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Helping Students with Quercus (and related technologies)
Course Access
Introduction and Overview
- Mobile App
Find Your Way Around Quercus
Best Practices and Troubleshooting while taking a Quiz
Your Responsibility as a Student for Course Notifications and Email
View Grades
View Calendar
Quercus (Canvas) Support Guides for Students
Self-Paced Videos
Privacy Policies on University Systems

Please be advised : Copying equations from a question in a Quiz into your answer may cause portions of your answer to be blank. Please use the "Insert Math Equation" option in the Rich Content Editor to add equations to your answer, instead of copy/pasting equations from the question.

Combining text entered using the "Insert Math Equation" function and plain text entered in the standard input box may cause issues where part of your text may not show up properly. If equations are used, it is strongly advised that they should be built entirely using the "Insert Math Equation" function.

Helping Students with Quercus (and related technologies)

Most issues encountered while using Quercus are typically related to a browser problem. A few good first steps when encountering issues are :

Use a different browser - Chrome, Firefox or Safari are recommended
Use an incognito browser window
Clear cache and cookies for your browser (Chrome/Firefox/Safari)

There are several ways students can get assistance with Quercus and related teaching technologies (such as Bb Collaborate Ultra). This would include assistance troubleshooting network connection problems, which are the most common source of problems when using our education systems.

What Technology Requirements Does U of T Recommend?

The University of Toronto has identified the minimum technical requirements needed for students to access remote/online learning.

System Status

The First Place to check is System Status to see if the problem is a University-wide issue. The Status page is linked right off the U of T home page, or directly from https://www.systemstatus.utoronto.ca/

Student Resources

Students can use these resources any time, for any technology issue:

The Quercus Student Guide: https://q.utoronto.ca/courses/46670/pages/student-guide

Quercus Student Blog: https://qstudents.utoronto.ca/

Information Commons, Robarts Library – 416-978-HELP (4357) – help.desk@utoronto.ca
https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/ic-home

UTM Help Desk- 905-828-5344 - helpdesk.utm@utoronto.ca
https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/iits/information-instructional-technology-services-iits

UTM Learn Anywhere: https://library.utm.utoronto.ca/students/quercus/learn-anywhere

UTSC Help Desk – 416.287.4357 (HELP) - helpdesk@utsc.utoronto.ca
https://utsc.utoronto.ca/iits/

Educational Technology Support

For technical issues and concerns with Quercus and the tools within - please contact: q.help@utoronto.ca

For students enrolled in the School of Continuing Studies - please contact elearning@utoronto.ca

Wifi and Computers

Questions about Wifi? Need a computer? Visit U of T Libraries for more information.

Course Access

How do I log in?

The Quercus (Canvas) address is https://q.utoronto.ca . Log in using your UTORid and password.

What is my UTORid?

UTORid is your key to a number of University of Toronto services including institutional email and Quercus courses. To obtain a UTORid, you first need to obtain a T-Card (student identification card) from a T-Card office . Your UTORid is printed on the student card. You should also receive a printout from the T-Card office with instructions on how to activate your UTORid.

You may not have activated your UTORid and password. If you are a first time UTORid user (both new and returning students) visit www.utorid.utoronto.ca and follow the instructions under “First Time users”.

New students: Click here to Activate your UTORid. You will find reference to a “Secret Activation Key”. This was originally issued to you when you picked up your T-card. If you have lost your “Secret Activation Key” you can visit your campus Help Desk.

Returning to UofT: If you have been with the University of Toronto for some time, or you are returning to the University and have not created a UTORid, click here to Create your UTORid then follow the instructions.

Re-type your password; check that the Caps Lock is not on.

Why can't I see my course card on the Dashboard when I log in to Quercus?

You should see your course when you first log in to Quercus on your Dashboard, or in the Courses menu item that is located in the Global Navigation Menu on the left side of every page in Quercus. If you do not see your course select All Courses. See instructions for customizing your course list as a student.
Your instructor may not have made the course available to students yet – check with your instructor or department first.
You may not be registered for the course in the ACORN (formerly ROSI) system – check ACORN or with your Registrar.
You may have recently registered for the course on ACORN and your course enrollment is in the process to be sent to Quercus – wait 24 to 48 hours (1-2 Business Days) for your registration to be updated in Quercus.
The course may not be offered on Quercus this session – check with your department or with your Registrar.

How do I remove a course from appearing on my Dashboard?

When you are enrolled in more than one Quercus course, you can customize the active courses you want to show in your Course list. If you want to remove the default course card setting, you can customize the course list and manually select your favorite courses to display in the Dashboard.

Additionally, in the Course Card Dashboard, you can open the Options menu for a course card, click the Move tab, and select the Unfavorite option. Unfavoriting a course requires a confirmation before the course is removed from the Dashboard.

Unfavorite Course Card

Courses can be re-added as a favorite in the Course page, which can be accessed from the Courses link in the Global Navigation Menu.

I want to change my name as it appears in Quercus

Official Name Change you should contact the Registrar's Office
Change to Preferred First Name: You can change your display first name in Quercus by going to https://my.auth.utoronto.ca/ , typing in your preferred first name and clicking "Save Display First Name". It will take 24 hours for the change to be reflected in Quercus.

