What's New Known Issues

What's New

Because Canvas now updates more frequently than before, Instructure has been posting release notes related to recent updates within the "Help" icon in the Global Navigation Menu. All users can now refer to the "Help" icon in the Global Navigation Menu (under the Power T) for release notes based on their role in Canvas. The information below will remain as an archive of past things that once were new.

Instructor User Release Notes - Details provided for instructor features within each release/deploy.

2022 Updates

Gradebook: Apply Score to Ungraded [Active 18 May 2022]

Instructors will now be able to make dashes in their Gradebooks count as a 0, or as any other grade they choose.

Rich Content Editor: RCE Icon Maker [Active 18 May 2022]

Instructors and Designers will now be able to create icons and buttons using the Rich Content Editor.

VitalSource: Rebranding and Enhancement [Active 18 May 2022]

The VitalSource Bookshelf link will be renamed to VolBooks Course Materials (VitalSource) and will link to all digital materials for students--not just eTextbooks.

Gradebook: Advanced Gradebook Filtering [Active 18 May 2022]

Instructors and TAs will have more control over Gradebook filtering, including the ability to create and save conditional filters.

Discussions/Announcements: Discussions/Announcements Redesign [Active 18 May 2022]

Discussion and Announcement topics display an updated design with small usability enhancements.

Assignments: Enhanced Assignments [Active 18 May 2022]

Students submitting individual online Assignments will have an enhanced experience, including the Progress Tracker, which informs students where their work is in the submission process, as well as the ability to view previously submitted attempts.

Course Settings: Assignment Default Due Time Field [Active 16 April 2022]

The Assignment Default Due time can be modified in Course Settings.

Assignments: Bulk Due Date Time Editor [Active 30 March 2022]

The Bulk Due Date Editor has been updated to include a time field.

Gradebook: Loading Icon [Active 30 March 2022]

When the Gradebook is loading, a spinner icon indicates the loading process.

Modules: Module Requirement Displays New Quizzes [Active 16 March 2022]

When adding module requirements, New Quizzes are displayed in the Quizzes heading.

New Quizzes: Matching Questions Partial Credit [Active 15 January 2022]

Matching questions include the option to select partial credit, similar to the Multiple Answer questions.

Gradebook: Missing Status Removal [Active 15 January 2022]

When an assignment indicates a student's submission as missing, and a grade is entered manually in the Gradebook, the Missing status is removed.

2021 Updates

Notifications: Notifications Delivery Details [Active 15 Dec 2021]

The Notifications page displays the date and time of daily and weekly notifications. This change allows users to know what date and time notifications are sent from Canvas, as notification delivery varies among users. The top of the Notifications page includes a banner that displays notification delivery dates and times for each user. Notifications details are displayed for both daily and weekly notifications. The notification can be dismissed from the page if desired.

New Quizzes: Assignments and Quizzes Build Link [Active 20 November 2021]

Within a module, the three vertical dots for a new quiz provides a link to the quiz Build page. This allows instructors to immediately change quiz questions, general settings, or quiz moderation options.

SpeedGrader: Assignment Text Entry Word Count [Active 20 November 2021]

When a text entry is displayed in SpeedGrader, the word count of the assignment entry displays in the sidebar.

Dashboard: List View Dashboard Conference Links [Active 20 November 2021]

In the List View of the Dashboard, calendar events that include a link for a supported provider in the description or location field display a Join button.

Assignments: Submission Feedback Indicator [Active 20 November 2021]

For students, in the Assignment Details page, the Show Rubric and View Feedback links indicate when new comments have been added as an annotation or in a rubric.

Notifications: Discussions Text Update [Active 27 October 2021]

The following terminology has been updated for Discussions notifications:

- Discussions has been replaced with New Topic
- Discussion Post has been replaced with New Reply
- Discussion Mention has been replaced with New Mention

Gradebook: Search Field Enhancements [Active 27 October 2021]

The Gradebook Name field allows multiple student names to be filtered at the same time. The Assignment search field also allows multiple entries. Both Search fields are enabled for use once all data has loaded in the Gradebook.

Gradebook: Assignment Search [Active 16 October 2021]

The Gradebook includes two search fields: one for student names, and one for assignment names. The Name and Assignment Search fields support multiple search entries.

SpeedGrader: Submission Status Label Edits [Active 16 October 2021]

Submission status labels can be edited in SpeedGrader. Allows graders to change the submission status for a student's assignment directly in SpeedGrader.

Assignments - Differentiated Assignments Secondary Information [Active 15 September 2021]

The Assign To field displays secondary information to differentiate students with the same name.When an instructor searches for a student name to add to an assignment, any names with an exact match display in the student list. Secondary information for each student, if available, displays in parenthesis after the student's name.

Rich Content Editor [Active 21 August 2021]

The Rich Content Editor indicates when accessibility concerns are detected in the Accessibility Checker.

