Course Navigation
If you are enrolled in a course as a student, the Course Home Page helps you navigate your course and manage your coursework.
Note: Your instructor may choose to display a different font for your course.
Open Course
In Global Navigation, click the Courses link, then click the name of the course.
View Course Navigation
The Course Home Page is viewed from the Course Navigation Home link. To expand or collapse the Course Navigation Menu, click the Menu icon.
Course Navigation includes links that help you and your students get to specific locations in the course. Instructors can customize what links are shown in a course, so if you don't see links that may display in other courses, your instructor has hidden those links from your view.
The active link of the page you are viewing is highlighted with different color text and a line indicator. This highlight helps you quickly identify the feature area you are currently viewing in Canvas.
You may also see course indicators that show updates to your course grades when your instructor grades your assignments.
View Content Area
Home Page content (and all Canvas content) is displayed in the content area.
The content can be a page, the syllabus, discussions, announcements, quizzes, or imported content [1]. The content can also show the Course Activity Stream, which is a list of all recent activity in the course. Your Home Page may also display recent announcements at the top of the page [2].
The Home Page content also defines what sections display in the sidebar.
View Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs appear above the course content area.
As you view course content, the breadcrumbs leave a trail to show where you are inside the course. You can follow these links backward to visit prior course content.
View Sidebar
The sidebar functions the same as the Dashboard sidebar but only shows content for the specific course and includes additional options.
If your Course Home Page displays a page other than the Course Activity Stream, you can view the course activity stream by clicking the sidebar View Course Stream button [1]. When the Home Page is set as the Course Activity Stream, this button will not appear.
If you have been added to a group in your course, the Course Group section [2] includes links to your course groups.
View Sidebar Sections
The sidebar always shows the To Do section [1], which shows all recent announcements and up to seven assignments that are due in the upcoming weeks, including ungraded quizzes and assignments that do not require a submission. Each item in the To Do list displays the assignment name, the number of points, and the due date for the assignment. Once the due date has passed, items remain in this section for four weeks.
The sidebar can also include a variety of other sections, depending on the layout your instructor sets for the Course Home Page. Additional sidebar options include the Assignment list, Calendar and Assignment Groups, and Recent Feedback.
Manage Sidebar Items
Each section item displays an icon [1] to differentiate between assignments and peer review assignments.
If a section contains more items than are listed, a link will appear under the list that you can use to view additional items [2].
The To Do section shows up to seven items with due dates in the upcoming weeks. To view more items, you must manually remove items from the list. To remove a To Do item, click the remove icon [3].
Note: Assignments submitted through Canvas disappear automatically from the To Do list; no-submission assignments (submitted on paper/in class) can only be removed from the list manually.
Open Course Activity
In the Home Page sidebar, click the View Course Stream button.
Note: If your Course Home Page is already set to view the course stream, the View Course Stream link does not appear in the course sidebar.
View Course Activity
The Course Activity Stream contains recent notifications in the course, including announcements, discussions, assignments, and conversations. This activity stream helps you see all recent activity in your course and easily ask questions and post to discussion forums. Unlike course cards on the Dashboard, the activity stream does not mimic visibility of Course Navigation links.
You can manage recent activity in a course the same way you can on the Dashboard. Activities are indicated by activity type and display an icon [1] for the activity. New activity in your account is indicated by a blue dot [2]. Discussions and Announcements indicate new activity items published in a course, and Conversations indicate a new message received from a user in a course. Recent Activity items remain for four weeks.
Note: To receive notifications for Discussions, you must actively post in the discussions at least once every two weeks. If you stop participating in a discussion after two weeks, Canvas will no longer display discussion notifications.
Expand and Collapse Notifications
You can view the details of each activity by hovering in the notification area and clicking the Show More link [1]. To collapse recent activity, click the Show Less link [2].
Manage Recent Activity
You can directly access your recent activities by clicking the activity link [1]. To remove a notification, click the remove icon [2].
In Course Navigation, click the Syllabus link.
View Syllabus
The syllabus includes the syllabus description [1], the syllabus table [2], and the sidebar [3].
View Syllabus Description
The syllabus description may contain the course description, a brief introduction, class guidelines, weekly reminders, and other important information from your instructor.
View Syllabus Table
The Syllabus is automatically generated for the course and contains a list of assignments and events. Assignments are indicated by the Assignments icon [1], and events are indicated by the Calendar icon [2]. Non-graded items with a to-do date show the to-do date in the syllabus [3].
Click the title to view the details of the assignment or event. Any assignments or events that are past the due date are highlighted in gray. Undated items [4] are listed in alphabetical order.
View Time Zones
If you have set a specific time zone in your User Settings, all course dates and times will display in your local time, but if you hover over the time, you can also see the course date and time.
View Sidebar
The sidebar section displays information about course events and grading. If your Syllabus is also set as your course home page, the sidebar may also include additional features.
The Syllabus sidebar includes a mini calendar [1]. Any date that includes an event or assignment due date are shown with a gray background. To view an associated assignment or event in the Syllabus table, click the calendar date.
If your course includes weighted assignment groups, the sidebar may also shows the percentages of each group [2].
Note: If you cannot view assignment group totals, your instructor has restricted this feature.
Drop a Self-Enroll Course
Drop this Course
In the sidebar, click the Drop this Course button.
Note: You can only drop a self-enrolled Canvas course while it is in progress (between the course start date and end date). Also, if you did not enroll in the course using the given URL or join code, meaning you were manually or automatically added to the course, you will have to ask your teacher or institution to be removed from the course.
Confirm Un-enrollment
Click the Drop this Course button to un-enroll from the course. You will no longer be able to see the course roster, communicate with people in the course, and see course events or notifications.