Overview
There are many ways of using Google Apps (drive, docs, slides, draw, sheets) in your Canvas course. If you are unfamiliar with Google Apps, they offer many benefits such as the ability for more than one person to work on the same document at the same time, automatic saves every few seconds, and any changes one makes in the document are automatically updated in Canvas. In order to view or use Google Apps in Canvas all collaborators must have a free Google Drive account and connect your account to Canvas.
Collaborations in Canvas
Collaborations in Canvas allows students to work on group projects by sharing and working on documents in real time with multiple people. It can also be used effectively for sign-up sheets, shared notes, group papers, class-wide study guides, or wikis. Google Docs records the history of the doc so anyone can see changes that have made to it as well as revert to earlier versions of the file. For graded assignments, use the Assignment tool and require them to turn in the URL for the Google Doc.
CANVAS GUIDES:
Dynamic Module Pages
When adding a new page to a module, choosing the external URL option will allow you to add a Google Doc, Sheet (spreadsheet), Slide, or Drive folder to the page. When setting the sharing options, you can choose if others are allowed to view, comment, or edit the document. When using the view setting, you will still have the ability to edit your document inside of canvas but students will not. Allowing the students to edit would be appropriate if you were creating a wiki or any other type of collaborative project. The setting to only allow comments would be a great way to set up a blog or to allow students to add to a document but restrict them from changing others work or accidently deleting anything.
In Practice
View the video tutorial below to learn how to use Google application in Canvas.
