As a teacher in Canvas, you can view your courses from a student perspective so you can get an idea of how it presents to students. Some options, like linking to Google drive, will not work when emulating a student in Canvas. Using the student view will create a generic test student in your course.
On an iPad
Scroll down for browser instructions
1. Be sure you are using the teacher Canvas app and not the student Canvas app.
Canvas teacher app
2. Open your course and in the left side navigation area swipe up. Tap "Student View"
3. You will be taken into Canvas as a generic student. Not the different color scheme. Select your course. Note: if you are prompted to sign in again, be sure to sign in as a teacher and not a student.
4. From here, you can navigate your course from the student perspective. When done, tap the "TS" circle in the lower right corner and confirm that you want to exit student view.
Canvas on an iPad from the student perspective. No idea what "TS" is supposed to stand for. "Teacher Side" maybe...?
Confirm by clicking "OK"
In a Web Browser
1. Open Canvas in your web browser and select a course.
2. On the right hand side select "Student View"
3. You will be taken into Canvas as a generic student. A bright pink border and bar at the bottom indicates you are in student view mode.
Note: this was a course I used to test various Canvas features so the content is not very representative...
4. "Leave student view" is self explanatory.
5. Reset Student - You can reset Test Student data (like quiz attempts & results) at any time; however, Test Student activity that involves interactions with other students cannot be removed, such as discussion replies. Test Student data that involves interactions with other students are retained even if the test student is removed from section enrollments.