These tables offer comparisons of D2L and Canvas terminology and features.
| D2L feature | Canvas feature | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| eLearn Home Page | Dashboard |
When you first log in, you are directed to the Dashboard landing page, which is part of the Global Navigation.
The first interface that you encounter after logging in is the Dashboard, where your Canvas courses are displayed
on clickable cards.
The Global Navigation is the dark gray menu with the Sinclair logo at the top. This is the constant menu with Account, Dashboard, Courses, Calendar, Inbox, History, Studio, Commons, and Help. This menu is not customizable and is set by Sinclair. |
| NavBar | Course Navigation Menu |
Once you select a course, you can access the white Course Navigation menu. It is specific to the selected course.
Home, Modules, Grades, Assignments, etc. can be customized by the instructor through Settings > Navigation.
Items in the Course Navigation menu that have a crossed-out eyeball are hidden from students. The visible items are
displayed at the top of the navigation menu.
Hidden from students: Smart Search, Rubrics, Assignments, Collaborations, People, Discussions, Quizzes, Files, Pages, Outcomes, Item Banks, and Settings. |
| Home Page | Course Home Page | Access the Course Home Page in the white Course Navigation menu by selecting “Home.” When you select a course from the Dashboard, it will open on the Course Home Page. |
| View as SCC student / Demo Student | Student View |
In a course, select the View As Student button (top right) to open a student's view of the course and take action as a student.
In D2L, you may have used “Demo Student” to submit assignments and take quizzes as a student.
In Canvas, you can take action as a student by using View as Student. However, you will need the Reset Student option to clear the history of any actions that you take as a student. Select the pink banner at the bottom of the screen that signifies student view with options to Reset Student or Leave Student View (bottom right). Any changes or updates to the course will not take effect until you have Reset Student view. |
| D2L feature | Canvas feature | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Master shell | Blueprint course |
In D2L, a master shell can be copied to a teaching shell.
In Canvas, a Blueprint course can be associated with a teaching shell. Depending on the settings of the Blueprint, that association may be dynamic throughout the whole term, locking content from being edited—or the association may only occur when setting up the course and content can be editable by teaching faculty during the term. |
| LOR (Learning Object Repository) | No comparable feature in Canvas (Canvas uses Blueprinting with teaching shells) |
The D2L Learning Object Repository (LOR) is used to store and reuse shared content that instructors can import into courses,
with updates requiring re-publishing or re-importing to reflect changes.
Canvas Blueprint courses, by contrast, actively synchronize selected content from a master course to associated courses, allowing updates to automatically push while still letting institutions control what instructors can edit. |
| Content | Modules |
Modules organize the structure of the course by grouping related materials like links, pages, files, discussions, assignments,
and quizzes into sequential learning paths for students. Modules and the content items within modules guide students on their
learning journeys. Modules control the flow of the course.
Module items are links to graded items and pages of content. Removing items from modules does not delete items from the course permanently; it only removes the link. They can still be accessed in the respective tool for graded items and in “Pages” for content. |
| Release conditions | Prerequisites / Requirements | Modules can have prerequisites and requirements set on them to restrict content access. |
| Create a File | Create a Page | In Canvas, Pages are content items where instructors can add text, images, video links, tables, and embedded materials. |
| Manage Files | Files |
In the Files Options (?) menu, you can select whether you want files to be published (public) or unpublished (private).
Because students don’t have access to the Files tab, they will not be able to see files unless they are included in the Modules section.
Organize folders by module or unit, keep instructor-only files in an unpublished folder, and deliver content through Modules. |
| Hidden/Unhidden | Publish/Unpublish | Published content items (students can access) / Unpublished content items (students cannot access). |
| Progress | Assignments (hidden from students) |
In D2L, students can access the “Progress” tab to complete assignments and quizzes.
In Canvas, students can access graded items within “Modules” or through “Course Summary” in the Syllabus tool if the assignments, discussions, or quizzes do not have availability dates or the modules in which they are contained do not have availability restrictions set. Assignments, discussions, and quizzes must also be hidden from students in order to control access to these assessments through Modules. |
| D2L feature | Canvas feature | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Quizzes, Assignments, Discussions | Assignments |
“Assignments” refers to any graded item, including Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, and graded Surveys. “Assignments” also include
LTI links that report a grade to the gradebook.
You can create graded items, organize them into categories (groups), assign weighted percentages to categories, and bulk edit assignment dates. |
| Gradebook Categories | Assignment Groups |
From the left-hand navigation menu, “Assignments” provides the closest view to D2L Grades > Manage Grades page. This page is hidden for students.
