The course home page is the first thing shown when accessing a course in Canvas. The content of this page can be customized by the instructor. The default for this page is the Communication Stream, but other options (Front Page - shown below, Course Modules, Assignments List, or Syllabus) might be better for you and your students. In most cases the recommended Home page layout is the Course Modules.
The parts of the Home page include:
1. Course Navigation links - Instructors customize which links are shown in a course.
2. Content Area - Instructors customize what is in this area, but normally it is the Course Modules.
3. Sidebar - Shows course tools for managing your course, "To Do" list (what needs grading), and Coming up (Assignments that are coming up).
Collapsing the Course Navigation Menu
Course Navigation Menu Expanded and Collapsed View
Expanded View
Collapsed View
To collapse or expand the Course Navigation Menu click on the menu icon .
Course Navigation Links
Course Navigation is a series of links on the left side of your course that help you get to where you want to go inside of a Canvas course. Instructors have access a number of links (the Home link is a constant) and can reorder them and decide which links to make visible/invisible to students; students are never able to see Attendance, or Settings.
Course Navigation Link Menu
Below is basic information about each link. Additional information about the links will be provided later in the training.
Announcements - add and view all course announcements
Syllabus - list of all graded assignments as well as your course syllabus
Why Customize?
It's important to customize your links to make sure students are provided the best online environment possible. In general, Distance Learning and Instructional Technology recommends only making links visible that you are using in your course. In addition, it might be confusing to students if you leave the Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes links available, since students might go there instead of Modules and miss important course content and other information.
Recommended Customization
The best bet is to make as few of the links as possible visible to students because this cuts down on confusion and makes navigating your course easier.
In general, Online Learning recommends Instructors make the following links VISIBLE to students: Home (default), Modules, Syllabus, & Grades.Additional links that could be added to this includes: People, Announcements, and Attendance (if you plan on using them). Other links should only be added based on the use of those links in your course and/or the set-up of your course. To learn how to customize your links see the following guide - How do I reorder and hide Course Navigation links?Links to an external site.
Reminder!
After reviewing the information from each tab above click on the Next button to continue with the Orientation!