Canvas Release Notes (2019-11-16)

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Upcoming Canvas Changes
2019-12-21: End-of-Life functionality related to Live Events
2020-01-18:
End-of-Life functionality related to Canvas Data
End-of-Life date for Gradebook
Enforcement of multiple feature options
For more information, please see Upcoming Canvas Changes‌.      
                                                                                          

In this Canvas release (November 16), the Help Menu includes a new training portal link for admin-, instructor-, and designer-based roles in North America. In the Course Card Dashboard, courses can be removed as favorites from the course card Options menu.

Feature Options

• The Microsoft Immersive Reader feature option adds accessibility and comprehension to Canvas pages for learners of all ages and abilities.
• For institutions using the New Gradebook, enabled plagiarism reports display in the New Gradebook. [PRODUCTION RELEASE DELAYED]

External Tools (LTI)

• For institutions using the New Quizzes LTI, instructors can manually submit student in-process quiz attempts.

Release notes describe upcoming Canvas functionality and are subject to change. Follow the Canvas release notes space to be notified of updates For all release changes, view the Release Notes Change Log If you notice any contrary functionality compared to the outlined behavior in these notes, please file a Canvas support case according to your institution's support protocol Other questions? View the Canvas Release Notes FAQ

Feature Options The following feature options are addressed in this release: Account: Microsoft Immersive Reader - Free Trial (Wiki Pages) Course: New Gradebook, RCE Enhancements

• Feature Options
• UpdatedFeatures
• Account Settings
• Help Menu Training Services Portal Link
• Dashboard
• Course Card UnfavoriteOption
• New Gradebook
• Plagiarism Icons [DELAYED]
• New Quizzes
• In-Process Quiz Manual Submission
• Pages
• Microsoft Immersive Reader

Release Notes Change Log

Updated Features

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Account Settings

Help Menu Training Services Portal Link

Location to Enable Feature	N/A
Configuration Details	N/A
Affected Canvas Areas	Help Menu
Beta/Test Environment Support	No
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	Admins, Instructors, Designers
Feature Enhancement Ideas	View existing Help Menu feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	Help Menu
Region Availability	North America
Change Type	Deprecation; see Upcoming Canvas Changes

Summary

The Help Menu includes a new training portal link for admin-, instructor-, and designer-based roles in North America. This new training portal contains complimentary self-paced training resources and provides one-click registration for Subscription Training Webinars. The Training Services Portal is hosted in Bridge, a tool built and administered by Instructure.

Change Benefit

This change provides quick access to training materials and resources directly in Canvas.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Admins

By default, the Training Services Portal will be added to the Canvas Help Menu for all accounts hosted in North America. No action is required by Canvas admins to enable this link. 

The portal link displays by default but can be hidden by a Canvas admin in Account Settings.

Admins, Instructors, Designers

Users with supported roles can access the Training Services Portal in the Canvas Help Menu, unless otherwise hidden. The portal authenticates via the user's Canvas account; no additional login is required.

Note: Users with no role assigned will also be able to view the training portal link.

For additional details about the Training Services Portal, please see Guide: Canvas Training Services Portal 2.0.

Dashboard

Course Card Unfavorite Option

Location to Enable Feature	N/A
Configuration Details	N/A
Affected Canvas Areas	Card View Dashboard
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	All Users
Feature Enhancement Ideas	Existing Dashboard feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	Dashboard

Summary

In the Course Card Dashboard, courses can be removed as favorites from the course card Options menu.

Change Benefit

This change allows users to quickly remove a course as a favorite without having to access the Courses page.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

All Users

In the Course Card Dashboard, users can open the Options menu for a course card, click the Move tab, and select the Unfavorite option. Unfavoriting a course requires a confirmation before the course is removed from the Dashboard.

Courses can be re-added as a favorite in the Courses page, which can be accessed from the Courses link in the Global Navigation Menu.

