Online Education for Students: Customization

Did you know that you can customize Canvas? 

• Notification preferences. Note that these settings apply to all of your courses (you can't change settings for individual courses). You can even get text notifications for announcements and grading notifications. 

• Customize your courses list: show only the courses you want to see, choose favorite courses, and view past enrollments

• Dashboard display: show a card view, list view, or recent activity. You can also change the color overlay! 

• Account settings: choose your preferred name and pronouns, your language, time zone, and more. 

• Change the color of a specific course by clicking the card settings button (three dots), selecting a new color, and hit apply settings. You can also change the nickname of the course, and move the course to a different place in the list (move tab). 

Your user settings allow you to add additional emails, add a mobile number, connect to your Google Drive account, and customize the frequency of your course notifications. 

For more information or help, read "How do I set my notification preferences?" You may also check out the video below:

102 - Notification Preferences from Instructure Canvas Community on Vimeo.

Your profile picture will be associated with your Canvas account. It is very helpful to have a profile picture so your classmates and instructor can connect a name with a face, and you can get to know each other. 

To add a profile picture, click Account and then click Settings. Next to your name, click the grey placeholder profile picture icon to access the dialogue box.

There are three ways you can select a profile picture to use:

• Upload a picture from your computer
• Take a picture using your computer's camera (not supported when using Safari or Internet Explorer)
• Import a picture from an existing Gravatar account

To upload a new Profile picture, click the Upload a Picture tab, then click the Choose a Picture link. You can also drag a picture form your desktop and drop it into the uploader. Canvas will automatically store a copy of the save profile picture in your personal files. When a new picture is saved in your profile, the new picture will override the existing picture file in your personal files.  You can also update your profile information to share your bio, links, and social media accounts. 

Additional Resources 

• How do I add a Profile Picture?

• How do I edit my profile?