Tag Archives: Canvas production release

December 21 Canvas Release

Posted on December 2, 2019 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every month with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL posts new release highlights to our blog at emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have questions about Canvas releases.

December 21 Release

Please watch the New Feature Screencast for a review of the updates in this release:

[screencast coming soon]

 

Global Announcement Notifications

Global Announcements allow Canvas administrators to communicate urgent institution-wide messages, which are posted at the top of every Canvas user’s Dashboard.  There are five types of Global Announcement: warning, error, information, question, or calendar.

In the December release, the Notification Preferences page has been updated to include Global Announcements.  The default is Notify me right away, but may be changed if desired.

Notification Preferences page with Global Announcements option

 

Grade Export Report – Grading Scheme Values

[Note: This change only affects Canvas admins, not instructors or students.]  In the Account Settings > Reports area, the Grade Export report has been updated to include the values for the course’s grading scheme.  This allows viewers to see exactly how many points much the final and current grades differ from from the desired letter grade.

 

Conferencing Interface Updates

These changes affect only BigBlueButton, the third-party software used in the Conferences area.

  • Meeting participants can now resize the webcam window in which the presenter appears.  This is useful in situations where the presenter needs to be seen in great detail, such as one’s hands demonstrating words in sign language.
  • The current speaker is now indicated by a blue icon in the upper left corner of the meeting window.  Previously, one had to scroll through the list of attendees to find the “now speaking” icon.

 

The complete production release notes for this release are available on the Canvas Community.

The next Canvas production release will be available Saturday, January 18, with release notes available Monday, December 23.

 

Images on this page are from the Canvas Guides and Release Notes, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Agreement.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 16 Canvas Release

Posted on October 31, 2019 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every month with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL posts new release highlights to our blog at emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have questions about Canvas releases.

November 16 Release

Please watch the New Feature Screencast for a review of the updates in this release:

Microsoft Immersive Reader

Microsoft is bringing its Immersive Reader to Canvas.  This feature is designed to benefit students of all ages, reading levels, and visual abilities.  The Immersive Reader presents large text on an uncluttered background with added white space.  Students may also toggle Read Aloud, a text-to-speech feature, to support reading comprehension.

Page with immersive authoring functionality

 

 

 

 

 

 

To activate, simply click the Immersive Reader button in the top right of the Page.  At this time, the Immersive Reader is only available in Canvas Pages, but not Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, or Files.

Canvas page with immersive reader button

Rich Content Editor Enhancements

A New Rich Content Editor is now available, and the existing Rich Content Editor will be deprecated.  It will be removed on June 20, 2020, at which point the New RCE will become the default.  You may enable the New RCE at any point after November 16, 2019 to become familiar with it.  The feature is activated under Course Settings for each individual course.

Detail of redesigned icons:

The plug icon on the far right is to link External Apps / LTIs such as Codio, Techsmith, Office 365, and Films on Demand.

Plagiarism Reports in Gradebook

This release introduces plagiarism report icons to the New Gradebook.  Previously, these were only viewable in the old gradebook (which will be permanently removed January 18, 2020.)

The icons have also been redesigned for visibility by using shape to convey information:

New Gradebook old vs new plagiarism icon comparison

  • Exclamation point icon: Error in submitting. Resubmit to plagiarism service (at Macomb, this will be TurnItIn) through SpeedGrader.
  • Red half-filled circle icon: Similarity score between 20% and 60%.  Moderate chance of plagiarism.  Review the submission in TurnItIn.
  • Green circle with checkmark icon: Similarity score between 0% and 20%, meaning low chance of plagiarism.
  • Solid red circle icon: Similarity score higher than 60%.  High chance of plagiarism.  Strongly recommend reviewing submission in TurnItIn.
  • Clock icon: submission in process. Check back in a few minutes.

New Gradebook Grade Detail Tray shows plagiarism score

The Grade Detail Tray (overlapping pane on right) also shows the icon, similarity score, and a link to access the submission in TurnItIn.

 

The complete production release notes for this release are available on the Canvas Community.

The next Canvas production release will be available Saturday, December 14, with release notes available Monday, November 25.