New Gradebook

Plagiarism Icons [DELAYED]

This feature is used in conjunction with an existing feature option in Canvas. Please view the content below for additional details. For more information about feature options, please see the Canvas Release Notes FAQ.
                                                                

Location to Enable Feature	New Gradebook
Configuration Details	New Gradebook Feature Option
Affected Canvas Areas	New Gradebook
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	Instructors
Feature Enhancement Ideas	Existing New Gradebook feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	gradebook_new

Summary

For plagiarism tools, plagiarism reports display in the New Gradebook.

Change Benefit

This change matches previous functionality only available in the existing Gradebook for instructors. Updated icons will be added to the student Grades page in a future release.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

When a plagiarism tool is enabled for a course, plagiarism reports display for each student submission.

The New Gradebook displays icons that more accurately portray the plagiarism result by shape. Previously, results were only indicated by color.

The plagiarism result displays directly in the Gradebook cell for each submission.

Report types are indicated by the following icons:

• Error icon: the submission could not be submitted to the plagiarism service; resubmit from SpeedGrader
• Clock icon: the submission is being processed by the plagiarism service
• Green circle checkmark icon: the similarity score is between 0% and 20%
• Red half-filled circle icon: the similarity score is between 20% and 60%
• Solid red circle icon: the similarity score is higher than 60%

The Grade Detail Tray also includes the indicated plagiarism icon. For originality reports, the actual percentage can be viewed in the Grade Detail Tray.

If an assignment includes multiple submission files, the Gradebook displays the highest originality score. The Grade Detail Tray indicates that the submission includes plagiarism data for multiple attachments, which can be viewed in SpeedGrader. SpeedGrader displays each individual file and the originality report for each file.

New Quizzes

In-Process Quiz Manual Submission

This feature is used in conjunction with an external tool (LTI) in Canvas. Please view the content below for additional details. For more information about LTI tools, please see the Canvas Release Notes FAQ.
                                                                

Location to Enable Feature	N/A
Configuration Details	New Quizzes LTI
Affected Canvas Areas	Quiz Moderate Page
Beta Environment Support	Yes
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	Instructors
Feature Enhancement Ideas	Existing New Quizzes feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	New quizzes

Summary

Instructors can manually submit student in-process quiz attempts.

Change Benefit

This change allows instructors to submit outstanding quiz submissions on behalf of their students, specifically for situations where a quiz will never auto-submit because it is missing a timer and/or due date.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

Instructors

If a student forgets to submit a quiz submission, or a quiz submission is otherwise displayed as in progress when a quiz needs to be graded, an instructor can open the Moderate page and view the number of attempts in progress. The attempts link can be viewed to display the name(s) of student(s) with in-progress submissions. 

By default, all student names are selected. The instructor can manually submit attempts for all selected students, or the instructor can individually deselect attempts that should not be submitted.

Pages

Microsoft Immersive Reader

This feature can be enabled in Canvas through a feature option in Account Settings. Please view the content below for additional details. For more information about feature options, please see the Canvas Release Notes FAQ.
                                                                

Feature State	Production-ready
Location to Enable Feature	Account Settings, Feature Options
Configuration Details	Microsoft Immersive Reader - Free Trial (Wiki Pages) Feature Option
Affected Canvas Areas	Pages
Beta/Test Environment Support	Yes
Affects User Interface	Yes
Affected User Roles	All Users
Feature Enhancement Ideas	View existing pages feature ideas
Specified Tag for Feature Ideas	Immersive reader

Summary

The Microsoft Immersive Reader is being offered in Canvas as a trial feature that can be enabled by a Canvas admin as a feature option in Account Settings. To learn more about this feature, see the Microsoft Immersive Reader website.

Change Benefit

This feature creates a reading experience that adds accessibility and comprehension for learners of all ages and abilities.

Affected User Roles & Behaviors

If enabled for an account, every Canvas page within a course displays an Immersive Reader button. 

Users can click the button to view the page using the immersive reader, which offers advanced learning features.

Release Notes Change Log

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Date
2019-11-06	Removed—Updated Features New Gradebook: feature delayed from the production release Rich Content Editor: feature delayed from the production release & removed from notes (see feature details in Canvas Release Notes (2019-10-19)
2019-10-21	Release Notes Published