Canvas Chat

Canvas Chat

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Introduction

The Chat tool in Canvas allows students and teachers to interact in real-time. Instructors can use the chat tool to allow students to contact them when online, create virtual office hours, conduct group discussions or study sessions.

Features

  • Available to all users in the course.

  • Cannot be limited to specific students.

  • All users in the course have access to the chat history.

Getting Started

Instructor Resources

Enabling Chat in your course

To set up the Chat tool in your Canvas course:

  1. Open your Canvas course.
  2. Follow the steps in the ‘How do I manage Course Navigation links?‘ guide to enable the link for Chat.
  3. Click Save.

Using the Chat tool in a Canvas course

To use the Chat tool:

  1. Open your course.
  2. Click on the Chat link in the left-hand navigation.
  3. Input your message in the text field at the bottom.
  4. Press Enter or click Send to submit the message.

Messages can be deleted by an instructor:

  1. Mouse over the message.
  2. Click the trash can on the right-hand side.
  3. Confirm that you want to Delete the message.

Student Resources

Using the Chat tool in a Canvas course

To use the Chat tool:

  1. Open your course.
  2. Click on the Chat link in the left-hand navigation.
  3. Input your message in the text field at the bottom.
  4. Press Enter or click Send to submit the message.

Online Documentation

 Training

Licensing

Chat is built into Canvas and does not require a separate sign-on. There is no additional fee for ISU faculty or students to use the Canvas Chat tool. 

Support

The Canvas Commons tool is supported by Instructure. Use one of the following channels to connect with their 24/7 support:

  • live chat — open the ?Help menu in Canvas and click ‘Chat with Canvas Support’
  • ticket support — open the ?Help menu in Canvas and click ‘Report a Problem‘
  • phone support — call 515-294-4000, then follow the prompts for Canvas support

News & Updates

See All News & Updates »

Canvas Release: Course availability date enhancements (April 17, 2021)

The April 17, 2021 Canvas Release includes updates to Course Availability Date Enhancements. Instructors can now choose to use term or course start and end dates via a dropdown in the course settings. Term dates specified by the institution are now visible in this same location.

April 7, 2021

Visit the Instructure (Canvas) News Room, learn about recently added features or check the current Canvas status.