Module 3. Communicating in Canvas

Managing Students within the Course

Students are automatically enrolled into your Canvas courses based on your roster in BroncoDirect. As such, you likely won't need to add or drop students within Canvas.

For more information about student enrollment into Canvas courses, please see Enrollment Services or email canvas@cpp.edu.

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Within a class there are several tools related to user management: People, Groups, Collaborations, and Attendance.

On the People page you can see a list of enrolled students. You can perform actions including viewing your interactions with an individual student and see a student's user details and their activity within a course.

The Groups tool can also be found on the People page. Use Groups to divide a class into groups for projects or discussions. Group options include setting up groups automatically or manually, letting students self-enroll in groups, and assigning a student leader to a group.

The Collaborations tool can be combined with Groups to make a work space in Microsoft Office 365 (OneDrive), which allows students to work together in real-time on class projects. Note that usage of Collaborations requires that each collaborator log in using their Cal Poly Pomona email address, which they would connect to their Canvas login. Instructors can also create a Collaboration and invite specific students to participate.

Use the Attendance tool to track whether students attend class. Students cannot see the Attendance link if added to Course Navigation, though the tool does create a grade entry that gets updated in real-time as the instructor takes attendance. Simple attendance is typically more relevant for in-person or synchronous courses.

Canvas Guides

People Overview

Groups Overview

Collaborations Overview