Adding TAs (Teaching Assistants) and Staff
NEW - Important information regarding Adding TAs
Please see the Memo (PDF) from the Associate Vice President Academic (AVPA) sent August 18, 2026 about new requirements for adding Teaching Assistants (TAs) to LEARN (see AVPA website).
Consider privacy first: Access to personal information of students (e.g. student numbers, submissions, grades, etc) should be limited to only what is necessary to do the job.
Students or staff who are not acting as TAs (i.e. grading) should generally NOT be given TA-level access (TA-levels 1.5 to 4) and should not be able to see other students’ grades, submissions or student numbers. If you are not sure what role is appropriate, ask LEARN Help.
All students (graduate or undergraduate) who are given access at TA Level 1.5 or higher must complete a confidentiality agreement before being added to the course. Contact your unit administration for agreement examples and details.
For any assistance, please submit a ticket to LEARN Help - Request a TA/Staff member.
Table of Contents:
Roles available
Below is a brief description of some of the differences between the roles that Instructors can give users when adding them to their class. For a detailed explanation of the roles available in LEARN please see the Roles in LEARN page.
TA levels 1.5 to 4 are only for TAs since private student data is made available to them.
Content Exporter
Privacy: Cannot view student submissions, grades, or student numbers. Can view classlist with names, username, email.
Permissions: View content only. Allows users to copy material to their course via the Import/Export/Copy tool. Can see closed courses (e.g. from past terms). LEARN Help must add this role.
TA Level 1
Privacy: Cannot access student submissions, grades, or student numbers. Can view Classlist with names, username, email.
Permissions: Similar rights as Student, but cannot submit to dropbox or quiz. LEARN Help must add this role.
TA Level 1.5
Privacy: Can access student submissions and grades. Cannot access student numbers via Classlist, but could see them if students include in submissions. Can view Classlist with names, username, email.
Permissions: Can access student submissions to grade in dropbox, quiz and discussions. Cannot access or enter grades directly in the Gradebook. Cannot pin discussion posts or make posts to multiple discussion topics. Cannot see closed (past) courses.
TA Level 2
Privacy: Can access student submissions, grades, and student numbers. Can view Classlist with names, username, email.
Permissions: Cannot create/edit Announcements, Content, Assessments or the Gradebook. Can grade and edit grades. Cannot pin discussion posts or make posts to multiple discussion topics. Cannot see closed (past) courses.
TA Level 3
Privacy: Can access student submissions, grades, and student numbers. Can view Classlist with names, username, email.
Permissions: Cannot create/edit Content, or Assessments but can create/edit Announcements (NEW for Fall 2026) and can create/edit the Gradebook. Can grade and edit grades. Can pin discussion posts or make posts to multiple discussion topics (NEW for Fall 2026). Cannot see closed (past) courses.
TA Level 4
Privacy: Can access student submissions, grades, and student numbers. Can view classlist with names, username, email.
Permissions: Full editing rights similar to Staff. Can create/edit Announcements, Content, Gradebook, Assessments. Can grade and edit grades. Can pin discussion posts or make posts to multiple discussion topics. Cannot see closed (past) courses.
Staff
Privacy: Can view student submissions, grades, and student numbers. Can view classlist with names, username, email.
Permissions: Full editing rights similar to an Instructor. Can create/edit Announcements, Content, Gradebook, Assessments. Can grade and edit grades. Can pin discussion posts or make posts to multiple discussion topics. Cannot add other users to the course. Can see closed (past) courses.
TA Level 1 and Content Exporter can only be added by an administrator. Please send a ticket to LEARN Help - Request a TA/Staff member for assistance to avoid situations where instructors might consider using this role for students who are not yet enrolled in their course.
Adding users to your course in LEARN
Select Connect from the course navbar.
Select Classlist.
Click the Add Participants button.
Select Add an Existing User from the drop-down menu.
Enter the user’s First Name, Last Name, Username, or Student ID number and hit enter.
Select the checkbox to the left of the name of the appropriate user in the list of users that appears.
From the Select a Role drop-down menu to the right of the user’s name, select the role which you would like to give the user. See roles available above for detailed information.
Click the Enrol Selected Users button.
After you have successfully added the user, you can click the Done button or the Add More Participants button if you have additional users to add.
Changing a user’s role
If you add the user in a certain role, and then later decide s/he needs a different permission level, you can change the user's enrolment in the course.
Select Connect from the course navbar.
Select Classlist.
Select the TA tab or Instructor tab to find someone with a TA or Staff role respectively.
Select the checkbox to the left of the name of the user to be altered.
Click the Enrolment button.
Use the Select a New Role drop-down menu found beside the name of the user to choose the new role.
Click Save.
Need help?
Contact LEARNhelp at learnhelp@uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4567 ext. 41744 for assistance.
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