Canvas

Canvas is COTC’s learning management system, used by instructors and staff to create and share course materials.

This instructional guide includes recommendations to help you log in and navigate your courses. In many cases, this guide contains links to more detailed articles about the various tools in Canvas.

Before Getting Started

Familiarize yourself with the components that make up Canvas

Canvas(link is external) is used by instructors and staff to create and share materials. To log in, navigate to cotc.instructure.com(link is external). View the Getting Started Guide(link is external) for help using CarmenCanvas.

Once your account is set up, take a minute to familiarize yourself with the Canvas user interface. The lessons below will show you how to navigate Canvas and use a few of the tools that link across all your courses.

Within a Canvas course, you can submit assignments, participate in discussions, view grades, and collaborate with other students. What is available in your course will depend on what has been implemented by your instructor. View the lessons below for some of the basics of Canvas courses.

Canvas also has a free mobile app available for iOS and Android that is specifically tailored to students. View information about the Student app below.

1. Log in and Navigate Your Courses

To get started, log into the Canvas landing page. Once your instructor has published the course, click the course title link from the My Courses list to enter it. There is also a shortcut directly to the Canvas dashboard in the right-hand sidebar of the landing page. Learn more about navigating the Canvas landing page and your course homepage.

Don’t see your course? See our frequently asked questions for more information on why you may not be seeing your course.

2. Customize Canvas

Personalize your Canvas experience by updating your user settings, notification preferences, and course list

Carmen profile and user settings let you control your personal information in CarmenCanvas including: 

Instructors might message you directly or make an announcement to your whole class in Canvas. You can decide how you receive notifications for each type of course activity. You can choose email, SMS or push notifications as well as the frequency for these notifications. We recommend setting your preferences so you receive email notifications of all Canvas announcements, grades, and assignment updates.

Update your favorite courses in Canvas so only your current courses appear in your course list on the Canvas dashboard and mobile apps. You can also create nicknames to shorten the course title, which will then appear throughout Canvas.

3. Explore Your Courses

Each Canvas course you take will look different based on which tools your instructors use to organize the course content. They may use Pages, Files, external content, and Modules; or, most likely, a combination of each. Learn more about navigating your course content.

See the following instructional guides for common questions about participating in a Canvas course.

For additional information, see the complete Canvas Student Guide.

Help with Canvas

Contact the Newark Helpdesk for additional support with Canvas questions or issues.

For general technical assistance, including email or password issues please contact the IT Service Desk.

You can contact the IT Service Desk 24/7 via phone, email and online Self Service.