Setting Up Student-Centered Canvas "Courses" for Various Reasons

Setting Up Student-Centered Canvas "Courses" for Various Reasons

When establishing a Canvas shell for any student-centered activity—such as a club, study group, or book club—it is crucial to adhere to FERPA regulations throughout the setup process to ensure the privacy and security of student information.

Steps to Add Students to a Canvas Shell:

1. Create a Canvas Shell: If you do not already have a Canvas shell for your group, begin by creating one. For step-by-step instructions on setting up your Canvas shell, view How do I enable course self-enrollment with a join code or secret URL?.

2. Configure Self-Enrollment: Edit the settings of your Canvas shell to enable self-enrollment. This simplifies the registration process, allowing students to join easily via a link or a secret URL.

3. Obtain FERPA Waiver: Contact the Student Life office to set you up with the FERPA waiver Formstack form for your Canvas shell. Depending on who is involved in the course, Student Life could either maintain the form (if students are the only ones in the Canvas shell) or give it to you to maintain yourself (if more than just students are in the Canvas Shell).  This form must be signed by each student before they are added to the Canvas shell. 

4. Distribute Enrollment Information: Once the Formstack form is ready and you have received confirmation that a student has signed the FERPA waiver, you may then share the self-enrollment link with the student. Ensure you keep a record of who has completed the form for future reference.

5. Student Acceptance: After receiving the self-enrollment link, students can join the Canvas shell. They will need to log into Canvas and accept the course invitation to gain full access to the course materials and participate in the activities. When adding people to this course, you must add them using their ctcLink ID in the SIS ID option. After you click add, another pop up window might come up where it asks you to verify/pick which account you want to add.  This comes up when someone either works or attend(s)(ed) other schools.  Please pick Shoreline, otherwise you will import their other account to our school. 

eLearning does not need to be directly involved in these procedures but is available to provide assistance with setting up or managing your Canvas shell. This support ensures that all student activities conducted within Canvas comply with educational standards and privacy regulations.