why this happens:

• If you are a new Shoreline student then, your Canvas account will not be available until a week or two before the first day of instruction.
• There is a short delay between when you are officially registered in a class and when the information reaches Canvas. It's wise to verify that you are officially enrolled in the class in ctcLink so you can take action if needed.
• Instructors at Shoreline are required to make their fully online Canvas courses available by noon on the first day of the quarter. Some instructors have the classes available earlier than that, but others wait until the first day of the quarter. If you do not see a Canvas course and it is past noon on the first day of classes, you can contact eLearning@shoreline.edu for assistance. Instructors teaching hybrid and face-to-face classes publish their Canvas classes when they are ready. You can ask them about them when you are in class with them.