New Quizzes - Quiz Printing [Active 21 August 2021]

The Quiz build page includes options to print the quiz with and without answers.

SMS Notifications [Active 31 July 2021]

SMS Notifications for Announcements and Grading have been removed from Canvas. Additionally, the SMS column has been removed from the Notifications page.

Mark as Done Button Placement [Active 7 July 2021]

The Mark as Done button for students has been moved to the bottom of the page.

SpeedGrader Comment Library [Active 19 June 2021]

Comments can be added and saved for reuse within SpeedGrader. This change allows graders to save frequently used comments in SpeedGrader and be reused across multiple students and assignments.

Discussions Redesign [Available 16 June 2021, not yet active in Online@UT]

Discussion topics display an updated design with small usability enhancements. These changes ensure page responsiveness and prepare the interface for feature functionality improvements.

The following modifications will be made to the discussion page:

- - The toolbar has been moved to the top of the discussion thread.
  - Newest replies display at the top of the first page instead of the bottom of the last page.
  - Users can sort replies from newest to oldest, or oldest to newest.
  - Users can also quickly move to the top of the discussion topic at any time. They can also view All discussion replies (default) or unread replies.

Immersive Reader [Active 9 June 2021]

Immersive Reader is a learning tool that uses proven techniques to improve reading for people, regardless of their age or ability. Key features include "read text out loud," "break it into syllables," and "increase spacing between lines and letters." It offers text-decoding solutions for students with learning differences such as dyslexia, and it encourages independent reading and helps teachers support students' unique learning needs.

Studio Annotations [Active 17 May 2021]

The Studio Quiz Settings page includes an option to display annotations on the timeline for students. This change allows instructors to simultaneously allow quizzes and annotations to display in a video.

User Settings: Auto-Show Closed Captioning [Active 15 May 2021]

Allows users to view captions added to videos by default without having to manually enable captions for each individual video.

Assignments: Student Annotation Submissions [Active 15 May 2021]

Allows instructors to provide a file as an assignment for students to annotate and submit directly in Canvas.

New Quizzes: Save and Build Button Workflow [Active 28 April 2021]

When an instructor creates and enters details for a quiz, the page displays both a Save and a Build button. The Save button saves the content in the existing page and returns the user to the area where the quiz was accessed. The Build button saves the existing page and launches the New Quiz editor.

New Quizzes: Multiple Attempts First Score Option [Active 17 April 2021]

In Canvas New Quizzes, the Multiple Attempts menu includes an option to retain the first score for grading when multiple submission attempts are allowed. This change allows instructors to allow students to retake a quiz but retain the first attempt score for grading.

Studio Annotations [Active 12 April 2021]

Studio supports adding annotations to individual media. This functionality enriches the Studio experience for viewers by allowing media owners to share more information in their media.

Submission Reassignment [Active 20 March 2021]

In SpeedGrader, instructors can reassign an assignment with a due date to an individual student and ask them to redo their submission.

New Quizzes via Modules [Active 20 March 2021]

New Quizzes can be created when adding a quiz to a Module. NOTE: New Quizzes open directly to the Assignment Settings page first. Clicking the Save button forwards to the quiz edit/build page.

MathJax Equation Enhancements & Text Field LaTeX Characters [Active 20 February 2021]

LaTeX equations can be entered in any Canvas text field, and MathJax is loaded if Canvas detects an equation image added by delimited LaTeX characters. This change allows users to use equations in more areas of Canvas and manage equations more efficiently.

View Ungraded as 0 [Active 20 February 2021]

The Gradebook View menu includes the View Ungraded as 0 option, which is a visual change only and does not affect any grades. This change provides instructors with a visual change in identifying grading calculations for ungraded assignments. Allows instructors to view student grades as if all ungraded assignments were worth zero points.

File Downloads [Active 17 February 2021]

For files embedded in the Rich Content Editor, a download icon next to the file appears to allow users to download the file.

2020 Updates

Student View [Active 16 December 2020; updated 17 February 2021]

The "Student View" features allows you to determine what your course looks like from the student perspective. The Student View button is accessible from the Home Page, Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, Modules, People, Pages, Files, Syllabus, Outcomes, and Quizzes areas of your course. [Feb 17 Update: The text Student View is included in the button.]

Google Assignments [Active 16 December 2020]

Google Assignments is an application that brings the collaborative power of Google Suite for Education into Online@UT (Canvas). Instructors now have a faster, simpler way to distribute, analyze, and grade online student submissions. View our Google Assignments support page for more information.

Assignment Enhancements - Students [Issue reported 17 February 2021] Canvas Administrators disabled this feature on 19 February 2021.

Assignment Enhancements improve the assignment interface and submission workflow for students. This change improves the student experience in completing and submitting assignments, viewing rubrics, and locating instructor feedback.

