Canvas has introduced a new Notebook feature designed to help students keep track of important or confusing information in their courses. The feature is enabled sitewide, so it’s available to students in every course without instructors having to do anything. Students now see a Notebook link in their course navigation menu, where they can access notes they’ve captured while working through course materials. These notes are private to students; instructors cannot see them.

Here’s how it works: When viewing a course page, students can highlight text and mark it as either Important or Unclear. They can then add their own comments or reminders to the collected text. For example, a student might mark something as unclear and write a reminder to ask the instructor about it later. Or they might highlight an important concept and add a note about why it stood out. All of these notes are saved in the Notebook area, where students can revisit the original content, switch between important and unclear notes, add comments, or delete notes they no longer need.

Although instructors don’t have access to students’ notebooks, it’s worth letting students know about this feature. It provides a simple way for them to organize their thoughts, keep track of questions, and identify important concepts as they work through your course. You don’t need to enable anything or change your course settings. Just remind students that Notebook is there and encourage them to give it a try!