Canvas @ Brown

How Do I Access a Canvas Site During Shopping Period?

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In accordance with the Brown Curriculum, shopping period provides students the ability to explore subject matters in line with their interests. Non-registered students can access published Canvas course materials during shopping period, which also allows students to submit assignments and discussions. At the end of shopping period, students not officially registered for the course through Banner will be removed from Canvas course sites.

Faculty must publish their Canvas course site to allow students access to material.

Students must register in cab.brown.edu aka "CAB" before the end of shopping period to become officially enrolled in Canvas.

How to Access Canvas Courses During Shopping Period

Shopping using cab.brown.edu for students

  1. Navigate to cab.brown.edu
  2. Click Sign In in the upper right corner of the page.
  3. Enter a search term (department, course code, instructor, etc.) in the Course Search box, then click Find Courses.
  4. For a course with a published Canvas site, add the course to your "Primary Cart." After adding the course to your Primary Cart, you will see a link to "Course Materials." This link will lead you the Canvas site, if it exists and was published by your instructor.
  5. If you wish to remove yourself from having temporary access, you will need to remove the course from your Primary Cart. Otherwise, at the end of shopping period, all non-Banner registered students will be removed from those Canvas courses

Shopping Period Troubleshooting

When is shopping period?
Shopping period begins approximately 2 weeks before the first day of class and ends approximately 2 weeks after the first day of class. Shopper enrollments will only populate to Canvas during this timeframe. If you add the course to your primary cart before then, your enrollment will not be processed until shopping period officially opens.


Why don't I have access to the Canvas course in spite of adding it in the primary shopping cart?
There may be a short delay between the time you add the course to your Primary Cart and the time you are granted access to Canvas. Another reason may be that the instructor might not have a published canvas site. 


Why do I keep getting emails from courses I have not registered for?
Remove the course from the primary shopping cart in CAB. Within 1/2 hour, access to the Canvas site will be removed. Note that you can have multiple carts. If you would like to save a course in a cart for future semesters, create a new cart and save the course in that cart instead of keeping it in the primary cart. 


Can I get notifications from one of the courses I am shopping and not others?
No. You are added to the Canvas course as 'prospective student' for all the courses in your primary shopping cart. Also, notification settings in Canvas are 
set globally, not individually for each course.

Faculty can upload syllabi in coursetools.brown.edu following these instructions 

Need Additional Help?

  • For help with Canvas, please contact [email protected]
  • To discuss strategies for implementing Canvas and DLD approved integrated learning tools into your course, please contact [email protected]

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