<p>Instructors invite observers to join their courses. By default, when you are added to a course, you will be able to view the course without having to accept a course invitation. </p> <p><strong>Note:</strong> If you do not receive an invitation to join the course, please contact the instructor.</p>

<p>Parents can sign up as an observer in Canvas. Observers can link their Canvas account to their student's account so they can see assignment dues dates, announcements, and other course content. Observers can view the course content but cannot participate in the course.</p> <p>This lesson is for parents who do not have a Canvas account and want to observe their students in their courses. </p> <p>If you already have an account from your student's institution, log in to Canvas using the credentials given to you. </p> <p><strong>Notes: </strong></p> <ul><li>If the registration banner is not available in the login page, the institution has not enabled this feature. Please contact your student's institution for assistance. The registration banner is enabled through Canvas authentication.</li> <li>To observe a student, you must know the student's Canvas username and password. </li> <li>The student must be enrolled in the course and must accept the course invitation before you can sign up to observe the student. If you receive an <em>invalid username or password </em>message during the signup process and the student's credentials are correct, check with the student to verify that he or she has received and accepted the course invitation.</li> <li>Once you have an account, you may be able to view student information through the Canvas Parent app. Access to the Canvas Parent app is controlled by the student's institution. If you already have an account from your student's institution as an observer, you can always view student information through the Canvas Parent app.</li> </ul>

<p><span style="color: rgb(38,38,38)">You can set notification preferences in the Canvas app to receive updates about your Canvas courses. Selected updates are push notifications, meaning notifications are sent to you even if you have not opened the Canvas app. You can choose to set notifications for specific contact methods, or you can set notifications for all devices. </span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(38,38,38)">Contact methods in the Canvas app are the same methods added to your Profile and User Settings in the browser version of Canvas.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(38,38,38)">The images in this lesson are shown for a phone display, but unless otherwise noted, tablet displays mirror the same steps.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(38,38,38)"><strong>Note:</strong></span><span style="color: rgb(38,38,38)"> </span>Because mobile notifications are currently limited, mobile preferences override preferences in the browser version of Canvas. Additionally, daily and weekly notifications are not currently available in the app.</p>