Setting Up Perusall from Your Course Canvas Site
To begin using Perusall, you’ll need to set up an assignment link from your course Canvas site. This link will automatically generate a new Perusall site linked to this Canvas site, which means that students in your course will be able to access it from Canvas without having to create a new account.
On the Assignments page of your course Canvas site, click the “Add Assignment” button on the top right [1].
Add a title for your assignment at the top of the page [2]. Then scroll down to the section labeled “Submission type.” Select “External Tool” in the dropdown box [3] and click the “Find” button [4].
In the box that pops up, find and select “Perusall” [5] and then click the “Select” button on the bottom right of the box [6].
Check off the “Load in a new tab” box [7], which will ensure that the Perusall site loads properly for students.
Scroll to the bottom of your assignment page and click “Save” or “Save and Publish.” (If you want your students to be able to access the Perusall site, you’ll need to publish this assignment eventually so they can access it.)
Once you’ve saved your assignment, you’ll see a button that says “Load Perusall in a New Window.” Click on this button to access your Perusall course site. You and your students will need to use this link on the assignment’s page every time you enter the Perusall site.
Creating Individual Assignment Links
Some instructors opt to create a new assignment on Canvas for each individual Perusall assignment, which will sync grades back to Perusall separately for each assignment. Although this process is more time-intensive to set up and to sync grades, it can be useful for instructors using Perusall scoring who want to assign different point values to specific Perusall assignments (for example, a short article graded as 1 point and a long article as 3 points), or for instructors teaching asynchronous courses with detailed modules that guide students’ navigation from one assignment to the next.
For instructors who’d like to do this, see our guide to Creating Individual Assignment Links.