T2MTU: Gradebook “Notes”
3/28/22
by Amanda Dills
One very handy but underutilized feature in the Canvas Gradebook is the optional Notes column. This column allows you to save general for-instructor-eyes only comments about each student, and it works great for identifying information, like sending school or nickname, but you can also use it to make notes about things you’d want to follow up on with a student or specific information you might want to pass on to a co-teacher who shares your course.
In this video, I’ll show you how to use this Notes column and give you some ideas for ways you can use it in your Canvas courses.
Click the video below to play, or keep scrolling to read text directions.
Using the Canvas Gradebook “Notes” Column
Part 1: Turning On the Gradebook Notes Column
- In the Gradebook, go to “View” and select click on “Notes” in the dropdown menu to toggle this column on or off.
- To add a note, click in the cell where you want the note added, and begin typing. You can use the little drag icon in the lower right hand corner to resize the input window if necessary.
- Click “Save” to save your note. You can view your note in its entirety by clicking in the cell again to make the pop up input window re-appear
Part 2: About the Canvas Notes Column
- This column is NOT visible by students or observers in a course – only instructors.
- There is a 255 character limit in this column, and you cannot do any formatting (though you can add emojis). Once a note has been created, only about 12 characters will be visible in the at-a-glance gradebook view, but you can click in the gradebook cell to view the entire note.
- Information stored in this column will be downloaded into the CSV file if your gradebook is exported and downloaded.
- Unlike other columns in the gradebook, you cannot sort the gradebook based on information that you have in this column.
Part 3: Ways to Use the Notes Column
- High school instructors could use this column to keep track of the students’ sending school or section for easy viewing in the Gradebook.
- Instructors in self-paced courses could use it to track meetings with the student or keep notes about students’ current progress.
- Co-Teachers who share teaching responsibilities can use it keep their coteachers up-to-date with regards to student issues or performance.
- Use it to keep records of student absences, or any other metric that accumulates over the entire course.
How might you utilize the Notes column in your course? Let us know in the comments below, and contact your ID3 specialist if you have any questions.
