How do I use the Syllabus as an instructor?
The Syllabus in Canvas makes it easy to communicate to your students exactly what will be required of them throughout the course in chronological order. You can also set the syllabus as your course home page.
Editing the Syllabus allows you to add text and link files, images, and other course content in your Syllabus Description. You can also choose to hide the Course Summary section.
You can choose to make your syllabus public so that people who aren't enrolled in your course can view more information about the course. A public syllabus can be viewed as part of a private course when you send a link to a student, or if the course is listed in the public course index.
Note: Image files do not have a preview option when added as a file link through the Rich Content Editor.
Open Syllabus
In Course Navigation, click the Syllabus link.
View Syllabus
The syllabus includes the syllabus description [1], the Course Summary [2], and the sidebar [3].
View Course Summary
The Course Summary is automatically generated for the course and contains a list of course assignments and course calendar events. Assignments are indicated by the Assignments icon [1], and events are indicated by the Calendar icon [2]. Non-graded items with a to-do date show the to-do date [3]. All assignments (unpublished and published) are listed in the syllabus for instructors, but students only see published assignments.
Items within the Course Summary can only be changed by editing or deleting the assignments or events.
Changes to dated items can be made in both the Assignments and Calendar features and will be automatically updated in the Syllabus.
Click the title to view the details of the assignment or event. Any assignments or events that are past the due date are highlighted in gray. Undated items are listed in alphabetical order [4].
The Course Summary is enabled by default, but you can edit the syllabus and hide the Course Summary.
If you have set a specific time zone in your User Settings, all course dates and times will display in your local time, but if you hover over the time, you can also see the course date and time.
View Sidebar
The sidebar section displays information about course events and grading. The assignment group information can be edited in the Assignments feature while the Calendar information can be edited in both the Assignments and Calendar features. Any changes made will be reflected in the Course Summary section of the Syllabus.
The sidebar includes a mini calendar [1]. Any date that includes an event or assignment due date are shown with a gray background. To view an associated assignment or event in Course Summary, click the calendar date.
If your course includes weighted assignment groups, the sidebar also shows the percentages of each group [2].
View Syllabus Description
The syllabus description is where you can post your course description, a brief introduction, class guidelines, weekly reminders, and other important information. You can copy content from Word documents directly into the Rich Content Editor or create original content inside of the Rich Content Editor.
You can also link to your Syllabus by uploading it into Course Files as a PDF and embedding the document in the Rich Content Editor. Canvas will automatically create a preview of your document so your students don't have to download it before reading it.
You can edit the syllabus description at any time.
Edit Syllabus
To edit the syllabus description or hide or show the Course Summary, click the Edit button.
Edit Description
Edit the syllabus description using the Rich Content Editor. You can:
- Post your course description, a brief introduction, class guidelines, weekly reminders, and other important information.
- Copy content from Word documents directly into the Rich Content Editor or create original content inside of the Rich Content Editor.
- Use the Rich Content Editor to embed videos and input HTML.
To embed a document in your syllabus, highlight the text where you want to apply the file link [1] and click the Documents Options arrow to select the file document [2]. In the Rich Content Editor, the text will turn blue noting the link is downloadable.
Note: To remove the document, click and highlight the text in the Rich Content Editor, and then press the Delete key (MAC) or the Backspace key (PC).
Hide Course Summary
To hide the Course Summary, uncheck the Show Course Summary checkbox.
Update Syllabus
When you are finished editing, click the Update Syllabus button.
View Student View
To view the syllabus as a student, click the View as Student button.
Note: If the course navigation link for the page is disabled and hidden from students, the View as Student button does not display.
