Canvas

Think of Canvas as your digital classroom – it's where you access course content and announcements, submit assignments, and receive your grades and feedback.

Logging in

Log in using your RMIT ID (the letter 's' followed by your student number) and password. Forgotten your password? Reset it.

 

Can't see your course in Canvas? 

Courses should appear in Canvas seven days before the official course start date. If your course has already started, it will appear in Canvas 24 hours after you add it in Enrolment Online

If you have further questions, contact your Course Coordinator.

Light mode on Canvas – accessible recommendation for students

You may have noticed that Canvas recently introduced dark mode on the mobile version of the app.

While the mode is still being tested and refined, there may be elements of the app that are harder to read and see in dark mode.

If you’re having trouble with using dark mode on the mobile app, you can change it back to light mode by following these instructions (PDF, 21MB).

What is Canvas?

Canvas is RMIT's online Learning Management System (LMS), where you can find all of your course announcements and content, including class notes and resources. On Canvas you can listen to lectures, complete online assessment tasks, view and submit assignments, and receive grades and feedback.

 Student sitting and looking directly at camera

Canvas Explainer for Students

Students explain what Canvas is, how to navigate the interface, find course materials, submit assignments and more.

Get set up on Canvas

If you’re a new student, there are some simple things you should do to get set up on Canvas.

Canvas notifications can be personalised based on your individual preferences. You can choose for Canvas to send personalised notifications as email or text message alerts so you don't miss out on important course information and keep track of updates or activity from each of your courses, such as, due dates, announcements and grades.

Your notification preferences will determine:

  • What Canvas notifies you about 
  • When it will notify you and how often 
  • How Canvas updates you - via email, text message or both. 

It’s important you understand how to manage Canvas notifications to ensure you receive important messages quickly, while limiting others to avoid being inundated. 

How to set up your notification settings

The table below shows the types of Canvas notifications that exist, and how RMIT recommends you set up your notification preferences.

Change your notification preferences by logging in to Canvas, then, in the left-hand navigation menu, click Account > Settings > Notifications.

Check out this Canvas Community post for more information about notifications.

Please note: these settings apply to all your courses. If you would like to set your notifications for individual courses, you can find out how by watching this course-level notification preferences instruction Canvas video.

Recommended notification settings

Course activities Explainer Email notification Text notification
Due date Due date changes for assignments and quizzes Immediately    No
Grading policies Changes made to assignment weighting, points, grading scheme, grading status   Send weekly No
Course content Changes made to pages, assignments or quiz content Send daily or send weekly No
Files Files are added to a course Send weekly or do not notify No
Announcement When a new announcement in your course is created Immediately Yes
Announcement created by you There is a reply to your announcements Send daily or weekly No
Grading Grade changes in the course. Including entering or changing a submission grade and posting assignment grades Immediately Yes
Invitations Invitations to web conferences, collaborations, groups, peer reviews, and peer review reminders Send daily or weekly No
Submission comment Assignment submission content Send daily No
Discussions
New topic A new discussion topic thread is created Send daily No
New reply New replies on topics you are subscribed to Send Immediately No
New mention You are mentioned in a discussion thread Send Immediately No
Reported reply Your activity in a discussion thread has been reported Send Immediately No
Conversations
Added to Conversation You are added to a conversation Send weekly or do not notify No
Conversation message New Canvas inbox message Send weekly or do not notify No
Conversations created by me You create an internal Canvas email Do not notify No
Scheduling   
Appointment signups A new appointment is created in your calendar Send daily or Send weekly No
Appointment cancellations Appointments are cancelled Send daily or Send weekly No
Appointment availability Applies to changes to appointment time slots Send daily or Send weekly No
Calendar New calendar events are created or changed Send daily or Send weekly No
Conferences
Recording ready A conference recording is ready If used send daily No
Alerts
Global announcements Institution-wide announcements (also displayed on dashboard) Immediately No

Can I change my notification settings from the recommended settings?

Yes, the above information is a recommendation only. You can change your notification settings at any time. It is each student’s responsibility to ensure the settings are appropriate for their course.

Courses should appear in Canvas seven days before the officiual course start date. If your course has already started, it will appear in Canvas 24 hours after you add it in Enrolment Online. 

If you can’t see your course on your Canvas dashboard, click on Courses in the navigation panel to the left of your dashboard. Scroll down and select All courses at the bottom. If your missing course is in the All courses list, click on the star symbol next to it to make it appear on the dashboard. 