 

Images on this page are from the Canvas Guides and Release Notes, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Agreement.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 1 Canvas Release

Posted on May 31, 2019 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every third Saturday with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL posts new release highlights to our blog at emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have questions about Canvas releases.

June 1 Release

Please watch the New Feature Screencast video for a review of the updates in this release:

 

Message Students Who – Names Sorted Alphabetically

The Message Students Who feature has been updated to sort the available students alphabetically by last name.

Recall that you may use Message Students Who by clicking the arrow in the heading of an assignment column within the Gradebook.

Gradebook column

There are four criteria you may choose from:

message students who options

(Image courtesy of Penn State IT Learning and Development.)

After you choose a criterion, the applicable students’ names will be updated and sorted in alphabetical order:

Message Students Who

Please see the official Canvas help document for more information about the Message Students Who feature.

 

The complete production release notes for this release are available on the Canvas Community.

The next Canvas release will be deployed Saturday, June 22, with release notes available Monday, June 10.

 

Images on this page are from the Canvas Guides and Release Notes, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Agreement.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

January 26 Canvas Release

Posted on February 1, 2019 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every third Saturday with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL posts highlights from the production release notes and related content to our blog at emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have any questions about Canvas releases.

January 26 Release

Please view the New Feature Screencast for a demonstration of the updates in this release:

 

 

Rubric Comments Enhancement

Instructors may now add comments to rubric criteria directly from SpeedGrader.

This update will allow instructors to edit their rubric comments while using the same rubric to grade assignments in SpeedGrader.

Note that this update refers to comments on the rubric criteria, not comments on the student’s assignment.

 

Learning Outcome Mastery

NOTE: This update only applies for instructors and students who have opted into the Learning Mastery Gradebook.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you’d like to test this feature.

The total score for a particular learning outcome in a course will now be displayed if at least one of the assignments does not have hidden point values.

For example, because all asignments’ point values are hidden in the rubric for Week 7 Journal, you do not see X /5 – only Mastered or Not Mastered.

This change will make it easier to view a student’s progress towards mastery when at least one of the outcome’s assignments shows a point value.

 

Moderated Grading: Assignments Editable by Viewer

NOTE: The Moderated Grading feature is not yet active at the Macomb institutional level. Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you’d like to test this feature.

If your assignment uses Moderated Grading, any grader who is able to view the Grade Summary page will now able to edit the assignment.

This update will allow graders who have not been designated by the instructor as the final grader to edit assignments. This will simplify the process for nonfinal and noninstructor graders to modify assignment details throughout the course.

The complete production release notes for this release are available on the Canvas LMS Community.

 

The next Canvas release will be deployed Saturday, February 16, with release notes available Monday, February 4.

 

Images on this page are from the Canvas Guides, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Agreement.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

January 5 Canvas Release

Posted on January 10, 2019 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every third Saturday with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL posts highlights from the production release notes and related content to our blog at ctl.emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have any questions about Canvas releases.

 

January 5 Release

Please view the New Feature Screencast for a demonstration of the updates in this release:

 

Resource Previews in Commons

Canvas Commons now includes a preview of the content which is to be imported.

Now users can view the content of the Commons resource without having to import it to their own Canvas instance first.

 

Course Link Validator Enhancements

The Course Link Validator in Course Settings now specifies whether a link or image is either invalid or unreachable.

  • Invalid – file is corrupt or unopenable
  • Unreachable – indicates file may have been moved or deleted from its host server. Try to find an updated link.

This change is intended to give instructors and designers more useful information to resolve broken links more efficiently.

 

Settings: Course Dates Clarification

This is a design change only – all functionality and user actions on the Course Details page remain the same.

The change of language on this page is intended to clarify the difference between courses and the larger term in which they’re scheduled.

 

The complete production release notes for the December 8 release are available on the Canvas LMS Community.

The next Canvas release will be deployed on Saturday, January 26, with release notes available Monday, January 14.

 

Images on this page are from the Canvas Guides, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Agreement.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , ,

November 17 and December 8 Canvas Releases

Posted on November 28, 2018 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every third Saturday with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL will post highlights from the production release notes and related content to our blog at ctl.emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have any questions about Canvas releases. 

