Q. How do I get an account in Canvas?

A. All registered Oxford students and Oxford staff members should have an account in Canvas. Go to canvas.ox.ac.uk, click on 'Oxford User' and log in with your Oxford Single Sign-On (SSO) user name and password. If access is denied, then please email your name and SSO user name to canvas@it.ox.ac.uk with an explanation of what the problem or error message is. The error may be to do with 'multi-factor authentication' (receiving a code or call to enter before access is granted). If you think that is the problem, then please call IT Help at (01865) 612345 or email help@it.ox.ac.uk.

**Q. How do I request Canvas access for a non-SSO staff or student, i.e. an external user?**

A. The request should go through your Local Canvas Co-ordinator (LCC) or Unit Admin, to verify the request is legitimate. If so, they can use the Manage External Users tool to create the external account in Canvas. If no LCC/Unit Admin exists, then email canvas@it.ox.ac.uk . Please provide the last name, first name, email address of the required non-SSO account holder, and the period of time for which they will require a Canvas account.

Q. Is it possible to add multiple external user accounts (non-SSO accounts) in Canvas?

A. You can add multiple external accounts by pasting in multiple values from an Excel sheet with three corresponding columns (First Name; Last Name; Email). To do this, check that the cursor is in the top left box and then paste (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V) your copied Excel data.
As soon as you have entered data in one row, new rows will be added automatically, up to a limit of 50. If you need to create more than 50 external accounts, it is necessary to do them 50 at a time. Please note that any data beyond 50 rows will be ignored, if you paste in data that takes you over the 50-row limit.

Q. When do applicants get access to materials in Canvas?

A. We have recently changed how applicant accounts are managed in Canvas, to ensure no leaks of data to potential students. Now offer holders will get access to Canvas only if their offer has been confirmed (after they have met and satisfied all necessary conditions) and they have accepted their offer.

Early access to courses:

If you want to new students to access Canvas before they have accepted their offer, you can do this by using the Manage External Users tool to create external accounts them.
If your department has a case where applicants who are currently in the process need early access to Canvas, please provide a list of their names and email addresses to canvas@it.ox.ac.uk for a discussion with our technical team.

Q. Is it possible to create a test account in Canvas for me to try things out as a student?

A. Although the option View as Student in any Canvas course enables you to see what students see, this may not always provide the full student experience (e.g. using some of the 'plugin' tools that are integrated in Canvas). If you wish to truly see what a student would be able to see and do in your course, you may request the creation of an 'alias' Canvas account. You may also wish to test what a student sees across a range of courses for a particular programme – so you might have an alias user who you enrol in all the courses for their programme, so you can see what the Dashboard, calendar, etc look like for students. You may also want to see what other roles (TA, Grader, Observer, etc) can do in a course.

An alias account is an external account with an email address in the form abcd1234+user@canvas-alias.it.ox.ac.uk, where abcd1234 is your single signon (SSO) user name. Such an account satisfies data security requirements, in that it is connected to you as a real user. It has the added advantages of being dependent on the individual actually having an Oxford SSO (which is subject to all the inherent security regulations); and it will be deleted when the associated user leaves the University (i.e. their SSO account expires).

As with any other electronic account, be sure never to share the password for this account with any of your colleagues.

To request a Canvas alias account, please email canvas@it.ox.ac.uk stating your first name, last name, SSO username, actual email address and for how long the alias account will be required. Please be sure to specify that it is an alias account that you require, to serve as a student test account. Once this account has been created, you would log in to canvas using the 'Other Users' option on the Canvas login page.

Note: All email/notifications for this alias test account will be sent to the University email account of the associated SSO user (e.g. abcd1234.)

If you are an admin with LCC or Unit Admin level access in Canvas and would like to have an alias account, you can create one for yourself using 'Manage External Users' tool.

Q. Why is my Canvas alias (test) account being merged with my Oxford Single Signon account?

A. For data security and reference purposes, staff alias accounts are linked (behind the scenes) to your Oxford Single Signon (SSO) account. Therefore, if you wish to use your alias account as an independent test account (e.g. to try things out as a student in a Canvas course), be sure to log into that account in a different browser or incognito window (so that it doesn't default to your SSO if you are already logged into Canvas with your SSO).

Further, don't click on the access link in the email invite that is sent to your SSO email account, since that will default to your Canvas SSO account.

Q. How do I get access to a course in Canvas I need to see, but it is not under my 'Courses' or 'Admin' in the left-hand menu?

A. Contact your Local Canvas Coordinator (LCC) or Unit Administrator.

Q. I accidentally deleted my LCC/Unit Admin access; whom should I contact?

A. In the first instance, contact your alternate Unit Admin or LCC. Their higher level Canvas access will allow them to re-assign you the required sub-account role. It is for situations such as this that we strongly recommend there be at least two people assigned with Unit Admin/LCC access in Canvas. If contacting a secondary Unit Admin/LCC fails, please email canvas@it.ox.ac.uk.

Q. Will departmental and college administrators be able to do the same sort of things in Canvas as academics?

A. Canvas offers various roles, at both sub-account and course levels. Each role has an associated set of permissions.

In terms of course roles, Teachers may create and modify course content, view course analytics and student data, and access and manage all areas of a Canvas course. Departmental and college administrators can be given the Course Administrator role in order to perform the same functions within a course. There can be multiple teachers and course administrators in a single Canvas course.

Course roles include Teacher, Teaching Assistant (various types), Course Administrator, Student, Observer.
Sub-account roles include Local Canvas Coordinator, Unit Admin, Assistant Unit Admin, Auditor, Librarian. Sub-account roles should be assignmed judiciously, since they allow users to access all courses within the departmental sub-account (without being enrolled directly on courses).

Read more in our Canvas@Oxford guides: Roles and permissions