Canvas for Students

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Overview
• Logging In
• Canvas Guides & Navigation
• Additional Support

Overview

Canvas is the learning management system (LMS) used by Penn LPS Online. 

All Penn LPS Online courses will have a site on the University of Pennsylvania's Canvas learning management system.  Canvas will be a key piece of your program experience. A Canvas course site usually includes the syllabus, weekly or topical modules, as well as important interaction and discussion opportunities with your peers, TA, and professor. 

Logging In

Navigate to https://canvas.upenn.edu, and log in with your Pennkey and Pennkey password. 

Important: You will not be able to log into Canvas without your Pennkey and password. Your Pennkey is all lowercase letters, e.g. bfranklin.

Pennkey Support is the only office on campus that can assist with changing a Pennkey password.

Canvas Guides & Navigation

Canvas has created a robust Student Guide to help with every area of the course you may have questions about. We have created two articles to help you get started. One is about setting up your Canvas Profile, and the second introduces the Canvas To Do list, the Canvas Calendar, and Canvas Notifications.

Additionally, to check grades, which may include comments from the instructor about specific discussions or assignments, please look in the Grades area of the course navigation. Some instructors chose to release grades immediately after the due date while others select to release them gradually. Please inquire with your instructor directly if you have questions about grading inside a course.

For a short introduction to navigating Canvas, please watch this video produced by Canvas, on the Global Navigation Menu that users can find on the left side of their screen:

00:07: How do I use the global navigation menu, as a student? 00:11: Have you your user information? Click the account link a menu will expand 00:15: in display links to access your user settings, notification settings, 00:19: personal files and e-portfolios. 00:22: If enabled if your institution has enabled profiles you 00:26: can access your profile. You can also use the account linked 00:31: to log out of canvas. 00:33: The dashboard is the landing page after you login to Canvas the 00:37: dashboard can be toggled to a course view list for you or recent activity, 00:41: View and shows notifications, for all current, canvas course, 00:46: To view your courses. Click the course, is link. 00:48: The course, is menu displays a list of your favorite courses. 00:51: Or if you haven't selected any favorite courses, the 00:56: menu displays current courses where you are enrolled, 01:00: For each course, you can view the course name turn details and 01:04: section enrollment details to view a course. 01:07: Click the course name link 01:10: To customize your courses list or view, all your canvas courses, click the 01:14: all courses link. 01:16: If you are enrolled in groups, view your groups in the group's link and 01:20: then you will expand and display all groups in current courses where you are enrolled. 01:26: To view a group. Click the name of the group to view, all your groups, 01:30: click, the all groups link. 01:33: To view your calendar. Click the calendar link. 01:36: To view your conversations inbox, click the inbox, link conversations 01:40: is the Candace messaging system where you can communicate with other users in your courses. 01:44: The number of new messages are shown as part of the inbox icon. 01:50: To view your recent canvas course, page view history, click the history, link 01:54: recent history, displays up to three weeks of your canvas course, page 01:58: view history. 02:00: To get help with canvas, click the help link Celexa help option 02:04: that is relevant to your needs. 02:07: To collapse the global navigation, then you click the arrow icon. 02:12: To expand the global navigation, then you click the arrow icon. 02:16: The global navigation menu will be automatically kill apps for tablet screens. 02:22: This guy covered how to use the global navigation than you as a student.

Additional Support

If you are having trouble with Canvas, please reach out to us at online-learning-help@sas.upenn.edu and we will be happy to assist!