Canvas Calendar

Overview

The Canvas calendar consolidates everything you have to do for your classes. You can even create an appointment calendar to have students sign up for meetings with you. The calendar is found in your Canvas global navigation bar meaning it spans all of your courses thus not tied to any specific course, making it easy to manage in one place. 

Should I use the calendar?  Yes, if you want to . . . 

  • View and create activities in your course as well as events and personal reminders; you can also filter the calendar view to only see specific calendars
  • Quickly add Assignments to a blank course. Fill in the details of those Assignments later
  • Adjust the dates of Assignments that have been imported from previous terms. Canvas makes it easy to drag and drop events across multiple months
  • Schedule appointments with students using the Scheduler (optional feature)

 

Accessing the Calendar

When you login to Canvas, your calendar will show in the global navigation bar.

access.png

Image of calendar icon

  1. Select the calendar from your global navigation. This will show you all if your course calendars in one place. 

 

Video Overview

Official Canvas calendar overview video 

 

Overview of the Interface

The calendar automatically syncs with Assignments, graded discussions,  and quizzes, so if you create, change, or delete the due date of an Assignment on the Calendar, it will show up in all the others and vice versa. 

interface.png

Image of the calendar interface

  1. Choose how you want to view the calendar: by week, month, or agenda (list view). The plus(+) button allows you to add items into the calendar (more on that later).
  2. This calendar is in monthly view (default). The different colors refer to the different calendars that are displaying. The symbols (same as in gradebook) represent the type of item it is. 
  3. This sidebar shows a quick-view calendar:
    1. lists out all of your calendars (note the first one is your name, this is your personal calendar). From the list of calendars, any that are gray are not showing, but any calendar with a color next to it are the ones being displayed. You can click on the box next to the calendar name to show that calendar. You can change the colors by clicking the 3-dot icon next to the calendar name.
    2. Lists, any undated assignments will show under the undated section of the sidebar as well.
  4. You can export your calendar to other calendar apps by clicking the link, copying it, and pasting it into an app (more details later).

 

Sidebar Overview

A closer look at the sidebar.

calendars.png

Image of calendar sidebar

  1. Colored boxes indicate the calendar is actively showing in the interface.
  2. Calendars that are not active within the calendar view display as faded text.
  3. The three-dot icon allows you to change the color for that calendar

 

Calendar Feed

You can export your calendar into other apps such as Google Calendar, Outlook, iCal) using an iCal link.

feed-1.png

Image of calendar feed link

The calendar feed is located under your calendar sidebar in the lower right corner of your calendar page.

  1. Select this link. A link will populate. From there, you can paste the link into other apps

 

Adding to the Calendar

Anytime you create an assignment, graded discussion, graded quiz, they will populate on your calendar and will be able to view them. There are two ways to add items directly into your calendar.

  1. You can create new items by clicking on the respective date. You can create an event, assignment shell, an item for your 'to do' list or create an appointment group. 
  2. Alternatively, you can click on the '+' button located on the top of the calendar (see image below). You will get the same prompt to create an assignment shell, to-do item, or appointment group.
    • adding.png

                   Image of adding items

A pop up will appear that will prompt you to fill out details. From here, you can add an event, assignment shell, to-do, or create an appointment scheduler.

The below sections will review how to create different types of calendar items.

Adding an Event

You can add an event to your calendar. Maybe you are having a guest speaker, or another event, you can add them to the desired calendar.

event-1.png

Image of creating an event

  1. Select the desired type of item you want to add (event, assignment shell, to-do, or appointment scheduler)
  2. For the event option, enter a title, date, time, and location
  3. Next, specify which calendar you want to add it to
  4. Select more options to open up a rich content editor to add more detail
  5. Then select submit

 

Adding an Assignment

You can create an assignment shell from your calendar which essentially creates an assignment placeholder until assignment details are added. 

assignment.png

Image of adding an assignment to calendar

  1. Select assignment from the event types
  2. Enter a title
  3. Enter a due date
  4. Choose which calendar you want to add it to
  5. Select which assignment group (if using) you want the assignment to go into
  6. Publish the assignment
  7. Enter assignment details (opens up assignment editor)
  8. Submit

 

Creating a Scheduler Appointment Calendar

You can add appointment time slots for students to sign up for. Appointment groups create a block of time where students can meet with you. Students can sign up for appointment times in their own calendars.

First, make sure you are in your calendar and click on the desired date OR click the '+' button to open up the options.

 

Play media comment.

Video on creating an appointment calendar

 

Best Practices

  • Use the syncing feature to sync your calendar to Google or Outlook
  • If you want to have discussions appear in the calendar, know that only graded discussions appear in the calendar
  • Use color coding of calendars to keep organized
  • Use the to-do feature to leave your own reminders (no one else sees these)
  • Use the syllabus tool in Canvas as it will connect with the calendar just like assignments do
  • Use the calendar to highlight events outside of course but related
  • Use the appointment feature to have students sign up for office hours or individual meetings with you

 

Additional Resources