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Canvas uses some terms or labels which may be different from what you are used to. The glossary below provides you with definitions of common Canvas terms. We have resources for some of these terms that explain them further – click on any terms with an attached link to learn more.
| Term | Definition |
| Account | This refers to your user account in Canvas, which houses your profile information, any private files, and your preferred global and notification settings. |
| Activity Stream | Activity Streams display all recent activity in Canvas. There are two types of Activity Streams in Canvas: Global (part of the Dashboard and recent activity for all courses) and Course (part of a Course Home page and shows recent activity for that course). |
| Announcements | The Announcements tool in a course site allows instructors to post announcements for all users in a Canvas Course. |
| Assignments | An Assignment can be any activity created by an instructor in a Canvas Course, such as graded Discussions, Quizzes, online submissions (e.g. files) and offline submission (e.g. in-class presentations). An assignment can be formative (submitted for no marks) or summative (submitted for marks). |
| Breadcrumbs | Breadcrumbs are the text trail at the top of a page in your Canvas Course which help you see where the page you are currently viewing is situated in the overall hierarchy. |
| Calendar | The Calendar tool can be used to show users events and assignments in their Canvas Courses and groups. |
| Canvas Community | The Canvas Community is a vibrant online community of Canvas users from all over the world. It houses the Canvas Guides (documentation on how to use Canvas), Canvas Feature Ideas (suggest or vote for new Canvas features) and online community groups (share practices with a global online community). |
| Chat | The Chat tool can be used for instant, real-time messaging between all users enrolled in a Canvas Course. |
| Comments Box | An interactive tool in Canvas, which allows you to add a discussion through the Rich Content Editor. Unlike Discussions in Canvas, this can not be marked in the Gradebook or assigned to specific groups. |
| Conversations | The Conversations tool can be used to communicate privately with an individual student, or a group of students, within Canvas. |
| Course Code | The course code refers to the subject ID or code for your subject. It is displayed at the top of the Course Navigation Menu and is part of course cards in your Dashboard. |
| Courses | Subject sites are known as Courses in Canvas. At UTS we refer to them as Canvas Courses. |
| Course Home Page | The Course Home Page is the first page that students see in a Canvas Course. It can be customised to display content based on an instructor’s preference. |
| Course Import Tool | The Course Import Tool allows content to be imported from existing Canvas courses and content packages from textbook publishers. |
| Course Navigation | Course Navigation is the menu displayed on the left side of a Canvas course site. It consists of navigation links to featured areas (designated or customised by the subject coordinator) within a Canvas Course. |
| Course Status | Course Status refers to the state of a Canvas course: Unpublished (all new Canvas course sites begin as unpublished sites), Published (the Canvas course site is available to students) and Concluded (the Canvas course has ended, and content is in a read-only format). |
| CSV File | A comma separated value (CSV) file is a type of file designed for importing and exporting data. You can create a CSV file in Excel or Google Sheets. |
| Dashboard | The Dashboard is a panel of content that acts as the Canvas default landing page. It shows all of your Canvas Course and groups, your recent activity, your to-do items, and for students, any upcoming assignments, and recent feedback. |
| Discussions | The Discussions tool allows you to facilitate an asynchronous conversation with all of your students or groups of students in your Canvas Course. You can mark/grade Discussions. |
| DocViewer | Canvas DocViewer is a document preview tool, for supported file types. You will commonly see it in SpeedGrader as it gives you the ability to annotate online assignment submissions in Canvas. Your students access DocViewer to view your feedback and comments on their submitted assignments. |
| Files | Canvas provides a file repository for each user, group, and course. Files can be public or private. |
| Global Navigation | Global Navigation is the menu that consistently appears everywhere in Canvas. It contains navigation links that direct users to frequently-used features in Canvas, such as Account, Calendar, Inbox. |
| Gradebook | The Gradebook stores information about student progress in Canvas. The Gradebook provides a collection of numerical or letter-grade assessments. Accessed via the Marks link in the course navigation. |
| Groups | The Group tool is used to organise your students into groups. You can set up student groups or allow students to self-enrol into groups. |
| Help | The Help feature is part of Global Navigation and allows users to get help with Canvas at any time. |
| Math Editor | The Math Editor is a Latex-compatible toolbar in the Rich Content Editor that makes it easy for users to write math expressions and equations. |
| Moderated Grading | Moderated Grading allows multiple reviewers to grade student submissions and create draft or provisional grades. |
| Modules | Modules is used to organise your content into structural components. For example, you can group your content by week, topic, or day. You can also set up Modules that require students to complete materials in a sequential order. |
| Notifications | Use Notifications to specify where and when you are notified about activity in Canvas. Notifications can be set at an account-level to apply to all Canvas Courses you’re enrolled in. You can also set notifications for an individual Canvas Course from each course home page. |
| Pages | Pages is used to create content in your Canvas Course. You can allow students to create and edit Pages. |
| People | People displays all users enrolled in a course. This is where you can add tutors to your Canvas Course. |
| Profile | You can edit your profile information via your Account. |
| Quizzes | Quizzes is an assessment tool for online tests available in your Canvas Course. |
| Rich Content Editor | The Rich Content Editor (RCE) is a content editor that supports the creation and formatting of content in Canvas. |
| Role | A role describes the permissions granted to a given user, e.g. Student, Teacher, Teaching Assistant. |
| Rubrics | A Rubric is an assessment tool for communicating expectations of quality. |
| Scheduler | The Scheduler tool can be used to create appointment groups within a Canvas Course or group. |
| Sections | Sections are divisions of students within a course. All sections within a Canvas Course view the same content. |
| Settings | Settings allow you to customise your Account or Course Navigation, add users, import content, and link to external tools. |
| SIS ID | A SIS ID is a unique identifier for an object in Canvas. In the majority of cases, SIS IDs in Canvas refers to staff or student ID. |
| Social Poll | An interactive tool in Canvas that allows polls to be set-up in the Rich Content Editor. |
| SpeedGrader | SpeedGrader is a grading tool that helps you mark/grade student work. You can assign a rubric, leave text, video, and audio comments for your students. |
| Student View | Activating the Student View mode generates a Test Student which you can use to preview your Canvas Course, test your assignments, quizzes, and discussion forums. |
| Syllabus | The Syllabus is a Canvas page that automatically outlines assignments and events, based on your set dates. |
| Term | A term refers to a UTS teaching session. |