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   Using Canvas

  • Help with your gradebook
  • Add a teaching assistant
  • Plagiarism checking on assignments

more Canvas resources ...

  Using Media

  • Install Kaltura Capture
  • Share media in Canvas
  • Upload media

more Media resources ...

  Using Student Response

  • Poll Everywhere Overview
  • Poll Everywhere FAQ

more Student Response resources...

New to OSU or Teaching?

  • Get Started Guides for Tools
  • Center for Teaching and Learning
  • Employee Training in Bridge

Training Opportunities

  • Learn@OregonState Webinars
  • Canvas Academy
  • Faculty Development Resources

Contact Us!

Other Tools in Canvas

  • Publisher Tools
  • Gradescope
  • Turnitin

other tool resources ...

News + Updates

  Summer 2025 Updates - see what's new in Canvas, Perusall, Poll Everywhere, and more

 

Calendar of Events

...more Calendar events

Issues, Outages and Updates

  • Current and Past Issues
    • Canvas Status
    • Kaltura Status
  • Canvas Changes and Updates
  • Top Hat Changes and Updates
  • Kaltura Changes and Updates

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to use Turnitin?
Turnitin originality reports are especially effective in helping students diagnose problematic passages in their own papers and in helping guide revision of early drafts. By providing clearly marked reports that identify passages that match other sources, originality reports guide students through a careful step by step analysis of their own work.
What is the best way to use Turnitin?
Top Hat: What is the best way for students to create their account?

Creating an account through the Top Hat course menu item in Canvas is the preferred method for students to create and access their Top Hat account. If your instructor is using Top Hat and does not have a Top Hat menu item in their Canvas course, let us know at classroom.response@oregonstate.edu and we can reach out to the faculty member.

  1. Navigate to the OSU Beaver Store to purchase your Top Hat subscription code and choose a 1-term or 1-year subscription. 
  2. Go to one of your Canvas courses that is using Top Hat, click on Top Hat in the course menu on the left.
  3. Click on Sign up to create a Top Hat account. Make sure to use your OSU ONID email when creating your Top Hat account. 
  4. Agree with the Terms and Conditions and click Next to proceed.
  5. Click Continue to and enter the subscription code you purchased previously at the OSU Beaver Store (see step #1 above).
  6. Complete the purchase and click on Go to my Lobby to see any Top Hat course(s) in which you are a student.

NOTE:  It is very important that students register their Top Hat account using their OSU ONID email address. Creating a Top Hat account using a non-ONID email will prevent student Top Hat scores from synchronizing with their grades in Canvas. Using the steps above will automatically link your Top Hat account to your ONID email address, as long as you have not changed your default email in Canvas. If you used a non-ONID email address for your Top Hat account, use these instructions to change your Top Hat account setting.

Top Hat: What is the best way for students to create their account?
What is Gradescope?

Gradescope is a suite of tools designed to make grading more consistent, fair, and efficient. Teams can grade scanned exams asynchronously, with or without rubrics; an instructor can grade the same question in all exams (and modify grades for multiple exams simultaneously); a faculty member may review all grading by a single TA and quickly make adjustments; graders can re-use comments/feedback in multiple exams (or modify for individual students). Gradescope also allows instructors to incorporate auto-graded bubble-sheet questions in their exams and assignments; the analytics provide both summary statistics and detailed item analysis.

Read the article Use Gradescope in a Canvas course on oregonstate.teamdynamix.com

What is Gradescope?
Can I enter assignment grades in Turnitin, and if so, do they appear in the Canvas gradebook?

A. Yes, although not with a mobile device at this time. 

Can I enter assignment grades in Turnitin, and if so, do they appear in the Canvas gradebook?
Can I download my videos? Can I allow others to download my videos?

Yes and yes. Check out our articles below for instructions:

  • Download your own media files from MediaSpace or Canvas
  • Allow others to download your media files
Can I download my videos? Can I allow others to download my videos?
What is Accessibility Check?

Accessibility Check (also called UDOIT) is a tool for faculty to quickly identify and fix common accessibility issues in their Canvas course content.  This tool is not visible to students in Canvas. A few of the accessibility issues that the tool will detect include missing alternative text for images, poor color contrast, and missing descriptive link text.

Read the article Accessibility Check in Canvas on oregonstate.teamdynamix.com

What is Accessibility Check?
Why did OSU select Canvas?

From 2012-2014 OSU investigated our options and needs for instructional innovation and technology. Over the course of our campus-wide inquiry, Canvas was preferred by students and instructors alike as the system and technology partner that is in the best position to help us meet our goals. Learn more about the decision for Canvas at OSU.

