Scroll down to check out several Canvas updates for Fall 2021, or click a link in the Table of Contents to jump to a specific update below.
Instructure has released a new quiz tool for Canvas —"New Quizzes"— and will continue to offer the current tool, "Classic Quizzes," so instructors have a choice about which Canvas quiz tool they would like to use. New Quizzes includes some new question types not available in Classic Quizzes and allows for partial points/credit for some question types. New Quizzes also includes more control over some quiz settings as well as an enhanced user experience for quiz takers and quiz builders.
If you wish to manage access to your Canvas course beyond the limits of the official term dates (such as enabling or restricting students from accessing the course, or giving faculty colleagues access to past courses), instructors can change their course availability in the course Settings.
By default, your course availability is set to the official Term dates. But instructors can override this setting to enable access to your Canvas course beyond the official term dates, by 1) clicking into your course Settings, 2) navigating to the Course Details tab, scrolling down to the Participation section. Then 3) instructors can click the drop-down to select Course and then 4) specify a different start and/or end date and can elect to restrict students access to the course before the start date or after the end date.
Over the summer, Microsoft and Canvas have been working together to bring Teams functionality into Canvas. There are two ways of integrating Teams into your Canvas course site: linking to an overall Teams collaboration space or using just the Teams Meetings feature. Teams Meetings in Canvas functions similarly to Zoom in Canvas, allowing you to schedule online meetings for your class that automatically include all participants.
Contact CDLI for more information or to request enabling Teams in your Canvas course during the pilot.
Grading with SpeedGrader is now even quicker and easier with the new SpeedGrader Comment Library which allows instructors to save and reuse commonly used assignment feedback in SpeedGrader. Comments you have added to the Comment Library are accessible from each course in which you are enrolled as an instructor.
Please note: Currently, you're only able to add one comment from the Comment Library to the Assignment Comments box.
Instructors now can select Student Annotation as a submission type for individual assignments. This feature allows instructors to upload a document for students to directly annotate and submit in Canvas.
When you create an assignment in Canvas, mark Student Annotation under Online Entry Options, and then select or upload a file that you want students to annotate.
Then when students view the assignment, they can select the "Student Annotation" tab and they will see the file you have selected for them to mark up, along with the annotation tools.
Using the annotation tools in the DocViewer menu, students can add a comment, highlight, add text, strike out text, and draw directly on the file.
If students need additional instruction, see the Canvas student guide on Annotation assignments.
Note from Instructure regarding mobile devices: Although annotations are supported in the Canvas Student app, this specific assignment type is not currently supported for mobile devices. If instructors want students to be able to annotate a document via the mobile app, they should also use the File Uploads submission type and provide the original file in the assignment description for students to download and annotate in the app.
If you have configured your assignments to allow for multiple submission attempts, instructors can now ask students to revise and resubmit an assignment directly in SpeedGrader by clicking the Reassign Assignment button.
For assignments that allow additional submission attempts, instructors can now reassign the assignment after providing feedback to a student in the SpeedGrader.
Department chairs and program directors are often looking for easy ways to organize and share reusable Canvas course content in order to create a consistent student experience across courses in their program. The new Course Templates feature, along with other Canvas features, allows those coordinating course content to develop content templates including pages, assignments, quizzes or fully developed courses that can automatically populate new Canvas course shells.
Contact CDLI for more information.
When you insert a link to a file in Canvas, you can now select several different display options:
Canvas now uses MathJax to render LaTeX equations, which can now be added in any Canvas text field. Find out more about how to use the built-in LaTeX Math Editor in the Canvas Rich Content Editor.
If you prefer to edit using the HTML editor, Canvas now has a Pretty HTML editor to make your editing in HTML a little easier.
The Rich Content Editor now includes a Pretty HTML editor along with the raw HTML editor.
To access the pretty HTML editor, click on the (1) HTML editor icon. The Pretty HTML editor is enabled by default.
To switch to the raw HTML editor, click on the (2) Raw HTML Editor link.
Please note: the Raw HTML Editor is the only HTML editor currently accessible to screen readers.
A few updates have been made to Canvas Studio, our integrated video platform within Canvas.
When you embed a video from Canvas Studio into your Canvas course, under the embed options, there is a toggle button to "Display Media Tabs" (formerly, "Display Comments") which includes Details, Comments, Insights, and Captions tabs. If you do not wish to include the media tabs along with your Canvas Studio video, toggle the button off before clicking "Embed."
You can now add annotations (headline, text, and a link) to your videos in Canvas Studio. When viewers play annotated media, the video pauses and annotations display overlayed on top of the video.
In order to add annotations to your media in Canvas Studio, you need to be in Canvas Studio directly. You cannot add annotations to your Canvas Studio videos elsewhere in Canvas.
Locate the video you wish to annotate, then click the three dots next to your video's name and then select Annotate Video.
Along the bottom of the page, in your video's timeline, either pause the video where you want to add an annotation, or click and drag the playhead to the place in the video where you want to add the annotation, and then click the plus to add an annotation.
Then add a headline, text, link text and link in the slide out menu along the right hand side of your screen and then click Save.
You can also edit or delete annotations.
When your audience is watching your Canvas Studio video, the video will pause when it reaches the annotation, and your audience will need to click the Continue button to resume playing the video.
The Canvas Rich Content Editor (RCE) has a built-in accessibility checker to help you meet accessibility guidelines and help ensure your course content is understandable and navigable for students with disabilities.
Looking for a way to verify that your course is set up and resources are visible as expected? Student View is a great way to review your course materials using the built-in Canvas Test Student. You can even submit a test assignment or try out a quiz using Student View.
Share Canvas resources with your colleagues at Seattle U (and beyond, if desired) with Canvas Commons. Canvas Commons is a repository of free, Creative Commons content you can import and use in your Canvas courses. Instructors worldwide contribute to Canvas Commons including images, assignments, quizzes, modules, and whole courses. Several resources created by SU faculty and CDLI have been added to Commons.
