What It Is:

The Dashboard is the first thing you will see when you log into Canvas.

The Dashboard helps you see what is happening in all your current courses.

You can return to your User Dashboard at any time by clicking the Dashboard link in the Global Navigation Menu on the far left side of the screen.

Why It's Awesome:

It's truly the place where you can start off your day in Canvas! Everything is at your fingertips from here. Things you'll see on your Dashboard include:

Course Cards: All current courses represented by tiles.
Global Announcements: Can be used for institution-wide communication.
To Do List: Students see a list of up to 25 items they need to do in their courses. Each is a quick link inside the course. Teachers' To Dos are items they need to grade. The number next to each is how many need to be graded. Teachers' To Dos are live links directly to the SpeedGrader.
Coming Up: Look ahead into your Canvas Calendar, showing events and assessments due today and going forward 7 days.

Ways You Can Make It More Awesome:

Give course nicknames: each course tile will show you the official name of the course. Nicknames will only be visible to the user and will help the user identify courses easier.
Change the color of your course card: click the three vertical dots (that's called a kabob selector!) and you'll see a pallet of colors. Whatever color you pick is just for you. Every user can customize his or her own tile colors. Colors are also reflected represent in the Calendar. (Need more colors? Check out color-hex to find just the right color for your course!)
Add an image to a course card: instructors can select an image that will display to all enrolled in that course. This change must happen in the Course Settings. A course image makes it very easy for students to pick out which course is yours!
Remove the Color Overlay: Super important if you're using images in your Course cards and you don't want it to look "hazy" because the color is overlaying it. Click the three vertical dots on your Dashboard and unselect "Color Overlay."

Wait - there's more! Explore these Canvas Guides for more info:

How do I use the Dashboard?

🔦 Screenshot of Dashboard

View Dashboard