Canvas for Elementary Feature Comparison

This document discusses the current functionality available in Canvas for Elementary compared to the standard Canvas classroom.

Additional functionality may continue to be added as indicated in the feature timeline. Specific development updates can be found in the Instructure Product Roadmap.

Canvas for Elementary Feature Comparison

The following tables show the current functionality available in the production environment for Canvas for Elementary compared to the standard Canvas classroom.

Feature Support	Standard Canvas	Canvas for Elementary
User Roles	Admins Students (K12, HE) Instructors Observers	Admins Students (K6) Teachers Observers
Terminology Changes	Courses Dashboard Course Nickname Syllabus Front Page	Subjects Home Friendly Name Important Info Subject Home
Custom Theming	Account, Subaccounts	Account, Subaccount, Subjects
Available in *.beta.instructure.com	✓	✓
Available in *.test.instructure.com	✓	✓
Enable for subaccounts	✓	✓
Compatible with Blueprint Courses	✓	✓
Compatible with Course Templates	✓	✓
Supports SIS Enrollments	✓	✓
Available on Canvas mobile apps	✓	✓
Grading Period Support	✓	✓
Groups Support	✓	✓

Dashboard	Standard Canvas	Canvas for Elementary
Default Dashboard	Set by institution	Home View
Teacher (instructor) Options	Course Card View, List View, and Recent Activity View	Classic View (Card View, Recent Activity View) or Home View
Student Options	Course Card View, List View and Recent Activity View	Home View only
Course Card Details	Displays course name, course code, and icons to access assignments, announcements, discussion replies, and files (if available in the Course Navigation Menu) Indicator also display for new assignments, announcements, and discussion replies	Displays course name, # of items due today, # of items missing, and most recent announcement (if any)
To Do List
Teacher (instructor) Roles	Dashboard Sidebar	Home To Do Tab
Student Roles	Dashboard Sidebar	Home Schedule Tab Subject Schedule Tab
Important Dates Sidebar	x	Home Sidebar

Course Setup	Standard Canvas	Canvas for Elementary
Course Navigation Menu
Teacher (instructor) Roles	Announcements, Assignments, Collaborations, Conferences, Discussions, Files, Grades, Modules, People, Pages, Outcomes, Quizzes, Rubrics, Settings, Syllabus, LTI Tools	For Homeroom Course: Announcements, Files, Grades, Important Info (Syllabus), People For Individual Subjects: All supported Course Navigation Menu links in Standard Canvas
Student Roles	Displays links that are made available for viewing in the Course Navigation Menu (via Course Settings)	x Use Modules and/or Schedule Tabs
Default Font	Lato Can be changed to Balsamiq Sans via the Canvas Elementary Theming feature preview, but this preview also simplifies the Course Navigation Menu for students	Balsamiq Sans
Course Home Page	One Page— Choose between Front Page, Modules, Syllabus, Assignment List, or Recent Activity	Up to Six Tabs— Home, Modules, Schedule, Grades, Groups, and Resources
Home Page Announcements	Option to show X Number of Announcements Shown on the Home Page in Course Settings	Most recent announcement only, but previous announcements can be viewed
Pages	Displays the View All Pages button for students (if Pages is available in the Course Navigation Menu)	Always hides the View All Pages button for students
Course Nickname	Course Nickname Changes can be made on a per-student basis and displays in the Dashboard, Course Navigation Menu, course breadcrumbs, and notification emails	Friendly Name Set by the instructor and displays for all students in Subject Home, Navigation Menu, breadcrumbs, and notification emails
Course Card Image	Set by the instructor and displays in Course Card Dashboard for all students	Set by the instructor and displays in Home View Dashboard for all students Also displays in subject home as course banner (if banner is not set)
Course Banner	x	Set by the instructor and displays in subject home page
Course Color	Changes can be made on a per-student basis and displays in Dashboard and Calendar	Set by the instructor and displays for all students in Dashboard and Calendar
LTI Tool Placement	Course Navigation Menu	Subject Resources Tab

Last update: 2021-10-18

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