Canvas Resources Links

Canvas is a Learning Management Platform (LMS) used to host course content for traditional, online, and hybrid courses. The links below provide helpful guides and videos for setting up and managing your Canvas courses. They’re organized into sections so you can quickly find the resources most relevant to your needs.

Setting up Canvas Before the Semester Begins

  • Getting Started with Canvas. —Video Guide
    • A checklist for Mercer instructors.
  • How to Merge/Cross-list sections. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to merge/cross-list sections of courses in Canvas.
    • Click this link to get to a form to complete if you want us to merge/cross-list your course sections.
  • Copying a Course into a New Course. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to copy a Canvas course into a new course. It’s good for when you want to use course content from a previous course that you’ve taught.
  • Copying Course Content into a New Course. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to import course content. It’s good for when you don’t want to copy an entire course but do want to copy items from one course to another.
  • Weighted Grading. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to use weighted grading categories in Canvas.

Quizzes–Special Topics

  • Improving Quiz Security — Text Guide | Video Guide
    • Explains how to use the detect multiple sessions and IP addresses feature in New Quizzes.
  • Giving Students Extra Time — Video Guide
    • Explains how to add additional time for a student in the Classic Quiz tool settings.

TurnItIn

  • Understanding TurnItIn reports — Video Guide
    • Explains how to understand TurnItIn reports to detect plagiarism.

Setting Up Your Courses–appearance, navigation, etc.

  • Course Navigation. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to set up your Canvas course navigation page which is a menu on the left side of the course interface that provides links to different sections and tools within the course.
  • Customize the Home Page. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to customize your Canvas course home page–the first page users see when they enter your course.
  • Course Settings. —Video Guide
    • Explains what course settings are and explains how to set and use your course settings.
  • Rich Content Editor. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to use the Rich Content Editor in Canvas. You can use the RCE to add and format text and other content in Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, Quizzes, and the Syllabus.

Quizzes–General Help

  • Migrating Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes—Text guide | Video Guide.
    • Gives two options for migrating your Classic Quizzes to the New Quizzes format. The Classic Quizzes will be no longer available to use spring semester 2026, so it is a good idea to go ahead and migrate them into the New Quiz format.
  • New Quizzes. —Video Guide
    • Explains what are New Quizzes are.
  • Using New Quizzes. —Text Guide
    • This link takes you to a page with links to Canvas Guides to using New Quizzes.
  • Adding quizzes to assignment groups. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to add a quiz to your assignment groups.

Using Respondus Lockdown Browser

  • Applying the Lockdown Browser. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to apply the Respondus Lockdown Browser in Canvas.
  • Using New Quizzes with the Lockdown Browser. —Video Guide
    • Explains the New Quiz tool and using it with the Respondus Lockdown Browser.

Other Canvas Help Topics

  • Canvas Gradebook. —Video Guide
    • Gives an overview of the Canvas Gradebook.
  • Speedgrader —Video Guide
    • Explains how to use Canvas Speedgrader.
  • Missing Grades. —Video Guide
    • Explains what to do when you have missing grades when you’ve assigned subsequent student work.
  • Messaging Students from an Assignment. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to message students from a gradebook assignment.
  • Quizzes in Assignment Groups. —Video Guide
    • Explains how to use quizzes in assignment groups.
  • Canvas Help Video Guides.  —Video Guide
    • This collection is a complete list of all Canvas video guides for students and faculty.
  • Canvas Instructor Guides.  —Text Guide
    • This index is a searchable list of quick guides to Canvas tasks for instructors.
  • Canvas Student Guides.  —Text Guide
    • This index is a searchable list of quick guides to Canvas tasks for students.