At a Glance

Just one member of the teaching team needs to create the private Slack workspace for your course. Once it’s created, other teaching team members will be prompted to join the workspace when clicking on Slack (Beta) in the Course Navigation Menu. 

Please note the following: 

  • Communication: 
    • We recommend communicating with your teaching team to determine who will be in charge of creating the Slack workspace for your course. 
  • Availability: 
    • The Slack integration in Canvas can only be used in credit-bearing courses at MIT. 
  • Access: 
    • Your Canvas course must be published in order for students to join your Slack workspace. 
    • Teaching teams and students must access their Slack workspace for the first time through their Canvas course by clicking on Slack (Beta) in the Course Navigation Menu. Subsequently, teaching teams and students can access it directly through the Slack app of their choice (e.g., Desktop, iOS), rather than from Canvas. 
  • Multiple Sections: 
    • If you have a single Canvas site with multiple sections, Slack will combine all sections into a single private workspace. This means that anyone enrolled in your Canvas site will have access to this combined workspace, allowing for seamless communication and collaboration across all sections. 

In this guide for teaching teams, you’ll learn how to create a private Slack workspace for your Canvas course.  

Create a Private Slack Workspace for Your Canvas Course

  1. Select your device below to download and install the Slack app:  
  2. Open the app(s) you installed and follow the on-screen instructions to sign in using MIT Touchstone. 
  3. In your Canvas course, click on Slack (Beta) in the Course Navigation Menu. Note: If “Slack (Beta)” isn’t listed, you can easily enable it under Settings.
    Screenshot of Slack (Beta) link in Course Navigation Menu
  4. Click the Create Workspace button.
    Screenshot of the Create Workspace button
  5. Once your workspace has been created, you’ll be prompted to launch your Slack workspace, click on the Slack Desktop App button or the Slack Web App button.
    Screenshot of Slack Desktop App and Slack Web App buttons

    • Note: If you click on the Slack Desktop App button, your browser may ask for permission to open the Slack app. Click the Open Slack button.
      Screenshot of Open Slack button in web browser

Once you join, you can access your course’s Slack workspace by clicking on Slack (Beta) in the Course Navigation Menu or directly through in your Slack app. 

What comes next? Explore the Setting Up Slack for Student Success blog post to learn how to organize channels, promote student buy-in, and build community.

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