Use Canvas to access information, course materials, grades and assignments related to your courses.
Your Canvas account
Logging in
Use your university log in and password to log in to Canvas
Which browser should you use?
Chrome and other browsers, e.g., Firefox, Safari on Macintosh, are supported but Internet Explorer is not. For the best performance, use the latest version of a browser.
Canvas student app
You can download the Canvas Student app to your mobile device, via Google Play Services and the Apple app store.
Please note: Not all Canvas features are available on the Mobile app.
Canvas Navigation
The Canvas Navigation menu is located to the far left of your screen.
Your account
Use Account to view or edit your account information.
Profile
Your profile contains your Preferred Name and Canvas Avatar. You can create and upload your Avatar.
Files
You may have access to files (documents, images, media, etc.) in three different feature areas:
- User files, located in your personal user account. This includes assignment submissions and other files you upload. You have 50 MB of storage space in Canvas.
- Course files, located in each course where you are enrolled.
- Group files, located in each group where you are a member.
Your email address will be your student email address (username@aucklanduni.ac.nz).
Notifications
You can set up how, and when, you receive notifications via Canvas.
Your dashboard
The dashboard is your landing page in Canvas. Your Dashboard lists all active courses in which you are enrolled.
The following views are possible. To change your view click on the Options Menu.
- Card View (the default view) displays course cards for quick access to all your favorite courses.
- List View displays all course to-do items in an agenda view.
- Recent Activity View displays all recent activity for all courses.
Each course card lists announcements, assignments, discussion posts, and files. Anything new will have a number above it indicating how many types of that item there are.
Calendar
Use the Calendar to view course activities which includes assignment due dates, test and exam dates etc. You can also create your own calendar activities, and reminders.
Your courses
If you don’t have all courses displayed on the dashboard click on Courses and All Courses to show all current and past courses you enrolled in.
Click on the star to favourite the course, and add it to your Dashboard.
If you cannot see any courses on your dashboard, and you have verified that you are successfully enrolled in Student Services Online please contact our Student Support team.
View and understand your grades
Two ways to view your gradesThe Grades tab on the left menu of your Canvas courses displays all current grades for all course assessments. There are two ways to make sense of your grades depending on ticking/unticking the box on the right below the assignment weighting. See below to learn how ticking or unticking the box effects your displayed grade. |
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Ticking the box calculates your grades based only on the assessments that have been graded. We recommend ticking the box, so you will see zero for the ungraded assessments.
If you tick the box:
- You can see your score for each graded assessment (e.g., Assignment 1 30/50 means you got 30 out of 50 for Assignment 1).
- You can see a percentage which shows your weighted average for your assessments that have been graded so far.
You can see that there is no score in front of Assignment 2 because it has not been submitted and graded yet.
If you untick the box:
- You can see your score for each graded assessment (e.g., Assignment 1 30/50 means you got 30 out of 50 for Assignment 1).
- You can see where you stand so far if you don’t submit Assignment 2 and don’t sit the exam. For instance, the total percentage of 15% means if you submit no further assignments and take no exams, you will achieve D-.
This course requires the completion of two assignments, each offering a score out of 50, and sitting one exam, offering a score out of 100. So, if you don’t submit the second assignment and don’t sit the exam, you are left with a score of 30 out of a potential 200. Your total grade in the whole course if you don’t submit any more assignments and don’t sit the exam will be 15% (D-).
Course Navigation menu
Navigating within a course
The navigation menu to the immediate left of your course content shows all navigation links available for the course. Your lecturer can customize what course navigation links you see for a particular course.
Course navigation links may include:
- Announcements: All emails from your lecturer and GSM staff will be posted here.
- Syllabus: Course information overview.
- Modules: Course resources are organised by lecture week and topic.
- Reading Lists: Course readings if available.
- Assignments: Find a list of assignments and deadlines for the course.
- Discussions: Allowing both you, other students and lecturers to start and contribute to as many discussion topics as desired.
- Grades: Find your assessment grades here.
- Files: Use this space to store files.
Getting help
Help menu
- Click on Help from the canvas navigation menu to view a range of Help options.
If you face a technical issue with Canvas, live chat is available 24 / 7 with Canvas Support, via the Help button within your Canvas left-hand sidebar. If you are in New Zealand, you can also call the Canvas Support Hotline on 0800 005 205.
