1. Combining sections? Meta-linking = Cross-listing
Like the course meta linking process in AsULearn, cross-listing in Canvas allows you to combine the enrollments of several sections into a single course.
Resource: Combining Course Sections in Canvas
2. Course communication options
Canvas offers two primary communication tools:
Announcements: Similar to Announcements in AsULearn, you can use this activity to create course-wide posts that appear in the course Announcements activity and generate notifications to enrolled students.
Inbox: Similar to Quickmail in AsULearn, this Canvas tool can be used to send emails to individual students, groups or entire sections. These messages can be viewed in both Gmail and the Inbox tool.
An overview of both tools, and when to use each, is available in the knowledge base: Course Communication Options in Canvas
Step-by-step guides:
Two things to know before you hit send:
Announcements and Inbox messages will not reach students unless your course is both published and available.
"Available" is determined by your course's Participation setting, which can be based on the Term dates or on custom Course dates.
If your course is published, but participation hasn't started yet (midnight on August 17 for fall term courses), your students won't receive messages you send.
If you need to open your course earlier than the term start, review Extending Course Term Dates in CanvasAnnouncement notifications can be delayed until 6 p.m. Canvas defaults to sending an immediate notification for Announcement posts, but students can change this setting to a daily digest instead.
If a message is time-sensitive, consider using Inbox instead (students cannot change their notification settings for an email).
3. Tell your students which LMS you're using
App State is running AsULearn (Moodle) and Canvas in parallel this semester, so students may have courses in one system and some in the other. Please let your students know which platform your course lives in before the semester starts. A note in your pre-term email goes a long way toward reducing confusion in the first week.
4. Getting your content into Canvas
Academic and Emerging Technologies has migrated previously taught AsULearn courses into Canvas for faculty, but this can also be done personally if a specific backup is needed.
Resource: Importing an AsULearn Course Backup into Canvas
If you taught a summer course in Canvas, or you've been building out an imported AsULearn course inside Canvas, you may want to copy that Canvas course instead.
Resource: Importing (Copying) a Canvas Course
5. Important: Courses were created in AsULearn by default
All fall courses that were not opted into Canvas were created in AsULearn by default. If you were recently added to a new section, or you did not submit an opt-in request for Canvas by the April 23, 2026 deadline, you'll need to fill out the Post-Deadline LMS Change Request Form for every course you'd like to move to Canvas (requires App State account login). LMS change requests after 8 a.m. on Friday, August 14, 2026, cannot be accommodated for the Fall semester.
Questions or Requests
Submit a Canvas Support Request
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5 tips for faculty to get started in Canvas for Fall 2026 semester