Harmonize

Use Harmonize to create course activities where students can discuss ideas, annotate readings, share media, provide peer feedback and respond to one another's work. Harmonize connects with Canvas and offers several options when you need more than a traditional discussion board.

Cost

No cost

Audience

Students, faculty & staff

Purpose

Student engagement

Canvas integration

External tool assignment submission passes grades back

Getting started

Choose the starting point that fits what you want to do with Harmonize.

New to Harmonize?
Use the Getting Started with Harmonize - Instructor Help Guide to explore how to create activities and use Harmonize with Canvas.
Creating an activity in Canvas?
Open Harmonize from your Canvas course and choose the activity type that fits what you want students to do, such as discussing a topic, annotating a reading, providing peer feedback or responding to a poll.
Moving an activity from Perusall?
Use the Perusall-to-Harmonize transition guide to identify the teaching goal of your existing activity and choose an appropriate Harmonize approach for rebuilding it.
- Perusall will remain available at ASU through December 31, 2026. After that date, it will no longer be available in Canvas. If you have existing Perusall activities you plan to use after that date, review the transition guidance before rebuilding them in Harmonize.

Using this tool in your course

Harmonize may be useful when you want to add more structure, media, annotation or feedback to course activities than a basic discussion board provides. Explore ways Harmonize can support different teaching goals.

If you want course discussions to support ongoing interaction beyond an initial post,
use Discussions for richer, threaded conversations.
If you want students to examine and respond to a shared article or PDF,
use Social Reading for collaborative annotation.
If you want to include structured feedback on drafts or works in progress,
use Peer Review to support staged critique and revision.
If you want to capture work or reflection that develops over time,
use Individual Assignments for reflections, portfolios or multimodal work.
If you want students to respond directly to specific parts of documents or media,
use annotation and timestamped video feedback.

Activity examples

Explore examples of how you might use Harmonize in course activities.

Collaborative reading and annotation:
Students review a shared article or PDF using Social Reading, adding annotations, questions and responses alongside the course material.
Peer feedback on a draft:
Students submit a draft or work in progress through Peer Review and provide structured feedback on classmates' submissions.
Media-rich course discussion:
Students respond to a course prompt using text, images, audio or video and continue the conversation through replies and comments.

Compare your options

Harmonize is one of several options for course discussion, annotation and student interaction. Compare the options below based on the type of activity and interaction you want to support.
	Harmonize	Perusall	Yellowdig	Canvas discussions
Purpose	Structured activities with media, annotation or peer feedback	Annotation and discussion of shared readings	Ongoing course conversations and participation over time	Straightforward prompt-and-reply discussions
Primary interaction	Discussions, Social Reading, Peer Review, polls and multimedia	Annotations, questions and replies within readings	Social feed with posts, comments and reactions	Threaded discussions
Canvas connection	Available through Canvas with Gradebook connection	Available through Canvas until Dec. 31, 2026	Available through Canvas with Gradebook connection	Built into Canvas

FAQ

No. Harmonize is available at no cost to students in ASU courses using the tool. Students access Harmonize activities through their Canvas course rather than creating a separate account.

Start with what you want students to do: Social Reading for shared annotation; Discussions for conversations, reflection or media; Peer Review for structured feedback; Polls for quick checks; and Individual Assignments for work or reflection completed by individual students.

Not exactly. Shared PDF annotation may translate well to Social Reading, while other Perusall activities may fit Discussions, Peer Review or Individual Assignments. There is no one-click import, so start with the teaching goal of your existing activity and choose the Harmonize option that best supports it.

Harmonize activities can pass grades to the Canvas Gradebook when grading is set up for the activity. How grades are calculated and passed to Canvas depends on the activity type and the grading options you choose. Consider checking the activity in Canvas before students begin using it.

Check the activity from the student perspective before publishing. Review the instructions, materials, dates, grading settings, groups or sections, accessibility and any media or submission steps. If the activity was copied from another course, confirm that it still opens and works as expected.

Accessibility, privacy and other considerations

Accessible activities and media.
Harmonize provides options for supporting accessibility across course activities and media. When creating activities, consider how students will access the text, images, audio, video and documents you include.
- Harmonize accessibility resources:
Check the student experience.
Harmonize activities are accessed through Canvas. Consider checking the complete activity from the student perspective before students begin using it, particularly when an activity includes media, grading or multiple steps.
Student and course information.
Harmonize has been approved for use at ASU. When creating activities or sharing course materials, use ASU-supported options and consider what student or course information is included.

Resources

Explore ASU and Harmonize resources for getting started, moving activities from Perusall, managing grades and learning more about Harmonize.

ASU resources

Harmonize at ASU: Find ASU-specific information about accessing and using Harmonize with Canvas.

Harmonize resources

Transitioning from Perusall to Harmonize: Find guidance for moving existing Perusall activities to Harmonize before Perusall access at ASU ends after December 31, 2026.
Canvas and Harmonize grading guide: Learn how Harmonize activities and grades work with the Canvas Gradebook.
Harmonize Support: Find detailed guidance for creating activities, using Harmonize features, grading and managing course settings.
Harmonize trainings and webinars: Explore Harmonize-provided demonstrations and guidance for using the platform.
Tips for Teaching with Harmonize: Explore examples and ideas for using Harmonize in course activities.
Respond within Video: Explore ways to use video recording, timestamped comments and media-based feedback in Harmonize.

Get support

Need technical help?
Contact the ASU Experience Center for general technical support or problems accessing Harmonize. For Canvas-specific issues involving your course or Harmonize's connection with Canvas, contact ASU LMS Support.

Want to explore ways to use Harmonize in your course?
Learning Experience (LX) offers workshops and consultations where you can explore ways Harmonize and other enterprise technologies might support your teaching goals.

Looking for detailed Harmonize guidance?
Visit Harmonize Support for guidance on creating activities, grading, media, accessibility and other Harmonize features.