Faculty: How to Use Canvas

Canvas is Yale’s Learning Management System (LMS). This platform allows instructors to organize a course online. Canvas includes several features to facilitate online communication between instructors and students.

Get Started in Canvas

Canvas has a course site for all courses listed in Banner (even if an instructor has never logged in). The first step is to log into Canvas @ Yale. Click on the “Dashboard” icon on the left (pictured below, labeled 1) to see all of your course sites. 

Check out our Quick Start Guide for Instructors resource for more details.

Posting a Syllabus in Canvas

The syllabus is a foundational document and a critical piece of communication between instructors and students that warrants thoughtful design. As the syllabus is often the first form of interaction that instructors have with their students, it plays a significant role in engaging students and motivating learning (Harnish et al. 2011).

The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning encourages all faculty enacting an academic continuity plan to add your syllabus to your Canvas course site. Consistent access to this information will ensure all students have a foundation for an effective learning experience.

For more information, please review our step-by-step guide for Posting Your Syllabus in Canvas or watch the video below.

Publishing a Canvas Course

You must publish your course or students will not be able to access it. This step is one click of a button. Please watch this short video to see how to publish your course, or check out our short Publishing and Unpublishing Your Course resource.

Information For Students

Students with questions about Canvas should consult our Canvas Student Guides, as well as our Academic Continuity How-To Guides for Students.

Watch a recording of the Poorvu Center workshop: Teaching Online with Canvas and Zoom