When would I use Collaborations?

You can use Collaborations to:

Copy and paste notes that everyone can access.
Share bullet-point lists or agendas for upcoming synchronous class or group time or meetings.
Create a text-based whiteboard that everyone in the classroom can see and refer to later.
Assign student groups a collaborative assignment as a graded assignment (instructor feature).

Google Docs Collaborations

All Canvas courses support Google Docs as the default collaborations tool. Collaborations that leverage Google Docs require that all participating learners have created and linked their Google account to their personal Settings.

Google Docs allows you to add up to 50 users per collaboration, and all users can view and edit a document at the same time. However, Google collaborations has a limit as to the number of users who can access a collaboration at any time.

Learn how to create a Google Docs collaboration as an instructor and create a Google Docs collaboration as a student.

Google Drive Collaborations

Collaborations also supports the Google Apps LTI, which is enabled in a course as an external app. Google Drive collaborations not only allow users to create Google Docs, but they can also create Google Spreadsheets and Google Presentations.

The Google Apps integration requires enabling the External Collaborations Tool feature preview. However, enabling this feature preview changes the Collaborations interface and removes any existing Google Docs collaborations.

Learn how to create a Google Drive collaboration as an instructor and create a Google Drive collaboration as a student.

When would I use Collaborations?

Google Docs Collaborations

Google Drive Collaborations

Microsoft Office Collaborations