Canvas Corner: New Feature Updates: Webcam Submissions, RCE File Preview and Speedgrader Enhancements

On March 20th, 2021, Canvas released a few feature updates: 

• Students will be able to submit Webcam Assignment Submissions.  
• Rich Content Editor: This change allows users to control the display of the file preview. 
• In SpeedGrader, instructors can reassign an assignment with a due date to an individual student and ask them to redo their submission.   

A comprehensive summary of these features is highlighted below. 

Assignments: Webcam Submissions 

Summary 

In File Upload assignments, students can use their webcam to submit to an assignment.  

Change Benefit 

This change allows students to use their webcam to submit a file upload assignment from the browser and aligns behavior with the Canvas Student app. 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors 

Students 

For File Upload assignments, students have the option to use their webcam for file uploads. The first time they use the feature, they will need to give permission to Canvas to access their computer webcam. Like all other graded submission types, images submitted via the webcam functionality do not count against course or user quota. 

Instructors 

Instructors can view uploaded images submitted via a student’s webcam as they see other file uploads in SpeedGrader and anywhere that submissions are available. 

Rich Content Editor: File Preview Enhancements 

Summary 

Files linked in the Rich Content Editor can be previewed in an overlay or inline. 

Change Benefit 

This change allows users to control the display of the file preview. Previously all file previews opened in a new browser tab. 

Affected User Roles 

All Users 

Users who link a file can open the File Options menu and indicate a preview type. 

• Preview in overlay displays the existing file preview functionality, where the file preview opens and overlays the entire page.  
• Preview inline loads the displays the preview directly in the Rich Content Editor window once the file is clicked. If the option to expand the preview by default is also selected as an option, the file is automatically expanded in the page and the user does not need to click the file to view it. Instead, the user can close the preview by clicking the Minimize Preview link that displays along with the image. 

SpeedGrader: Submission Reassignments 

Summary 

In SpeedGrader, instructors can reassign an assignment with a due date to an individual student and ask them to redo their submission. 

Change Benefit 

This change allows instructors to provide feedback and reassign an assignment to an individual student, which places the assignment back in the List View Dashboard as another assignment to complete. 

Affected User Roles & Behaviors 

Instructors 

For online assignments with a due date, instructors can view a Reassign button in SpeedGrader. If they require a student to redo an assignment, they can reassign the assignment directly to the student from within their grading workflow in SpeedGrader. The instructor must first provide feedback regarding the assignment, which will enable the button. The reassignment does not change the original due date for the student. 

Notes 

• The Reassign Assignment button is not available for External Tools (LTI), on paper, and no submission assignments. 
• The Reassign Assignment button is only available for assignments with due dates. 
• If an instructor returns to SpeedGrader after navigating away from the page, the Reassign Assignment button shows that the assignment has been reassigned. 

• If the assignment’s settings do not allow students to make an additional attempt, the Reassign Assignment shows that the assignment is not able to be reassigned. 

Students 

When an assignment is reassigned, students see the assignment in the List View Dashboard with the instructor’s feedback. Students can resubmit the assignment and submit for additional feedback from their instructor. 

For more details on this Canvas update, click here.