Category: Canvas

In the January 15th, 2022 Canvas release, the expanded or collapsed state of the Course Navigation Menu persists throughout all Canvas courses. In the Rich Content Editor, accessibility issues are displayed via an indicator over the Accessibility Checker icon. This functionality was previously managed by the Accessibility Checker Indicator feature option, which has been enforced for all Canvas institutions. In the Gradebook, the Missing status is removed for missing submissions that receive a manually entered grade. In SpeedGrader, graders are notified about unposted comments. Accompanying this Canvas Corner is a guide to share with your students on how to select personal pronouns in your user account.  

In the December 2021 Canvas release, the discussions setting menu includes several terminology adjustments, the grade book settings menu has been adjusted to a sidebar, and the course publish and unpublish buttons display in the course settings page.

In the Canvas release of November 20th, the word count for text submissions is displayed in SpeedGrader and for students, the Assignment Details page indicates whether comments have been added as an annotation or within a rubric.

In the October 16th Canvas update, the Account, Course, and User Navigation Menus remain sticky and are always visible on their respective pages. Additionally, course notification preferences can be customized on a user’s Notifications page. For instructors, submission status labels can be edited in SpeedGrader, and the Gradebook includes an Assignment Names search field. 

On August 21st, 2021, Canvas released a feature update to the Rich Content Editor. When accessibility concerns are detected in the RCE, a notification will appear that detects any issues with accessibility. This indicator helps users know about these issues without having to open the Accessibility Checker.

As an instructor, you have access to the Training Services Portal to complete self-paced training resources on a variety of Canvas topics.  The Training Services Portal is hosted in Bridge, a tool built and administered by Instructure.

News stories bring real-world relevance to the classroom and incorporating global news coverage in lessons can enhance students’ understanding of course content by connecting learning objectives to real-world issues and events. NewsBank online resources deliver vetted, reliable content with multiple perspectives on local, national, and global issues supporting all curricular areas.

On May 15th, Canvas released the following update where instructors can provide a file as an assignment and allow students to annotate the file directly in Canvas. Currently, students have to either print the file and take a photo to submit or use a third-party tool to complete the submission. 

On April 17th, Canvas released the following update to quizzes which gives instructors the ability to allow students to retake a quiz while retaining the first attempt score for grading.