Why did OSU select Canvas?
Top Hat: How can an instructor preview Top Hat questions as a student?

Instructors can use the preview question feature to confirm a question is formatted correctly. Please read details in the article: Educator: Previewing questions. 

Top Hat: How can an instructor preview Top Hat questions as a student?
Top Hat: Can I edit slides within Top Hat?

Yes, it is possible to edit slides within Top Hat!  Top Hat partners with Microsoft to allow for easy slide editing. Plesae see details in the article Educator: Slide Management

 

Top Hat: Can I edit slides within Top Hat?
Can I contact students through Canvas based on their current grade in the course??

Yes, Canvas has built a Canvas Analytics tool that will allow an instructor to message students based on their current course grade. Be certain that you have entered zeros for any missing work and posted scores for any assignments that have been completed. This ensures that the current grade for the course is most accurate.

Read the article How do I send a message to all students based on specific course criteria in New Analytics?

Can I contact students through Canvas based on their current grade in the course??
Top Hat: Is it possible to prevent students from responding to questions outside of class?

It is possible to determine if a student is physically located within the classroom for attendance purposes with Top Hat, but it is not possible to completely prevent students from responding to questions asked in class with Top Hat.  However, Top Hat does have two features that will help to minimize students' ability to respond remotely.

Method 1: Secure Attendance

Top Hat offers a feature called Secure Attendance which enables a faculty member to determine who is physically located in the classroom when using the Attendance feature of Top Hat. Faculty have the option of using geolocation only or geolocation and proximity to determine student attendance. Secure Attendance does NOT prevent students from responding remotely to questions asked in class.

Method 2: Minimize Remote Responses to Questions

To minimize the ability of students to respond remotely to questions asked in the classroom, faculty can enable the option to prevent students from seeing question details on their mobile devices. To enable this feature:

  • From within Top Hat, click your name in the top right corner.
  • Select Course Settings 
  • Select Advanced Options
  • Check the box next to the option "Students cannot view the details of a presented question, they can only see the response options (students will need to see the question projected on a screen)"
  • Click Save Changes
Top Hat: Is it possible to prevent students from responding to questions outside of class?
Can I request my own Canvas studio site?

Yes, any person with ONID credentials can request a studio site.

Read the article Request a Canvas studio site on oregonstate.teamdynamix.com

Can I request my own Canvas studio site?
How can I change which email I receive my Canvas notifications?

Each Canvas user at Oregon State has their ONID email address set as their default Canvas email address. Your ONID email address is created from your ONID username, i.e. ONIDusername@oregonstate.edu. The ONID email address cannot be removed from Canvas, however it is possible to add other email addresses to Canvas and turn off or adjust settings to prevent or minimize Canvas notifications to your ONID email address. If you are a faculty or staff employee at Oregon State, we highly recommend that you add your employee email address (e.g. firstname.lastname@oregonstate.edu) to Canvas.

Adding Alternative Email Addresses to Canvas

  1. Click the Account button in the top left corner of the main Canvas menu
  2. Click Settings from the fly-out menu that appears
  3. Click + Email Address in the menu on the right side of the account settings page
  4. Enter your alternative email address into the Email Address field
  5. Click Register Email. A pop-out notification should appear directing you to check your alternative email inbox.
  6. Open your alternative email inbox and locate the confirmation email from notifications@instructure.com
  7. Open the email and click the link within the email with the text "Click here to confirm this registration"
  8. Return to your Canvas account settings page and verify that your email address text color has changed from orange to black - this indicates your email address has been confirmed

Adjusting Which Email Receives Canvas Notifications

  1. Click the Account button in the top left corner of the main Canvas menu
  2. Click Notifications from the fly-out menu that appears
  3. Adjust the frequency of notifications being sent to each confirmed email address in your Canvas account
    • Turn notifications off for any email address that you do not want to receive notifications.
    • Review additional information on Canvas notifications
How can I change which email I receive my Canvas notifications?
Is my Canvas course ready?

Before you publish your Canvas course site, read the article Canvas Course Checklist on oregonstate.teamdynamix.com to make sure your site is ready to go.

If you are not sure what a Canvas course could look like, check out the example Canvas course templates below, and learn how to import the templates.

  • OSU basic course template
  • OSU hybrid course template
Is my Canvas course ready?
Can I view grade information and Last Date of Activity (LDA) for students who have withdrawn from my course?

Yes, students who have withdrawn from your course will appear as 'inactive' students in your Canvas course. Faculty can toggle the view of grades for inactive or concluded students in Canvas Grades.

Can I view grade information and Last Date of Activity (LDA) for students who have withdrawn from my course?

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