CSU Global is committed to your educational success and we are excited to help you through this journey. To access Canvas, go to the student portal home page. From here, you can click on Canvas from the left-hand menu or the hyperlinked course name from the Current Courses tab under My Class Schedule. The navigation column to the left is the Course Navigation bar, and you will find this in each of your courses. It is easy to navigate throughout the course using the various tabs.
Home
When you open your course, you will land on the Home page. The Home page gives you an overview of the course. Click on the Home link to see the welcome page for the course, as well as any specific to-dos and feedback for that particular course.
Syllabus
The Student Course Syllabus can be found under the Syllabus tab in the navigation menu. The Student Course Syllabus is an important document that details the course outcomes, expectations, and assignments for each week of the course.
Announcements
Instructors communicate information to the class on a regular basis by posting announcements. Instructors post important updates at the beginning of each week and throughout the week as well. If you have a question about something the instructor has posted in the announcement or about that week’s assignment, you can ‘Reply’ to the announcement with your question. All students in the course can see posted replies, so this is a good place to check for clarification on each week’s work as other students may have posted questions that the instructor has already responded to. Be sure to check the announcements regularly.
Modules
When you start a new course, you should always review the material in the Modules tab. The Course Information folder found here has critical information to help you be successful in the course. You will find the Getting Started page with general course information and a link to CSU Global Academic Student Policies. Textbook Reserves, if applicable, will be located in this area. As a general rule of thumb, CSU Global loads the first module’s textual readings into that area. Finally, in the Course Information Folder, you will find the Internet Café. This is the place where you can have discussions with other students in the course. Instructors are not required to check this area, so if you have a question or comment for the instructor, please email the instructor directly or respond to an update.
Also under the Modules tab, are the weekly module folders. The module week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. Each week, you will work your way through the contents of one module. Be sure that you review everything in the module folder each week. Module 1 always has two discussions. The first discussion is the Introductions. This discussion is not graded but gives everyone in the course a chance to introduce themselves and get to know the other students.
Discussions
In addition to accessing discussions and assignments through the Module tab, you can participate in the Discussion Forum each week by clicking on Discussions. From here, you can click on the Discussion Board by module and access the topic and the instructions. Click on the three dots in the upper right-hand corner of the page to access the rubric that is used to grade the discussion.
We recommend that you initially draft your post in an outside source like Microsoft Word to check your spelling and grammar. When you’re ready to submit your post, click into the text box that says ‘Reply’. Then, copy your post into the text box and then click ‘Post Reply.’ To respond to posts by classmates, follow the same process.
Students are required to make their initial post by Thursday at 11:59 PM MT and to reply to at least two peers by Sunday at 11:59 PM MT. It is important to be active in the discussion forums early in the week to ensure that you meet the requirements for the week.
Assignments
Review each weekly module to identify assignments that need to be submitted. Please note that assignments cannot be submitted by email. To submit an assignment click on the “Modules” or “Assignment” tab and then on the specific module assignment you are submitting. Select ‘Submit Assignment’ located in the top right corner and upload your assignment. You can confirm that an assignment has been submitted from your course grade book. If the submission has been uploaded correctly, you will see a blue paper icon next to the assignment in the gradebook.
Copyleaks is used to check similarity scores between your assignment and existing sources, such as articles, journals, web pages, and in other papers. Per CSU Global policy, assignments must have a similarity score of 30% or less with no more than 20% of the paper being quoted material. Click here to find more information about checking your similarity score.
Grades
To see your scores for assignments you have submitted, click on the Grades tab. Total points are in the center of the assignment block. If the score is associated with a rubric, the rubric will populate when you click on the score. You should review each criteria of the rubric and read instructor comments for areas where you did not receive full points by clicking on the comment bubbles at the end of each line of the rubric. The icon in the top right corner of the block will either take you to the discussion page if this is a discussion assignment or to your submission. The bottom right icon will give you the instructor’s overall comment on the assignment. To view more in depth comments, click on the assignment submitted and review the overall feedback as well as any in-text comments by the instructor. It is important to read all of the feedback that your instructor provides as this will help you to understand your areas of strength and offer guidance for improvements.
Resources
If you need to access Tutoring or the Library you can do so through the quick links in the left-hand navigation screen of your course. Additional information on these resources can be found in the Student Help Center or in the Academic Resources and Support section of the Virtual Resources and New Student Orientation page of the Student Portal.
CSU Global Zoom
CSU Global uses Zoom for video conferencing. To attend a live session or meeting with your instructor, click on the link provided by your instructor for the meeting and enter the required information. You will be automatically connected.
People
The People tab of the navigation pane lists all of the participants in the course. Your instructor’s profile also includes his/her contact information. If you need to reach out to your instructor, you can click on his/her profile to access this information. To view a profile, simply click on the participant’s name. We strongly encourage you to communicate with your instructor throughout the course. Instructors will post their contact information, including email, phone, and office hours, in the course announcements, and in their profile in the People link. You can also request a Zoom session with your instructor if you prefer to communicate via video chat.
Your instructor and student success counselor are here to provide support and resources. We are all here to help you achieve your academic goals!