 

November 17 and December 8 Releases

Please see the New Feature Screencast for a video demonstration of the updates in this release.

The screencast for the December 8 release will be made available closer to the release date.

 

Rich Content Editor: Embedded Image File Uploads
  • Students and instructors may now upload an embedded image/file directly into the Rich Content Editor.
  • Click the Embed Image button in the Rich Content Editor to use the updated interface:

  • Select the Canvas tab and you’ll be able to quickly embed files from Course Files and My Files.

  • From this screen, you may also upload new images from your device to My Files and embed them on the page.

 

Accessibility: Screen Reader Browser Support

Screen reader support for Internet Explorer 11 and Edge browsers has been discontinued. Firefox is the recommended browser for those using screen reading software to access Canvas.

 

Reorder Dashboard Course Cards
  • You may now move the course cards on your Dashboard. Click the Options menu (three dots) to see four choices for moving the card.

  • Cards can now be dragged and dropped as well, for easier placement.
  • Newly-added courses will appear at the bottom of the course card list.

 

HTML5 Supported in Media Recorder

The Record Media button in the Rich Content Editor now supports HTML5 for Firefox and Chrome browsers. You will see an updated interface for the Record/Upload Media dialog box:

Flash is still supported for Internet Explorer users, but you must verify that it is enabled.

  1. From the Settings gear, select “Manage Add-ons”
  2. Locate Shockwave or Flash from the publisher Adobe Systems Inc.
  3. If status is Disabled, click Enable button.

This update will make it easier for Chrome and Firefox users to use the Media Recorder. Previously, users had to manually allow Flash, which is blocked by default in Chrome and Firefox.

Full production release notes for the November 17 and December 8 releases are available on the Canvas LMS Community.

The next Canvas release will be deployed on Saturday, January 5, with release notes available Monday, December 17.

 

Images on this page are from the Canvas Guides, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Agreement.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 27 Canvas Release

Posted on November 2, 2018 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every third Saturday with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL will post highlights from the production release notes and related content to our blog at ctl.emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have any questions about Canvas releases. 

October 27 Release

Please see the New Feature Screencast for a video demonstration of the updates in this release.

Analytics Beta LTI
  • The Analytics Beta LTI tool will eventually replace the existing Course Analytics tool
  • Compare average and individual student grades across various assignment types
  • Interactive tables and graphs facilitate powerful data analysis
  • Activate Analytics Beta through Settings > Nagivation
  • Complete documentation on features
  • User Guide for Analytics Beta

 

Submission Status of Google Drive and Office 365 Uploads
  • The status of assignment uploads from Google Drive and Office 365 LTIs are now visible to both students and instructors

  • Exclamation point indicates upload failed, up arrow indicates a submission is queued for upload but has not finished

  • Instructors may view the same icons in the Gradebook
  • Icons also visible in SpeedGrader

 

HTML5 Option for Recording Media

Recording with the Rich Content Editor will no longer require Flash functionality.

 

Full production release notes for the October 27 release are available on the Canvas LMS Community.

The next Canvas release will be deployed on Saturday, November 17, with release notes available Monday, November 5.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

October 6 Canvas Release

Posted on October 10, 2018 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every third Saturday with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL will post highlights from the production release notes and related content to our blog at ctl.emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have any questions about Canvas releases. 

October 6 Release

Please see the New Feature Screencast for a video demonstration of the updates in this release.

 

Anonymous Annotation
  • Instructors may now add anonymous annotations to student submissions. This feature must be activated on the course level in the Feature Options tab of the Course Settings page:

Allow anonymous annotations in Course Settings page.

  • On the Edit Assignment page, you’ll now see a checkbox to anonymize the annotations for that assignment.

  • When students view their submissions in DocViewer, the instructor’s name will show as “Grader” on the annotations.

 

Rotate Documents in DocViewer
  • DocViewer now offers the capability to rotate pages within a document. See the new Rotate button in the Toolbar:

DocViewer document rotation

  • Instructors and students can rotate on a page-by-page basis to quickly fix documents with incorrect orientation.