You can organize assignments into categories, allow weighting of final grade, and provide group-level rules (i.e., dropping the lowest score). |
| Submission Types & Allowable File Extensions | Assignment Types | In Canvas, there are four major submission types: Files, Text Entries, URLs, and Media Recordings. It's also possible to choose “No Submission.” This could be used for any assignment where submission is not required. You can restrict file types for student submissions in the editing window for an assignment. |
| Start and End Dates | Available From / Until Date | These are the dates that an item is available for students. |
| Due Date | Due Date | This is the date that a graded/ungraded item must be completed. |
| D2L feature | Canvas feature | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| QuickEval | SpeedGrader |
QuickEval consolidates student submissions for all tools that need to be graded. QuickEval is part of the NavBar in D2L.
SpeedGrader consolidates student submissions for one assignment/quiz/discussion for evaluating purposes. You can access SpeedGrader through Grades or in Assignments. Select an assignment to grade. |
| Grades | Grades |
Grades can be filtered by: Assignment group, section, late/missing, submission status.
Late policies such as late penalties, missing assignment grades, and zeros for missing work can be set.
You can change your view of the grade sequence under the Grades tab. Click “View Options,” then select an arrangement: Default Order; Assignment Name A–Z; Assignment Name Z–A; Due Date (Oldest to Newest / Newest to Oldest); Points (Lowest to Highest / Highest to Lowest). There is no “Manage Grades” page that displays the gradebook categories. “Assignments” provides the closest view to D2L Grades > Manage Grades page. |
| Intelligent Agents | No comparable feature | In Grades for any assignment, access the three-dot menu next to the title and select “Message Students Who” to send targeted communication to students who meet a specified criterion. |
| D2L feature | Canvas feature | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Discussions | Discussions |
Discussions are very similar between D2L and Canvas. One difference is that Canvas Discussions can only be organized by topic.
There are no “forums” in Canvas Discussions.
Discussions allow post and reply features; Discussions marked as “Graded” appear in Assignments, Modules, and Gradebook. Canvas allows instructors to set a due date for the original post and a separate due date for replies to peers. Check “Assign graded checkpoints” in Discussion settings to assign point values to first posts and replies. |
| News / Announcements | Announcements | Communicate with class using images, text, media, and links. Allows delayed posting; enable/disable comments. Students can manage personal notification settings and preferences to ensure they receive announcements. |
| eLearn Email tab | Inbox | In D2L, eLearn email resides inside a course, and email messages are forwarded to a student’s Outlook email. Canvas uses “Inbox,” which is not course specific. Within the Inbox, you can filter messages by course. Messages sent via Canvas’ Inbox are forwarded to a student’s Outlook. |
| D2L feature | Canvas feature | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Quizzes | Quizzes | Canvas Quizzes can utilize Item Banks to allow for dynamic question updates. Preview mode allows instructors to test settings and navigation. Canvas allows for: Multiple choice, True/False, Fill-in-the-blank, Essay, Question Banks, and Timed settings. |
| Question Library | Question Banks (Classic Quizzes) / Item Banks (New Quizzes) |
Questions in the Question Library in D2L will migrate to Canvas and become “Question Banks.” When those Question Banks are then copied into another Canvas course, they become “Item Banks.”
In D2L, the Question Library is tied to the course. In Canvas, Item Banks are tied to the user—then shared with other Canvas users. Question Banks in Classic Quizzes are collections of quiz questions instructors can reuse across multiple quizzes. Item Banks are shared collections of quiz questions that can be reused across multiple quizzes; questions update automatically and immediately in all quizzes when edited in Item Banks, unless students have begun taking the quiz. In D2L, you can create Question Pools that pull questions from the Question Library. In Canvas, you can pull all or select questions from Item Banks. |
| Special Access | Accommodations | In D2L, teachers can grant special access to specific students, including different times for testing. In Canvas, “special access” is called “accommodations.” Access the “Moderate” tab after accessing “Build” in the editing window for a quiz. |
| D2L feature | Canvas feature | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Classlist | People | Role assignments: students, teachers, TAs, observers, and other course roles (hidden from students). |
| Groups Tools | People: Creating Groups | Select People > Groups tab at the top of the People menu. |
| D2L feature | Canvas feature | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Syllabus | Syllabus Tool vs Syllabus Page |
In Canvas, the Syllabus tool (accessed from the Syllabus link in the left navigation menu) will auto-populate the Course Summary with a chronological list of graded assignments and their due dates.
Sinclair will also link the templated Syllabus page (like the accordion-style syllabus used in D2L). The link to the Syllabus page appears in the Syllabus tool. In the previous D2L syllabus, there was a “When Assignments are Due” table listing all course topics and assessments. This is now called “Course Outline” on the Syllabus page. |
| Course Offering Information | Settings | Here you can manage: course start/end dates, language, time zone, course description, file storage, navigation, Mastery Paths, Course Blueprints, feature options, Import Course Content, link to an external tool, add Course Pacing, enable and adjust course grading scheme, and more. |
Last updated January 2026