Canvas: Enroll a Test Student

As an instructor or course designer, you will sometimes want to view and test a course site from the student's perspective. You may want to know:

  • Is content visible?
  • Is there content that should be hidden from view?
  • Does the student experience of content organization and sequencing make sense?
  • Are the activities correctly configured?

There are 2 ways you can simulate the student experience:

  • View a course using the built-in Canvas Student View function. View a course as a test student using Student View describes what you can and cannot do. 
  • View a course using the UofM Test Student role to simulate the student perspective completely.

The focus of this article is on enrolling a guest account to use as a test student. It covers:

Benefits of using the UofM Test Student role

Unlike the Canvas Student View user, the UofM Test Student role can:

  • Be assigned to groups
  • Click-through from Canvas into external tools such as VoiceThread or publisher content packages such as eTextbooks.
  • Participate in Collaborations
  • Do peer reviews
  • Have a different due and availability dates for an assignment 
  • Have a profile

If you already have a guest account, go to Enrolling a Test Student. If you don't, you will need to create one.

Creating a Guest Account

  1. Go to Request Guest Account
  2. Fill out the form fields.
    • Email Address: Enter an active email address; it cannot be a University email address.
  3. Click Submit. An email message about your Guest Account is sent to the email address you specified in the form.
    • Your full email address will be used as your University Internet ID.
    • Your password is the one you set when you filled out the request form.

Note: In most situations, a new guest account will be pulled into Canvas within an hour. Occasionally, a guest account will not be pulled into Canvas in a timely manner. If you have tried enrolling your guest account unsuccessfully after waiting for at least an hour, contact Technology Help for further assistance. 

Enrolling a Test Student

You can enroll a user as a Test Student using Course Admin Tools.

  1. Go to the Course navigation menu and select Course Admin Tools. Select the Test Student Enrollment tool. The Test Student Enrollment window appears.
  2. Select + Test Student. The Add Test Student window opens.
    Add Test Student window; add users by email address option selected
  3. Enter the email address of the account you want to enroll in the Add user(s) by text entry box.
  4. Select a Section from the drop-down.
  5. Optional: Check the box to restrict the user to interacting with users in their section only.
  6. Select Next. A confirmation window appears.
    Add Test Student confirmation window displaying the account's name, email address, and internet ID
  7. Click Add Test Students. The user is added to the course as a Test Student.
    The Test Student Enrollment window displaying the account that was added.

Editing a Test Student's Section Enrollment

You can change a user's Test Student enrollment.

  1. Go to the Course navigation menu and select Course Admin Tools.
  2. Select the Test Student Enrollment tool. The Test Student Enrollment window appears.
    1. If you do not see Course Admin Tools, follow the steps in How do I manage Course Navigation links? to enable that feature.
  3. Select the Options icon (the 3 vertical dots on the right) for the user.
    Test Student Enrollments window Options menu displayed, Edit Sections option highlighted
  4. Select Edit Sections to add or remove the user from additional sections. The Section Enrollments window appears.
    Section enrollments window with selected sections
  5. Choose a section from the drop-down menu.
  6. Select Confirm.

Removing a Test Student from a Course

You can remove a Test Student user from a course.

  1. Go to the Course navigation menu and select Course Admin Tools. Select the Test Student Enrollment tool. The Test Student Enrollment window appears.
    1. If you do not see Course Admin Tools, follow the steps in How do I manage Course Navigation links? to enable that feature.
  2. Select the Options icon (the 3 vertical dots on the right) for the user. The Section Enrollments window appears.
  3. Select Remove From Course to unenroll this Test Student user from the course.
    Section Enrollments confirmation window asking "Are you sure you would like to remove user from this course?"

Using the Test Student role

  1. Log into canvas.umn.edu using your guest account.
  2. Accept the course invitation.
  3. View and test your site.

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TDX ID

3658