If you still can’t see your course, this might be because it's still being prepared. Your teachers have been working hard to get your course content ready. It’s a big process, so we are being careful to make sure we get it right, but rest assured, they’ll be up there soon.

If you have any concerns about your course not being on Canvas, then please contact your teacher/Course Coordinator.

If you need technical support, there is a 24/7 live chat function available in the navigation bar under Help > Canvas Support on your Canvas dashboard.

Add an image and fill out your profile so that teachers and other students can quickly identify you in course discussions.

You can also check your ‘Display name’ in Canvas (under ‘Settings’) reflects your preferred name and update this if desired. Learn more about Canvas and your preferred name at Update your personal details.

Find each of your course assignments by going to your Canvas Dashboard, clicking on a course, then selecting Assignments. Familiarise yourself with your assignments and when they’re due.

Please note: normally, you can submit your assignment an unlimited number of times up to the due date (there will be a 24-hour delay if you resubmit more than three times). However, your instructor may choose to limit the number of times you can submit an assignment. Limiting the number of submissions applies to all students who must complete the assignment.

Download the Canvas Student app via the App Store or Google Play Store for mobile devices and allow notifications. This is important as teachers may communicate room changes to you through Canvas announcements.

Submitting assignments in Canvas using Turnitin

Turnitin is part of RMIT’s online assignment submission process used within Canvas.

Turnitin promotes academic integrity – the demonstration of integrity, honesty and fairness in your scholarly activities – by checking that your assignments are your own work and that you have acknowledged the work and ideas used from other sources.

RMIT may use tools to detect the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in assessments where AI tools are not permitted. 

Turnitin will accept the following file types:

  • Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx)
  • OpenOffice (.odt)
  • Google Docs via Google Drive
  • WordPerfect (.wpd)
  • PostScript (.ps/.eps)
  • Adobe PDF (.pdf)
  • Rich text format (.rtf)
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • Hangul Word Processor file (.hwp)
  • HTML

Files can be submitted directly from your computer or via non-RMIT Google Drive or Dropbox accounts. You will need to log-in to these services to authorise the submission.

The assignment being submitted must contain more than 20 words, must be under 40MB, must not exceed 400 pages in length, and must not contain spaces in between every letter.

  1. Log in to Canvas and select the course you want from your Dashboard
  2. Navigate to Assignments from the course navigation menu on the left of your screen
  3. Click the relevant assignment
  4. Click Submit assignment
  5. Click Choose file, find the file you wish to upload from the pop-up box that appears. Double click or click Open to select the file. If you have multiple files to upload, then click on + Add another file
  6. If you have any comments relevant to the assignment, then enter them in the comments box
  7. Check that the file and its details and everything you have entered is correct
  8. Check the submission pledge box to acknowledge that the submission you’ve just uploaded is your own, original work
  9. Click Submit.

 

You can resubmit an assignment using the same steps listed under Submitting an assignment (see above). Resubmitting your assignment will replace the original submission with the new file. 

By default, assignments can be submitted an unlimited number of times in Canvas. However, your teacher/Course Coordinator can choose to limit the number of times you can submit an assignment. If there is a limit applied, the number of attempts is displayed on the assignments page. Limiting the number of attempts applies to all students assigned to the assignment.

When you submit an assignment, Turnitin generates an originality report by scanning your work and comparing the text against sources in its database. The report shows where matches have been found with an overall percentage of how much of the text is original. Your submitted assignment is also added to the database to reduce plagiarism.

If your teacher has provided access for you to view the Similarity Report, you can view your assignment's 'similarity score' from the View/Complete link for the assignment. To view your submission click on the View button on the Assignment Inbox page. Your Turnitin Paper will open in Feedback Studio in a new window.

A Turnitin digital receipt confirming your submission will be available from Turnitin for download. The digital receipt contains the file name, assignment title, author, date and time the assignment was submitted.

To download your digital receipt, click the download button in the submission tools area of the Turnitin toolbar. In the pop-up that appears, select Digital receipt

More information on how to obtain your digital receipt is available in the Navigating Turnitin Student Guide (PDF, 412 KB).

Need help?

  • If you are having technical issues accessing Canvas, try resetting your password via RMIT ID and password or contact IT Connect.
  • If you require assistance using Canvas, you can find a help option within Canvas on the bottom left of the global navigation. From here you can access the Canvas Chat or call:

    Canvas student hotline +61 1800 910 175
    Canvas staff hotline +61 1800 861 359.

    Both hotlines are available 24/7.
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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Luwaytini' by Mark Cleaver, Palawa.