TA Training in Online Instruction

This guide is intended to help you effectively use Canvas, our Learning Management System at UW-Madison. Whether your class is in-person, completely online, or somewhere in between, Canvas will help you share information and communicate with your students.

Canvas is a great place to:

share course information with students (e.g. syllabus, course readings)
communicate with students (e.g., announcements, online office hours)
collect assignments from students (e.g., writing assignments, online quizzes)
provide feedback and grades to students (e.g., scores, comments)
facilitate online interactions and collaborations between students (e.g., discussion boards, collaborative writing, peer review)
collaborate on grading with co-instructors
and more!

For many people, practice is a great way to learn. We recommend taking the recommended steps below in your own Canvas instance, with our checklist open side-by-side. Click here to open your Canvas Dashboard in a new tab or window.

New to Canvas

If you are new to using Canvas at UW-Madison, make sure you do the following:

Edit your Profile [<5 min]

Set Your Notification Preferences [<5 min]

Before the Semester Starts

TAs in different departments may have different duties and levels of responsibility for course content. Most often a course coordinator or supervisory instructor will provide you with course content that is already organized in Canvas. The following are additional steps you can take to personalize your Canvas course, and verify the course is formatted well for you and your students.

Simplify Your Dashboard View [2 min]

Set Course Card Image [<5 min]

Set Course Grading Scheme [<5 min]

Make Course Homepage [<10 min]

Simplify Course Navigation [2 min]

Schedule & Display Course Announcements [<5 min]

Create Student Groups Based on Discussion Sections [<10 min]

Check Links & Perform an Accessibility Review [<10 min]

Proof your Course with Student View [<10 min]

Publish your Course! [<1 min]

If you are responsible for creating and organizing course content and assignments in your Canvas course, please see the following modules for more information and recommendations:

- Module 2: Creating and Organizing Content in Canvas
- Module 3: Creating and Organizing Assignments

First Week of Class

The first week of class is an integral part of the semester, providing students with a first impression and setting their expectations for the semester. Set expectations for attendance, get to know your students with a survey, and reach out to students who aren't participating.

Take Attendance with Roll Call [5 min]

Create a Survey with Canvas [10 min]

Message Students within Canvas [2 min]

Provide Feedback & Get Help

Let us know if this course is useful to you by taking our survey: Survey: Provide Feedback on this Course We will use your responses to revise and improve this content for future TAs.
Do you still have questions? See more about Getting Help in Canvas.