Introduction and Overview

1. Watch this overview video for students (created by Canvas, the platform that supports Quercus).

2. Video: Overview of Quercus for Students created by U of T Mississauga Library Instructional Technology Support Team

Overview of Quercus for Students

This video introduces students to the Quercus environment (via the full web browser version.) It demonstrates:

the global menu options
settings for notifications
help resources and contacting your instructor
navigating your course and logging out

3. There is also a mobile app for students called Canvas Student to access Quercus

Mobile App Notifications: We have received reports that push notifications are not being generated on certain mobile devices. The developer for the Canvas Student and Canvas Teacher mobile apps has been notified of this.

The Canvas Student app should not be used for any high-risk activities such as submitting assignments or quizzes—important tasks and assessments should be completed on a desktop or laptop computer instead.

Troubleshooting Issues: The Canvas Student and Teacher mobile apps are developed by Instructure, Inc., not the University of Toronto. Please be aware that these mobile apps have limited functionality, and the service through these apps are provided "as-is". For a more complete experience access your courses using the desktop version.

Most issues can be resolved by uninstalling and reinstalling the app from your mobile device. Additional troubleshooting and questions may have to be directed to your cellular network provider and device manufacturer.

Find Your Way Around Quercus

The Dashboard is the first thing you see when you log into Quercus. Your courses will display as course cards (or course tiles) in alphabetical order by course name.
To access a course click on the course name in the course card.
Review the Accessibility within Canvas (Quercus) guide
The Global Navigation menu appears on the left hand-side of every page.

From that menu you can:

personalize your profile
edit your notifications (see below)
see a list of all your courses
access the Calendar,
access the Inbox and conversations
access Help resources.

Best Practices and Troubleshooting while taking a Quiz

For the best experience while taking a Quercus Quiz, please make sure that you are using a supported device and browser. It is not recommended to use the Canvas App while taking a Quiz.

Do not have multiple instances of the same Quiz open at once. A Quiz should only be open in a single tab/device or answers may not be properly saved/submitted.

If you encounter any issues while taking a Quiz (e.g. images are not showing) try the following troubleshooting steps :

1. Refresh the page.
2. Ensure that you have third party cookies enabled in your browser. (Chrome/Firefox/Safari)
3. Clear their browser cache and cookies. (Chrome/Firefox/Safari)
4. Try opening the quiz in an Incognito/Private window
5. Try using a different supported browser.
6. Reset your router or modem.
7. Try using another network/internet connection.
8. Try using another device to take the quiz.

Your Responsibility as a Student for Course Notifications and Email

Make sure your email address listed in ACORN is a @mail.utoronto.ca address (or a university email address given to you by your department, for example @physics.utoronto.ca). You get a @mail.utoronto.ca address at the same time you activate your UTORid and Password. You can check your U of T email account at http://mail.utoronto.ca/.

All course correspondence that is sent using Quercus is sent to a university-issued email address; this is university policy. Due to this policy, in order to receive email from Quercus, you must update ACORN with your official university-issued e-mail address. Until you do this step, you will not be able to receive email sent through Quercus by your instructor.

Notification Preferences

Students have the option of choosing how they receive notifications from the Quercus system by adding their preferred contact method such as SMS text messages on the Settings page. The notification settings will apply to all of your Quercus courses. Please be advised that students have the right to forward notifications to a non-university, external email provider such as Gmail, Hotmail etc., however this is not recommended. University policy on official correspondence with students states:

"Students have the right to forward their University issued electronic mail account to another electronic mail service provider address but remain responsible for ensuring that all University electronic message communication sent to the official University-issued account is received and read."

Once contact methods are added, users can set their own Notification Preferences to select how often they want to be notified of course events.

Students choose when notifications will be sent to them by selecting the appropriate icon:

screen shot of notification frequecy icons in Canvas

Daily summaries are typically sent around 6pm. Weekly summaries are typically sent on Saturdays around 6pm.

View Grades

The Grades page displays all current grades for course assignments. The instructor chooses to display or not display this page to students. If you do not see the Grades option in your course menu contact your instructor.

Students should understand that grades posted in their Quercus course allows them early access to preliminary grades, it does not represent their official final marks. Official course grades are posted on ACORN.

View Calendar

The calendar tool provides students with course related information and activities, and keep track of course events. Watch a video on the calendar tool for students.

Quercus (Canvas) Support Guides for Students

Student Quercus Guides
U of T Quercus for Students Blog Site
Posts are written by students for students who share their experiences and tips when using the Quercus academic toolbox
Key Resources Student Guide: curated links to key resources from the Canvas Community website to get you started with using Quercus
What are the basic computer requirements?
Supported Browsers

Self-Paced Videos

Students at the University of Toronto have access to a variety of self-driven content offered on Coursera at no cost.

Canvas Community Videos for Students (offered by Instructure)

Learn at your own pace and on your own schedule. Note, some of the features and tools that are mentioned in the links and videos may not be included in your specific course environment, simply because your instructor may not have made them available for the course, or they are not available at U of T.

Assignments Overview (Students)
Assignment Submissions (Students)
Calendar (Students)
Canvas Student for iOS
Canvas Student for Android
Communication (Students)
Files (Students)
Discussions (Students)
Canvas Overview (Students)
Grades (Students) - "What If" feature is not available at U of T
Groups: Creation & Interaction (Students) - Students cannot create their own groups
New Rich Content Editor (Students)
Peer Reviews (Students)
Quizzes (Students)

Privacy Policies on University Systems

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