Joining Platforms

Alongside this Canvas course, you will be using several online resources for getting your questions answered. The support tools for any technical Q&A will be monitored by the development team and a growing community of users like you. We are using Canvas Discussions and Discord for online support during this course.

Discord

The Global STEM Initiative Discord channel provides an easy way to communicate your questions, concerns, ideas, and conversations across the world (within this robotics program). Technical questions can be asked here, but it is strongly advised to ask them in Canvas Discussions so others can find the answers in the future. You may find important resources, links, event information, and office hours here.

Please follow these steps, or follow the video below, to join the Discord Channel:

  1. You will want to create your account, go to https://discord.com/

  2. On the top right of the screen, click on the login button, and at the new screen on the bottom, it will say “Need an account?” press the register button highlighted in blue next to this text.

  3. Input all the information to the new screen, and press continue.

  4. Now you should have a new screen that says “Create your first Discord server” at the top. At the bottom, in blue text, it will ask you if you have an invite already. Click the blue text, and give the prompt this https://discord.gg/fAE2YhVM4H

  5. Finally, you should verify your email with a link that Discord has sent you to the email you provided them.

  6. And you are done! You can now ask any questions you have about the course here or just chat with the other members of the course. We hope you will find this course fun and interesting!

If you want Discord on your phone, for Android or iPhone there should be a Discord app in the App Store that you can download. You can also download a desktop app for Discord, the link can be found on the website in step 1.

If you have any problems following the above steps, here is a step-by-step video to join our Discord Channel.

Canvas Discussion

Canvas provides an integrated system for Class Discussion that both teachers and students can contribute to. We would like to utilize these resources as our main technical Q&A platform where you can post any question regarding the course or the robot.

All information regarding the question will be kept within the question thread to provide ease in later searches.

To participate or post questions in the Discussion:

Navigate to the Discussions section on the left side of this page. The discussion will be organized by topic.

To search, post, or contribute to any questions, please first join the discussion that is relevant to your topic.

  1. Search for a question

  • Select discussion topic

  • Utilize the search bar and search for either title or name

  • Once you find the discussion you are interested in, double-click into the discussion to access the full thread.

  1. Post a question

    • Select discussion topic

    • We suggest you search and make sure your question is not there yet before deciding to post a new question to avoid duplicates.

  2. Reply or contribute to a question

    • Select discussion topic

    • Search for the question thread

    • Now you can hit ‘reply’ to answer or contribute more to the discussion

    • We encourage you to participate in any discussion with your own findings or solution if possible

The course staff will also be monitoring all the discussions to make sure questions are being answered as soon as possible. The best answer will be liked by the course staff and will be placed first in the thread.

Contact Us

If you have any trouble following any of the above steps, please reach out to the Course Staff via Canvas or Discord.

Or email your questions and concerns to gr-globalsteminitiative@wpi.edu