Student View, found in Settings, drops you into the course as a test student so you can see exactly what students see, submit assignments, and check that release conditions behave.

Canvas also requires you to publish the course and individual items. Unpublished content is invisible to students, which is handy while you build but a common source of “I cannot see it” messages if you forget. Before the term opens, walk the course in Student View and confirm everything meant to be visible is published.