Instructional Design & Technology

global

last updated Apr 28, 2023 @ 11:38 am
[Aside: In Canvas, all users see the Global Navigation Bar at the far-left of your screen. It has a red background at Rutgers. The tools on that bar are for functions across all your Canvas sites… think meta-Canvas? You can change your Notification preferences from the Account tool, you can access your Canvas-wide inbox messages or calendar, or you can arrange and view your course sites from Courses and Dashboard. You can not add or delete the tools on the Global Navigation Bar.]

Your course menu (aka Course Navigation), on the other hand, is customizable for each course you teach. For instance, you may use the Discussion tool in your hybrid class, but not in your face-to-face classes. The Attendance tool might be much more useful for face-to-face classes, of course!

Enable or disable tools on the menu

1. From your Canvas course site, click Settings at the bottom of the left-hand course menu
2. Choose the Navigation tab at the top of the settings page
3. Enabled tools are listed in the top section; you can drag them down to the lower section to hide them from students
4. Similarly, you can drag a hidden tool from the lower list to the upper list to enable it
5. (Note: if you don’t like the drag and drop method, just click on the ⋮ vertical ellipsis icon to the right of the tool and choose disable or enable)
6. IMPORTANT! You must scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save button to enact your changes

Another interesting note: If you see the hidden tool icon (eye with a slash through it) next to a menu item in your Canvas course, it means the tool is hidden from student view, for one of TWO reasons!

1. The tool is disabled from Settings (as above); or
2. The tool is currently “empty”; for instance, you have enabled the Announcements tool, but not yet posted an announcement

Re-order the menu

1. From your Canvas course site, click Settings at the bottom of the left-hand course menu
2. Choose the Navigation tab at the top of the settings page
3. In the top section, which lists enabled tools, simply drag the menu items into your preferred order
4. IMPORTANT! You must scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save button to enact your changes

This is the Navigation tab under Settings from your Canvas course menu.