Using Google Drive material within Canvas isn't always compatible with all browsers and browser settings. If you're having difficulty with the instructions below, we recommend trying with Google Chrome. It may also be helpful to make sure that you are only logged in to one Google account when you use this integration.
Overview
There are several pathways for sharing Google Drive materials (Docs, Sheets, or Slides) with your Canvas roster. The method that works best for you will depend on the level of access you would like to grant your students to the document.
Steps
Option 1: grant access to an existing document to all participants in your course
- Visit your Canvas Modules page
- In the upper right corner of any Module, click the + sign
- Choose "External Tool"
- From the resulting list, choose "Google Drive"
- Select the document you would like to share, click Select
- Click Submit
- It now appears in your Module. When students click into it, they will have view-only access to the document.
If you'd like to increase the students' permissions in the document, you can edit their status - for instance, changing them from "Viewer" to "Commenter" - in the "Share" menu.
Although they can see the "Share" menu, students are not able to share the document with others themselves if they are only Viewers. Any share requests they submit will be sent to you as email notifications.
Option 2: create a new, empty document for collaborative editing
- In your course, click on the "Collaborations" tab on the left side
- Click + Collaboration in the upper right
- Select from the three types of document available (Document, Spreadsheet, Presentation). All three correspond to document types in Google Drive (Docs, Sheets, Slides).
- Click on Name to enter a name for your new document
- Choose students or groups from the lists to add to the document
- Click Submit to create your document
The document, once created, will be in the "My Drive" area of your Google Drive, and will also appear on a list in the Collaborations area of your Canvas course.
Option 3: share a document quickly when you have the link
This option gives you the least control over the sharing and permissions of your document, but is the simplest to set up.
- In your Google item, click the "Share" button.
- Under General Access choose either Mount Holyoke College or Anyone with the link
- Visit your Canvas Modules page
- In the upper right corner of any Module, click the + sign
- Choose External URL
- Paste in your Google document (or slides, or sheets) link into the URL box.
- Add in a Page Name to display on the Modules page
- Click Add Item