Quiz Log [Active 16 December 2020]

Students and instructors can view progress logs for course quizzes. Quiz Log Auditing allows instructors to investigate problems that a student may have when taking a quiz. Each log shows a timestamp of the quiz action, including reading a quiz question, selecting a quiz answer, changing a quiz answer, and submitting the quiz. View our Quiz Log support page for more information.

Rich Content Editor [Active 16 December 2020]

The Canvas Rich Content Editor (RCE), a tool for creating and editing your content in Canvas on Announcements, Pages, Syllabus, Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes, now has a new look. Canvas has rolled out an updated interface that is more intuitive, condensed, and easier to use. For complete details of the new interface visit our New Rich Content Editor support page.

- RCE Auto-Save
  - On Pages and Assignments using the new Rich Content Editor, the editor autosaves any content that has not yet been submitted for up to one hour. This feature helps users retain new or edited content that may otherwise be lost from inadvertent browser reloads, loss of internet connection, or navigating to another window.
- Multiple Link Removal
  - When the New Rich Content Editor includes content links, individual links can be removed by clicking the link. However, all links in the editor can be removed by highlighting all the links, clicking the Links menu, and selecting the Remove Links option.

Send To/Copy To [Active 16 December 2020]

The Send To option is used to send content to another user.

Users can search for other users via email address. Content can only be sent to users with instructor-based roles who can manage course content. Users can be identified by typing at least the first three letters of a user's name in the search field. Search results display users by name and email address. Select the name of the user when it appears.

The Copy To option is used to copy content to another course. Instructors can only copy content to their own courses.

To copy content, locate the course where the content should be copied by typing at least the first three letters of a course name in the search field. Search results display courses by name. Select the name of the course when it appears.

Preferred Pronouns [Active 3 September 2020]

Users can select a pronoun that represents themselves for a course. Selected pronouns apply for the user in any course where the user is enrolled.

Delete Multiple Pages [Active 15 August 2020]

Multiple pages can be deleted at one time on the Pages Index page.

Account vs. Course Notifications [Active 18 July 2020]

Users can enable or disable specific course notifications in enrolled courses. Course-level notifications are inherited from your account-level notification settings. Adjusting notifications for a course will override notifications at the account level.

Show/Hide Course Summary [Active 21 March 2020]

The Syllabus page includes an option to remove the Course Summary section.

Known Issues

Discussion Posts [Issue reported 1 October 2022]

Some users are experiencing a "Something Broke" error screen when replying to prompts in Canvas Discussions. Instructure is actively investigating the cause of this issue; while it does not affect everyone using the Discussions tool, it is still recommended that participants write their responses in a local program (Word, TextEdit, NotePad, etc.) and then cut and paste the test into their web browsers to reply to a post.

Canvas Logouts [Issue reported 1 October 2022]

Some users are being logged out of Canvas more frequently than has been the case in the past. This is not affecting all users, but it is an issue that Instructure is actively investigating, and should be resolved soon.

Canvas Chat Tool [Issue reported 16 September 2022]

For longer Chats (typically those longer than a semester), Canvas Chat is having trouble properly lining up date and time stamps, as well as lining up messages with the people who wrote them. In some cases, these things are being scrambled. Instructure is aware of the issue and their engineers are actively working toward a resolution.

[iOS] Canvas Student App [Issue reported 21 May 2021]

When the feature "Students must move through requirements in sequential order" is enabled in a module, items should remain locked if they have not completed the requirement of the first item in the module. Current students are able to go into the Student app and can access and submit to items they should not have access to yet.

Studio Insights [Issue reported 4 May 2021]

If a student loses network connectivity while taking a Studio video quiz and the quiz video has fully loaded, the video quiz will still allow the student to watch the video and answer questions, however, the Insights will not be recorded after they submit.

Course Participation [Issue reported 14 April 2021, Issue corrected 12 May 2021 ]

After course dates have been set with the "Course" participation setting, changing the setting back to "Term" hides those course dates but leaves them applied to the course. This causes unintentional interactions with the enrollees' course list, favoriting, and features like "copy to" that check those course dates without being able to tell from the course settings that they've had that effect.

Assignment Enhancements - Students [Issue reported 17 February 2021] Canvas Administrators disabled this feature on 19 February 2021.

Students cannot submit Canvas Studio videos as assignment submissions. Instructions to correct issue.

If a student submits their work via Google apps, when instructors visit the SpeedGrader, the submissions will not have a preview and no grading annotation is possible. When viewed, the file will show a non-formatted text file.

The Mark as Done module requirement option does not work for online assignments. Instructors will need to change the module requirement to either View the Item, Submit the Assignment, or Score at Least. Issue corrected 3 March 2021

Reported instances of students not being able to upload any file for submission on Online Submissions with File Type restrictions in place. Users may receive the following error message: "Error updating submission draft" id.

If an Assignment is set to grade Manually, students cannot comment upon Assignment submission.