Manage Canvas Course Access
You've built a Canvas course, but when can students see it and start learning? This article explains Canvas course access and steps instructors take to manage the student experience, including:
- Course Availability for Instructors
- Banner Enrollment Management
- Publish Levels: Course, Modules, Items
- Participation Dates: Term, Course, Section
Course Availability for Instructors
When can instructors expect their Canvas courses each term? The Banner feed initiates course creation three times a year. A Global Announcement is posted in Canvas to signal the milestone and includes links to commonly referenced resources to copy content and get started setting up your course.
- Fall courses are created in late June.
- Spring courses are created in early November.
- Summer courses are created in early March.
Banner Enrollment Management
People listed in Banner as instructors of record are enrolled in the Canvas course as Teachers by the Banner feed communicating with Canvas. Students enrolled in Banner get access to the Canvas course as Students. The Banner feed communicates enrollments to Canvas every couple of hours around the clock.
Where is my course?
If an instructor doesn't see their course in Canvas, they need to be listed as the instructor of record in Banner and wait for the Banner feed to update enrollments. Students need to be both enrolled and for the instructor to have made the course available before they can access it.
Remember, whether you're an instructor or student, check your "All Courses" list if you don't see a course on your Canvas Dashboard. The Dashboard gives you a quick stop to current courses, while your All Courses list is comprehensive. For students, the instructor must have published the course before it appears on their Dashboard.
Does Banner always update Canvas enrollments?
No. After the term ends, the Banner feed is turned off for that term and Canvas course enrollment management stops. Requests to access a past course, such as for new faculty, are submitted by the Instructor of Record to canvas@uiwtx.edu.
The term started - Students can't access my course.
First, students must be enrolled and have no holds delaying the process of accessing Canvas. Second, instructors must publish and manage course participation dates for students to get access to courses. Students contact their instructor if their Canvas course is not open on the first day of class.
Publish Levels: Course, Modules, Items
Course, modules, and content items are all created in an unpublished state to support the instructor's development process. It's an extra layer of privacy allowing you to ensure quality and accuracy before going live to your audience. The Student View button is an excellent way to ensure students can see your content.
Build Before Publishing
Times are completing your entire course before publishing it can be unrealistic. We recommend using the skeleton approach when you are pressed for time. Building out the bare bones to create a clear structure and then coming back to fill in the details is less confusing for students. Add the title and a simple "details coming soon" message. There are three levels of publishing to consider.
Level 1: Course Publish
Course publish is the go-live button for the entire course. It's the lock on your front door keeping everyone out.
Level 2: Module Publish
Modules allow you to create structure in your course. Using them causes Next and Previous buttons to appear on each item, effectively forming students a linear pathway through all of your content. If the Module isn't published, students can't see it or any items that are inside of it.
Level 3: Item Publish
Items include any content you have created with Canvas features or documents uploaded in your course. Every item has a publish option. This is a great feature to help you keep track of your progress. We recommend you publish as you work. Just like Modules, items can't be seen by students unless they're published. Also note, that an item that is published but placed inside a Module that isn't published won't be visible to your students.
Participation Dates: Term, Course, Section
Publishing is the key to unlocking your course, modules, and items, but Participation Dates are just as powerful in managing access to your Canvas course. Just like there are three levels of publishing, there are also three levels of participation dates.
Term Dates
Term dates are a default setting that comes with your course based on select terms defined by the Office of the Registrar. Instructors can change the Term dates to meet their needs. To confirm if the Term dates are acceptable:
- Open your Canvas Course
- Navigate to Settings.
- Check the Participation Start and End dates.
Course Dates
To change the Term dates:
- In your course Settings, select Course from the Participation drop-down menu.
- Enter your preferred Start and End dates/times.
- Do not leave the dates empty. The system needs these dates to stop student participation and correctly categorize past enrollments.
- Decide if you want to restrict students from viewing and check the boxes if you do.
- Scroll down and click Update Course Details to save.
Section Dates
If you teach a cross-listed course that contains multiple sections, instructors can manage differentiated participation dates. For example, if you teach a section that meets on Mondays and it's cross-listed with a section that meets on Tuesdays, you can set different Section dates for each section. We recommend watching the training video's chapter on section dates to see how it's done:
- In your course Settings, select the Sections tab.
- Click the name of the section to open it.
- Click Edit Section.
- Enter your preferred Starts and Ends dates/times.
- Decide if you want to restrict students from participating outside the dates and check the box if you do.
- Click Update Section to save.
Video Guide
Direct link: Manage Canvas Course Access.mp4
Manage Canvas Course Access FAQ
Does View as Student work for external tools?
No. Student View is unable to connect the test student to any external tools that work with Canvas, including textbooks, OneDrive, Teams, etc. View as Student can only display native Canvas features.
Can I change the Term dates?
Term dates are set by Banner according to the Office of the Registrar and can't be changed. However, instructors can switch from Term to Course dates to make adjustments for their needs.
What happens after the participation date passes?
The course enters a read-only state and participation is no longer allowed.
- Instructors are no longer able to post info, add colleagues, grade, or facilitate the course when a course is read-only, but they can still copy their content for an upcoming term.
- Students are no longer able to add to discussions, submit work, take quizzes, or interact with the course to accomplish tasks when a course is read-only. The ability of students to access a course for viewing is up to the instructor and is controlled by selecting the restriction options in the course Settings.
