Canvas Help Menu: New and Improved!
Academic Technologies’ Learning Systems team has performed an in-depth overview of our Canvas Help Menu and made a few adjustments. The purpose of these changes is to provide VCU faculty, staff and students with more transparency about where to seek assistance and exactly who that assistance is coming from, allowing them to make more informed decisions.
To access the Canvas help menu, simply login to Canvas using your VCU credentials and click on the Help button located on the Global Navigation menu.
Vendor Support
Once you access the help menu, you will first notice the “Chat Now!” link which will connect you with Canvas 24/7 Vendor Support (“the vendor”). This is intentional; the vendor is recommended as your first point of contact for expert support, and chat is the quickest and most efficient way to get in touch.
Additionally, if you prefer a different avenue of contact other than chat, you are provided with a direct phone number and a “Report a Problem” link (under “Other Resources”) which will create a ticket. Each of these options allows you to get direct one-on-one support from a Canvas expert about your unique issue.
Canvas 24/7 Vendor Support is available to help with questions related to basic how to’s, if you notice a feature not working properly, error messages you may encounter and much more. Whether you are looking for a quick answer to your question or if you are looking for one-on-one guidance through a more complex issue, Canvas 24/7 Vendor Support is here to help.
Vendor Resources
There are a two available vendor resources highlighted on the Help menu:
- Canvas Training Services Portal – the training portal is available to VCU faculty and staff, offering self-paced training resources on a variety of Canvas topics, as well as live training and webinars.
- Canvas Guides – Canvas community guides are a collection of searchable vendor-provided resources specific to all things Canvas. These guides include a wealth of resources: step-by-step instructions, videos, FAQs, and more.
VCU Support and Resources
As you continue down the list you will be met with several ways to access VCU support and resources. These include the VCU IT Support Center, VCU Canvas Resources (provided by the Learning Systems team), and the VCU Instructional Technology Toolkit.
VCU support is your alternative point of contact when seeking assistance. The Learning Systems team is available at LSrequest@vcu.edu to provide Canvas support for VCU faculty, staff and students. We specialize in VCU-specific Canvas issues and Canvas support, such as: the creation of Canvas courses at VCU, ensuring that enrollments are loading into VCU Canvas courses, and other administrative functions that are specific to VCU.
Furthermore, Canvas 24/7 Vendor Support may not be able to help with VCU-specific problems such as login issues related to your eID and password, including password resets, VCU specific guidelines and procedures, user account information, etc. For general IT support outside of Canvas, the VCU IT Support Center will be your best resource.
Students can also access the Student Opportunity Center login page. VCU’s Student Opportunity Center is a database for internships, scholarships, events, publishing and volunteering opportunities, funding and more.
For more information or questions, reach out to the Learning Systems team at lsrequest@vcu.edu.
Categories Canvas, Faculty, Online Teaching and Development, Private, Staff, Students, Teaching with Technology, Workshops and Training