What is the Canvas Scheduler?
- Scheduler is a Calendar tool that allows the instructor to create a virtual sign-up sheet or appointment groups within a course.
- Students can sign up to meet with the instructor individually or choose a class presentation time. Some appointment time slots may only allow one student to sign up at a time, while others may allow an entire group to sign up.
When would I use Scheduler?
Instructors can use Scheduler to:
- Allow students to sign up for appointments
- Organize office hours
- Schedule TA sessions
- Schedule lunches
- Set up appointments for an individual or a group
- Schedule student presentations
- Host other appointments
How to set up a Scheduler appointment group?
Appointment groups create a block of time where students can meet with you. You determine the number of people that can sign up for each slot. Students can sign up for appointment times in their own calendars. Appointments will appear in your Canvas calendar after a student or group has reserved a time slot.
1. Open Calendar.
- In Global Navigation, click the Calendar link.
2. Add Event.
- Click any date on the calendar to add an event [1]. Or, click the arrows next to the month name to navigate to a different month [2] and select a date. If you don’t want to manually locate the date, you can click the Add icon [3].
3. Open Appointment Group.
- When you click any date on the calendar to add an event, the Edit Event dialog box will appear. Click the Appointment Group tab and the Appointment Group details will appear.
4. Create Name and Location
- Type the name of the appointment in the name field [1]. Type the location of the appointment in the location field [2].
5. Select Calendars
- Click the Select Calendars button [1]. Select the course(s) or section(s) where you want to show the appointment group [2]. To close the Calendar list, click the Done button [3].
Note: The calendar cannot be modified once the appointment group is saved. However, additional calendars can be added to the original appointment group.
6. Allow Group Signup
- If you have created at least one group set in your course, you can have students sign up in groups by clicking the Have students sign up in groups checkbox [1]. Then select the name of the group category you want to use for the group signup [2].
Note: The group option is only available if you previously selected the calendar for the entire course. You cannot select a calendar for a specific section because Canvas does not currently support sections in groups.
7. Set Appointment Time Range
- In the date field [1], enter the date of the appointment. You can also select a date by clicking the Calendar icon.
- Set the time range for the appointment by typing in the time range field [2]. You must include at least one time slot.
- You can split the time range into multiple time slots by entering the division time into the time field [3]. For instance, if you want to create 15-minute meeting times from 2:00 pm until 5:00 pm, enter the number 15.
- To create the time slots, click the Go button [4].
8. Modify Appointment Times
- You can manually change any appointment time created by the division. If you want to remove an appointment time, click the Remove icon.
Note: The appointment date, time range, and appointment slots can only be modified individually once the appointment group is saved. However, additional dates, time ranges, and appointment slots can be added to the original appointment group. You must create at least one time slot for each appointment group.
9. Set Appointment Options
- You can limit how many users can sign up for a time slot by clicking the Limit each time slot checkbox and typing the number of time slots in the limit field [1]. If you selected the option to have students sign up in groups, this field reads as Limit each time slot for x groups.
- To make the appointment slots public to students in the course, click the Allow students to see who has signed up for time slots checkbox [2]. Selecting this option also allows students to see comments other students add to their appointments.
- If you want to limit the number of appointments available, click the Limit participants to attend [number] appointment(s) checkbox [3].
Note: When using the group signup option, only one group member needs to sign up for a time slot on behalf of their group. Each member in the group will see the appointment on their own group calendar.
10. Add Appointment Details
- If you want to add details about the appointment group, type them in the details field.
11. Publish Appointment Group
- Click Publish button.
12. View Calendar
- View the appointment dates and times in your course calendar. Time slots that have been reserved by students will show as a solid color.
Note: if you added an appointment group to more than one course, appointment slots only display in the calendar for the first course shown in the appointment group.
How do students sign up for schedule blocks?
- Please see the following link.
How do I view or edit a Scheduler appointment group? How do I message students? (Step 7)
1. Open Calendar.
- In Global Navigation, click the Calendar link.
2. View Appointment Group
- Locate the appointment group in your calendar. Appointment slots that have been reserved are shown in a solid color.
3. Open Appointment Group
To open the appointment group, click any time slot in the appointment group [1]. In the appointment window, click the Group Details button [2].
4. Edit Appointment Group Details
- In the appointment group page, you can view all details for the group as a whole. For each appointment group, you can view the name of the group, the course(s) associated with the group, assignment group location, group description, and group options.
- You can change all group information except the existing calendar and all existing time slots. However, you can add new calendars and additional time slots to the entire group.
Note: If you want to edit or delete existing time slots, you can edit individual time slots in the calendar.
5. View Appointment Slots
- At the bottom of the Appointment Group details page, you can view all appointments in the group [1]. Each time slot shows the date and time and whether or not the time slot is available. You can also view the name of each student who signed up for the time slot.
- If a time slot has been reserved by a student but also includes the word Available, the time slot includes an additional slot that can be filled by another student.
- If you want to send a message to students in the appointment group, click the Message Students button [2]. You can send a message to all users in the appointment group, users who haven’t signed up for a time slot, and users who have signed up.
- When messaging students, messages are sent as a group message. However, if your message includes over 100 recipients (including you as the sender), messages will automatically be sent as individual messages.
6. Manage Appointment Group
- To delete the appointment group, click the Delete Group button [1]. Please note this option does not provide a warning and cannot be undone. Deleting the group will also delete any appointments that have been reserved by students.
- To cancel changes in the assignment group, click the Cancel button [2].
- To save changes in the assignment group, click the Save button [3].
7. Manage Appointment Slot
- In the calendar, you can manage time slots individually. To view details about a time slot, including who signed up in the time slot, click the appointment link [1].
- If you want to edit a specific time slot, click the Edit button [2]. Editing a time slot allows you to edit the description of the appointment. You can also limit the slot to a specific number of users. Changing either of these values in an individual time slot does not affect the description or user signup limit for the entire group. For instance, if the assignment group limited each slot to one user, and you individually edit a specific time slot to allow three users, only that time slot is affected by the user limit change.
- If you need to remove a time slot, click the Delete button [3].
- In time slots that have been reserved, you can send a message to the user(s) in the time slot [4].
