Technology

Microsoft Teams Integration in Canvas

In the past, every course in Reggienet at Illinois State University (ISU) automatically had a Microsoft (MS) Team created for use with MS products (MS Teams, OneNote, Sharepoint etc.). This is no longer the case.

Can I Get a Microsoft Team for my Canvas Course?

Yes. Although ISU no longer automatically generates a MS Team for each course, instructors may enable this ability within their course(s) if they choose. Once enabled, the MS Team will periodically sync with Canvas to reflect changes in the course, including enrollment updates. Syncs run every 90 minutes.

Enable a Microsoft Team for Your Course

To enable a Microsoft Team for your course:

  1. Navigate to your course in Canvas.
  2. Select Settings from the Course Navigation Bar.
  3. In Settings, select the Integrations
  4. On the Integrations page, click the toggle underneath State to enable (the toggle will appear green when enabled).
  5. Information about the sync should appear underneath the heading Microsoft Sync.
    1. If you see no information, may need to click the arrow next to Microsoft Sync to expand the display.
  6. If you are enabling the Teams/Canvas sync for the first time, you will need to click Sync Now to start the initial sync.
    1. Future syncs will auto-schedule every 90 minutes if there have been changes to course enrollments.
    2. You may also click the Sync Now button at any time to manually start a sync, provided it has been at least 90 minutes sync the previous sync has run.
  7. Within a few minutes, you will see a new Microsoft Team appear in the MS Teams application. You will receive an in-app notification when it is available.
  8. Initially, only you as the instructor will have access to view the Team. You may click Activate near the top of the Team in the app to make the Team visible to your students.
  9. Once the Team has been activated, you may use the tabs along the top of the Team to import/create new class materials (Files, Classwork, Assignments, Grades*, and Insights (if enabled in the course). You can also select Class Notebook to set up a OneNote notebook for the course.
    1. Note: After you click to start the initial sync, it may take up to several hours before all the tabs populate with information.

*The Grades tab in MS Teams for classes is not currently enabled at ISU. Clicking on that tab will generate a message advising the user to contact their administrator. If this feature is enabled in the future, this article will be updated with that information.

Add the Microsoft Teams classes Tab to your Canvas Course Navigation

For easy navigation between your Canvas course and your Microsoft Team, you may add Microsoft Teams classes to your course navigation bar (you must already have enabled MS sync as described above). To add this item to your course navigation:

  1. Navigate to your course in Canvas.
  2. Select Settings from your Course Navigation Bar.
  3. In Settings, select the Navigation
  4. Scroll down to the heading Drag items here to hide them from students.
  5. Locate Microsoft Teams classes and drag it upward into the list of already enabled navigation options and drop it wherever you would like it to appear in the navigation.

You may now select Microsoft Teams classes to toggle back and forth between your Canvas course and your MS Team. You may be prompted to sign in to your account periodically.

Team Class Meetings

Instructors may use their Microsoft Team for course meetings if they wish.

To start a meeting via the Teams app with the class, you may click [Meet] > [Meet Now] from the upper-right corner of the Team display in the Teams app. This will automatically include any member of your course.

To schedule a future meeting via the Teams app with your class, you may click Meet > Schedule a meeting. You will then be able to update a future date/time/location/details of your meeting. The invitation will automatically include all members of the course Team, you do not need to add any required attendees unless you would like to invite additional non-course Team members to the meeting.

If you need to schedule a meeting via Teams without including ALL members of our course Team, it is recommended you use your personal Teams account, or your personal Outlook calendar, and manually add those whom you would like to invite.

Additional Assistance

How to Get Help

Technical assistance is available through the Illinois State University Technology Support Center at: