Collaborations

Collaborations allow an easy way to create a shared Office 365 document in the course that specified users can access and edit.  The file options are Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. 

When a user creates a Collaboration, three things are created: a folder in their OneDrive called Canvas; a folder within that folder named after the course; and the file itself inside that course folder.  The file can then be accessed either from Canvas or from Office 365.  

Students have the ability to create collaborations in the course as well. The instructor will always have permission to all created collaborations, even if the student does not explicitly add them. 

Some scenarios where you may want students to create a collaboration are:

  • Group work that you would like to be able to look at periodically. 
  • Private reflections over the course of the semester.  Canvas does not have a built-in Journal tool, so students could create a collaboration and give only the instructor access as a work around. 

Currently there is no way to grade a collaboration, but an instructor could simply create a standard file upload submission assignment and ask the students to submit their final document to it, which would allow them to grade and comment within SpeedGrader.

If the Collaborations link in your course is not visible to students, you can make it visible by following these instructions.

Create a Collaboration:

  1. In your Course Navigation, click the Collaborations link:
    Screenshot of a Canvas course menu with the Collaborations link highlighted.
     
  2. Click either the +Start a new collaboration button or the +Collaboration button.  You may be asked to sign into Office 365 the first time you access this page.
  3. In the drop-down menu, select the type of collaboration you want to create (Word, Excel, or Powerpoint):  
    Screenshot of the available collaboration types in a Canvas course: Word, Excel, or PowerPoint
     
  4. Enter a Name and Description (if desired) for the document.
  5. Select the Users or Groups that should have access to the Collaboration and click Save.
  6. Users only see the Collaborations they have been granted access to.
  7. To add or remove users to the Collaboration, click the Pencil button.
  8. To delete a collaboration you are the owner of, click the Trash can button.
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