These are the latest Canvas system updates that will become available from 18 July 2020. Please click on an update to expand and view the information. If you have any questions please submit a support ticket via the help menu in Canvas.
Please note that system updates are subject to change and may be subsequently updated.
Update 1 - Commons: Commons Guides Help Menu. This update is available for the following Canvas Roles: Teacher, Teaching Assistant and Course Designer.
Summary
The Commons menu includes a link that displays frequently used Commons guides.
Change Benefit
This change helps Commons users quickly access resources about Commons.
Affected User Roles & Behaviours
Instructors
In the Commons menu, instructors can view a Commons Guides link, which displays a sidebar that includes commonly accessed Commons guides. This sidebar can be accessed as needed.
Other related guides for Instructors
· How do I use Commons?
· How do I import and view a Commons resource in Canvas?
Update 2 - Assignments: Direct Share. This update is available for the following Canvas Roles: Teacher, Teaching Assistant and Course Designer.
Summary
Users can copy individual course items to another course and share individual items with other users.
Change Benefit
This change allows users to copy and share content directly in Canvas without having to use a secondary repository like Commons.
Additional Details
For full details about Direct Share, please see the Canvas Release: Direct Share document.
Other related guides for Instructors
· How do I use Direct Share to copy an assignment to another course?
· How do I use Direct Share to send an assignment to another instructor?
Update 3 - Assignments: Submission Upload Progress Indicator. This update is available for the following Canvas Roles: Student.
Summary
The submission page for an assignment indicates the progress for uploaded files.
Change Benefit
Students
This change helps students know the status of their file upload and when the upload is successful.
When students upload submission files in supported assignments, a status indicator displays next to the Submit Assignment button. This indicator shows the progress of the file upload.
Other related guides for Students
· How do I view Assignments as a student?
· How do I submit an online assignment?
Update 4 - Modules: File Upload Enhancements. This update is available for the following Canvas Roles: Teacher, Teaching Assistant and Course Designer.
Summary
Instructors can add multiple module content from the Course Home Page or the Modules page. Additionally, the Course Home Page has received small design modifications.
Change Benefit
This change helps instructors build module content with multiple files at one time, using the same functionality supported in Course Files.
Affected User Roles & Behaviours
Instructors
When Modules is selected as the Course Home Page, instructors can add new module content directly in the Course Home Page. With a new course, instructors are shown the option to create a new module. The Import Existing Content option displays in the Course Home Page sidebar as an additional button.
Once a module name has been added and saved, the module displays a files area to drag and drop multiple files. Users can also browse for files by selecting them from their computer desktop.
Module Items
In the module’s Add Item window, the File selection allows multiple files to be uploaded at one time. The number of selected files are displayed next to the Choose Files button. Once added, the files are uploaded to Canvas, and the progress of the file upload displays directly in the module window. When file uploads are complete, the names of the files are shown directly in the window.
If an uploaded file is a duplicate of an existing file, Canvas displays a prompt asking if the file should be overwritten, renamed, or skipped.
Other related guides for Instructors
· How do I add course content as module items?
· How do I bulk upload files to a course?
Update 5 - Notifications: Course Notifications. This update is available for all Canvas Roles.
Summary
Users can mute all notifications for a course where the user is enrolled. The Course Notification Settings page allows users to mute all notifications for a course where the user is enrolled. Additionally, users can enable or disable specific course notifications.
Change Benefit
This change allows users to manage notification preferences within an individual course.
Affected User Roles & Behaviours
All Users
When course notifications are enabled, the Course Home Page displays a View Course Notifications button. The icon in the button displays the status of the notifications: enabled or disabled.
Course notifications are enabled by default. In the Course Notification Settings page, users can choose to disable notifications for the course.
The Course Notification Settings page also supports granular notifications for the course.
The Notification Preferences page for a user’s account specifies the user’s notification preferences and communication channels for all courses, and preferences are automatically passed down to each course in the Course Notification Settings page.
If a supported notification preference is changed for a user’s account in the Notification Preferences page, that preference will also be reflected within each course as long as none of the notifications are manually changed.
The Course Notification Settings page only displays the following notification types:
-
- Course Activities
- Discussions
- Scheduling
- Conferences
Once a notification preference is changed at the course level, the course creates a notification override, meaning it is no longer associated with the preference set in the Notification preferences page. Any additional changes for that notification type must continue to be managed within the course. Notification preferences available within the course are identified by icon: notify immediately, daily summary, weekly summary, and notification turned off.
If SMS notifications are enabled for a user, the page also displays notification types that are not supported.
Other related guides for Instructors and Students
· How do I manage notifications for a single course as an instructor?
· How do I manage notifications for a single course as a student?
Other recent updates: Canvas Integration - Turnitin LTI. 01 July 2020: Students can now view their submission and instructor feedback without receiving error messages. Turnitin discovered that a small number of students were receiving error messages when attempting to open their submission or view QuickMarks left by their instructor. This has now been resolved and students can view their papers and feedback without issue. 01 July 2020: Grading Form bugs have been resolved. The Turnitin engineering team have been working on a few intermittent bugs that have been interfering with applying grades to Grading Forms. You may have experienced one of the following: These have all been resolved. Other related Turnitin guides
· Turnitin within Canvas – Staff Guide
· Using Turnitin within Canvas – common queries from Staff and Students
· Turnitin within Canvas – Student Guide
· Full Turnitin LTI Release Notes