For American River College newcomers, becoming familiar with the learning management software that the school uses can be daunting. In the California Community College system, that software is known as Canvas. The many tabs and accessibility options that canvas has can be overwhelming at first sight. 

Because of this, a Canvas workshop has been organized by the Language and Communication HomeBase to help ARC students get more familiar with the educational system. The workshop took place on three separate days in Portable 613B, allowing students multiple chances to  familiarize themselves with canvas. 

Canvas can be accessed in two different ways, that being through the ARC website and a downloadable app. To sign in to canvas, students will need their W ID number which is also like their ID for ARC. 

The Canvas workshop  gave students a tutorial on different aspects of canvas. As well as hands on experience if any students had any particular questions. The workshop showed students the many features that canvas has to offer. This includes being able to access your assignments from different classes and scanning documents as well. 

There are a couple different apps that can be used to scan documents such as the iPhone Notes App, Adobe Scan and CamScanner. 

Kaira Bradley, a student supports specialist at ARC, is overseeing and supporting the Canvas workshop. Bradley is also a part of the Language and Communication HomeBase. A HomeBase that includes a lot of English Second Language students. Bradley explained why the Canvas workshop was necessary to ARC this spring semester. 

“We have a lot of ESL students who may be new to our technology,” Bradley said. “So we just want to make sure that the students have the resources and services to make sure that they’re familiar with the application because it is so widely used on our campus.”    

ARC students can get further assistance with Canvas by contacting the Language and Communication HomeBase.