As we all settle into this semester and develop our routines, it’s important to sort out how we want to handle our classes. Juggling online classes is a hefty task, but with the right combination of the Canvas Student mobile app and the desktop version, you can set yourself up for success.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to be very forgetful about upcoming assignments. Thankfully, the Canvas mobile app has some amazing notification settings that can remind you of upcoming due dates. It can even send you a notification when your professor adds things to your site or things unlock for student view. For me, it’s important that I have notifications for announcements turned on so that I can see when professors want to get in touch with me. The best thing about the notification system on the Canvas mobile app is that it’s totally customizable. You can set it to send you emails or texts for notifications, and you can choose how often you want to receive each different notification. I like this because I have it set up to send me an email with an overview of all the notifications at the end of the week, but I still get instant notifications from the app for the things I want to know about immediately.
The other great thing about the Canvas mobile app is that you can do quizzes, see your grades, and access most of the files on there right from your phone. This is nice for those days when you space out and forget about a quiz (and don’t feel like getting out your laptop to take it). You can complete the quiz right on your phone! You can participate in discussions on the app too, making it easy to be involved even if you’re not at your computer. If you adore color coding everything like me, you can even separate your classes by color to make it easier to keep track of.
There are some limitations as to what the Canvas mobile app can do, which is why I suggest using it in tandem with the desktop version. Professors can choose whether files are visible on mobile or not, or the file you’re trying to view may be too big, so some files may need to be pulled up on your computer to be able to view them. There’s also more ease in being able to have assignment requirements open on your computer while you work on them. However, a large portion of the tasks you can do on your computer are available from the mobile app.
Figuring out what works best for you is important, because the college experience is different for everybody! However, if you hit any snags with setting up notifications or personalizing your Canvas experience, ITAC can help.
Be sure to download Canvas Student from the Apple App store or Google Play. If you have the TXST Mobile app, you can also get it directly from the Canvas feature!
Faith Francke is a senior majoring in photography and a student employee in the IT Assistance Center.
