Conferences are primarily used for virtual lectures, virtual office hours, and student groups. They can also be used to demonstrate technologies or troubleshoot technology issues online. For best performance, Conferences should be limited to 25 users or fewer. By default, Canvas integrates with the conferencing tool BigBlueButton.
Notes:
- Creating a conference is a course permission. If you cannot create a conference, your institution has restricted this feature.
- If you use BigBlueButton Premium Tier, you can allow Canvas user profile pictures to display as user avatars in BigBlueButton. To enable this feature, contact your Customer Success Manager. Learn more about the BigBlueButton integration with Canvas.
- For more information on web conferencing options in Canvas, view Web Conferencing Resources.
Instructor View
Conferences makes it easy to conduct synchronous (real-time) lectures for all users in a course. Conferences allows users to broadcast real-time audio and video, demo applications, share presentation slides, or demo online resources.
When would I use Conferences as an instructor?
Use Conferences to:
- Connect with your students for online office hours or study sessions designed to help them prepare for a test.
- Connect with your colleagues for professional development webinars.
- Practice presenting online. Students can set up practice presentations in their student Groups.
- Invite special guests to your classroom by adding them as a student or observer to your course.
- Broadcast a live event or lecture to the students that can't be onsite.
- Record your conferences so students can view them at a later date. Recordings are automatically deleted 7 days after the conference ends.
Student View
Students can create conferences to talk about course assignments, host study groups, and collaborate on projects.
When would I use Conferences as a student?
Use Conferences to:
- Connect with your instructor for online office hours or study sessions
- Connect with fellow students for guest speakers or professional development webinars
- Practice presenting online in student groups or with your instructor in a class conference
- Collaborate in student groups for group projects or other coursework
