Bristol Community College

(774) 357-3333
Login Sign up

Tutoring Access and Resources for Canvas

Modified on: Thu, Mar 13 2025 9:09 AM

This tutorial explains the roles an embedded tutor can be assigned in Canvas. The roles have different levels of access to course content and Canvas tools. This page also provides tutorials and suggested usage of those Canvas tools. 


When requesting a tutor, instructors choose a role:


  • Participant Role:
    • Has the same rights as a student. (The tutor will show up in your gradebook.)
    • Email students using Inbox in Canvas.
  • Tutor Role: 
    • Post announcements to relay tutoring information or resources.
    • View unreleased or hidden Module content and Course Navigation menus.
    • Schedule Zoom Meetings in Canvas to connect with students.
    • Create discussions to have a public area in the course for discourse.
    • Email students using Inbox in Canvas.


Tour a course as the tutor role.

See what a tutor sees in Canvas and what areas a tutor has access to.



Emailing students using Inbox in Canvas.


Using Inbox is a quick way to email a student. Inbox messages are also sent a student's Bristol email so they can reply to your message in either area!


Suggested usage:

  • Email a student one-on-one to plan a tutoring session.
  • Help answer a student's questions privately.


How to use Inbox in Canvas.


Tutors can use the Inbox in a similar way as instructors:


00:00: How do I use the Inbox as an Instructor? 00:03: In Global Navigation, click the Inbox link. If the Inbox link includes a numbered indicator, the indicator shows how many unread messages you have in your Inbox. Once you read the new messages, the indicator will disappear. 00:18: The toolbar includes global message options 00:22: To load conversations, filter your messages by course or group and type. Filtering by type lets you filter messages by Inbox, Unread, Starred, Sent, Archived, and Submission Comments. 00:37: You can also search for conversations by user in the Search by user field. 00:42: Once you have selected a conversation, you can use the other options in the toolbar to: Reply to a conversation. Reply-all to a conversation. Archive a conversation. Delete a conversation. You can also use the More Options icon to forward, mark a conversation as read or unread, and star conversations. 01:03: Conversations for your selected course and Inbox filter appear in the left Inbox panel. 01:09: To star a conversation, hover over the conversation and click the star to the right of the conversation. 01:16: When you select a conversation, all messages in the conversations thread appear in the right Inbox panel. 01:23: Within each conversation, you can reply, reply-all, forward, or delete the entire conversation thread. You can also hover over an individual message and use the same commands within the individual message. 01:37: To select multiple messages to archive, delete, mark as read, mark as unread, or star, click the check box for each message. You can also press the command key (Mac) or the control key (Windows) while clicking each message you want to select. In the Inbox toolbar, click the desired option. 01:58: This guide covered how to use the Inbox as an instructor.


Posting announcements with the Tutor Role.


Tutors can post announcements to students. Announcements are a great way to either schedule or immediately deliver information to students. This is because new announcements are emailed to students, show up in their to-do list, and at the top of the homepage of a course.


Suggested usage:

  • Broadcast your tutor hours to students.
  • Set up reminders about tutor hours.
  • Deliver quick changes or events related to tutoring.


How to post announcements:

Scheduling zoom meetings in Canvas with the Tutor Role.


If an instructor makes the Zoom Meetings option available on Course Navigation users with the tutor role can schedule Zoom meetings in Canvas or start a Personal Meeting Room meeting inside a course.


Suggested Usage:


  • Create easy-to-find zoom meeting links and meet with students within Canvas. 
    • Note! When creating Zoom meetings, you can choose to use your Personal Meeting Room link. This may be beneficial for tutors who prefer to use their personal meeting room for meetings.
      Under Meeting Options a tutor can check off Use Personal Meeting ID.


How to create and manage Zoom meetings in Canvas:


Starting your personal meeting room with the Tutor role.


Even without scheduling a meeting you can start your personal meeting from Canvas. Click Zoom Meetings from Course Navigation and then click the Personal Meeting Room tab.



Next, you will see your personal meeting room url that you can share to allow others to join you in Zoom.



At the bottom of the page you will find the Start this Meeting button.






Was this answer helpful?