Canvas Updates

Instructure releases updates to Canvas each month. Recent releases include:

Assignment/Submission Details

Students often have a hard time finding feedback instructors give through SpeedGrader. Instructure updated the Assignment/Submission Details page to alert students to new feedback from their instructors. The “Show Rubric” and “View Feedback” links now display an indicator when new comments have been added as an annotation or in a rubric in Speedgrader.

A graphic of the Submission Details screen in Canvas.

Share this resource with your students so they know how students can View Feedback on Assignments.

See the complete list of Canvas updates released on November 20, 2021. The next Canvas release will be January 15, 2022.

Tame Your Gradebook

If you teach a large course, there's a new search feature that allows you to filter on a smaller set of students and/or assignments. Begin typing in the Student Names and/or Assignment Names search boxes to reveal a drop-down list where you select one or more items. The search will honor other filters you have set for assignment groups, modules, sections, and student groups as well as your preference to show or hide concluded or inactive enrollments.

A graphic of the Gradebook screen in Canvas.

Zoom Updates

camera icon on a blue circle backgroud

Zoom has recently released new features all of which require that hosts and participants use Zoom 5.8.3. Be sure to update your Zoom desktop client. (Computers and other devices that are managed by the University will update through Software Center [Windows] or via Self Service [Mac]

  • Advanced polling and quiz features are now available in Zoom. Options include matching, ranked choice, short answer, and long answer. You can also set correct answers to have the poll function as a quiz.
  • Option to Reclaim Host. If the original host of a meeting rejoins, they are now given the option to reclaim host controls or remain as a participant or co-host, to minimize disrupting the current host. 
  • Presentation Slide Control: A presenter in a meeting or webinar can give slide control to other participants, so that others can control the progression of slides for the presenter or when they are presenting their portion of the presentation. This function is supported in Google Slides, PowerPoint, and Keynote.
A graphic showing the Settings button in Canvas.

Microsoft Immersive Reader

Canvas users can turn on the Microsoft Immersive Reader when viewing the Course Home Page, Syllabus or when viewing an individual assignment or page. This tool enhances your reading experience by improving accessibility and boosting reading comprehension. Within the Immersive Reader, you can adjust the size, font, and spacing of the text. Additional options support language learners. You can translate text to another language, have it read to you at a selected speed, and even color-code parts of speech.  

A graphic of the Enabled button for Microsoft Immersive Reader in Canvas.

Microsoft Immersive Reader is an individual user setting and cannot be enabled or restricted within a course or group of courses. Students and instructors need to enable it for themselves.

To turn on the feature 

  1. Navigate to Settings and scroll to Feature Settings near the bottom of the page. 
  2. Click the red X next to Microsoft Immersive Reader.
  3. Select Enabled.

 Learn more information about how to use the Microsoft Immersive Reader in your course.

Using YouTube in Your Course

If you incorporate YouTube content in your teaching, use Kaltura to place those videos in your Canvas course. The advantages of using Kaltura over simply linking out to YouTube include the ability to: 

  • collect analytics on who was watching and for how long;
  • add or improve captions
  • turn it into a Kaltura Video Quiz

This method also filters out advertising and suggested videos. Read ​​Kaltura: Connect to YouTube Videos to learn how to embed YouTube videos with Kaltura.

Digital Learning Lab: Design Tools

Dec 9, 2021 11:00 a.m.

Digital Learning Lab graphic showing a laptop with Canvas on the screen.

The December Digital Learning Lab focuses on Design Tools, a set of additional options within Canvas to design, customize and improve the style and look of Canvas sites. Each month the Digital Learning Lab offers experiential, hands-on opportunities to take a deep dive into one or two digital tools used to support learning. For each tool presented, we will:

  • address functionality, 
  • review how to set it up on a Canvas site, 
  • offer an opportunity to experience the tool from the student and instructor perspective.

Enroll in one or all of the Digital Learning Labs.

Access recorded Teaching Support webinars on topics most relevant to your teaching needs and at a time that is convenient for you. These sessions introduce strategies that you can incorporate into your courses this Spring semester. 

Other Resources