2.1 | Creating Your Canvas Account: It's as Easy as 1-2-3! (Instructions for Laptops and Desktop Computers)

Becoming a Canvas Observer

As an Observer, you can link your Canvas account to your student's account, so that you can see assignment dues dates, announcements, course content, grades, feedback, etc. As an observer you can view the course content but cannot participate in the course.

Want to create your Canvas Account using your Mobile Device? Check out: 2.2 | Creating Your Canvas Account: It's as Easy as 1-2-3! (Instructions for Mobile Devices)

Generate a Pairing Code 

Before creating your Canvas account, you will need to generate a pairing code from your student's Canvas account. On your student's district-provided iPad, open the Canvas Student app and take the following steps: 

  1. From the User Menu, tap the Settings link
  2. Tap the Pair with Observer link
  3. Copy down the pairing code (it is CaSe-sEnSiTiVe)

Additional Resources:

Generate Pairing Code.png

Create an Observer Account 

Stop Sign on emojidex 1.0.34 Are you an employee of Citrus County School District? 

Please be sure to enter a personal email address when registering for your Canvas Parent account. Please do not use the email address ending in @citrusschools.org, as this will prevent your account from being set up properly. 

On your desktop or laptop computer, open your internet browser and enter https://citrus.instructure.com/login/canvas in the address bar. Then:

  1. Click the Need a Canvas Account?
  2. Select Parents sign up here. 
  3. Enter the required information (name, email, password, pairing code) and click the blue Start Participating button.     

Parent Account Set Up. Step 1, click Need a Canvas Account? Step 2, click Parents sign up here. Step 3, provide required information.

 

Once done with this initial setup, you can begin observing your student in Canvas immediately. If you have more than one student to observe, learn how to observe additional students Links to an external site.  in your account.

Set Your Notification Preferences

You can receive Canvas notifications for the various courses you are observing. Notifications are sent to contact methods listed in your Account User Settings. Canvas includes a set of default notification preferences. However, you can change the default settings by setting notification preferences to meet your needs. Your notification preferences only apply to you; they do not affect course notifications sent to the student you are observing.

Some notifications may not apply to the observer role. To learn more about each notification, default settings, and notification triggers, view the  Canvas Notifications PDF. Links to an external site.

If you change a setting, the change is effective immediately. You can select one of four frequency options for each notification type:

  • Notify me right away
  • Daily summary
  • Weekly summary
  • Don't send

You can follow the steps below or view the Notification Preferences Video Tutorial: Links to an external site.

  1. From your desktop computer or laptop, click on Account in the Global Navigation (far left sidebar) and then click Notifications.
  2. Review the default notifications for each course activity.
  3. To change the frequency of notifications, click the icon and select your preferred frequency from the drop-down menu. 

Parent Notification Settings. Click Account, Notifications. Select the desired settings.  

While we definitely recommend taking a look at your notification preferences, there are other settings you may wish to customize as well: