Canvas & Discovery Education

Access Discovery Education within Canvas as well as embed resources in assignments, quizzes, pages, and modules to keep all of your learning in a single place for students. 

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Learn more about the technical integration setup for Canvas.

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Access Discovery Education in Canvas

Your district sets up the Canvas and Discovery Education integration. Once this is complete, the Discovery Education option is in the menu bar of any course in Canvas. 

When you select Discovery Education from the menu a window opens to access Discovery Education within Canvas. From here, you can search for resources, access channels, and explore products your school has access to.

When you explore Discovery Education from this window, you can assign resources, share resources, and engage with Discovery Education as you would from the platform.

Note that if you assign your students resources through the window in Canvas, they appear within Discovery Education's assignments - not within Canvas.  

Embed Discovery Education Resources in Canvas 

You can embed Discovery Education resources, such as videos, images, audio, text, and more, into Canvas assignments, discussions, quizzes, and pages. Note that the following explains how to add a resource to an assignment, but use the same process for discussions, quizzes, and pages. 

To create an assignment in Canvas with embedded Discovery Education resources, follow these steps: 

1. Select Assignments from the vertical menu bar, then +Assignment. Give the assignment a title and enter any directional text.
2. On the second row of icons, select the Discovery Education logo to open a new window. Note that depending on how many integrations you have set up in Canvas, instead of the Discovery Education logo, you may see a plug icon. Select that first and then select Discovery Education.
3. If you have previously saved resources to QuickList or My Content, add them to the assignment. 
4. Or, select Search Resources and use the search box. Select a resource to view it. Select Back in the top left corner to go back to the search results.
5. From the Search Results page, find a resource you want to use for the assignment and select +Embed. The resource embeds in the Canvas assignment.
6. Complete the remaining assignment information, include the due date and available dates. Note that failure to add these causes an error for students.
7. Select Save & Publish to give students access.  

Grade Discovery Education Resources in Canvas

When you embed a Discovery Education resource into a Canvas assignment, grades work like any other Canvas assignment. Students engage with the Discovery Education resource and complete the Canvas assignment as directed. Then, you grade the Canvas assignment like other assignments. 

Discovery Education Content and Canvas Modules

You can share Discovery Education resources through the Modules section in the vertical sidebar in Canvas. Modules are used to create categories of content for students. You can add previously made Discovery Education assignments to any Module as well as other quizzes, files, and items created within Canvas.

To add a Discovery Education resource to a module, select External Tool from the drop down and follow these steps: 

1. If you have previously saved resources to QuickList or My Content, add them to the assignment. 
2. Or, select Search Resources and use the search box. Select a resource to view it. Select Back in the top left corner to go back to the search results.
3. From the Search Results page, find a resource you want to use for the assignment and select +Embed. The resource embeds in the Canvas assignment.
4. Complete the remaining assignment information, include the due date and available dates. Note that failure to add these causes an error for students.
5. Select Save & Publish to give students access.  

Share Studio Boards & Slideshows

Create Studio projects within the Discovery Education platform (either via the webpage or the embedded access within Canvas) to share with students. Learn more about Studio. 

Studio projects with no quiz modules

If a Studio board or slideshow does not have quiz modules embedded, it is sharable in a Canvas assignment. To do this, copy the Share URL for a Studio project and paste it into the body of the Canvas module. Note that this places all students on a single board with read-only access. Learn more about sharing Studio projects. 

Collaborative Studio Projects 

For a Studio board or slideshow to be collaborative, it needs to be shared within the Discovery Education platform. Note that Canvas can be used to alert students to log into Discovery Education so they can access assignments. Learn more about creating collaborative Studio projects. 

Embed Studio Quizzes and Assessment Builder Assignments in Canvas

You can embed Studio Quizzes and assignments created in Assessment Builder into Canvas modules with options for grade passback. 

To embed a Studio Quiz or Assessment Builder assignments in a Canvas assignment, follow these steps: 

1. Select Assignments from the vertical menu bar in Canvas, then +Assignment. Give the assignment a title and enter any directional text.
2. Scroll down to Submission Type and select External Tool from the drop down. Select Find, then Discovery Education.
3. Select Find Assessments.
4. Select My Assessments.
5. Locate the Studio Quiz or Assessment Builder assignment to assign.  
6. Select Embed+ on the resource. The resource appears as a separate item in the module. 
7. The URL is automatically added to the box. Choose Select to add it to the assignment.
8. Set a due date as well as available dates on the assignment. Note that these must be added in order to make the quiz interactive for students.
9. Select Save & Publish so the assignment appears for students.

Grade Discovery Education Assessments in Canvas

Students complete the assessment directly in Canvas. Once complete, you can view the results in the Canvas gradebook.

Assessments with Single or Multiple Selection questions passback the grade directly into the gradebook. Assessments with short answer questions must be graded using the SpeedGrader tool within Canvas. Learn more about Canvas SpeedGrader in the Canvas Help Center. 

Embed Techbook Assessments in Canvas

If you have access to Techbook products - Math, Science, Social Studies - you have the option to embed Techbook assessments in Canvas with grade passback options. 

To embed a Discovery Education Techbook Assessment in a Canvas assignment, follow these steps: 

1. Select Assignments from the vertical menu bar in Canvas, then +Assignment. Give the assignment a title and enter any directional text.
2. Scroll down to Submission Type and select External Tool from the drop down. Select Find, then Discovery Education.
3. Select Find Assessments.
4. Select your desired assessment using the filter dropdowns. Select a course and then a concept to drill down to the appropriate assessment.
5. Select Embed+ on the resource. The resource appears as a separate item in the module. 
6. The URL is automatically added to the box. Choose Select to add it to the assignment.
7. Select Save & Publish so the assignment appears for students.

Note that when you view an assignment with an assessment embedded through your teacher account,  you can see the key and correct answers. Students have a different view. 

Grade Discovery Education Assessments in Canvas

Students complete the assessment directly in Canvas. Once complete, the teacher can view the results in their Canvas gradebook.

Assessments with Single or Multiple Selection questions passback the grade directly into the gradebook. Assessments with short answer questions must be graded using the SpeedGrader tool within Canvas. Learn more about Canvas SpeedGrader in the Canvas Help Center. 

Student View in Canvas

Similar to a teacher, students can access Discovery Education from the sidebar menu. From here, students search for resources, explore virtual field trips, or view any assignments assigned through Discovery Education. Note that Assignments assigned through Canvas appear in the Assignments section of Canvas. Assignments assigned through Discovery Education appear here. 

Student Access to Assignments

Students access Assignments from the sidebar menu. If an assignment has an embedded resources, students engage with the resource and complete the assignment. If a Studio project link is shared in Canvas, it opens the board or slideshow in the Discovery Education platform. 

If the assignment includes a Studio Quiz, students move through the pages/slides as necessary and answer the questions embedded in the Studio board within Canvas. When finished, they select Submit Assignment. 

If the assignment includes an assessment from Techbook or Assessment Builder, students select Take Assessment and answer the questions. Students use the arrows at the top to move forward and backwards through the questions. From the final question, they can select Submit.

The Students Results page appears to let the students know how they did on the assessment.