 

Mark element in Rich Content Editor
  • The Mark HTML element, better known as highlighting, is now supported by the Rich Content Editor:

  • To use Mark highlighting, enter the HTML editor from the Edit Page screen and enclose the desired text with a <mark> highlighted text here </mark> tag:

 

Full production release notes for the October 6 release are available on the Canvas LMS Community.

The next Canvas release will be deployed on Saturday, October 27, with release notes available Monday, October 15.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

September 15 Canvas Release

Posted on September 19, 2018 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every third Saturday with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL will post highlights from the production release notes and related content to our blog at ctl.emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have any questions about Canvas releases. 

September 15 Release

Please view the New Feature Screencast for a video demonstration of the updates in this release.

Bulk Accept for Moderated Grading
  • This change affects only courses using the New Gradebook with Moderated Grading
  • The moderator can choose to accept all grades by a grader for all assignments in which that grader is the only grader for the student
  • Students with submissions graded by more than one grader will still need to be individually approved by Moderator

Moderated grading bulk accept

 

Last Date Attended in Student Profile
  • Instructors may now note the final date of attendance in a student’s Profile page
  • The date cannot be deleted once added
  • Allows instructors to easily see the last date of on-ground attendance from each student’s Profile page

Last date attended

 

Export All SpeedGrader Comments as PDF

  • Click the Download Submission Comments link in the SpeedGrader sidebar to generate a PDF containing all comments for the submission
  • Allows easy exporting, sharing, and printing of comments
  • Not available for muted assignments

 

Full production release notes for the September 15 release are available on the Canvas LMS Community. 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Canvas Production Releases: August 25 and August 4

Posted on August 24, 2018 | Leave a comment

Canvas is updated every third Saturday with new features and fixes. The Macomb CTL will post highlights from the production release notes and related content to our blog at ctl.emacomb.com.  Please contact us at ctlsupport@macomb.edu if you have any questions about Canvas releases. 

August 25 Release

Please view the New Feature Screencast for a video demonstration of the updates in this release.

Dashboard List View and Mark as Done Module Requirements
  • Existing feature: Instructors can require the student to click “Mark as done” on a page
  • Change: The Mark as Done requirement now synchronizes with the recently-implemented Dashboard List View
  • When the student marks a page as done, the checkbox in Dashboard List View will be automatically checked.
Mark page as done

When the student marks the page as done, the checkbox in Dashboard List View will automatically be checked.

 

SpeedGrader: Anonymous Assignment Hidden Submission Details
  • SpeedGrader will hide submission details if an assignment is muted.
  • Upon unmuting the assignment, all details will show in SpeedGrader, including student names and submission time.

 

Student Learning Mastery Gradebook Outcome Icons
  • Only available in the New Gradebook
  • Clicking on the “i” icon allows students to quickly view information on their progress towards outcome mastery
  • Promotes the alignment of assessments with learning outcomes

 

Full production release notes for the August 25 release are available on the Canvas LMS Community. 

 

August 4 Release

Please see the New Feature Screencast for a video demonstration of the updates in this release.

Student To Do List View
  • The Student Dashboard now offers a List view for to-do items in each course.
  • Toggle List view by clicking the three dots near the top right of the Dashboard.
  • Students can add list items of their choice, and instructors can add graded and ungraded assignments to students’ to-do lists.

dashboard list view

Instructors can directly add modules, assignments, quizzes, or discussions to students’ to-do lists when creating or editing the page:

add to student to do

 

Google Docs and Office 365 Assignment Submission Processing Notification
  • Upload process for Google Docs and Office 365 submissions has been improved
  • Students can browse away or close the page without affecting the submission

Office 365 processing

 

DocViewer Comment Stacking
  • In DocViewer, related comment threads are now represented by stacking.
  • Initially shows the number of replies.
  • Click the comment box to expand all replies to the original comment

Docviewer Comments

Full production release notes for the August 4 release are available on the Canvas LMS Community. 

Future Updates

The next production release is scheduled for Saturday, September 15. Please see the Canvas Releases page for Production Release Notes, available on September 4.

Leave a comment

Posted in Canvas

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,