Users in Canvas are divided into two categories: account-level users and course-level users. Canvas comes with a single default Account-level user role that grants access to the whole account as well as individual courses. Account administrators can create user roles with different permissions at the account level.
The roles available in the NUS environment for different user groups:
Teacher team user groups
Student user groups
Other user groups
Teacher
TA
Non grading TA/Tutor
Student Tutor
Course coordinator
Student
Guest student
Support staff
Course Designer
Observer
At NUS, we recommend that the following roles be used for the purposes stated below:
Teacher: The teacher role grants a user course admin permissions, giving them control over their assigned courses.
TA: These users have permissions similar to teachers, and is meant to support the teacher role. They will be able to create and manage course materials and be able to access student submissions and grades. However, they cannot publish or conclude courses, and add/delete sections. You may assign this role to full-time TAs or TAs who are able to access grades.
Non-grading TA/Tutor: Tutors have similar permission to TAs, except that they will NOT be able to access student submissions and grades.
Student Tutor: Student tutors have limited permission. They will be able to add files, but will not have access to assignments, quizzes and grades.
Course coordinator: These users has the same permissions as the teacher.
Support staff: To be assigned to department administrative or support staff who support course creation in Canvas (similar permissions as the TAs).
Course Designer: These users are permitted to access and create course content, including announcements, assignments, discussions, and quizzes. However, Designers cannot access grades.
Observer: This user role can be linked to a student user enrolled in a course. For example, guardians, and/or mentors may wish to be linked to a student to view their course progress. Observers usually have the fewest permissions. Observers have limited permissions that allow them to see what is going on in a course, but will not be able to participate in assignments.
Student: Student users are automatically drawn from EduRec, and cannot be added/deleted manually (for all officially listed modules in EduRec).
Guest Student: Students who wish to enroll as guests in modules should be added as guest students. They have the same permission as observers.
Step 1: In Course Navigation, click the People link.
Step 2: Click the Add People button.
Step 3: To add a user, you can search for users with up to one of three options: email address, login ID, or SIS ID. To select a search option, click the button for your preferred search method.
Step 4: In the Role drop-down menu, assign the user(s) a role for the course based on available course roles. In the Section drop-down menu, assign the user(s) a section in the course. If you want to limit the user(s) to only interact with other users in their section, click the Can interact... checkbox. Click the Next button. Note that if you are adding multiple users at the same time, all users inherit the same role and section.
Step 5: When you are ready, click the Add Users button.
To try adding people to your course, please watch the animation below.
Please read the articles here for further information on users in CANVAS.