This past summer, Canvas made several updates which improve functionality for existing tools or in some cases additional functionality. A list of those updates with directions follows this paragraph.
Announcements Mark All As Read Button
In Announcements, a Mark all as read button is available. This update allows users to quickly and efficiently mark all announcements as read. Additionally, a Mark all as read button is available for students.
Announcements Available Until
Canvas Announcements now have “Available From” and “Until” dates, allowing you to control when announcements are visible to students.
Assignments New Settings Interface
The interface for assignment settings has been updated. The “Assign To” section now appears in a new “Assign Access” tray where you can set due dates and differentiation options.
Course Status
On the Home page and Course Settings page, the Publish and Unpublish buttons are redesigned as a drop-down menu. This update improves the user experience by enhancing clarity around a course’s status.
Discussion Redesign
Canvas Discussions underwent a redesign that introduced several key changes:
- Minimalistic design and repositioned toolbar
- Flexible viewing options (inline and split screen view)
- Improved search feature
- Additional sorting and filtering options
- Anonymous discussion
- Ability for students to report a reply to instructors
Discussions Ungraded With Assign To
In Discussions, instructors can assign ungraded discussions to students and sections. Additionally, section restricted enrollments allowing students to post discussions to a specific section is removed. Instructors can still create groups, and students within those groups can initiate discussions that are visible only to their group members. This update streamlines instructor workflow and improves the ability to differentiate instruction.
To assign students or sections to an ungraded discussion, click the Manage Assign To link on the create or edit a discussion page.
Instructors can select which students are assigned the ungraded discussion.
Note: Only students assigned to the discussion can view and participate in the ungraded discussion.
Discussion Summaries AI feature option
Canvas has introduced preview access to new AI features that are still in development. PGCC currently has provided access to one of these features, discussion summaries. This feature provides an AI-generated summary of student responses in discussion boards. You can prompt the tool to focus the summary on specific aspects, like identifying misconceptions.
This feature is not enabled by default in your course, but it can be enabled by:
- Go to Settings in your course.
- Click on the Feature Options tab at the top of the page.
- Navigate down to the red x next to Discussion Summaries, click and choose Enable.
In future semesters, other AI features may be made available.
Find and Replace
The Rich Content Editor now includes a “Find and Replace” tool under the “Tools” menu, making it easier to update content.
Gradebook Updates
Instructors can now access the Message Students Who option in the Total column in the Gradebook. Instructors can message students with a total grade that is higher or lower than a specific grade. For more details, see this guide.
The Message Students Who feature is enhanced to allow instructors to message students who have submitted an assignment. Options include messaging all students who have submitted on time, students with graded on time assignments, and students with ungraded on time assignments. For more details, see this guide.
The Message Students Who feature is updated to include a checkbox allowing instructors to exclude excused students from the message.
Inbox Add Signature to Messages
When the Enable Inbox Signature Block is enabled, users have the option to configure a signature when composing a message. In the Inbox, click the Settings button.
To create a signature, select the Signature On radio button [1] and enter the desired signature in the Signature field [2]. Then, click the Save button [3].
Module and Pages Assign To
You can now differentiate modules by visibility through the “Assign To” option available in the module’s three-dot menu. This allows you to set visibility for individuals or everyone.
Canvas Pages now support the “Assign To” option, allowing you to set availability dates.
SpeedGrader Randomize the Student List
SpeedGrader now includes an option to randomize the order in which students appear. This feature aims to reduce grading fatigue and bias. You can find this option by clicking the gear icon in SpeedGrader’s top-left corner. Once enabled, this setting will remain active until changed.
Tip: Combine this with the “Hide student names in the SpeedGrader” feature to further reduce bias.